Here's your wrestling news for September 13th 2021
And your headlines for today include
Did WWE & Vince McMahon Change Extreme Rules After AEW Dynamite Beat RAW In Ratings?
Samoa Joe Relinquishes WWE NXT Title!
Why Bryan Danielson Had To Apologize To AEW Wrestlers?
News On Bray Wyatt’s Likely AEW Debut Date If He Were To Sign!
Why WWE Moved Bobby Lashley Vs. Randy Orton To RAW Revealed!
Former WWE Champion Wants A Cinematic Match Against The Usos In A Haunted Prison!
Recently Signed WWE Wrestler Might Skip NXT For WWE Main Roster!
Drew McIntyre Suffers Embarrassing Moment At WWE House Show! And More!
We’re kicking off today with Extreme Rules, which was meant to see WWE Champion Bobby Lashley defend his title against
Randy Orton, but that match has since been changed. Instead, that match will happen on tonight’s
RAW, and there’s no word on when the pre- announced RAW Tag Title match between RK-Bro and Lashley and MVP will happen,
but there’s a big reason behind these changes. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that Vince McMahon chose to move
the WWE title match to RAW, after losing to AEW Dyanimite last week in the crucial 18-49 demographic:
“They moved the pay-per-view match to Raw. Originally they were going to do the tag team title match. The whole show last week was
built to set up this tag team title match on this week’s Raw and then they pulled the match because they lost in the ratings and they’re
putting Randy Orton and Bobby Lashley, the pay-per-view main event on TV tomorrow night. Yea, that’s among the responses [to AEW].
I’m not surprised.” This is quite the claim from Meltzer, especially as WWE’s President Nick Khan has said that WWE
only focusses on it’s own product, and will continue to work without seeing what any other company is doing.
When Ringside News asked about the change, they were told by a member of creative:
“There are other reasons why the title match is being moved to Monday, and it has nothing to do with AEW.”
It’s been previously reported that WWE books in response to big events, such as football games, the world series and the Olympics,
and it’s not just limited to AEW. There’s even been speculation that moving the title match to RAW is because Big E will be
cashing-in his Money in the Bank contract after the match, and having the former New Day member win would certainly help pop the ratings.
If this is the case, it would presumably set up a different title match at Extreme Rules, possibly a triple threat between Big E, Lashley and Orton
Whatever the case, WWE is now holding their title match tonight, instead of this Sunday, and time will tell who leaves the
TD Garden in Boston as the WWE Champion.
Over to NXT now, as the show will usher in a new era tomorrow night, but will have to do so without a top champion.
On social media, thee-time NXT Champion Samoa Joe broke the sad news, saying that due to a series of undisclosed injuries,
WWE’s medical team have asked him to step away from the ring, and in a very difficult decision, Joe has vacated the NXT title.
Saying that NXT’s new era deserves a fighting Champion, Joe wished the next Champion the best, but didn’t give any
clue on who that’ll be. We expect that Joe’s difficult decision will be discussed on tomorrow night’s show, and a
tournament of some kind to crown the next champion will be announced. Joe is now the third man to vacate the NXT
Championship in three years, after Tommaso Ciampa in 2019 and Karrion Kross last year, and now, the new era of the gold brand is
without a top Superstar.
At Summerslam 2021, Brock Lesnar returned to WWE after over a year away, and the company hasn’t wasted time locking in trademarks to
market the former Universal Champion. On September 8th, WWE locked down a new copyright for ‘Eat Sleep Conquer Repeat’ which
can often be found on Lesnar’s merch. Now, that phrase is the property of WWE once more, and fans can expect to see plenty of it
in Lesnar’s quest to become Universal Champion once more
Over to AEW, as Bryan Danielson made his debut at All Out, but that appearance was a bit too physical for the former WWE Champion’s liking.
According to Fightful Select, Danielson got a bit carried away in the melee that ended All Out, and was apologetic backstage for being
too stiff in the ring. It adds: “We’re told that Bryan Danielson actually cracked one of the Young Bucks pretty hard
at the end of the show, but there was no heat and Danielson was apologetic about it.”
Fightful didn’t state which of the Bucks was hurt, but judging by the brawl in the ring, Nick was the one who took the most damage from Bryan
Bryan has said he’s in AEW to wrestle, and that’s exactly what he’s doing, and things got kicked off, literally, in a big way, during his AEW debut.
One person fans expect to join AEW is Bray Wyatt, who was cut from WWE earlier this year.
