Welcome to the WrestleTalk News, I’m Pete Quinnell.
Our top story today is that a controversial member of the AEW roster has departed the company. Vickie
Guerrero was brought into AEW in 2020 as Nyla Rose’s manager, however following some serious
controversy earlier this year, it had been agreed between AEW and Vickie that her contract would
not be renewed once it has expired, and that day has now arrived, as Vickie’s contract has indeed
expired and she is gone from AEW. This comes from Fightful Select,
who also note that Vickie had reportedly not been on the road with AEW for months,
since February, when AEW asked her to stay home. The controversy around her in question came
earlier this year when Vickie’s youngest daughter Sherilyn accused her stepfather, Vickie’s husband
Kris Benson, of sexually assaulting her during a cruise in 2020, and accused Vickie of siding
with her husband over her daughter, with claims that Vickie had told her that it was ‘a mistake’
and that that’s ‘not who he is’. Both her uncle Chavo Guerrero and her older sister Shaul
supported Sherilyn on her claims, while Vickie and Kris both vehemently denied the allegations.
Vickie also posted an angry response on Instagram, claiming that Sherilyn was a narcissist, that Kris
and Vickie had financially been supporting her and that she wasn’t grateful for that, and that she
hadn’t spoken to Kris about the situation, but she can post about it on social media. Which…wasn’t
the best look for her. She was subsequently removed from AEW’s roster page.
But moving right along to WWE, there’s been some big news regarding The Judgment Day. And I’m sure
you know what it is because you’ve clicked on the video. I’m of course talking about JD McDonagh.
What, were you expecting something else? For those who’d been paying attention,
JD McDonagh after being called up to the main roster started appearing in segments
with Finn Balor, hinting that there was some sort of story coming where JD could
be included in JD, that JD being Judgment Day. However, for JD fans out there, that JD was
McDonagh, you may be disappointed to learn that his plans may be put on hold, as according to
WRKD Wrestling on Twitter, JD’s JD plans have been “halted for the time being.” The first JD
was McDonagh, the second JD was Judgment Day. But with some very interesting dynamics playing
out in Judgment Day right now, what with Priest holding Money in the Bank, Rhea Ripley holding the
Women’s World Title, and Finn Balor challenging for the Men’s World Title at SummerSlam,
it’s shaping up to be pretty spicy indeed. If only they had something for Dominik Mysterio,
I feel he should hold some gold or something. Nah, they’d never do that.
But regardless of Dominik’s lack of gold in WWE right now, things are looking up
for Judgment Day from a creative standpoint, as WRKD Wrestling also tweeted to say that:
“WWE see Judgement Day as the successor to The Bloodline’s storyline, in terms of fan
interest and longevity. The Judgement Day’s segments frequently gain major interest in
the quarter hour ratings and will continue to be a center point of shows moving forward.”
Which means that The Bloodline story is well and truly wrapping up soon isn’t it, so Jey’s winning
and Roman’s going on a break right? Right? Or Reigns wins and he’s just by himself for a while.
But on to some potentially sad news now, and there may be another injury in WWE.
But there may be some other plans being halted, but this time not from a creative standpoint,
but an injury may be forcing their hand once again. This is just speculation of course as
nothing has been reported yet, but following this week’s episode of Raw, Liv Morgan was
photographed wearing a sling and supporting her arm. Having just returned from an injury,
this would be quite devastating if it were severe - but this could just be precautionary.
Much like how Bayley’s match at a house show that was called off with the X symbol
from the referee saw her at least leaving under her own power, which hopefully means
it was done as more of a precaution than anything else to prevent further injury.
Again, all speculation, but worth noting. Back to SummerSlam now, and there may be
some details about the show that have been revealed, courtesy of
Logan Paul and his podcast, Impaulsive. While Logan’s match for the show hasn’t
been confirmed as of yet, it’s all but certainly going to be against Ricochet, with the two set
to have another encounter on this coming week’s Raw, most likely where the match will be made.
And if he does get that match, there’s every chance it could open SummerSlam this year,
as according to Logan himself, he has specifically requested to WWE that he go on first. And before
you think that this is some sort of Brock Lesnar move, if I’m not on last, I’m on first, this is so
Logan can immediately leave, get on a private jet, fly from Detroit, Michigan to Dallas, Texas, so he
can walk to the ring with his brother Jake Paul, who will be fighting Nate Diaz on the same night.
But then that raises the question: if Logan does get his wish and he does go on first,
where does that leave Brock Lesnar? Because he won’t be last, and now he won’t be first. Where
else is there on the card for him? That doesn’t compute. Is Lesnar going to have a…mid-card match?
