Here's your wrestling news for September 11th 2021
And your headlines for today include
An Impactful Brock Lesnar WWE Smackdown Return; Roman Reigns To Answer Two Big Challenges!
Paul Heyman Hints Female Star Has Already Joined The Bloodline!
WWE Wrestler Saves Child’s Life In Heroic Beach Rescue!
Two Veterans Tear It Up On WWE Smackdown In An Incredible Match!
What Happened With Demon Finn Balor After WWE Smackdown Went Off Air?
Big E Teases A Big Move To RAW From Smackdown
John Cena Wrestles After WWE SmackDown For Madison Square Garden Crowd!
Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley Wrestle Before WWE SmackDown!
Becky Lynch Was A Bigger Heel On Smackdown Than Roman Reigns! And More!
We’re kicking off with SmackDown, which began this week with Roman Reigns getting acknowledged by the crowd as their Tribal Chief
in what was quite the moment until Brock Lesnar made his return to the blue brand. Lesnar’s first SmackDown in two years,
the crowd in MSG understandably blew the roof off the building for the Beast, who’s now a babyface, and what followed was a tense
showdown, with Paul Heyman in the centre. Lesnar asked Heyman why he didn’t tell the Bloodline about his Summerslam return ahead
of time, inferring that the Special Counsel knew beforehand, and gave Heyman 5 seconds to acknowledge him as the Tribal Chief’s next
challenger. Lifting Heyman for an F5 it was Reigns who made the save with a Superman-Punch,
and the Usos got in two, delivering superkicks to the Beast Incarnate. That didn’t hold down the Beast for long, as he
gave a beatdown to the Usos ahead of their SmackDown Tag Title defence later in the night.
Backstage, Heyman received a verbal lashing from the Head of the Table, who dissapointedly kept repeating “I saved you”,
which isn’t wrong at all. Later in the show, after the main event, Reigns seemingly accepted Brock’s challenge, but
will first deal with Finn Balor at Extreme Rules, who brought the Demon back this week. We’ve got mixed emotions about this, as
Lesnar’s return was definitely a highlight of SmackDown, but given that we know that Lesnar Vs. Reigns will happen, it’s been
practically spoiled that the Demon King will lose when he faces Reigns at Extreme Rules.
It’s likely that Reigns Vs. The Demon will headline the Pay-Per-View, presumably with a clean finish, and we’re wondering if Balor
should lose this early into his second main- roster run. This is certainly bad news for fans of the Irish
Superstar, as WWE may have already accidentally sabotaged his return to SmackDown with the Lesnar-Reigns matchup
For as good as the Demon King’s moment was, Michael Cole did not seem surprised at all, but fortunately, Pat McAee had an enthusiasm
that was infectious. WWE SmackDown had a red-hot start this week thanks to Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns,
The Usos, and Paul Heyman, and after a great start at Summerslam, nobody would’ve predicted the aftermath would be this good.
In fact, the Paul Heyman vs. Kayla Braxton ‘feud’ may be the most hilarious angle in WWE today, as Braxton’s determination to
get the big scoop continues to get under the skin of Heyman. When Lesnar speaks, he makes sure that
the little he says is impactful, which is why the crowd at SmackDown hung onto everything the Beast had to say.
Paul Heyman also deserves credit for his amazing facial expressions, and the chemistry with his ongoing feud with Kayla Braxton in
backstage segments, and together, everyone played their role perfectly to make for one epic show.
Roman Reigns has had a stranglehold on the Universal Championship for over a year now, and can be seen flanked by his
cousins/SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos as the Bloodline. The trio has been dominant members of the
Anoa’I wrestling family, but they’re not the only members of their family in WWE today.
Speaking to New York Post, Paul Heyman was asked about the possibility of Naomi being added to the Bloodline, and the special counsel
counsel to the Tribal Chief implied she was already a member, saying: We’re telling quite a few stories right now.
As the year continues and we get into 2022, are there more stories to tell involving other personalities… just because someone is not
on television with us doesn’t mean they’re not within eyesight of The Bloodline and doesn’t mean they’re not a member of The Bloodline.”
Many fans believe that Naomi’s career would be revitalised if she joins her husband Jimmy, Jey and Reigns on TV, and given
that she was quietly moved to SmackDown earlier this year, her joining the faction may have happened off-screen already.
For much of his career, Al Snow was a lovable, if not eccentric babyface, and he’s also a hero in real life too.
On Thursday morning, Al heard a child yelling and screaming after jumping in the water at Santa Rosa Beach in Destin, Florida, and the
former Hardcore Champion immediately took action. TMZ reports that Snow saw the young boy
be pummelled by the waves and getting pulled under by a riptide, and the 58-year-old wrestler said he knew the lifeguard present
wasn’t going to make it in time. Diving in, Snow saved the boy’s life, and said that had he not acted first the child
would’ve been pulled out to sea. This was a great feat of heroism, and exactly the kind of story we needed to hear today,
and we have to give Snow major props for taking action and saving the boy’s life.
