Here's your wrestling news for July 24th 2021
And your headlines for today include
Goldberg Advertised For Multiple WWE RAW Events!
Nikki ASH Segment & More Set For WWE RAW!
What Happened With John Cena After WWE SmackDown Went Off Air?
What Is Randy Orton’s Current Situation With WWE?
CM Punk’s Contract Details; AJ Lee’s Current Situation With AEW And More!
An Underwhelming WWE Smackdown Debut!
Was Rolling Loud Festival A Success For WWE ?
AEW Being Very Careful To Avoid Contract Tampering!
Yet Another MAJOR FIRING WITHIN WWE!
WWE Holding New Year’s Pay-Per-View!
The Rock Won’t Return To Fast & Furious Franchise & more!
We’re starting today with Bill Goldberg, who is determined to get a WWE Championship match with Bobby Lashley at Summerslam
and it appears that’s exactly what will happen. Lashley has already declined a match with Goldberg, but right now, WWE is advertising
the WCW legend for two more RAW appearances, namely the August 2nd and August 16th episodes of RAW.
The August 16th show will also be the go- home RAW before Summerslam, as it seems the match will happen, even if the Almighty
WWE Champion is opposed to it. Goldberg is contracted for two matches a year, but that could always increase if
Vince McMahon is willing to pay, but don’t expect to see the Hall of Famer in any capacity on WWE TV until next month.
Goldberg won’t be appearing on next week’s RAW, but there’ll be plenty for fans to tune in for.
As advertised during SmackDown, RAW will see WWE Champion Bobby Lashley address the challenge made by Goldberg, despite
already rejecting the Hall-of-Famer on social media. RAW Women’s Champion Nikki A.S.H. will be
t the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri to discuss her recent title win, and the RAW Tag Champions AJ Styles and Omos will
defend yet again against the Viking Raiders. After failing to win the titles at Money-in-the- Bank, we’ll have to see if the Raiders can
get the job done next week, in what’ll be a huge show as we continue on the road to Summerslam
SmackDown news next, as John Cena once- again challenged Roman Reigns for a Summerslam match last night, but it’s what
happened after the show that has fans talking. In a huge treat for the crowd in Cleveland, Cena had his first match in over a year
teaming with the Mysterios to face Reigns and the Usos. In the end, Cena and Mysterios won the
match, but fans were left wondering why they had to wait until after the show to see Cena and Reigns come to blows.
Cena didn’t show signs of ring-rust and remains in phenomenal shape, and it’ll be interesting to see how often he wrestles
as part of the WWE’s ‘Summer of Cena’ tour.
One person fans won’t see on the tour is Randy Orton, who’s been missing from TV for several weeks.
This has come especially hard for Riddle, who is missing his RK-Bro partner immensely, and we have an update on
Viper’s situation. Fightful reports that there are no problems between Orton and WWE, but he has been
on the disabled/inactive list during his time away from TV. We don’t know what’s caused him to be
taken off-screen exactly, but the company is hopeful that the 14-time World Champion will be back for the August 2nd RAW.
We’re hoping for a swift recovery for Orton, who has been fantastic as of late as the straight-man to Riddle’s antics
and whatever happens, the Original Bro won’t forget about him in the meantime.
CM Punk news next, as it was reported earlier this week that the former World Champion will soon be All Elite.
It’s even been reported that Punk’s deal with AEW is a quote “done deal,” and though neither Punk nor AEW have
confirmed these reports, many people believe he’ll be returning to the ring. That belief has even reached WWE,
as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the internal belief inside Vince McMahon’s promotion is that Punk
has signed with WWE. Since walking out of WWE in 2014, Punk has kept his distance, as he made it clear
when he joined WWE Backstage in 2019 that he was working with FOX, not McMahon.
The date of Punk’s debut hasn’t been confirmed either, but it’s believed that the All Out event on September 5th will be the night,
as it takes place in Chicago, Illinois. Until Punk appears on AEW Television, the reports of his return should be taken
with a pinch of salt, but that hasn’t stopped WWE themselves from thinking the Best in the World is joining the opposition.
Plenty of reports have come out about Punk signing with AEW, and despite nothing been confirmed by Punk or AEW themselves,
that info has gotten out to the secondary ticket market. This market is for fans who were unable
to get tickets when they first went on sale, which is a lot pf people considering how AEW shows usually sell out immediately.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that following the reports of Punk’s All Out debut, the get in price is now $141, an
18% increase of what they were. The post-All Out episode of Dynamite, which’ll air from Cincinatti has also seen
prices increase to $118, which’ll be AEW’s first time running a show in Jon Moxley’s home-town.
The get-in price for the Arthur Ashe Stadium for AEW’s Grand Slam Dynamite on September 22nd is only $43, despite the
reports of Daniel Bryan’d debut, but that shoe also has over 17,000 tickets available, so there’s a lot more for fans to buy
Clearly, the mere idea of Punk being at shows is causing the ticket prices to go up, as the Best in the World remains a huge draw nearly
a decade after his last televised match.
