Here's your wrestling news for October 23rd 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
What’s Next For Brock Lesnar After His WWE Suspension?
Who Brock Lesnar Hung Out With In Saudi Arabia Before WWE Crown Jewel?
rew McIntyre Won Big On WWE Smackdown, But Is It Too Late?
Details on WWE's return to Saudi Arabia!
Reason Why WWE Officials Were "Really Thrilled" After Crown Jewel Pay-Per-View ?
Chris Jericho Blasts Eric Bischoff For Telling Tony Khan To Shut Up!
WWE Fans Confused With Smackdown & RAW Women’s Title Picture!
Is Happy Corbin en route to championship glory on SmackDown?
Why Eva Marie Was Written Off WWE Television?
The Undertaker’s Whereabouts During WWE Crown Jewel!
Paul Wight Teases AEW In-Ring Return For Saturday Night Dynamite! And More!
We’re kicking off today with SmackDown, as this week’s show saw Brock Lesnar be indefinitely suspended from WWE.
After his controversial loss at Crown Jewel, Lesnar vowed to beat Roman Reigns senseless if he saw him, but Reigns didn’t believe the Beast
would actually show up. Reigns was so confident that he called out the former WWE World Champion, and had his
challenge answered. What followed was complete destruction of the ringside area, as Lesnar destroyed everyone
and everything he could get his hands on. After it was announced that Lesnar was suspended, the Beast gave Adam Pearce a series o
of F5s, earning a huge pop from the crowd. Lesnar’s suspension is not a surprise to fans as we all know that he is not a full time wrestler
as is booked only for a few dates in his contract Before Crown Jewel, it was reported that the Lesnar-Reigns sage wouldn’t end this week in Riyadh,
and that was made crystal clear on SmackDown. Lesnar is advertised for the 2022 Royal Rumble, which makes a surprising return in the Men’s Rumble
match more than likely, and he could become one of few men to win the match twice, joining the ranks of ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, Triple H,
John Cena and Edge. Going by the booking on SmackDown, it seems that Reigns and Lesnar’s final battle will take place at
WrestleMania 38 in AT&T Stadium, in what would surely b the main event. If so, this would be the third WrestleMania main-event
between the two, after Manias 31 and 34, and although those matches faced harsh criticism at the time, the change in dynamic since then,
with a face Brock and heel Reigns could be what wins over the potentially 100,000 fans who fill the arena.
After years of being a heel in WWE, it’s been interesting to see Brock as a face, and his new attitude isn’t just on TV.
Before Crown Jewel, Lesnar was spotted hanging out with Happy Corbin and Shelton Benjamin, and seemed very relaxed as he chilled
in a restaurant. Although Lesnar and Benjamin go way back, Brock is known for not liking being around
other people, but after a long trip from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, the former World Champion was happy to relax with his fellow Superstars
More from SmackDown, as coming off Crown Jewel, Drew McIntyre needed a big win last night, and he got just that over Sami Zayn.
The former Intercontinental Champion made McIntyre look like a million bucks, but the damage to Drew’s character has already been done.
The question is whether fans can believe that McIntyre can dethrone Universal Champion Roman Reigns, especially after we saw him get
pinned by Big E at Crown Jewel. This year, McIntyre came up short against Bobby Lashley on multiple occasions, and though
he won his feud against Jinder Mahal, that did little to elevate either the Scotsman or the modern-day Maharaja.
A fresh start for McIntyre is exactly what’s needed on SmackDown, but even that may not be enough to convince fans.
After all, if the Beast Incarnate couldn’t get the job done at Crown Jewel, how are fans supposed to think that McIntyre can dethrone
arguably the most dominant World Champion of the modern era?
Crown Jewel 2021 is officially in the history books, but WWE is already working towards their next show in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
PW Insider reports that WWE will be making up for lost time, and are expected to have another Saudi show in early 2022.
Details are still scarce, but given the past few years, we imagine this would be the third Super Showdown event, and will take place sometime
in February. It's too early to tell what kind of card will be at the next Saudi show, but WWE will have their work cut
out, trying to one-up Crown Jewel 2021, which many consider WWE's best Saudi show to date.
It's not just the fans who have been high on Crown Jewel 2021, as that attitude is also shared within the company.
That’s according to PW Insider, who report that WWE is celebrating Crown Jewel, and explained why saying:
"Those who we spoke to within WWE was really thrilled with today's Crown Jewel PPV as the feeling was it was one of the better major shows they have
produced over the last year." The report added that the Superstars were very happy, as they had more freedom to travel
around Riyadh than before, and also had access to a private theater and bowling alley. Before Crown Jewel, WWE had planned on making
their Saudi shows must-see events, as opposed to glorified house shows, and judging by the reception from those in WWE and the
fans, the company may have just succeeded on their plan.
