Here's your wrestling for may 31st 2022
And your headlines for today include
Seth Rollins References AEW, Cody Rhodes Symbolic Throne Smashing On WWE Raw
Where Is WWE Raw Women's Championship Feud Heading?
Real Reason Why Sonya Deville’s Segment Was Pulled From On WWE Smackdown!
Jake Atlas Arrested On Battery Charges
Why Lacey Evans Didn’t Compete On WWE Raw Despite Being Advertised?
Why Jeff Hardy & Adam Cole Pulled From AEW Dynamite Match?
Lee Moriarty’s 1-Year-Old Nephew Killed In Drive-By Shooting
CM Punk Teases Next Possible Challengers For The AEW World Championship Title
What Happened After MJF – Wardlow Match At AEW Double Or Nothing Match Ended?
MJF Not Expected To Appear On AEW Programming In The Near Future
Tony Khan Refuses To Comment On MJF Status After AEW Double Or Nothing
Tony Khan Launches Into Profanity-Filled Rant About ‘Winning The Friday Night War’ After AEW Double Or Nothing
WWE Superstar Paige Attacked By Amber Heard Bots After Making Johnny Depp Trial Poop Joke
CM Punk Says Only ‘Nobodies’ Dislike Him In AEW! And More!
We’re kicking off today with Raw, which saw Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes have a verbal battle days ahead of their Hell in a Cell match this Sunday.
The two didn’t hold back in their war of words, and it was Rollins who referenced AEW in their battle.
Speaking about Rhodes, he said the American Nightmare left WWE in 2016 “because you weren’t good enough” and said that Cody and his “little friends tried to tear down” WWE.
Rollins added that “you don’t get to take a sledgehammer to the throne and get to come back to take back that throne from me,” referencing Cody infamously breaking a Triple H inspired throne
with a sledgehammer at AEW Double or Nothing 2019.
What followed was a physical battle and the two had to be physically separated, in what may be the best feud WWE has one in a long time.
It’ll be interesting to see how this storyline ends at this Sunday’s Hell in a Cell, and whether Rollins’ comments about the throne are able to save him from going 0-3 against Rhodes.
When Cody destroyed that throne, fans had no idea he would one day be back working for Vince McMahon, and while he plans to one day be a WWE World Champion, Rhodes’ actions
actions outside of WWE continue to haunt the American Nightmare.
Raw also saw the continuation of the RAW Women’s Title feud, and while Becky Lynch wasn’t necessarily at her best, it made for an interesting three-woman dynamic.
With Asuka facing Bianca Belair in singles action, it was only predictable that Lynch would cause a disqualification, protecti ng both the champion and the Empress of Tomorrow.
All things seem to indicate that Belair will be retaining, and don't be surprised to see her occupied in a mix of feuds between herself, Asuka, and Lynch for the next few months
Now, Sonya Deville is looking to get back in the swing of things as a full-time wrestler, but she was pulled from last week’s SmackDown.
According to Sean Sapp on Fightful, Deville was supposed to be a part of SmackDown last week accompanying Nikki ASH, but was pulled from the broadcast.
Wade Keller of PW Torch adds that it was Vince McMahon’s call to change the plans, but gave no explanation to Bruce Prichard or any of the producers as to why Deville was pulled.
A former WWE Authority figure, Sonya Deville was a big part of WWE TV for over a year, but we’ll have to see if she can continue her success now that she’s out of her business suit and back in her ring-attire.
We’ve got some concerning news from Jake Atlas, who has arrested on the charge of domestic battery.
A former NXT Superstar, Atlas was arrested on May 23rd and charged with assaulting his partner of several years.
A report obtained by PW Insider said that Atlas had been drinking the night before and called his partner at 10pm Eastern to pick him up, but when his partner arrived,
Atlas changed his tune, saying they should stay at Bid Daddy’s Roadhouse bar and keep drinking. It’s then claimed that when they did leave the bar,
Atlas wanted to go to the home of a female friend to be intimate, but was upset that his partner was showing “half more attention” to her, sparking a “verbal argument.”v
It was at this point that Atlas allegedly tried to attack his partner, but was prevented by a witness who told Jake to go home and “sleep it off” but he later followed his partner home. The report adds:
Atlas again attempted to attack the victim with the witness again trying to stop it from happening, but this time, the altercation left the victim with a scratch on his left forearm and his tank top torn.
