Here's your wrestling news for May 29th 2021
And your headlines for today include
WWE Books Loaded SmackDown Next Week Against NBA Playoffs!
WWE Confirms SummerSlam 2021 Date; WWE Named A BIG Name As Host!
WWE Fired Yet Another ON – Air Talent!
AEW Wrestler Claims A Crazy Fan Almost Abducted Him!
WWE & NJPW Talks Started Because Of Daniel Bryan ; More Details On The Partnership!
Tony Khan TAKES A DIG AT WWE Over Talks With New Japan Pro Wrestling!
Why Aleister Black Was Missing From WWE SmackDown This Week And more!
We’re starting today with Summerslam, and after rumours of a potential huge change happening for the August Pay Per View, it’s now been
confirmed that this year’s show will be on a Saturday, not Sunday. Summerslam 2021 will now take place on
Saturday August 21st, as confirmed by a statement from WWE, which comes after reports that the company was worried about clashing
with the upcoming Manny Pacquiao Vs. Errol Spence Jr. fight in Las Vegas, which’ll also happen on August 21st.
WWE’s belief was that having the show on the Sunday the 22nd, just one day after the fight, would make WWE’s event a distant second
that week, especially if the two shows happened in Las Vegas. WWE’s statement didn’t confirm where
Summerslam will be, only when, but did note that the location will be announced on NBC on June 5th, during the 2021 Belmont Stakes’ pre-race show.
The fact that WWE will now host Summerslam the same day as Pacquiao’s return to boxing implies that they’ve decided not to go to Las Vegas
but time will tell where the Biggest party of the summer will be.
Summerslam on Saturday isn’t the only big news about the August Pay-Per-View, as rapper Cardi B will be involved in the show in a major way.
Not only will her song ‘Up’ be the official theme for the show, but Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Wrestling Podcast reports that she’ll also serve
as the host of Summerslam. Hopefully, she’ll receive a better reaction than Hulk Hogan, who was booed out of the building
at WrestleMania 37 this year, and we’ll have to see what reaction she gets, no matter which city the company lands on.
Recently, the WWE made sweeping cuts across the board, firing several top executives as well as some on-screen talent, and now yet another
unfortunate release has been confirmed. According to Sean Ross Sapp, Josiah Williams was part of the sweeping releases, after serving
as an on-air digital talent, and has been responsible for musical contributions as well, including the theme for Cameron Grimes.
Williams was actually released in April 2020, but brought back in September, and after being brought to SmackDown in October, is gone from
the company again. The now former WWE star was reportedly well-liked, and had many names speak highly
of him and his work, but that wasn’t enough to keep him in WWE, as they continue their cost-cutting measures.
AEW news next, and MJF has made himself one of the most despised heels in the company, but sometimes fans go too far in their hatred of
the Pinnacle leader. Not just a heel in the ring, MJF keeps up his heel persona online, and whilst speaking to Busted Open
Radio, he explained his displeasure at the idea of fans returning with a shocking story.
The story goes that a fan once dressed in a pilot costume and was able to get through the building’s security, and told MJF that he was scheduled
to fly him back to New York. I thought my boy TK was doing me a solid. I walk over to TK and say ‘appreciate it.’ And he goes
what are you talking about?’ Now I’m confused and I walk back over to the guy, now this time with a bunch of security. And I go ‘hey man, what’s your
deal again? “He goes ‘well I’m going to fly you out back to New York after the show’ and I go ‘uh huh, uh huh, got it
And then, I’ll put Raf over here. Most people don’t know who Rafael Morrfi is but Raf is the head of the back of house in All Elite Wrestling. Very
talented gentlemen. And he looks at the guy and goes ‘no you’re not. Let me see your pilot’s license.’ The guy pats around on his body and
goes ‘I forgot it.’ Raf goes ‘got it. Get him out of here.’ That guy hated me so much, his plan was to
abduct me. Now what happened after that lord only knows. I have no idea what his game plan was.
MJF wasn’t kidnapped, but there’s no telling what would’ve happened if he was, and despite this incident, MJF remains dedicated in his
efforts to become the best heel in the business.
In recent months AEW and Impact’s working relationship has given both companies a lot of attention, but now WWE could be finding
a tag-team partner of it’s own. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE President and Chief
Revenue Officer Nick Khan has been in talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling, about WWE becoming the official American partner for the
Japanese promotion. As of right now, New Japan works with AEW and Impact, and has a working relationship with Ring
of Honor and CMLL. The Observer reports that these talks back in late March and early April, and there’s too many
factors at play right now to determine just how c lose both companies are to a potential deal. This deal would include WWE sending wrestlers
including their top stars, to work shows in New Japan, and presumably vice-versa, and we’ll keep you updated as this major story develops.
Vince McMahon’s company is looking to become the exclusive North American partner for New Japan, and if that happens, the Chairman will
have someone who’s not even with WWE to thank. According to PW Insider, Daniel Bryan is at the center of this deal, as before leaving WWE, he
expressed his desire to work in both WWE and other companies. Bryan’s contract expired after losing to
Universal Champion Roman Reigns recently, which saw him banished from SmackDown, and there’s been plenty of rumours on where he’ll go next.
Being able to compete for New Japan and WWE may be what brings the YES! Man back to Vince McMahon’s promotion, but given that it’d mean
New Japan loses work with any non-WWE stars, such as Jon Moxley or Chris Jericho, there’s a lot on the line in these talks.
Now, if New Japan goes through with a deal with WWE, that’ll make Vince McMahon’s company their exclusive North American partner,
which’ll be bad news for promotions like AEW and Impact. One person watching this story very closely is
Tony Khan, who took to social media to cut a special promo about this major story, saying:
“I just wanted to address, as The Forbidden Door, I read in the Observer today that New Japan Pro Wrestling apparently has had talks with WWE’s
President Nick Khan. Well, Nick, I have to say if you’ve been talking to New Japan Pro Wrestling for the last two months you’ve gotten a lot done!
Just in the last two weeks I’ve had Yuji Nagata, Ren Narita, Rocky Romero on AEW. I’ve reunited Roppongi Vice. I’ve had the New Japan IWGP
U.S. Champion Jon Moxley defend the title successfully on our show, retaining it, and I have future plans with New Japan Pro Wrestling for the
U.S. title. So you must have really gotten a lot done in the last two months, Nick. In fact, I think there’s only room for one Khan in the wrestling
business, Nick, and it’s me, it’s Tony Khan. It’s not some conman from Connecticut. Have a fun show tonight, Nick. See you on Dynamite.”
Don’t expect a response from WWE on this, but Tony Khan is getting more eyes and ears on his promotion, just nights away from a major
Pay-Per-View We’ll have to see if New Japan has anything to say about Khan’s promo, as the All-Elite promotion
is clearly happy with how things are right now with the Japanese company.
And we’re ending today with Aleister Black, who was conspicuous by his absence on last night’s SmackDown, just one week after he attacked Big E.
After months of going unused, this was a worrying sign for Black, but it turns out WWE haven’t forgotten about him again, as PW Insider reports:
We are told that was actually a creative decision that was made to let the story hang for a week so as not to rush the feud So, for once, it was a case
of creative letting things breathe. It’s rare for WWE to go with long-term booking, but that’s apparently what they’re doing, and we
expect this feud to continue on next Friday’s SmackDown.