More from SmackDown, which last night saw a Summerslam rematch between Edge and Seth Rollins, in what may have been even better than
their encounter last month. Not only was the wrestling great as expected, but both men made the match with their
facial expressions, and with Rollins getting the win, we expect a rubber match between the two veterans.
We’ll admit that the hospitalisation angle is overdone, and that we’ve had our fill of Superstars being whisked away in ambulances
but the image of seeing the Hall of Famer taken away was effective in adding a somber touch to the two-hour broadcast
Not everything went well last night, as the show had a 10-man-tag match which was solely a device to bring in NBA star Trae
Young to pop a rating. We’re not opposed to WWE bringing in celebrities, but we’re asking if the match
really had to include Intercontinental Champion King Shinsuke Nakamura, who was made to look like a nobody.
It’s one thing for WWE to underutilise a star like Jeff Hardy on RAW, but Nakamura is in theory, the second biggest star on SmackDown
and last night’s show made I clear that there’s no plans for the reigning monarch of the blue brand.
SmackDown also saw the return of the Demon, marking his first appearance in two years, who emerged to confront Universal Champion
Roman Reigns. After the show went off the air, The Demon King didn’t leave, and instead Happy Corbin
came out to confront Finn Balor’s alter ego. This didn’t end well as you’d expect, and after being attacked by the Demon King, Corbin
was defeated by RAW’s Drew McIntyre and was then taken out with a steel chair. Last night also saw John Cena have his first
match since Summerslam, teaming with the Mysterios to defeat Roman Reigns and the Usos, as the crowd at MSG certainly got their
money’s worth with a stacked show
One person who impressed fans on SmackDown was Big E, who picked-up the win for his team in 10-man-tag action, finishing off Sami Zayn to
get the pin. Post-match, Kayla Braxton asked Mr Money in the Bank what’s next, and Big E pointed at his
briefcase, and promised that hell be at RAW next week. Teasing a cash-in on WWE Champion Bobby
Lashley, Big E’s future is looking clearer, and although he also mentioned Roman Reigns, and had a segment with Paul Heyman, it seems
that Big E won’t be staying on SmackDown for much longer. Big E could move to RAW by cashing in,
or as part of next month’s upcoming draft, and if or when the former New Day star holds a World title high above his head,
it’ll seemingly be as part of the RAW roster.
Now, last night’s Friday Super-SmackDown, didn’t see any RAW Superstars appear during the show, but fans inside Madison
Square Garden did get some action when the cameras weren’t rolling. RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and
Rhea Ripley made the jump to the blue brand before SmackDown to compete in a dark match, competing inside the World’s Most Famous Arena.
Flair won the match and kicked off SmackDown in a big way before the show went live, and while this special attraction match doesn’t mean
RAW will be touring with the Blue brand, it made for an extra special night for the fans in NYC.
SmackDown kicked-off with the crowd inside Madison Square Garden acknowledging Roman Reigns, as fans seemed to love the heel, giving
him the acknowledgement he deserves. In an ironic twist, Becky Lynch, once WWE’s most beloved champion, wasn’t so big with the
fans at MSG, and though it was a bit surprising it’s great validation for the SmackDown Women’s Champion
Not only is Lynch’s heel turn picking up steam, but the contract signing between her and Bianca Belair for their match at Extreme Rules
saw some very vocal EST chants for the babyface. Lynch was hesitant to sign a deal, saying she
wanted to defend her title on her terms, but eventually relented after getting flustered by the crowd and Belair
Signing the contract, their match later this month is now official, and even if Belair doesn’t regain the title she lost to The Man in seconds at
Summerslam, it’s validating enough that she has been hot with every crowd she’s been at since WWE returned to touring.
And we’re ending today with Ric Flair, who parted ways with WWE last month, as he believed the company was being too careful
with him, not wanting him to walk upstairs, never mind get in the ring. Flair also had problems with how both he and
his daughter Charlotte have been booked, but just because he’s gone, doesn’t mean fans can’t get some sweet Flair merchandise.
On WWEShop.com, fans can now buy a new legacy championship all about the 16-time World Champion, complete with a real leather
strap, printed to match his iconic robes, and 58 Swarovski crystals housed in a diamond case.
The front-plate alone has 16 Swarovski Crystals to match his 16 world titles, and the title will come in it’s own diamond case, with a custom
Ric Flair robe. At $1000 each, this title is one of the most expensive WWE have produced, and with
just 500 made, they’ll be quite the collector’s items, especially now Ric is out of the company