And your headlines for today include
Spoiler On Another Controversial Jeff Hardy Segment For Smackdown This Week!
Randy Orton Openly Says That He Wants To Wrestle Tommaso Ciampa
Shayna Bazler’s Inhuman Comments About Becky Lynch
Former 3 Time WWE Champion Involved In a Heated Backstage Altercation
WWE Issues Take Down Notice To Indie Company For Posting Their OWN Footage
Drake Maverick Found Interesting Use For WWE Release Papers and MORE!
We’re starting today by looking at SmackDown, as another controversial Jeff
Hardy is in the works.
According to Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda, fans can look forward to seeing a
segment hosted by Renee Young, where Jeff will be confronted by Sheamus,
security and a man in a lab coat.
Referring to Hardy as a junkie, Sheamus demands Jeff take a drug test ahead of
their Backlash match, a test the Irish Superstar claims Hardy will fail, whilst Jeff
will admit he does have a problem.
Eventually, the segment will end with Jeff throwing his urine sample all over his
Backlash opponent, and fans can get ready to see all this go down on the next
episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
Speaking of controversy, Randy Orton and Tomasso Ciampa recently made some
headlines by throwing some barbs on Twitter, though given the report saying
Vince McMahon was irritated by this, a match isn’t likely.
Whilst speaking during a teleconference, the Viper said he’ll wrestle Ciampa if
Vince wants him to, and also claimed that he could help the talented former NXT
Champion get a little more out of his career. He added:
“I know he’s been plagued with injuries, but I also know he loves and respects this
business. The NXT guys worry me because I see them doing such highly physical
things during their matches, those things are dangerous and they wear and tear on your career.”
The 13-time WWE World Champion has been fortunate to have a lengthy career
with minimal injuries, something he could hopefully teach to Ciampa, who has
been plagued with one injury after another for years.
Whilst Orton did praise Ciampa, he also discussed ways that the former NXT
Champion could improve, as he said he could help the gold brand Superstar with
storytelling, saying:
“When you see so much of that back to back, you don’t get to invest in these
matches because they’re just one thing after another. Although it’s highly
physically impressive, and I wouldn’t be able to do that style, they’re going to have
very short careers.
“I worry about Ciampa in particular because with all these big injuries he’s had, he
needs to learn how to tell stories and slow it down and not think that the fans
want to see him kill himself. You’re only as good as the last match you ever had.”
It’d be interesting to see which man has more four or five star matches in WWE,
as whilst ratings aren’t everything, they’re a good indication of fan opinion.
Ultimately, it’s up to Vince McMahon to decide whether this match happens,
though it seems Orton Is ready to teach a thing or two to the Blackheart of NXT.
We’ve got news from Monday Night RAW next, as former RAW Women’s
Champion Becky Lynch continues to focus on her pregnancy, much to the chagrin
of Shayna Baszler.
While on the The Bump, the Queen of Spades backed up her previous comments
about The Man and Seth Rollins’ upcoming bundle of joy, and said that the Man’s
pregnancy is garbage, and claimed that Lynch had shirked the responsibilities of
being the champion of the division. She added:
Take care of your responsibilities first. Don’t leave the division in an uproar and
hand your title away to whoever you feel. It’s ridiculous, but everyone’s like ‘It’s so
wonderful la la la la la,’ but if that was your daughter you’d smack her up side the
head like you need to be smarter. It’s such a double standard.”
Given that Lynch and Rollins’ baby is due in December, fans won’t be seeing the
Man in the ring for quite a while, but we’re confident that comments like these
from Baszler will certainly encourage the former RAW Women’s Champion to dish
out some payback when she is ready.
We’re looking at last week’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House event, and whilst there
was plenty of action on-screen, things were reportedly just as heated backstage.
According to Fightful, Shawn Michaels was involved in a heated debate with
another producer backstage before TakeOver aired, regarding the current
situation engulfing the United States.
The reports noted that the unnamed producer claimed everyone in the US is
treated the same, whilst Michaels responded with an explanation of the system
inequality in the country, and though it was said he was professional, the Heart
Break Kid was angry.
As most Superstars didn’t find out until Monday, it seems that the confrontation
didn’t take place in front of a large group, which is probably for the best for
everyone involved.
The un-named producer and the Showstopper were able to work together for the
rest of the show after the argument, but it goes to show that everyone seems to
have an opinion on the current situation in the United States.
Now, we all know that many main stars in wrestling got their starts on the indie
scene, but when one promotion tried to promote a match that took place with
one of WWE’s current stars, the sports entertainment juggernaut wasn’t having it.
When Bar Wrestling posted a match between Jake Atlas and Brian Cage, the WWE
quickly had the match taken down and an email sent to the indie company,
despite Bar owning the footage and using a photo they commissioned.
Explaining the situation in a tweet, Bar Wrestling gave a YouTube link for fans who
wanted to watch the match, whilst Cage also sent a tweet of support for his
former stomping ground.
This probably won’t be the last time WWE does something like this, though it is
interesting that they were able to file a takedown for a match, footage and image
they never owned in the first place.
It’s obvious at this point that these take downs are automated and involve little to
no actual human judgement from WWE’s part, but that information doesn’t help
out Bar Wrestling, who were unable to use the footage they they own the rights to.
We’ve got news from All Elite Wrestling, as another match has been added to the
upcoming Fyter Fest event that will be free on TNT on July 1st and July 8th.
On the latest episode of Dynamite, Cody Rhodes defended his TNT Title against
Marq Quen, but was attacked post match by the Inner Circle’s Jake Hager.
Being saved from a further beatdown thanks to Arn Anderson, Cody offered Hager
a title match at Fyter Fest, though that won’t be his only title match planned, as
Rhodes has continued to say he’ll defend the title each and every week, as long as
he’s champion.
