Here's Your wrestling news for July 13th 2021
And your headlines for today include
Bobby Lashley Suffers A Setback On RAW That Could Propel Him Further Up!
Breaking News As WWE Released More Talent!
Drew McIntyre's MITB Plans Could Go Up In Flames After RAW!
WWE Wrestler Was Yelled At And Kicked Out Of Meetings!
Brock Lesnar Looks Almost Unrecognizable In A New Ponytail Look; Fan Heavily Trolled The Former WWE Champion!
Why WWE Pulled Broken Skull Sessions With Kevin Nash & Untold Nexus Documentary? WWE Sets New Date!
WWE Wrestler Calls Out Fan For Body Shaming Her Backside
Sonya Deville ‘Penciled In’ For WWE Money In The Bank Match!
Did WWE quietly end the "Lilly" storyline on RAW?
“Mr Wonderful” Paul Orndorff Passes Away Aged 71 & More!
We’re starting today with RAW, and this week’s show kicked off with a non-title rematch between WWE Champion Bobby
Lashley and Xavier Woods, and the result should’ve been a foregone conclusion. Instead, it was Woods who got the win,
clean no less, and a distraught Lashley left the ring without saying a word. It feels like Lashley isn’t been protected
well enough as Champion, as he should be squashing Woods with ease, similar to their Hell in a Cell match on RAW.
Fans weren’t happy at all by WWE’s booking, with one saying that you’d never see Universal Champion Roman Reigns ever
lose on SmackDown, nor AEW World Champion Kenny Omega lose on Dynamite, and having Lashley lose clean show how
terrible RAW’s creative is. If there’s a silver lining to this booking, is that it confirms that Lashley will retain his
title this Sunday against Kofi Kingston, as WWE rarely has the champion lose on the go-home-show and the Pay-Per-View.
Even if Lashley retains, which we expect him to do, the Champ’s reign is in serious jeopardy thanks to the Money in the Bank briefcase,
something that Lashley knows all too well. In the final segment of RAW, MVP tried to cool Lashley down in the VIP lounge with
some champagne and women, but the Almighty had no interest, and showed some edge to his character in rejecting
MVP’s offer. It was a great promo to say the least, but the fact that Lashley had come up short
against Woods earlier in the night killed a lot of his momentum ahead of this Sunday’s match with Kingston.
The destination was the right one, but the way to get there wasn't necessarily correct at all. Plus, now it is clear as day
that Kofi Kingston is coming up short at Money in the Bank, which is for the best. This is the angriest, most motivated Lashley
we’ve seen in a long time, and the show ended with the Almighty vowing to destroy Kingston at Money in the Bank, a fitting
end to the Thunderdome era.
For the past year, WWE has been all about budget cuts, and have continued to chip away at the company’s bottom line by
releasing a ton of talent. Now, WWE are going one step further, as traditionally, indie wrestlers have been used
to play the role of extras when needed, but those parts are much harder to come by. PW Insider reports that WWE have called a
number of indie wrestlers to let them know they won’t be needed anymore. The report reads:
WWE has reached out to a number of independent talents booked for extra work in the weeks to come and unbooked them,
telling them the company has reduced the planned number of outside talents they will be utilizing for TV work.
It was noted that in some cases, WWE will only be booking two extras per episode, and this much smaller cast may limit some of their
creative ideas. WWE is heading back on the road this Friday, and it was noted that this cost-cutting could
be part of the company feeling out the process, but for now, expect far fewer extras on WWE TV from now on.
More from RAW, and a year after originally planned, WWE’s feud between Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal is underway,
and kicked off big-time on last night’s RAW. Last week, their match ended in a DQ, after which McIntyre was assaulted by Veer
and Shanky, and Mahal even stole McIntyre’s sword, something the Scotsman demanded back.
Refusing to give it back, Mahal said the sword was broken, before McIntyre produced the real sword, which allegedly
came from the Loch-Ness monster. The Scottish Superstar went on to say that when you bring anything to RAW,
you should expect it to be destroyed, and made that clear by demolishing Mahal’s new motorcycle.