When the two were separated, Atlas reportedly demanded to be brought back to their apartment to get his dog and leave, but back at their place, he refused to go.
When the police arrived, Atlas immediately began a verbal tirade about his partner, and he was arrested when it was determined he was the aggressor.
The former Superstar signed a no-contact order, outlawing communication with his partner, who he must also stay 500 feet away from.
Atlas is out of jail now, but is set to appear in Orange County court on June 28th, and we’ll follow this story for further updates.
Back to Raw, as Lacey Evans was meant to make her return to action on the red brand this week, but simply didn’t happen.
It was announced last week that the former U.S. Marine would work her first match since returning from maternity leave, but there was no mention during last night’s show as to why she wasn’t wrestling.
While Evans was brought back to SmackDown as a babyface, she’s since been moved to Raw with reports being that she’ll be a heel, but for now, getting any TV time is proving to be an
endeavour for the Sassy Southern Belle.
Over to AEW now, as the company is looking to follow-up on an exciting edition of Double or Nothing with this week’s Dynamite, but that show will have to go ahead without two big stars.
It was previously announced that Matt and Jeff Hardy would team with Jurassic Express and Christian Cage to go against all five members of The Undisputed Elite.
Now though, the match is Matt, Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy and Christian Cage against Red Dragon and the Young Bucks.
No explanation has been given as to why Jeff Hardy and Adam Cole have been pulled from the match, but it’s possible one of them is injured, and that AEW did not want the teams to be unbalanced.
Whatever the case, Jeff and Cole won’t be competing this Wednesday night, and we’ll keep you the viewer updates as more information comes out.
In recent weeks, guns in the U.S. have been a huge topic in the country, and now we have some tragic news from yet another shooting.
On social media, AEW’s Lee Moriarty broke the tragic news that his one year old nephew has been killed this week by a drive-by shooting.
Moriarty said that while he doesn’t share things from his personal life, his nephew deserves to be acknowledged, and he would have grown up to become a great person.
Gun violence is a terrible thing that is getting increasingly worse in the United States, with headlines of mass shootings and school shootings becoming more and more common across the country.
Moriarty’s nephew’s death didn’t make national news, but it is a huge loss, and we at Slat Rock would like to offer our condolen ces to Lee and his family at this awful time.
At AEW Double or Nothing 2022, CM Punk won the AEW World Championship, marking his first title win since beating Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship back at Survivor Series 2011.
Punk is once again a World Champion, and is taking that moniker seriously, as he has some big plans to take the title outside of the U.S.
While speaking during the post-Double or Nothing media scrum, Punk name-dropped several stars from New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as AEW talent, as possible challengers:
“I think [Kazuchika] Okada, [Hiroshi] Tanahashi, [Will] Ospreay, guys like that I’m looking forward to stepping into the ring with. AEW talent — I always think number one with a bullet is going to be
Bryan Danielson. I’ve never wrestled Jon Moxley — I’ve wrestled Dean Ambrose, so that’s an interesting match up. There’s still guys on my list that I’ve never wrestled with, Jungle Boy, Ricky
Starks. I could probably finish out my career wrestling FTR every day for the rest of my life, and it could be different and fun every single tim e. Will Hobbs is another guy that I think has all the potential in the world.
We’ve got a really stacked roster. It’s almost a crime that we can’t do everybody justice at once, but I think we’re getting there with baby steps. I think we’re learning. I think we make mistakes, but
instead of dwelling on it and punishing other people or ourselves, I think we move on and try to learn from things. But Bryan Danielson will probably be the first guy that comes to mind. Very selfishly,
I’d love to wrestle him.”
Danielson and Punk did feud over the WWE Championship in 2012, in a series of matches that saw Punk get the wins over his opponent.
As for Okada, he has said he believes he’ll face Punk in AEW, and now that likely match could be for the AEW World Championship.
Double or Nothing may have ended with CM Punk winning his first World title in nine years, but for many fans, the biggest talking point of the show was MJF.
Prior to the event, MJF had no-showed a meet and greet with fans, fueling speculation of his genuine problems with the company, and while he did compete, he didn’t stick around for long.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that MJF left immediately after his match, which saw him get destroyed by Ward low, who earned an official contract with AEW following his win.
