Here's more wrestling news for July 4th 2022
We’re kicking off today with Stephanie McMahon, who is serving as interim CEO and Chairwoman of WWE in her father’s absence.
Yesterday, we reported that McMahon hosted a talent wide meeting backstage at Money in the Bank, which served as her first Premium Live Event in charge.
We now know more about that meeting, as Sean Ross Sapp reports that the meeting did not include everyone on the roster:
We’re told that not all talent were in attendance, as there were plenty that weren’t brought into town. One longtime talent that we spoke to said that it was simply a staff meeting saying much of
what talent already knew. Stephanie McMahon thanked everyone to close the meeting. We’re told that she had reiterated to talent that her door was always open.
The meeting was unanimously positively received based on talent and staff that we spoke with. We have not heard of Vince McMahon being a part of the meeting, though he was at Money in the Bank and still
operating as usual.
For years, there were reports of hour long lines by talent to see Vince McMahon when he was in charge, and we’ll have to see if a line starts forming outside Stephanie office door now that she is running the show.
Now, after Money in the Bank went off the air, Pat McAfee was attacked at ringside by Happy Corbin, continuing their feud that’s played out over the past weeks.
Later that night, McAfee sported a neck brace to attend the UFC 276 event, and on Twitter, gave an update on his condition.
McAfee said that he’d been laid up all day resting his back and neck, and said he’ll be okay, but Corbin won’t after Summerslam.
A match between Corbin and McAfee has been confirmed for the July 30th show, as the SmackDown commentator is looking for revenge after last weekend’s blindside.
Over to AEW now, as Jon Moxley entered alcohol rehab last year, and has been able to overcome his substance abuse problems.
At Forbidden Door, Moxley became the first-ever two-time AEW World Champion, but there has been a debate over who paid for him to enter rehab.
When a fan posted an excerpt from Moxley’ recent memoir in which he candidly discussed finishing with WWE in 2019, another fan mentioned the rumor that WWE had paid for the alcohol addiction
program Moxley entered last year.
It’s no secret that WWE pay for all past and present talent to enter rehab, no matter how much they did for the company.
When a fan asked if Tony Khan has ever paid to send anyone to rehab, Dave Meltzer said he has, multiple times, but did not name anyone that the AEW owner has helped out.
We may never know who Khan has helped out, or if he or WWE paid for Moxley to seek help last year, but the good thing is that the interim AEW World Champion was able to get the help he
needed, regardless of who was footing the bill.
We’ve got news from the NWA now, as several wrestlers compete in the ring for the historic promotion, but two recently took their adventures outside of the squared circle.
Bryan Idol plays an Italian fashion model for the promotion, but recently stopped a real life crime that had taken place.
The story, as reported by PW Insider, goes that fellow NWA star Natalia Markova had her purse stolen during a flight, and it was Idol who came to the rescue.
Using an app to track down Markova’s AirPods, which were in her purse, the pair tracked the thief down to a Walmart in Florida, where the would be criminal was trying to use Markova’s credit card.
Markova got a warning on her phone that a $700 payment was being made on her card, which turned out to be for a TV the thief wanted, and Idol quickly confronted the thief who he recognised from the plane.
While the thief tried to run, he was quickly tackled to the ground in some shocking footage that has been shared online.
Police arrived to settle the situation and after Markova requested her belongings to be returned, she declined to press charges.
Idol, who also works under the name Mercurio, recently debuted in the NWA against Sam Shaw, and this is one epic tale from outside the ring which has earned Idol a ton of respect.
Over to UFC now, as for the recent UFC 276 event, Israel Adesanya had a surprising entrance in which he channelled his inner Undertaker.
Using the Deadman’s iconic theme, wearing a hat and carrying an urn on the way to the ring, Adesanya’s entrance was arguably more enjoyable than the match itself, which many found underwhelming.
A lot has been said about the entrance, but the one opinion that matters the most is the Undertaker’s who loved what he saw as he told Ariel Helwani:
“I thought it was great. He’s not only a great fighter, he’s an awesome entertainer as well! Tyson Fury gets knocked down & sits up like the UT and Adesanya uses my walkout! Pretty damn cool!”
The Undertaker had his last match at WrestleMania 36 retired in Nove mber 2020, but even now, with his career well and truly finished, the Phenom continues to be an inspiration to those who’ve watched him.
Back to WWE, as Ronda Rousey is no longer the SmackDown Women’s Champion, but has big plans already ahead of her.