This explains why Mahal became the Jinder Taker last week, riding a custom-built bike to RAW, only to have it torn to pieces by McIntyre
We have to admit, the destruction itself was underwhelming, especially compared to the likes of Braun Strowman flipping a truck or
Brock Lesnar destroying a car. It’s clear where this rivalry is heading, as it’s all-but-guarenteed that McIntyre won’t
becoming Mr. Money in the Bank this Sunday, which is for the best. We expect McIntyre to be within fingertips
of the briefcase, only to be attacked by Mahal, Veer and Shanky, setting up a feud for Summerslam between the two former World
Champions. A non-title feud is exactly what McIntyre needs after a year in the WWE title picture, and given
his history with Mahal, we’re expecting big things from the two this Summer
Fans certainly won’t be seeing Buddy Murphy this Summer, or at least before his non- compete clause expires on August 31st,
90-days after his June 2nd release from WWE. Before his release, Murphy’s WWE career arguably peaked as the face of 205 Live,
where he was a dominant Cruiserweight Champion, but that would’ve never happened had Murphy not pleaded to be moved to the
purple brand. Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Murphy said he really wanted to go to 205 Live, which
caused some major tension between him and WWE management: “I wanted to go to the cruiserweights for a
super long time. I was yelled at, I was kicked out of meetings for mentioning it. And then I ended up reaching out to Adam Pearce
secretly via Twitter. I said, ‘Hey, man, I see you’re doing this tournament. (I) Don’t know if all the spots are
finished, filled, but I’d love to throw my name in the hat. Weight’s not an issue. And I just sent it to him. And I’d already been yelled at
kicked out of meetings because of this cruiserweight stuff.” Murphy eventually got his wish and had a
great run on 205 Live, but now that he’s no longer with WWE, the Australian wrestler is hard at work at the gym as he
gets ready to dominate once more, this time outside of WWE.
Now, it’s been over a year since fans saw Brock Lesnar in a WWE ring, but since losing at WrestleMania 36, there’s been
plenty of speculation on when he’ll return. It had previously been reported that WWE was planning on bringing Lesnar back for
Summerslam, but even if that happens, fans in the arena won’t recognise him. This week, the Bearded Butchers Twitter
page revealed that Lesnar, who’s celebrating his 44th birthday, has joined the butches with an unrecognisable new look, sporting a beard
and a ponytail. Throughout his two tenures with WWE, Lesnar has always had short hair, so this
ponytail look is certainly a surprise for his fans to see. Lesnar’s name was trending on Twitter
thanks to his new look, and wrestling fans compared him to Mordecai, the original gimmick of Kevin Thorn
On Twitter, Thorn joked that he’d been beefing up, after Kayfabe News said that Lesnar’s new look confirmed the return of Mordecai.
Other fans mocked the ponytail, saying it was too small for his head, though some were far more forgiving, saying Lesnar
looks even more like a beast with his new look. Both WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and
Universal Champion Roman Reigns have expressed interest in facing Lesnar if he returns to WWE, and the Beast could be
rocking a very different look the next time he takes someone to Suplex City.
Last week, WWE pulled the Broken Skull Sessions that was meant to feature Kevin Nash, but this isn’t the first time the company
has plugged something that didn’t get released. A WWE Icons documentary episode of
Lex Luger was pulled as the company wanted to wait for a better time to release, and now we know why these projects
aren’t getting aired. According to PW Insider, these changes are a result of the quote “new hierarchy under
the WWE’s TV department.” This is in relation to the company recently axing a ton of employees, with many
divisions all being folded into one WWE Media department, overseen by Kevin Dunn.
Their report also noted that the Nash interview with Steve Austin should be released soon, and the WWE Network
schedule now confirms that it’ll premiere this Sunday, the day of Money in the Bank. There’s no concrete word on what will
happen with Lex Luger’s documentary, but WWE is waiting for a better time to release the doc, presumably immediately after
Pay-Per-View. Both Nash and Luger had legendary careers which fans would love to hear
about, but those fans will just have to wait until the new WWE Media department is ready to release them.
Both Nash and Luger have had their documentaries delayed, and now yet another WWE project won’t be getting
aired anytime soon. In May, Fred Rosser, aka Darren Young revealed that WWE was working on a
WWE Untold documentary about the Nexus, that’d focus on the group’s shocking 2010 debut, and the
controversial decision to lose to John Cena at that year’s Summerslam. Now, PW Insider reports that there’s been
no development on the Nexus documentary, and there’s no word on whether the company will continue with it’s production.
The majority of the Nexus members have left WWE, and while a documentary about the iconic stable would be interesting
don’t count on it reaching the Network or Peacock anytime soon.
