Here's more wrestling news for August 31st 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Goldberg Says He Needs Knee Surgery After Facing Bobby Lashley At SummerSlam; Reportedly Slated To Wrestle In Saudi Arabia!
Former WWE Wrestler Is No Longer Drinking & Plans To Turn Her Life Around!
Wrestler Reportedly Requests Release From The Company!
"Help Me Out Sis?" - Paige Wants To Face Top WWE Superstar Upon Possible In- Ring Return!
WWE Not 100% Finished Hiring Indie Wrestlers!
WWE Postpones SmackDown Event In October!
Io Shirai’s Current WWE NXT Status Revealed!
"The Writers And Everybody Laughed At Me" - Riddle Recalls Backstage Reactions Before WrestleMania!
WWE Wrestler Claims Vince McMahon Personally Reached Out About WWE Return
John Cena Finally Opens Up; Says His Mysterious Instagram Posts Have Meaning For Him
"A Very Sincere Apology" - Ex-WWE Star On Vince McMahon Apologizing After Her Release And more!
Earlier this month, Goldberg revealed that he has two matches left on his current contract, and he took care of one of those matches
at Summerslam, losing to Bobby Lashley. That WWE Title match ended when Goldberg was no-longer able to compete, and a post
match segment saw Lashley attack the Hall of Famer’s son Gage. Though Lashley has already wrestled twice
this year, it appears his final match of his contract will take place this year too, as Wrestle Votes reports that sources in WWE have
confirmed that Lashley-Goldberg 2 will happen at Crown Jewel in October. As a legend of the ring, Goldberg is perfect for
a live-event in Saudi Arabia, especially as audiences there are much more positive on part-time wrestlers
It’s hard to say who’ll win this rematch, as Lashley has been a dominant champion, but WWE has already made Goldberg a champion
once before at a Saudi show, and we’ll just have to wait until October 21st to see who leaves as WWE Champion.
WWE’s plan may be for Goldberg and Lashley to square off at Crown Jewel, but those plans are in serious jeopardy thanks to their Summerslam
match. Speaking to WWE in a Digital Exclusive, Goldberg discussed the speculated rematch against
the Almighty, and how his body needs to recover first. He said: “I have ligament damage and I have a pending
knee surgery… I really don’t care. What I do care about is that dirty son of a b***h Bobby Lashley and what he did to my son at SummerSlam.”
At 54-years-old, these sorts of injuries will take longer for Goldberg to recover from, and time will tell if his condition proves to be a
problem for WWE’s plans in Riyadh.
Over to RAW next, as last night’s show saw Doudrop face Eva Marie in what was supposed to be a grudge match, stemming from their split
at Summerslam, and Marie attacking her former protégé on last week’s RAW. Last night, Doudrop gave Marie a taste of her
own medicine, attacking her from behind, but it wasn’t a good luck for the Scottish Superstar who’s meant to be a babyface.
Although it is revenge on Marie, who did the exact same, a more straight-forward match would’ve helped Doudrop much more
than what we got on this week’s RAW.
For years, Tammy Sytch, aka Sunny, has had some serious struggles in life, and only recently got out a jail after a year behind bars.
That sentence came after she breached her protective order, but the original WWF Diva is now ready to turn things around.
Speaking at the International pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame Ceremony, Sytch said that she’s paid her price for drinking and driving, and
now that she’s done her time, she’s ready to move on with her life. The former WWF valet said that she’s feeling
better than ever after not drinking for a while, and said her long-term plan is to get into real estate, a plan she’ll need to fund at this
time from her OnlyFans page. Sunny certainly seems to be in a better place after her latest stint in jail, and it’s great to hear
she has plans, and we can only hope that the former valet has been able to put her demons behind her from now on.
Over to Impact now, as Acey Romero has reportedly requested his release from the company.
Romero had been teaming with Larry D as XXXL, and were still under contract as of last month, with Romero working on a paid-per-appearance
deal according to Fightful. Romero hasn’t been used since the April set of TV tapings, and tested positive in early May,
but is said to be healthy now, wrestling for the Limitless Wrestling promotion in recent weeks.
Romero debuted in October 2019, and signed a three-year-deal that was offered by Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore, but now the
powerhouse wants out early of Impact Wrestling.
Yesterday, we reported on Paige, and how she’s working to get back in the ring, even if WWE are refusing to let her wrestle once more.
On Twitter, the former Divas Champion has aid she’s not done yet, and whether she returns or not, we know who Paige has on her list.
On a recent Twitch stream, Paige called out Sasha Banks for her return match, saying:
"I would love to face Sasha [Banks]. I feel like it's a built-in storyline and she's one of the best. She's one of the best out there, men or women
She's one of the best. Ain't no one putting on friggin' matches like her. Charlotte is great, everyone is great, but Sasha is one of those
wrestlers that can literally fight a ladder and it be a five star match. She'll carry me too [laughs] Help me out sis?”
Paige’s last match in WWE came at a December 27th 2017 house show, in which a kick from Banks led to Paige’s neck getting injured
and the latter hasn’t wrestled since. Interestingly, Banks is also out of action, as she’s being kept off TV due to ‘unforeseen
circumstances,’ but WWE are hopeful that the Boss will be back in time for the September 10th SmackDown in Madison Square Garden
At this time, WWE has rejected all requests by Paige to wrestle again, even though her neck is reportedly very close to 100%, but if she does
wrestle, we know who the Anti-Diva wants to face.
For the past few months, WWE has been cutting several Superstars from NXT, all part of Vince McMahon’s new vision for the gold brand.
