Here is your news for June 22nd 2020 Undertaker Announces Retirement! Chris Jericho Talks About Sasha Banks! Where Is Elias Now? WWE News 2 00:00:15,482 --> 00:00:18,385 And your headlines for today include:
Breaking News – Undertaker Announces Retirement; WWE Confirms Taker’s Retirement!
Former World Heavyweight Champion Christian Is Medically Disqualified For An
In Ring Return !
Matt Riddle Speaks Truth About Bill Goldberg!
Why Chris Jericho Fired Back At Sasha Banks!
WWE Wrestler Out Of Action Until WrestleMania 37 and MORE!
We’re kicking off today with news from The Undertaker, as the Deadman has
given a huge hint that his one of a kind, incredible career may indeed be over.
In the latest edition of WWE Network’s Last Ride docuseries, the former World
Champion spoke about this current period in his life, fresh off his victory at
WrestleMania 36’s Boneyard match, which he described as a hellacious battle
against one of the best in the business. He added:
“There was a lot of thought and a lot of emotion, one of those being 'are you
happy enough with that?’… If there was ever a perfect ending to a career, that
right there was it.”
The Demon of Death Valley went on to say that if Vince McMahon was in
desperate need of him, he’d consider coming back, before dropping a bombshell, as he said:
“At this point in my career, I have no desire to get back in the ring."
If The Undertaker’s career is indeed over, then that means that the Boneyard
match was his retirement match, and whilst the angle had to be changed due to
their being no crowd at WrestleMania, the match more than delivered.
Even after losing, AJ Styles continued to poke fun at the 55-year-old legend, but on
Twitter, the Intercontinental Champion let his heel persona drop as news of the
Deadman’s retirement went viral, saying that if it is indeed the Phenom’s last time
lacing up his boots, he’s honoured it was against him.
It wasn’t too long ago that fans thought AJ Styles was someone who’d never make
it to WWE, so the fact that he’s now being considered the final opponent for the
Phenom is an accolade for the reigning IC Champion.
On Twitter, the hashtag #ThankYouTaker was quickly trending, and whilst this is
the same hashtag that was around when Roman Reigns seemingly retired the
Deadman at WrestleMania 33 in 2017, it seems this time his departure is for real.
The fact that WWE shared the hashtag with a picture of some of the Phenom’s
biggest moments means it looks like the company are treating this as a very real retirement.
That doesn’t mean that fans will never see the former World Champion again, as
he still as 15-years on his new contract, but it’s likely that his in-ring career is probably done.
It’s safe to say that the Phenom has had a career unlike anyone else, and whether
it was capturing World Championships, riding into arenas on a motorcycle, or
scaring us witless, he always did it with professionalism and mystique.
Nearly 30 years after his debut at the 1990 Survivor Series, the Undertaker has
truly become a Phenom, and if he does feel like his career in the ring is officially
over, then he’s certainly earned his retirement after decades of entertaining millions of fans.
As one journey comes to an end, another begins, as Bruce Prichard was recently
named the new RAW Executive Director, but not everyone is happy about this.
It’s been said that Prichard will likely change a lot of things that Paul Heyman was
previously working on, such as building new stars, leaving some of the younger
stars understandably concerned.
Speaking to Wrestling Inc, former WWE Referee Jimmy Korderas had some mixed
things to say about the Director of both RAW and SmackDown, revealing:
Bruce has worked closely with Vince for a long time, and I know there’s gonna be
that element that Bruce is just gonna be a ‘yes guy’ for Vince. But also, Bruce
understands what Vince likes, and maybe he can be that bridge.”
Korderas went on to say that Prichard and Heyman had different visions for the
red brand, claiming that Heyman’s style caters for the more diehard wrestling fan. He added:
What’s lost, in my opinion, is that casual fan that has seemed to tune out,
especially now at this time, because everybody’s tuned in to different things.
Maybe this is an attempt to see what works.”
Tonight’s RAW will be Prichard’s second opportunity to show us how things will be
different, and with four title matches and a guest appearance by Ric Flair, a
stacked show like this could lead to more casual fans returning, and an increase in
the viewing figures.
One person fans may not see tonight is Christian, who returned last week but lost
to Randy Orton in an unsanctioned match.
With Edge on the shelf due to a torn tricep he suffered at Backlash, it looks like
the WWE is slotting Captain Charisma into his spot to feud with the Viper, but
despite their match On Raw, this may be easier said than done.
According to Dave Meltzer who wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter,
Christian hasn’t received medical clearance to wrestle, after he quietly retired in
2014 due to multiple injuries he suffered throughout his career.
As part of the Unsanctioned match, Christian only took two moves, namely a low
blow and a punt to the skull, which many fans took as a sign that the former
World Heavyweight Champion wasn’t medically cleared to compete.
Though there’s no shortage of fans who’d love to see Christian have one more
match, and get revenge on the Viper in the process, it seems that’s easier said
than done, and we’ll have to wait and see whether WWE allow Captain Charisma
to wrestle in an actual match at some point in the near future.