It’s no secret that Alexa Bliss has struggled with body positivity In the past, and has spoken openly about suffering from eating
disorders, and she’s doing far better these days. Now that she’s older and wiser, Bliss
refuses to let people drag her down, despite the efforts of one so-called fan this week. On Twitter, the fan compared a 2013 picture
of Bliss’ butt to a more recent picture, ad insinuated that Bliss was sharing edited pictures on social media, and mocked her
fans. This sparked a reaction from the RAW Superstar, who chastised the fan for
for trying to body-shame her, adding that she hasn’t been able to control her weight loss since being sick a few months ago.
Bliss added that the only thing this fan can say about her career is 2013 picks of her butt, and ended by saying she pities the
fan in question. The Pro-Wrestling world can be very judgemental, especially towards female
wrestlers, and we’ve got to give Bliss a ton of credit for sticking up for herself against this incredibly rude fan.
Bliss will be just one of the participants in this Sunday’s women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match, stepping in the ring with some of
WWE’s best female Superstars. Now, another entrant may have been leaked, as Fightful reports that there’s a
push backstage for Sonya Deville to be an entrant, and she’s been ‘pencilled in’ as a ladder match participant.
Last month, it was noted that WWE wanted to bring Deville back to the ring around WrestleMania season, but that obviously
didn’t happen. Deville has been very happy with her role as an on-screen WWE official, but has
also been training hard for an in-ring return, and that return could come as soon as this Sunday’s Pay-Per-View with live fans.
More from RAW, next, as this week’s show also saw Alexa Bliss welcome Eva Marie and Doudrop to her playground, and a new
feud is starting to emerge. During the segment, Bliss seemed impressed by RAW’s newcomer, and asked her the
questions, only for Eva to answer in her place. WWE is ensuring that Eva Marie does all
the talk, getting her all the heat, but one notable absence from all of this was Lilly. The demonic doll that’s supposedly from
Bliss’ childhood was meant to be a large part of establishing Bliss as her own character away from the Fiend, but
it appears WWE have entirely dropped that angle. To be fair, the storyline with Lilly wasn’t
popular with fans, despite the doll selling out in rapid fashion on WWE.com. Later in the show, Bliss was involved in a
fatal four way match, between herself, Naomi, Asuka and Nikki ASH, but it was Doudrop who made the difference,
dropping Bliss near the LED screens. After being dropped, Bliss would m ysteriously disssapear, and it appears
and it appears that a feud with Doudrop is getting started, with no mention or reference to Lilly at all.
As for the match, Nikki ASH pinned last year’s Money in the Bank winner Asuka to get the win, continuing her wave of
momentum into this Sunday’s event, and with Bliss and Doudrop expected to feud on the road to Summerslam, don’t expect
the demonic Superstar to capture the briefcase this Sunday.
We’ve got some sad news to report now, as WWE Hall of Famer Paul Orndorff has died aged 71.
This was confirmed by his son Travis on social media, who posted a touching tribute, calling him an amazing father who showed
more love than he ever deserved. Breaking into wrestling in the mid-70s under the tutelage of Bob Backland, Orndorff’s
physique and cocky demeanour earned him the nickname ‘Mr Wonderful,’ Signing with the World Wrestling Federation
in 1983, Orndorff is perhaps best known for headlining WrestleMania 1, teaming with Roddy Piper to face Hulk Hogan and
Mr. T, which was deemed 1985’s match of the Year by Pro Wrestling lllustrated.
On social media, tributes have been pouring in, as Hogan said he was slammed by the news of his death, saying heaven just got
even more Wonderful, and CM Punk recalled seeing Orndorff and Sherri Martel at a WCW live event in 1995, calling them the best on
the show at working the crowd. No cause of death has been announced yet but Orndorff was revealed to have been
suffering from dementia in the weeks prior to his passing, and we at Slat Rock are sending our deepest condolences to the
entire Orndorff family at this sad time.
And we’re ending with the annual WWE draft, which has been rumoured for months to be taking place in August,
and will see several NXT callups to the main roster. This draft was meant to start on the
August 30th RAW and conclude on the September 3rd SmackDown, but that’s no longer the case.
Andrew Zarian of the Man Men Pro Wrestling Podcast has said that he’s heard October 4th is the new date for the 2021
WWE draft, but it’s unclear if that’s night- one or night two. It could be that the draft begins with the
October 1st SmackDown and ends on the 4th, or that it starts on the 4th and ends with the October 8th edition of the blue brand.
It’s also possible that the draft is just a one-night event, but with WWE moving their main-roster AND planning several
call-ups, this year’s draft is shaping up to be too big for a one-night event