In the most literal sense of the word, that is. I wonder where Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor will
place on the card too, because if not for Lesar or Logan, I could see it being a really solid opener.
And then we’d see all the dynamics play out with Priest’s Money in the Bank, and Finn and all
that stuff. And presumably Rhea would defend her belt elsewhere on the show. Just a shame there’s
nothing for Dominik Mysterio to do. Ah, well, I’m sure something will come along soon for him.
On the subject of Logan’s Impaulsive podcast, Seth Rollins was a guest on the show, after
the two faced off at this year’s WrestleMania. And while he praised Logan for his work ethic
and respect shown to the industry, he also said stay away from my world title please, to which
Logan said he can’t make any promises because he’s just extended his contract in WWE. Presumably with
another photoshopped image of a contract signing. Seth also had another piece of info he shared on
his Impaulsive appearance, and that was to do with his now-iconic entrance music. Seth shared that he
debuted the new song in 2021 at WrestleMania 37, but wouldn’t get the full effect of the
crowd chanting along until much later, when he realised that people were singing along to it at
a Raw show in Madison Square Garden in 2022. But interestingly, what’s actually being
broadcast is the Vince McMahon version of the song, and it could have been a little
different according to Seth. “Vince McMahon was actually,
he was just hearing it for the first or second time, he actually took a set of the ‘whoa’s out,
he didn’t get the ‘whoa’s…He was like ‘argh, that’s not Seth Rollins, that’s not Seth ‘Freakin’
Rollins’. I’m like ‘I’m telling you’ and he’s like ‘no no no, just trust me’. I’m like alright fine,
you’ve only been doing this for 80 years, or whatever…The version you hear now is still
the Vince version but there’s enough of the ‘whoa’s that it caught on.”
Sticking with SummerSlam as a topic here, there are now currently two official matches for the
show: that being Seth vs Finn, and Cody vs Brock. While many expected that when the match was made
for Cody and Brock, there would also be a stipulation attached to that announcement,
that wasn’t the case and it’s currently lined up to just be another singles match.
However, we may be getting a stip before long, as WRKD Wrestling on Twitter is
reporting that while there wasn’t one announced before, there will be a stipulation for the
SummerSlam Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar match. What that stipulation is, we don’t know yet,
but if it were me, I’d go Dog Collar, because why not, it’s Cody. And we know
Cody can do a good Dog Collar match, and if Lesnar cares, he could definitely make
it work. I for one am optimistic they can make something great, whatever the stipulation is.
And speaking of optimism, that’s WWE’s outlook about the women’s tag
team championships right now. What a segue. With Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville winning
the women’s tag belts on Raw, according to WrestleVotes there is “a feeling of optimism”
around the belts now, with the hope that “the two can “stabilize” the tag titles with a substantial
run as champions.” Which I thought is what we were getting with Ronda and Shayna but here we are.
It would be sorely needed to calm these belts down a little and make them an actual prestigious
prize, which may take some doing. Especially with all these tag teams WWE don’t have.
Just take the example of someone like…I don’t know, NXT North American Champion
Wes Lee. He’s made that title mean so much by having a lengthy reign, frequent defences
and great matches. It’s arguably the best North American Title reign of all of them,
and whenever he drops that belt, it’s going to mean so much more to whoever he drops it to.
Anyway, it’s time now for my NXT 1 Minute 1 Take, where I’ll attempt to recount everything
that happened on last night’s episode of NXT in 1 minute, and in 1 take. Here we go,
hope nothing major happened. Start the timer.
Dominik Mysterio beat Wes Lee for the North American Title, that’s the only thing you
need to know about this show, it’s the best thing ever, what a great decision, I love it,
now Finn’s the only one without a prize in the group, and he’s challenging for the World Title
at SummerSlam which could lead to some really cool dynamics, like Priest could maybe fake a cash-in
on Seth, allowing Balor to win the belt, and then they can all celebrate with their prizes but then
there’s that wary look in Finn’s eye as he knows that Priest is right there with the briefcase,
there’s so many possibilities for this, with Priest stealing the belt from Finn after he’s won
it, or stealing it from Seth when Finn was about to win, it’s just so good, and Dominik holding
gold now can be the catalyst for Finn’s descent into madness and desire to win singles gold,
what a choice, I love it, this is so great. Also some other things happened on NXT.
And that’s my one minute one take. Think I covered everything there. But now why don’t you
check out yesterday’s WrestleTalk News episode including Luke’s review of Raw, here’s a clip.