A bizzarre decision given that the Fiend had been a highlight of WWE in recent years, it’s been reported that Wyatt has already met with
Tony Khan, and that the pair are working on a multi-year contract. Now, Wyatt’s debut may be sooner than anyone
previously thought, as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that there’s talks right now about Wyatt debuting on the
September 29th Dynamite, which’ll air from Rochester, New York: the hometown of the late Brodie Lee.
This date is interesting given that Wyatt was believed to be under a 90-day non-compete clause, which would expire on Friday October 29th,
a week before Full Gear on November 13th, and a month after the Rochester Dynamite. The Observer also noted that Wyatt has also
had talks with Impact Wrestling as well, and will likely join Impact if he doesn’t debut for AEW later this month.
If that’s the case, then Wyatt could debut for Impact at the October 23rd Bound for Glory Pay-Per-View, if he’s under some clause other
than the standard 90-day non-compete. It’s been previously reported that the general feeling amongst AEW higher-ups is that Wyatt
will join their company very soon, as September will prove to be a pivotal time for the Former Fiend
Back to WWE, and Jeff Hardy’s booking has been under severe scrutiny as of late, as fans haven’t enjoyed seeing him be squashed
by Karrion Kross and in the 24/7 title chase. Jeff has defended his booking, saying he does what he’s told, and does his job well, but
there are some plans the Chrarismatic Enigma is hoping for. Speaking to Wrestle Inside the Ropes, Jeff said
how he has a dream for a cinematic match with the Usos, which’d play off the Uso penitentiary concept by being hosted in a haunted prison.
Calling the idea “extremely cool,” the Usos aren’t the only Boodline members on Jeff’s radar, as hes also said he wants to become Universal
Champion one day, which means he’d have to face Roman Reigns. These matches would certainly be cool,
but seem to be a distant fantasy considering Jeff’s current booking, as the company is showing little to no interest in the massively
charismatic three-time former World Champion.
Earlier this month, WWE officially signed Gable Steveson to a contract, one that’ll allow him to keep competing at a collegiate level,
allthewhile training to be a Superstar. This sort of deal is unprecedented, and it’s not the only example of special treatment that
the Olympic Gold Medalist may be receiving. During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer suggested that WWE will have Steveson skip
the line and bypass NXT, and could debut on the main-roster very soon in what’ll be a sink or swim situation.
Meltzer added that he expects the Olympian to be a full-time Superstar by May 2022, just 8 months from now, meaning that if Gable is in NXT,
he’ll have an incredibly short tenure on the show. Gable wouldn’t be the first big name to skip
developmental, as Ronda Rousey did the exact same when she joined WWE in 2018, and with Vince McMahon reportedly set to introduce
Steveson to the fans himself, the company is doing a lot to accommodate for their second- ever Olympic Gold Medalist
On January 31st, 2022, Kevin Owens’ contract with WWE will expire, far earlier than the initially believed 2023 date.
As a massive star on the indies before WWE, Owens has a lot of friends who are now in AEW, and has teased reuniting with his Mount
Mount Rushmore buddies, Adam Cole and the Young Bucks. It’s too early to call if Owens will be All-Elite next
year, but one person who sees it happening is Jim Cornette, who said on his Jim Cornette Experience show:
“There can’t be any doubt that a guy like Steen [Kevin Owens] that always wanted to do exactly what he wanted to do would want to
a company where he will be allowed to do almost everything he wants to do.” Owens said in 2018 that he doesn’t see
himself wrestling anywhere else after WWE, but it’s worth remembering that he said this before AEW was founded, and the next few
months will make for an interesting time for the former World Champion.
We’ve got unfortunate news from former WWE Superstar Chris Masters, who recently missed a show for the worst reason.
Masters was meant to be at a PCW show, and had been advertised before not appearing, and when a fan asked on Twitter,
the former Superstar said that a positive test had derailed his plans. The Masterpiece didn’t specify if he’d tested
positive, but that’s what many took his response to mean, and we’re sending our best to Chris at this difficult time
And we’re ending today with Drew McIntyre, who faced Jinder Mahal in a street fight at a live event in Washington D.C.
Prior to the match, McIntyre had some trouble with his ring-gear, and in a fan-recorded video, the two-time former WWE Champion
can be seen struggling with his kilt, and needed Byron Saxton’s assistance in getting it off.
The kilt was apparently stuck to the chains, and after jokingly asking the fans for help, Drew wiggled himself out of the situation.
On Twitter, McIntyre said you never know what’s going to happen at a WWE Live event, and even though the clip has since been
shared hundreds of times online, at least this embarrassing wardrobe malfunction didn’t happen on live TV.