Here's more wrestling news for August 20th 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Triple H Says WWE’s Hiring Process For NXT Has Not Shifted!
WWE Tried To Book Mike Tyson For SummerSlam Role!
WWE Wrestler Is About To Receive Huge Honor At 9/11 Ceremony!
Current WWE Wrestler Calls John Cena ‘The Puppet Master’
WWE Had A Ridiculous Original Name For The New Day!
Seth Rollins Says Wrestlers With Thin Skin Are In The Wrong Business!
Top Female WWE Star Says Goldberg Will Lose In Five Seconds At Summerslam!
Roman Reigns Finally Reacts To Brock Lesnar's New Look And Absence From WWE!
Vince McMahon Wanted Top Superstar To Wear A Helmet To Ring Because Of His Receding Hairline And more!
We’re starting today with WWE, who gave over a dozen contracts out during recent tryouts in Las Vegas, and though nothing is known about
these newest signings, it’s expected that they’re bigger than most current Superstars, and under 30 years old.
After all, that is what Vince McMahon is reportedly looking for as part of his plan to redevelop the NXT brand into becoming a
developmental ground for RAW and SmackDown once more. This has led to some issues between Vince
and his son-in-law Triple H, who up until recently was the head of NXT, and in an interview, the Game dismissed the idea that
NXT is undergoing some major changes, especially when it comes to sourcing talent. He said:
“People talk about the shifting of what it is. It never really shifted. So, if you go back and look at the hiring process, not hiring process
of the television show, but the hiring process of who we’re looking to train to make WWE Superstars long term. If you go back and look
at that it hasn’t shifted. It’s been the same process.” “I don’t negate anybody from a standpoint of
I wrestled some independent stuff’ — you’re out. That’s not a factor to me.” Triple H can say that nothing has changed in
NXT, but that doesn’t undo the ton of releases in 2021 alone, or the fact that he didn’t even know the releases were happening
until they’d already started cutting talent. Time will tell what the next generation of NXT Superstars look like, but for now, Triple H
is saying it’s business as usual, despite what’s really going on.
Summerslam news now, and for months, it’s been reported how WWE were going to make the show bigger than WrestleMania, but if
that’s still the plan, they’ll have to do so without Mike Tyson. According to PW Insider, WWE had hoped
on the Baddest Man on the Planet returning for a special part of Summerslam, but those plans didn’t work out. They report:
WWE plans called for Tyson to be the voiceover artist for opening video package for Saturday’s Summerslam PPV, which we are told will be built
around WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. John Cena. It’s unclear why WWE was unsuccessful in
booking Tyson, but it could be that his allegiance to Cody Rhodes and AEW seems much stronger to his ties to WWE in recent memory.
Whatever the reason, Tyson won’t be returning to WWE, 23 years after his incredible work in 1998, and we’ll have to see if he ever works
again with Vince McMahon.
In 2001, Zelina Vega tragically lost her father during the September 11th attack, and on the 20th anniversary, Vega will be part of a very
special ceremony. On social media, Vega said she was honoured to e taking part of a ceremony, where the
names of those who died in the attack will be read out, including her father Michael Angel Trinidad.
Vega has been very active, both online and in the ring, ever since returning to WWE, and we’re pleased that she’ll be able to do her father
proud on the 20th anniversary of this sad day in American history.
Over the past few years, John Cena has had just a handful of matches in WWE, but one of them came on the January 1st, 2019 SmackDown
where he teamed with Becky Lynch to face Andrade and Zelina Vega. That match was won by Cena and the Man,
and in a Q&A ahead of Summerslam, Vega revealed the interesting nickname she has for the 16-time WWE World Champion after
that match. She explained: “I have to say that was one of the most mind- blowing experiences ever. I call him the puppet
master. He was able to control me, my partner, Becky, the ref, the audience. It was like he was playing an instrument
It was just so cool to see but also people in the back, you know, he’s always someone that you can approach for advice, someone that you
can just kind of pick his brain, because he’s been doing this for so long and just has so much knowledge about how you can up your
game, so it’s really important to have him around.” Cena has said that he plans on sticking around in WWE, should he become a 16-time World
Champion at Summerslam, and if so, there’s bound to be plenty of opponents who learn why Vega calls him the Puppet Master.
Unlike Cena, the New Day isn’t booked for Summerslam, but the team remains one of the most popular groups in wrestling history
despite originally working as heels. It was only after their heel work proved popular with fans, that the group was
turned face, but in those early days, the group narrowly avoided a name that would’ve killed their credibility.