It’s worth stating that some have said this is all part of a storyline, and part of MJF’s refusal to break character, even behind the scenes, but it’s still hard to say at this time.
From no-showing the meet and greet, arriving at Double or Nothing at the last minute and not sticking around during AEW’s biggest show of the year, MJF has once again proven to be a talking
point, but his recent antics may not have been just for show.
Whatever the situation is with MJF, Tony Khan doesn’t want to talk about, and made that clear on the post-Double or Nothing media scrum.
When asked about MJF’s actions over the weekend, the AEW President said that they would not be speaking about the situation, and while he would talk about other matters, MJF was off the table.
Khan later added that he does not expect the Salt of the Earth to be on TV for quite some time.
After his loss to Wardlow, MJF was taken out of the arena on a str etcher, effectively writing his character off TV, though it’s impossible to tell if this time off is for a story, injury or to sore real-life frustrations.
All we can say for sure is that MJF won’t be around for at least the next couple of weeks, but the situation from behind the scenes will keep fans speculating for a long time to come.
Tony Khan didn’t want to speak about MJF during the media scrum, but he had plenty to say about CM Punk and went about it in a rather unhinged way.
Khan’s passion for his company can’t be denied, but during a d iscussion about Punk, the AEW President went on a profanity filled rant about the Friday Night War:
We just did a record pay-per-view buy, every pay-per-view, he’s done a four pay-per-view cycle now, every one of them was the record. Whether it was All Out, where he was huge part of the
draw with Darby, his debut was a huge thing with the First Dance, the biggest Rampage draw in the history of that show.
The matches, he carried the Friday Night War, which, by the way, is a matter of record in f****** court in the state of California that we won the Friday Night War. Just ask Jerry McDevitt because he
f****** wrote it. This guy won it, vs. Matt Sydal, who is a great wrestler, he had another goddamn
great match on Friday night. This f***** guy, he f****** did the Friday Night War, he did the First Dance, he’s done the record Double or Nothing. He did the record All Out in his debut.
part of the record Full Gear, a great match with Eddie Kingston. He’s wrestled a bunch of young guys and veterans in-between the re. Will Hobbs, Daniel Garcia, then he showed up and did the biggest
program in terms of everything, TV, box office, ever with MJF. Then he did the goddamn main event here. He’s the biggest part of financial success in the history of this company.”
The Friday Night War was a brief 30-minute crossover between AEW Rampage and WWE SmackDown on FOX, which Khan has claimed victory over.
While WWE earned more viewers for their show, and earned more viewers during the 30-minute crossover, Rampage had more fans in the 18-49 demographic for that half-hour period, which Khan is
is taking as a win.
Some fans have called Khan’s actions into question, saying he’s obsessed with the little things when he should be acting more prof essional, but don’t expect that change to come anytime soon, if ever.
For many people, the concept of social media has been fantastic, allowing them to get closer to their favourite performers than ever before.
There are some people who take things way too far online though and recently, Paige was the victim of some vile comments following a joke.
After the former Superstar poked fun at the reports of Amber Heard defecating in her bed during her relationship with Johnny Depp, Page received a lot of backlash, including one person
who said it would be “entertainment” if Paige killed herself.
Paige didn’t hold back in her response, branding the vile message “cute” and asked if Amber Heard herself had taught the person to say that.
Another person had a more civil response, saying they disagree with Paige and stand with Amber Heard, and Paige responded in a similarly polite tone.
In an update, Paige said how she had to delete her original joke about pooping the bed, saying that the “Amber bots” were going crazy at her.
The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard lawsuit has been going on for some time now, and the former WWE Divas Champion has made it clear she supports the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.
No matter who’s side your on, telling someone to take their own life is never acceptable, especially with Paige’s history of mental health issues.
And we’re ending today with CM Punk, who may be popular with fans, but not everybody in AEW feels this way.
Speaking on the Double or Nothing media scrum, Punk was asked if anyone dislikes him in AEW, and made it clear that he’s not going to let anyone else faze him:
If there’s people backstage that don’t like me, it’s a minority. If anybody says that nobody wants me here, nobody likes me, I’d like to say that nobodies don’t like me and nobodies don’t want me here.
Punk can’t please everyone, but he’s certainly pleased Tony Khan, who decided to put the World Championship on the former WWE Superstar last Sunday night, in a sight fans thought was
impossible just a few years ago.