Fyter Fest will see every championship in AEW be defended, and with Jon Moxley
defending against Brian Cage, and Kenny Omega and Adam Page scheduled to
defend their gold against the Best Friends, the two-night event is certainly shaping
up to be another huge show for the company.
Whilst fans can look forward to Fyter Fest, they won’t have to wait until July to see
titles be defended, as two huge matches have been confirmed for next week’s Dynamite.
Next week, Dustin Rodes and QT Marshall will challenge AEW World Tag Team
Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, and the promotion teased that QT
may have some issues paying attention due to the presence of Allie.
A TNT title match will also take place, though we’re not certain who Cody’s
opponent will be after he defeated Marq Quen on this week’s show.
In non-title action, Le *** Gods will face Best Friends next week, and if Chris
Jericho and Sammy Guevara win, they’ll take the Friends’ spot as the number one
contender for the tag team titles.
Superbad Death Squad will also take on the Young Bucks, whilst MJF will face Billy
Gunn as well in a match where both Wardlow and Billy’s son Austin Gunn will be ringside.
With so much announced in advance, next week’s Dynamite is truly a loaded
show, as the company continues to barrel down on the road to AEW Fyter Fest.
We’ve got more AEW news next as since WWE kept the Shatter Machine name
when the Revival left to become FTR, the popular tag team have needed a new finisher.
Defeating the Butcher and the Blade on this week’s Dynamite, the duo used a
move called the Goodnight Express to pick up the win, and whilst fans may
recognise it as the Shatter Machine from their WWE days, this isn’t their finisher anymore
It now looks like FTR’s AEW finisher is a double spike piledriver called the
Mindbaker, and whilst it’s possible that FTR or AEW could mix things around, this
is how thing went during Wheeler and Harwood’s impressive in-ring debut.
Back to WWE now, and ahead of her RAW Women’s Championship match at
Backlash against Asuka, Nia Jax spoke to The Bump about her career.
Addressing her multiple losses to the Empress in the past, the Irresistible force
said that she’s not her past and won’t fail this time, before saying that she doesn’t
give a flying ‘you know what’, what people think about her. She said:
This time I don’t give a flying… you know what, what anybody thinks. Last time I
cared too much. This time I do not care. If I have that title I earned it, I deserve it,
and I’m gonna carry it with pride. That’s that.”
Nia’s history of injuring others didn’t go away when she recently returned from an
injury herself that kept her on the shelf for a year, and things have gotten even
more heated given her recent botched spots with Kairi Sane, which fans have
blamed her for, even though those in the company have said at least one of the
sports was Sane’s fault.
We’ll have to see what the company has planned for Backlash, but RAW Women’s
Champion Asuka will have to be on her toes so that she doesn’t end up like her
fellow Kabuki Warrior.
We’re looking at NXT next, as last week’s show saw Drake Maverick be offered a
new contract with WWE after being released from the company in April.
Now that the former 24/7 Champion is back with the company, Maverick revealed
what he’s done with his release papers on The Bump, saying they’re now proudly
hanging on his wall.
With a sign above them saying “Dreams don’t work unless you do,” Maverick also
showed off a photo of his proud memento for his passion for the business and the
fan support that got him rehired.
NXT trainer Shawn Michaels has said he aims for Maverick to be with the gold
brand for a while, and with reports that Vince McMahon himself made the call to
re-hire him, things are certainly looking up for the rehired WWE Superstar.
Whilst last week’s show was a career-defining moment for Maverick, this week
wasn’t as good, as he had an interaction with the Interim Cruiserweight Champion
El Hijo del Fantasma.
Celebrating yet another victory, Fantasma was joined in the ring by Maverick, who
challenged him for a title match, before they were interrupted by the masked
individuals who have plagued NXT recently.
Just when it looked like a two-on-two affair, Fantasma turned on the British star,
and lead a three-on-one beatdown, culminating in the duo unmasking as Raul
Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde, and Fantasma taking off his own mask to reveal a
new identity as Santos Escobar.
Claiming that he’s untouchable, Escobar’s pals Mendoza and Wilde would finish
Maverick off with two vicious frog splashes, as it seems that the newly-rehired
Superstar has quickly made some enemies.
We’ve got some sad news to report now, as legendary competitor John Walker
has died aged 85.
Best known as Mr Wrestling 2, Walker worked with both Georgia and Florida
Championship wrestling, holding the Georgia Championship Wrestling World title
on 10 occasions, and also toured the NWA territories from the 1950s to the early 80s.
Joining Vince McMahon’s expanding World Wrestling in Federation in 1984,
Walker was used primarily as enhancement talent before he left two years later.
A true legend of the ring, Walker was the favourite wrestler of former US
President Jimmy Carter, though declined Carter’s 1977 inauguration, as he refused
to appear without his iconic mask.
A legend in the wrestling world, the official NWA Twitter issued their own
statement on Walker’s death, and we here at Slat Rock would like to send our
condolences to his friends, family and fans at this unfortunate time.
And we’re signing off today by looking ahead to Backlash, as the match between
Edge and Randy Orton has already been filmed.
During the latest Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alverez recaled some details
about the match, since it’s already been recorded, saying:
“I believe they went 30-35 minutes, so if you were expecting an 18-minute match
after they went 45 minutes at WrestleMania think again.”
This follows on from previous reports from Dave Meltzer that the match includes
plenty of selling, and the two former World Champions will certainly have plenty
of time to sell if the match is indeed over half an hour long.
After their unconventional Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania went over
36 minutes, the pair wanted to have a match without any stipulation, and whilst
the pair are aiming to have the greatest wrestling match, both men, as well as the
fans, could be in for a long night.