Here's your wrestling news for October 9th 2021
And your headlines for today include
Is There A Twist With The Tribal Chief And The Wise Man On Smackdown?
WWE Announces Line-Up For Next Week's 'SUPERSIZED' Smackdown - Superstar's First Match In 14 Months, Brock Lesnar Returns!
Vince McMahon Trends As AEW Takes Direct Shot At WWE!
WWE Blocks Pro Wrestling Company From Fox Streaming Service!
WWE Teases A Huge Break-Up On Smackdown!
Ricochet And Former WWE Champion Said To Be "Marginalized'' By WWE!
Vince McMahon Picked His "future WWE Champion" within the company!
Two Huge Missed Opportunities With The Queen's Crown On Smackdown!
WWE SmackDown closes out with a bang!
Karrion Kross On Why Scarlett Bordeaux Has Not Been On WWE TV! And More!
We’re kicking off today with SmackDown, as Paul Heyman’s allegiance to Roman Reigns continues to be in question.
This week, the Special Counsel was once again under scrutiny, though Heyman defended himself, saying that if he was to
betray the Tribal Chief, why would he be given any forewarning ahead of Crown Jewel.
Reigns went on to make Heyman vow his loyalty to him, sending a message to Brock Lesnar in the process, something that Heyman was happy to do.
This has been one of the most interesting storylines of the year, and there’ll be a lot of tension at Crown Jewel about who’s side
Heyman is really on. We can’t rule out the idea of Heyman turning on Roman Reigns, but we’re not sure WWE would
be highlighting this possibility so openly if they do want a shocking betrayal by the Special Counsel, and we’ll only know for sure come October 21st
in Saudi Arabia.
From this week’s SmackDown to next week, as WWE is filling out the card for their final SmackDown before Crown Jewel.
After 14 months away from wrestling, Sonya Deville will make her in ring return against Naomi, the culmination of months of storytelling
between the two. It’s also been announced that Becky Lynch will face Sasha Banks in non-title action, and there’ll
be an appearance by Brock Lesnar, who’s expected to have a face-to-face confrontation with Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Finn Balor and Sami Zayn will collide in the semi finals of the King of the Ring Tournament, while Zelina Vega will take on Carmella in the semi
finals of the Queen’s Crown Tournament. Next week’s SmackDown will be on FS1 instead of FOX, to make room for the American
League Championship Series, and WWE is certainly filling a stacked card in the hope that fans tune in.
Yesterday, an article from Variety Magazine was making the rounds online, that caught the attention of wrestling fans in a major way.
The article titled ‘“Vince McMahon Is Finally Getting What He Hasn’t Seen in 20 Years: Competition” touted the success of AEW with
direct shot at WWE’s Chairman of the Board. McMahon’s name was even trending as fans discussed the article, with some callous fans
who weren’t aware of Variety’s piece hoping the reason the WWE boss was trending was because he’d died.
Other wrestling fans sent out tweets of embarrassing Vince McMahon moments, such as when he used the N-Word on TV, or WWE
booking ‘The Lesbians’ in a cringe-inducing 2002 segment. Another fan pointed out that the author of the
piece, Gavin Bridge, is very openly an AEW fan, meaning the piece may be more biased than fans first believe
Despite being seen as a glowing endorsement of AEW, and shared by the company themselves, the statistics used don’t exactly back
up the All-Elite promotion, as they show that RAW beats Dynamite in everything from viewers, to the 18-49 demographic and that in
opinion polls, WWE are seen as the better company when it comes to storytelling, entertaining characters and having better
Pay Per View matches. By comparison, AEW is seen as the better company for matches on TV, and for crowd
reactions in the arena. Variety’s article may be praising AEW, but the figures don’t exactly back up Tony Khan’s
company, but that didn’t stop AEW, and it’s fans making fun of Vince McMahon on social media.
It’s no secret that WWE has network deals with NBC-Universal and FOX which has led to an interesting relationship between the three parties.
It’s been reported that FOX aren’t thrilled about Peacock, an NBCU project, getting so much promotion during SmackDown, though Fightful
Select reports that if FOX wanted WWE programming so badly, they could’ve outbid Peacock.
After all, FOX have their own streaming platform, Tubi, and now that has become a source of controversy.
In that same report, Fightful said that WWE put the kibosh on Tubi airing a deal with another wrestling company, in this case MLW.
FOX declined to comment on the story when asked, as did MLW and WWE, who have refused to release a statement on the Tubi
controversy. For what it’s worth, a source from Peacock said that they are happy with their WWE deal, and
whilst Tubi is host to all sorts of shows, MLW won’t be on there thanks to WWE
More from SmackDown, as Sami Zayn took on Rey Mysterio in a King of the Ring first-round match, with Dominik Mysterio not present at ringside.
Dominik was presumably told to stay backstage during the match, and the match itself was going fine until the 24-year-old Superstar came out.
On commentary, Pat McAfee had an interesting line, saying he doesn’t know whose side Dominik is on, the biggest tease of a heel turn and
feud between the Mysterios to make it to TV so far. The duo were drafted to RAW this month,
but in what could’ve been Rey’s last SmackDown match, Dominik’s attempt to help his father went awry, allowing Zayn to get the roll-up win to advance.
It seems that the storyline of dissention between the father-son team will continue on RAW, as a heel turn for Dominik seems more likely than ever before.
As for Zayn, he won this match, but he won’t be winning the next against Finn Balor, though not because of anything that happens in their match.