When Rousey left WWE in 2019, she was a heel, but earned a thunderous ovation from the fans upon her return at this year’s Royal Rumble.
Speaking with The DC-Check In though, Rousey said that she’d much rather be a heel all the time, and how Roddy Piper Is the inspiration for her:
He was the real heel though that wanted you to hate him, he wasn’t the cool guy heel that was like, ‘I want to be bad. I want to be cool. I want you to like me.’ That jacket that I wear is a replica of his
jacket and is actually stab-proof because people would try to stab him. That’s what kind of heel I want to be.
It’s well established that Rousey was a big fan of the WWE Hall of Famer, who sadly passed in 2015.
While we doubt that Ronda will be smashing her opponents with coconuts or painting her body half black, she continues to be inspired by Piper, and a heel turn may indeed be in her future.
When Parker Boudreaux signed with WWE, there were a lot of high expectations for him, with many calling him the next Brock Lesnar.
Ultimately, Boudreaux never lived up to the moniker, as he was cut from WWE earlier this year, but that hasn’t stopped him from competing in the ring.
Boudreaux recently took to Twitter and uploaded a video of himself training in the ring, where he certainly looked impressive.
In addition to this video, Boudreaux has made his debut for MLW, and seems to have improved from his days as Harland in NXT 2.0.
Boudreaux was released from WWE because the company did not see the level of growth they expected from him, but despite this set back, the future still looks bright for the former NXT 2.0 Superstar.
More from AEW, as Adam Cole is a huge name on the roster, but has had some unfortunate luck as of late.
After Forbidden Door finished, it was reported that Cole was suffering a “very serious” concussion, and now the former NXT Champion has weighed in.
On Twitter, Cole implied that he did suffer some kind of injury, thanking the fans for their love, support and kindness, which means the world to him.
Cole was in a fatal four way at Forbidden Door for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship but came up short against the retaining champion Jay White.
It seems that Cole is doing much better now, but it remains to be seen when he’ll step back in an AEW ring.
This week, Wrestling Entertainment Series, the new promotion from the Authors of Pain, will have their first show, but the company has already faced some issues.
The original plan had been for the show to happen in June, and one of the biggest matches is officially off.
The show was meant to feature Lina Fanene, aka Nia Jax, face CJ Perry, aka Lana to crown the first WES Women’s World Champion, but after Perry was pulled last week, it now looks like Fanene is gone too.
Responding to a tweet from WES, the former Raw Women’s Champion said it is misleading that she is still being advertised on posters for the show, as she will not be appearing.
Fanene isn’t the only ex-WWE talent upset with the company, as Matt Rehwodlt, aka Aiden English, has said the company has cost him time and money, and doubts the first show will happen.
WES promised a lot of big names for their first ever show, but many won’t be appearing, and it’ll be interesting to see who shows up later this week.
In February, Cesaro parted ways with WWE after close to a decade on the company’s main roster.
From speaking 5 languages to being a Real American to his multiple tag-title reigns, WWE gave the Swiss Superstar plenty of ideas during that time, though never saw him as a World Champion.
Not every idea pitched for Cesaro made it to TV though, and during the Smack Talk podcast, Cesaro’s former manager Dutch Mantell explained one plan that never got off the drawing board:
‘I said, why don’t you guys try to do this James Bond 007 look for Cesaro.’ Just see how that’d come out because he looks like a classic European, and he dresses nice, he looks nice. They didn’t see any
worth in that. I don’t even think they knew what I was talking about. They said, ‘Hell, he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.’ But they could’ve done a lot, lot more with Cesaro.
Mantel said that WWE’s problem is that they don’t sit down and think about stuff, adding that this has affected many more names other than Cesaro.
Now, Cesaro is in AEW under the name Claudio Castagnoli, and it remains to be seen if Tony Khan sees something in the Swiss Wrestler that WWE never did.
And we’re ending today with, Brian Kendrick who was set to make his debut for AEW earlier this year, until a series of controversial comments from his past cost him that opportunity.
It was in the early 2010s that Kendrick made several shocking claims related to 9/11, the Sandy Hook school shootings and the Holocaust, but this was long before he returned to WWE in 2016.
Speaking recently to K & S WrestleFest, Kendrick was asked about the comments he made, and said that WWE were well aware of them prior to his return.
Kendrick explained that WWE investigated him prior to his resigning, and while they did learn of his comments, they were able to look past them and sign him to a deal.
It was mere months after Kendrick’s return to WWE that he was Cruiserweight Champion, but with everyone now aware of his controv ersial past, it may be a long time before he works on TV again.