Not only does the Chairman want NXT to be a developmental ground for RAW and SmackDown once again, but it’s reported that
WWE is not looking to sign indie wrestlers for the time being, focussing on finding people first and training them to wrestle second.
That isn’t entirely the case apparently, as pw Insider Reports that WWE isn’t finished with indie wrestlers just yet, but their main focus
will now be on non-wrestlers and larger athletes that they’ll mold into being Superstars.
The belief I that WWE swung too far in one direction in recent years, focussing too much on signing indie wrestlers, and they’ll now be
swinging in a different direction. WWE will continue to look for talent, especially if they can keep wrestlers away from AEW
and whilst they’re not done completely with indie wrestlers, their main focus is on names they can train themselves into
becoming the next generation of Superstars.
With WWE prioritising the signing on non- wrestlers, it’s expected that more indie wrestlers will consider AEW their first choice,
something that Tony Khan is more than happy with. In an appearance on Wrestling Observer Radio
the AEW President disagreed with how WWE is sourcing talent. He said: “There are people that look great that will never
be good at this. And you can pick a hundred great looking people and you might find zero that actually are great at what wrestlers really
do… If you auditioned people on their physical ability or how good they look in a speedo, Mick Foley or Dax Harwood or a lot of other people
Darby Allin, people aren’t necessarily going to be lining up to sign those guys as their number one draft pick. But frankly I like to
watch wrestling.” WWE is passing up on a lot of talent, just because they come from an indie background
and may not have the right look the company is wanting, and we doubt the likes of Daniel Bryan or CM Punk would’ve had their Hall-of
Fame-worthy careers, or even being allowed into WWE, had this policy been in effect when they were being signed.
After a year away, the WWE is getting back on the road with live fans attending once more but now one of their shows had had to be
postponed. Fans in New Orleans will have to wait even longer to see WWE live again, as the October 1st
event at the Smoothie King Center has been postponed, and will happen at some point in 2022.
Instead, the October 1st SmackDown will now take place at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, and in an update from
Wrestling Inc, it was noted that Hurricane Ida has caused the show to be changed.
Hopefully, WWE can return to New Orleans soon, as it’s a city rich in WWE history, but it won’t be happening as planned on October 1st.
NXT now, as Io Shirai hasn’t competed in nearly two months, with her last match being at the NXT Great American Bash special on July 6th.
At that event, she and Zoey Stark became the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions, making her absence from the gold brand
brand all the more bizarre. There’s now an update on Shirai, as Fightful Select reports that she is healthy and able to
work, and even participating in the most recent set of TV tapings. As for her absence, it seems NXT just didn’t
have plans to use her for the past two months, which begs the question as to why make her and Stark champions at all.
The champions don’t seem to have any challengers yet, but that’ll happen soon enough, especially as Shirai will be back on-screen very soon.
One person fans can see each week is Riddle, who has had an incredible 2021, winning both the United States and RAW Tag Team titles.
On last night’s RAW, RK-Bro retained their titles over Bobby Lashley and MVP, with Riddle pinning MVP after a floating bro, continuing
the former NXT Superstar’s stellar push this year. RK-Bro has certainly been a highlight of RAW in 2021, and in an interview with CBS Sports
Riddle recalled how he pitched the odd-couple tag-team backstage: “A couple of weeks before WrestleMania,
I made a joke and said, 'How awesome would it be if me and Randy teamed up and called \ourselves RK-Bro?' The writers and
vThe writers and everybody laughed at me. Sometimes you just have to plant that seed and eventually, it happens. I lost
the United States Championship at WrestleMania and Randy beat The Fiend, so we were already done with our particular stories and kind
of found each other. I think it was originally not supposed to be what it is today, but we were both pushing for it.”
At this time, there’s no word on who RK-Bro will defend their titles against at Extreme Rules, but we’re sure that Riddle will be
happy to defend their gold, just as long as he’s teaming with his ‘best-friend Randy Orton.
In June, Eva Marie made her in-person return to WWE, four years after she initially left the company.
Marie’s return didn’t exactly go down well with fans, as many haven’t forgiven her for her first run with the company, but that same heat
isn’t shared by Vince McMahon. Speaking on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette, Eva discussed her return, and that the Chairman
himself spoke to her about a comeback: I had a conversation with Vince through emails… Just always keeping in contact
via email of things that I was doing outside of WWE, making sure he was fully aware that ‘ Eva Marie was ready and willing to come back,
whenever you see fit. Eva’s team with Doudrop has come to an end, but she’s also said that fans have no idea
where their storyline is heading, and whatever the end-goal is, it’ll have to be improved by Vince McMahon first.
And we’re ending today with John Cena, and if you’ve visited his Instagram page, you’ll know just how bizarre the 16-time WWE
World Champion can be. On his page, Cena shares random images, many of which not related to WWE, but all are
posted without any caption or explanation. During a Q&A with Esquire, Cena was asked about his mysterious account, and said that
there is a method to his madness. He explained: “My Instagram account are images posted without any explanation for interpretation of
the audience. Please, don’t get me wrong there is a method and value to everything I post to Instagram, but if I tell you it ruins what I do
There is meaning for me, and if you got meaning from it, too, that’s cool, that’s great, but it’s not for me to explain. We’re trying to curate
different experience. Try to figure it out.” Cena didn’t explain what the meaning to his Instagram account is, and odds are he never
will, as fans will have to keep speculating on his future, both in the ring and on the big screen, but whatever pictures he chooses
to upload, always without a caption.