From RAW to SmackDown now, as Matt Riddle has done a lot lately, but has also
set the record straight on his beef with Goldberg.
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the King of Bros spoke about the friction
between the two, as Riddle has been extremely critical of the former Universal
Champion for a number of years.
In the interview, Riddle admitted he never wanted a match against Goldberg, but
just wanted to make his thoughts about him clear. He said:
I’m just not a fan of his work. I just feel like you know he’s been pushed a lot and
he’s been able to accomplish so much when I feel like there’s a lot of other people
that are more deserving but that’s it.
Riddle went on to confirm that he still wants a match with Brock Lesnar, which
may be easier said than done, especially as their backstage confrontation at the
Rumble made it clear that the Beast doesn’t want anything to do with the King of Bros.
Another person who likes to run their mouth is Sasha Banks, but after she said
that she and Bayley are the Greatest Tag Team in wrestling, and even claimed they
were better than AEW’s Le Sex Gods.
This comment drew the ire of Chris Jericho, as the AEW star sarcastically said he
was proud of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, but pointed out that
WWE lost to AEW in the vital 18-49 demographic recently.
Jericho’s partner Sammy Guevara also got in on the action, sharing a picture of a
young, long-haired Ricochet which he pretended to mistake for the Boss, and
asked whether the former US Champion had gotten a new Twitter account.
The Boss didn’t take too kindly to this, reminding Guevara who she is, referring to
herself as one-half of the greatest tag team in the world.
We’ll have to see whether Jericho responds to Banks, but once again, the Boss and
her tag team partner aren’t mincing their words one bit.
Now, yesterday was Father’s Day, and whilst many people were praising their
proud papas, Vince McMahon, as always, did things in his own way.
On Twitter, the father of modern-day WWE tweeted a throwback picture of his
kids Shane and Stephanie, and said he was lucky to have these amazing kids,
though Stephanie joked that this isn’t what the Boss tells them.
Vince also praised all fathers who cherish the gift of fatherhood, a sentiment that
was shared by Stephanie.
Shane didn’t respond to his dad’s tweet, though he may reply with something short
and sweet, just like how Vince did to Shane in a birthday tweet that fans still troll
the boss over to this day.
Whether it be raising kids or raising a wrestling empire, Vince has been a father to
many things, but we just hope that we never have to face our dads in an I-Quit
match like Stephanie, or get shoved in the rear of our fathers, like Shane-O-Mac.
We’re focussing on AEW next, as the company has continued to add segments to
this Wednesday’s edition of Dynamite.
On Twitter, AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes announced that he’ll be hosting a
press conference, ahead of his championship match against Jake Hager at Fyter Fest.
Whilst Rhodes has been defending his title each week on Dynamite, no title match
has been announced yet, as it seems this segment will replace Cody’s weekly title defence.
Rhodes’ press conference is the latest big announcement for this Wednesday’s
show, which will also see the company’s first Lumberjack match, FTR in action
against the Natural Nightmares, as well as AEW World Champion Jon Moxley
facing an unknown opponent.
It’ll be interesting to see what Cody and Hager have to say ahead of their title
match at Fyter Fest, but given the history of press conferences and contract
signings, fans can expect fists to fly this Wednesday.
We have some MAJOR news about Elias . Elias was part of a major Hit and Run
segment a few weeks back on SmackDown, and it was later revealed that the
WWE booked the angle to write him off TV. Elias suffered a legitimate non-
storyline torn pectoral muscle injury which required him to take some time off.
The news of the injury was confirmed by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer
and John Pollock of POST Wrestling.
Pollock noted:
“Elias is out of action with a torn pectoral muscle, POST Wrestling has learned
from multiple sources with the angle shot to write him off of television while he
recovers. It is not known when he suffered the injury.”
During the injury updates segment of Sean Ross Sapp's Backstage Report podcast on
FightFul Select
SRS shared a disconcerting detail regarding the timeline of
Elias' recovery and his expected WWE return date.
SRS said that Elias might reportedly not be back until WrestleMania 37, which is
slated to happen at the end of March 2021 at the SoFI Stadium in Inglewood, California.
And we’re ending today with news from Monday Night RAW, , as fans have gotten
to see a lot of Dominik Mysterio as of late, including taking out Seth Rollins on last week’s show.
Whilst time will tell whether Dominik’s career goes in this angle between his
father and the Monday Night Messiah, Rey himself has explained one scenario he
definitely doesn’t want to see.
While speaking to Rock Around the Ring, the former World Champion was asked
about his career coming to an end, and whether he’d want to face Dominik in his
retirement match. Rey responded saying:
That’s something that I would hate. I would hate to walk out and have my son take
over on my last match. I think the torch has already been passed and will
eventually again the day that we get to share a ring together and perform in front
of fans. That’s when the torch will be passed onto him.”
Time will tell who exactly Rey’s final opponent will be, and whilst there’s been
rumours of Dominik siding with the Monday Night Messiah as part of the current
storyline, it’s clear that Rey doesn’t want to battle his own son on the way out.