More CM Punk news, as the former WWE Champion hasn’t competed on TV since the 2014 Royal Rumble event, which makes his
impending AEW debut all the more important. This week, Booker T discussed Punk on his Hall of Fame podcast, and the five-time
WCW World Champion believes that Punk’s mind-frame may not be in the right place. He explained
“I’m thinking about CM Punk who’s been away from the game for seven years. I’m not hating or anything like that, but my thing is this: in my
40s, mid-40s, even though I still looked good, I had a phobia about taking my shirt off in the locker room with the young guys. It’s
like, ‘Man, these guys look great. Goddamn!’ Booker added that his age played a huge factor in his wrestling career, and said that
when you start questioning yourself, its time to move on to something else. Punk hasn’t wrestled on TV in a very long
time, but it’s rumoured that he’s appeared on the indies a couple of times since leaving WWE, and with a moniker as the Best in
the World, Punk will have a lot to live up to when he eventually makes his AEW debut as an active pro-wrestler.
Over to SmackDown, and ever since Zelina Vega returned to the blue brand, she’s been racking up loss-after-loss.
This week was no difference, as Vega fell to the debuting Toni Storm, who had a pretty underwhelming first-match on the main-roster.
No investment has gone into Vega’s character, and the fact she got the dreaded jobber entrance of appearing in the ring speaks
volumes. The SmackDown crowd, which was hot for the rest of the show, was quiet during
this match, and we hope Vega’s return was worth it after her unfair firing last year.
This week’s show also saw two matches at the Rolling Loud Festival, which seemed to feel off compared to the rest of SmackDown.
The festival audience didn’t seem to no or care who the SmackDown Superstars were, and perhaps a better idea would’ve
been to have Edge or John Cena, who are both household names, make an appearance. That said, the return of Montez Ford was
good to see, as his return will only bolster SmackDown’s Tag division immensely.
More AEW news, as the company recently signed Thunder Rosa, despite having time on her NWA contract.
This move happened because Tony Khan bought out Rosa’s remaining contract with the NWA, and the AEW President is being
very careful when it comes to contracts with other companies. Fightful Select reports that Khan is being
caught not to get caught tampering with contracts, and wanted to play the Thunder Rosa situation by-the-book.
It’s also noted that Khan and the NWA’s Billy Corgan often work together directly, and worked together when Thunder Rosa
made requests to get out of her NWA deal. It wasn’t noted how much AEW paid to buy-out Thunder Rosa’s contract, but now
fans will see her perform as an AEW exclusive wrestler.
Thunder Rosa won’t be working with Britt Baker, as the AEW Women’s Champion is out with a Broken wrist.
This injury was suffered during her this week’s title defence against Nyla Rose, but Baker has shown that an injury won’t stop
her from doing plenty on TV.
Now, in June 2021, it was reported that Canyon Ceman had been removed from WWE, but those reports were quickly
refuted. This time though, is departure has actually happened, as PW Insider reports that the
WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development was let go yesterday. Ceman was hired in March 2012, and was
helped oversee NXT as it developed from a reality show into WWE’s developmental program, and later the company’s third brand.
There’s no word yet on why WWE has let Ceman go, but we’ll keep you viewers updated as more details are made known.
Pay-Per-View news now, and for the first time ever, a WWE event will take place on New Year’s Day.
The yet to-be-named WWE Pay-Per-View will happen on Saturday, January 1st 2022 at 8PM Eastern from the State Farm Arena in
Atlanta, Georgia, with tickets going on sale on August 27th. This show was confirmed by Bianca Belair
at the Rolling Loud Festival last night, and we’ll have to see what card is made for this historic show.
We know that Wesley Blake won’t be on the show, as he was released from WWE, but the company has the trademark for his name.
Now, the former NXT Tag Champion has confirmed that his new will be Westin Blake, which plays on his WWE name and his
WWE name and his real-name Cory Weston. Hopefully, Blake can find his spot in the pro-wrestling world soon enough, and
wherever he goes, it’ll be as Westin, not Wesley.
Over to Impact now, as W. Morrisey is looking to prove himself in a major way, after his controversial release from WWE in 2018.
Morrisey has battled personal demons since departing WWE, but seems to be in a better place right now.
Speaking on Sean Waltman’s podcast, the former Big Cass said he’s very happy in Impact, and enjoys the great talent and
locker-room, adding: “I am signed with IMPACT until Bound For Glory in October. Things could change
tomorrow. We’ll see. We’re kind of going on a ‘feel’ basis.” Morrisey has impressed since joining Impact,
and although he’s only signed until October, we wouldn’t be surprised if another offer is made by Impact before then
And we’re ending with The Rock, who’s one of the main names in the Fast and Furious franchise, even if he’s not part of Vin Diesel’s
family. Now, the saga will have to go on without the Brahma Bull, as in an interview with the
Hollywood Reporter, The Rock confirmed that the rest of the franchise will go on without him, saying:
I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they
do that will be without me.” The Rock made his Fast franchise debut in 2011’s fifth installment in the franchise,
but there’ll be no more of his character Luke Hobbs from now on.
That’s it for this video, but make sure to come back to Slat Rock Wrestling for another interesting video today, all about
John Cena, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and the booking over the Universal title.