Zayn doesn’t go to Saudi Arabia, and with the tournament finals happening at Crown Jewel, it’s obvious that Balor, who defeated Cesaro in
his first-round match, will beat Zayn on route to the finals. At a glance at the RAW side of things, a Balor Vs.
Jinder Mahal finals is a strong possibility, and it may be a time before we crown King Balor or King Mahal, but perhaps Kofi Kingston,
Ricochet or Xavier Woods will defy the odds and claim the throne.
In addition to the tournament finals, Crown Jewel will see Brock Lesnar challenge Roman Reigns, in the Tribal Chief’s most credible opponent,
especially considering the newly drafted SmackDown roster. Asides from Drew McIntyre, there’s no full-time
Superstars on the blue show who could be a reasonable choice to defeat Reigns for the title, and that includes Jeff Hardy.
In the Observer, Meltzer explained how WWE can’t rely on Hardy as a top-tier star anymore, and how things are worse for some other names
recently drafted to SmackDown: "Pushing Hardy can be done, but it’s a stretch at this point because of how much he’s been
marginalized and Ricochet has been marginalized far worse. I suppose you can turn Sheamus, but that’s a stretch as well."
If Lesnar and McIntyre both fail to defeat Roman Reigns for the Universal title, then the Tribal Chief may spend another year as champion, as
for right now, no-one on SmackDown, not even former WWE Champions like Hardy and Sheamus, are being seen as viable opponents.
Time will tell who ends up dethroning Roman Reigns for the Universal title, but one name who could hold that very same championship one day
is Ridge Holland. Holland was drafted to SmackDown this month, and his main-roster tenure looks bright,
as Dave Meltzer reports that WWE have high hopes for the former Rugby League player. Some have even said that Holland is a future
WWE Champion, though Meltzer adds that he doesn’t see the Yorkshire Superstar in that way yet.
It’s also reported that Austin Theory is someone WWE is looking to as a future top star, which explains his impressive re-debut this week on
RAW, attacking Jeff Hardy. Time will tell if either Holland or Theory go on to become the next big name in professional
wrestling, but the fact that WWE already has high hopes in the two is definitely a good sign
Back to SmackDown, as the first-round matches of the Queen’s Crown Tournament are half-way done, as two matches took place during
last night’s show. Something must’ve been in the air, as it was a night of heels, given that Zelina Vega and
Carmella won, defeating Toni Storm and Liv Morgan respectively. Vega’s win hasn’t gone down well at all,
as fans were vocal on Twitter after the match, saying that the former NXT UK Women’s Champion deserves better than what she’s
been given. Liv Morgan losing in the first round is also a massive missed opportunity by WWE,
as she seems to have become the women’s division’s equivalent to Cesaro, a talented, popular Superstar who has the rug pulled from
underneath, just as they gain any bit of momentum. Losing to Carmella isn’t a bad thing for Morgan,
as the Staten Island Princess is talented, but she’s already done plenty in WWE, including becoming SmackDown Women’s Champion
Becoming the winner of the very first Queen’s Crown Tournament would have done wonders for Morgan’s career, and despite the fans
support, and instances of WWE being on her side, she’s often relegated to the background of SmackDown segments
Not only did Morgan lose this week, but she lost in a criminally short match, and we’re still not sure what to make of Carmella’s face mask.
Next week’s RAW will see Doudrop face Natalya and Shayna Baszler take on Dana Brooke, and our prediction is that Baszler, who was drafted
to SmackDown this month, will go on to win the entire tournament. In the likely scenario that Baszler beats Brooke
again, that means that Doudrop will be the only face left in the Women’s tournament, if she beats Natalya on RAW.
Traditionally, the King of the Ring tournament has \ been won by heels, and the legacy of the Queen’s Crown seems to be starting off the same way
which could explain why the heels dominated on last night’s show.
SmackDown also saw an appearance by Edge, and throughout all of WWE, including RAW, SmackDown, NXT 2.0, 205 LIVE and NXT UK,
we can’t think of anyone more expressive than the eleven-time WWE World Champion.
From the moment his song hit last night, fans saw that Edge was still fuming after Seth Rollins invaded his home last week.
This all culminated in an impressive segment last week, where it was confirmed that the pair will face off at Crown Jewel, inside Hell in a Cell.
The Cell stipulation is a fitting way for their story to end, and if WWE intends to make Crown Jewel a must-see show as previously reported, then
having the pair face off inside the Cell is a great way to get fans tuning in.
And we’re ending today with Scarlett, who hasn’t followed her fiancé Karrion Kross to the main roster.
Instead, Kross has been going it alone, which has led to some shaky booking for the former NXT Champion on RAW, leaving fans wondering what
exactly is going on. Appearing on the Table Talk podcast, Kross spoke to D-Von Dudley about his main-roster tenure so far,
and teased Scarlett’s impending call-up, saying: “We are waiting for something to finish taking its course. She’s very good, and she’s been
training like a maniac, like she always does. You can expect to see her any time or any place.” It’s been previously reported that Scarlett wasn’t
cleared to wrestle, but there’s been no explanation as to what caused her to be uncleared in the first place.
The fact that she’s ‘training like a maniac’ as Kross put it, certainly implies that she’s cleared to at least train, if not wrestle now.
Originally, WWE’s plans were for Kross to keep losing on RAW, before Scarlett’s debut turned things around for him, and although that’s
no longer the plan, as he’s been picking up wins on the red brand, we’ll just have to wait and see when Scarlett joins her fiancé on
Monday Nights.