Over to AEW now, as Chris Jericho has had a lot to say about WWE in recent years, and has had a lot to say about those who have a lot to say about
Tony Khan’s promotion. Recently, Eric Bischoff criticised Khan for his constant bringing-up WWE, saying that the AEW
President needs to stay quiet and focus on his own product. This resorted in Khan firing back, referencing how
frequently Bischoff brought up the WWF in the Monday Night Wars, and accused the Hall of Famer of trying to stir up controversy with his
comments. On Twitter, Jericho backed his boss up, blasting Bischoff in the process, saying not only has AEW
decreased WWE’s market share, but defeated WWE in head-to-head battles. Jericho referenced last week’s SmackDown Vs.
Rampage crossover, where the blue brand won in viewership and tied in demographics, but Rampage got the win for the 18-49 age range
who watched the first 30 minutes of their show. Bischoff has promised to drop painful truths about Tony Khan next week on the latest
episode of his 83 Weeks Podcast, and after this bashing by Y2J, Bischoff may be dropping some harsh truths about the former AEW
World Champion as well.
Back to SmackDown, as mere hours before the show, WWE announced that the RAW and SmackDown Women’s titles would be exchanged
between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. This is something we’ve seen before, as it happened last year with the Tag Team titles,
but it’s impossible to believe that an entire creative team couldn’t find a better way to end SmackDown than what we saw.
Lynch and Flair could’ve brawled after the exchange, setting up a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series, but that wasn’t to be.
Instead, Sasha Banks got involved, inserting herself in the SmackDown women’s Championship picture, despite losing her last opportunity at Crown
Jewel. With a new roster of women joining SmackDown, surely someone other than the Boss should get a
shot first, as none of this booking makes sense
Happy Corbin was also on SmackDown last night, and his run on the blue brand is looking better than ever.
After losing his King of the Ring crown and becoming destitute, one weekend in Las Vegas turned everything around for the former U.S. Champion, who was
looking for revenge on the man who took his crown: Shinsuke Nakamura. Thanks to be a big distraction from Madcap Moss as
chaos involving Rick Boogs, Happy Corbin got his revenge, pinning the Intercontinental Champion in non-title action
This obviously sets up a title match, but despite the title not being defended on Pay Per View since WrestleMania, don’t expect this rematch
to happen anywhere but TV. After all, WWE’s next big event is Survivor Series, where the Intercontinental Champion will face
RAW’s United States Champion, meaning this will be a TV feud on SmackDown. It’s been four years since Corbin last held gold,
and after proving himself, and with his newfound l ucky, the Happy Superstar is more than ready to be a champion again
Earlier this year, Eva Marie returned to WWE TV, but she hasn’t been seen since the September 27th RAW, where she was destroyed by Shayna Baszler.
Written off TV by the Queen of Spades, we now know where Eva has been, as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that she’s been working
on a new movie. This explains why Baszler went undrafted, as she’s not expected back anytime soon, and we’ll have to
wait until the ex-Total Divas star is back in the ring to see which brand she’s on.
Speaking of missing Superstars, The Undertaker didn’t appear at Crown Jewel, despite being in Saudi Arabia to kick off the Riyadh Season.
When news broke that the Phenom was in Riyadh, many fans expected an appearance, but the former World Champion was only there to introduce Pitbull.
With that said, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that Undertaker was at the venue for Crown Jewel, and was there at the personal request of
Vince McMahon. The Deadman hasn’t appeared on WWE TV since his Final Farewell at last year’s Survivor Series,
but it’s interesting that the WWE CEO still wanted Undertaker around for their return to Saudi Arabia.
And we’re ending with AEW Dynamite, which’ll air tonight instead of it’s usual Wednesday slot, and may see another match by Paul Wight.
The former Big Show’s only AEW match to date has been at All Out where he faced QT Marshall, and in an interview with the Brandon Kravitz
Podcast, Wight teased that he may in action tonight. He said: “I might be lacing up my boots this Saturday,
it’s about that itch. It has been a little bit so I’m bringing my gear bag with me, so if you come to the event in Orlando, you might see my big ass
ass in the ring. AEW has a lot in store for tonight’s show, including Bryan Danielson vs Dustin Rhodes, Lance Archer
face Eddie Kingston, and the third match between Cody Rhodes and Malakai Black, and we may also be seeing Paul Wight in action, according to the
man himself