That’s according to Chris Jericho, who on his Talk is Jericho podcast, said that the original name was ‘Fresh Coat of Paint, and that the New
Day name was a last-minute decision for the group. We don’t think we’ll ever understand WWE’s
thought process when it comes to naming Superstars and stables, but we doubt that the chant “It’s a Fresh Coat of Paint Yes it is!”
would’ve have proven to be as popular with fans.
Now, part of being a great wrestler is the ability to cut a great promo, but if you have some harsh words for your opponent, it’s only fair
that you expect something equally as bad in return. This is something Seth Rollins knows all too
well, as he’s considered one of the best mic- workers in WWE today, and recently claimed he doesn’t ever do scripted promos anymore.
Rollins’ work on the microphone has made him one of WWE’s most versatile Superstars, and while speaking to the Sports Media podcast
the former Universal Champion was asked what he felt about shoot promos in WWE. He said:
Everybody is different in that regard… Cena, he always told me, ‘I don’t care what you say when we’re out there. Anything in front of the
camera, I don’t care, I don’t take it personal.’ He’s a guy who will let it all fly… Sometimes, other guys aren’t like that and they are very
protective about certain parts of their lives and they don’t want that in the public… There are going to be personal jabs in there, but if you
can’t take that and your skin isn’t thick enough, you’re probably in the wrong business. It’s all about conflict, conflict is what sells
Few promos got more real than the Roman Reigns-John Cena war of words on last week’s SmackDown, which was reportedly
done without any rehearsal whatsoever. Vince McMahon was said to have loved that segment, which saw references to
AEW’s Jon Moxley and Cena’s failed engagement to Nikki Bella, as shoot promos continue to be an effective form of
storytelling, even in a company where so much is scripted.
More from Summerslam, as Bill Goldberg will face WWE Champion Bobby Lashley tomorrow night, and Sasha Banks has her
pick for who’ll win. Speaking to Sebastian Hackl of WWE Deutschland, the Boss, who’ll also compete
tomorrow, predicted a successful title defence for the Almighty, in what she believes will be a one-sided affair:
Goldberg, where has he been? Where has he been? Goldberg matches are always short and sweet, so I expect at the last, Bobby just
just hitting him with the one... two... three. That's gonna be a five-second match Over the past two years, Goldberg has
spent a total 9 minutes, 58 seconds wrestling for WWE, and time will tell if the Boss’ prediction comes true tomorrow night
Now, last month, Brock Lesnar resurfaced on social media with a brand new look that took fans by surprise.
Sporting a beard and long hair, Lesnar looked unrecognisable from his WWE days, and now, Roman Reigns has finally reponded to
his former nemesis’ new look. Speaking to Ariel Helwani for BT Sport, Reigns was asked who he’d rather face now, Lesnar
or The Rock, and brought up the former Universal Champion’s new aesthetic. He said: "Man, I don't even know. It's hard to
speak on Brock. Nobody knows what he is doing. The last I saw, he was like butchering cows with a Viking ponytail. So, probably Rock
seems like he is out getting his Viking on, so I don't know, man. I haven't heard anything about Brock in a long time. So I would just
have to say The Rock.” Reigns isn’t the only one wanting the Brahma Bull, as WWE are planning for Rock Vs. Reigns at
WrestleMania 38, with the feud starting at this year’s Survivor Series. The November event will mark Rock’s 25th
anniversary of joining WWE, and whilst he may be returning very soon, Brock Lesnar and his new look, are still nowhere to be seen.
In May, VICE’s Dark Side of the Ring season 3 kicked off with a two-hour special on Brian Pillman, and now the show will return on
September 16th. Fans will receive seven more episodes, focussing on everything from the Plane Ride
from Hell, to Chris Kanyon to Luna Vachon when the show returns next month at 9pm Eastern.
And we’re ending today with Ron Simmons, who after making history as the first African- American WCW World Champion, joined the
WWF with a strange look. Debuting as Farooq Asad a gladiator who wore a black and blue outfit, the hideous
ensemble was competed with a strange helmet that offered no protection. Speaking on his Something to Wrestle with
posdcast Bruce Prichard explained the helmet, saying that Vince McMahon loved Ron’s look, but didn’t like the fact that he had a receding
hairline. The helmet was McMahon’s way of trying to hide Simmons’ hairline from the fans, and
though it may have been successful in making him look younger, it also made him look ridiculous on TV each week.
Thankfully, Simmons would later ditch the gladiator gimmick to become the leader of the Nation of Domination, and later one-half
of the APA, and never returned to the helmet of gladiator garb for the rest of his incredible career.