Here's more wrestling news for July 20th 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
WWE Wasn’t Aware Of Streaming Issues During Money In The Bank!
Becky Lynch Responds To Charlotte Flair RAW Promo!
WWE Superstar Reportedly Switching Brands!
"Why Are You Calling Yourself A Goat?" - AEW Star Recalls Hilarious Moment With Vince McMahon!
WWE Looking For SummerSlam Ring Announcer Via TikTok!
Drew McIntyre Says He Understands Why Fans Say He’s Been In The WWE Title Picture Too Often!
Edge Admits Matt Hardy Feud Over Lita Was Difficult!
SPOILER On Another AEW Star Making Impact Wrestling Crossover!
Chris Jericho Responds To Michael Cole’s Claim That Edge Invented The Money In The Bank Ladder Match!
Linda McMahon Great Gesture During Money In The Bank 2021
"Now don’t f it up" - WWE Superstar Comments On Big E's Money In The Bank Win & more!
We’re starting with Money in the Bank, which was a historic night for WWE, but since Peacock glitched out in a big way
just as the Men’s ladder match was starting, fans in the U.S struggled to watch These glitches caused fans to miss the
entrances, and when word finally got out of how to fix the problem by logging out and logging back in, the match was already
underway. Despite this glitch, WWE continued with the show, despite their biggest audiences not
being able to watch, and PW Insider reports that WWE didn’t even know there was any technical problems at first.
That explains why WWE didn’t stop the show, as the issues weren’t emanating from Fort Worth, Texas, where the event was
broadcasting from, but instead came from Peacock. Last week, WWE began blocking U.S. fans
from using a VPN to access the traditional Network, meaning that American audiences will have no choice to use NBC-Universal’s
streaming platform, even if it doesn’t work all the time.
Over to RAW, and before losing the RAW Women’s title to Nikki A.S.H, Charlotte Flair had a championship coronation, which led
to a Money-in-the-Bank rematch being announced against Rhea Ripley. During that coronation, the fans inside the
American Airlines Center chanted for Becky Lynch, who remains wildly popular over a year since her last appearance.
Addressing the crowd, Flair said that Lynch is breastfeeding at home which she’s dominating the entire women’s division,
and Lynch responded on Twitter, saying she’s Breastfeeding at home and still the most over woman in the division.
At Money-in-the-Bank, fans chanted We want Becky several times, resulting in Flair giving a middle-finger to the crowd
which WWE tried but failed to censor. There’s still no word on when Lynch will return, but it’s expected to be very soon,
and Charlotte Flair is clearly waiting for the Man to come around.
If Lynch does return to RAW, she won’t be going toe-to-toe with Naomi, who’s reportedly been moved back to SmackDown.
That’s according to PW Insider, and there’s no word why the move was made, or when it’ll be made public.
For now Naomi remains on the RAW roster on WWE.com, and represented RAW in the Women’s Money-in-the-Bank ladder match.
Moved to RAW in the October 2020 draft, it’s possible that she’s being moved back to SmackDown to be with her husband Jimmy
Uso, as WWE has a practice of keeping couples on the same brand. Ideally, Naomi’s presence will keep Uso
from getting in trouble with the law again, and fans can expect her appearing on FOX very soon.
Now, as the first ever WWE Undisputed and AEW World Champion, Chris Jericho is considered by many the Greatest-of-all-time
and that’s certainly something Jericho believes himself. In 2016, during his WWE tenure, Jericho
began referring to himself as the G.O.A.T, a phrase that hardly anyone was aware of at the time.
One person who certainly didn’t know was Vince McMahon, as Jericho explained on the Two-Man Power-Trip of Wrestling podcast:
“I got it from a rap song. I remember Vince saying ‘Why are you calling yourself a goat?’ I’m like ‘it’s the greatest of all time.’ I wish it
was a better name like a bear, or the rhino, but the G.O.A.T. kind of sounds dopey. Now of course, everyone uses it.”
Jericho added that his longevity in wrestling, and ability to change his character makes him the G.O.A.T, comparing himself to
musician David Bowie. There’s no doubt that the AEW star deserves the term, as no other wrestlers
have been constantly evolving for 30 years, even if Vince McMahon didn’t know what the term meant for much of that time.
Back to WWE and with Money in the Bank over, all attention turns to Summerslam, and the company’s looking for a new ring
announcer in a very different way. In a press release this week, WWE announced that they’ll be going to TikTok
to find their next announcer, and fans can enter the competition using the hashtag #WWEAnnouncerContest.
This competition, sponsored by Pure Life Water will likely see tons of TikTokkers throw their hat in the ring, but WWE’s statement
said the winner will be ‘A ring announcer’ implying that they won’t be covering the entire show.
Nevertheless, announcing at Summerslam is a huge opportunity, and we’ll have to see which lucky entrant makes it to the Allegiant
Stadium on August 21st.
Now, for the past year, Drew McIntyre has been a staple of the WWE Championship picture, holding the title twice for much of
the crowdless era. Although McIntyre’s title win at WrestleMania 36 was long overdue, him being in the main
event for over a year has led to some fans turning on the Scottish Superstar, a fact that Drew knows all too well.
Speaking to the A Show on RNC RADIO, McIntyre discussed his past year, and how some fans don’t appreciate how heavily
he’s been featured. He said: “I have been in and around the WWE Title since January 2020 which is completely
insane in today’s day and age and understandably, people can say, okay — I don’t think they’ve ever said, ‘You know
what? Drew’s terrible at his job, screw him. We want someone else.’ They’re like, ‘Okay, we like Drew, but we’ve seen him a lot in
this situation. Let’s try him over here for a second and let’s see if someone else can step up’ which I’m all about.”
At Money in the Bank, it was hard to ignore some loud boos when McIntyre had an interview segment backstage, and with a
non-title feud with Jinder Mahal now the plan for Summerslam, let’s see if WWE can turn those vocal fans around.
Ever since returning at last year’s Royal Rumble, Edge has been winning over crowds who though they’d never see
him again, but the Hall of Famer wasn’t always so popular. In 2005, Edge was both one of the most
hated heels and hated men in wrestling, when it was revealed he’d had an affair with Lita, who at the time was with Matt Hardy.
Speaking on the Kurt Angle Show recently, Edge discussed WWE’s tasteless decision to make these real-life problems into a storyline,
“I think when everything with Matt [Hardy] and [Lita], I didn’t enjoy any of that, that was hard,” Edge admitted. “It was a position that I
put myself in and thought okay, I made my bed, I just got to deal with this. Then I thought okay, we’re here now, how can we pull a positive?
Let’s make some money. That’s what we did, this is the situation, now let’s try and get something good out of this pretty lousy
scenario, the matches were [good] though because I loved working with Matt. When I got to John, we kind of got on the same page
and he realized what I was out to do, which was just that, to make him superman.” Retiring from the ring in 2011, Edge’s return
to the ring last year was nothing short of miraculous, and thankfully he’s been able to move on from the problematic 2005 angle
which stemmed from very real-life problems.
Impact Wrestlling news next, as the company has become a hotbed for stars from other promotions, as AEW and New Japan talent
have been appearing there a lot more. Slammiversary saw quite a few surprises but there’s more to come, as Fighful Select
reports that Frankie Kazarian was at the most recent Impact TV tapings, and will be part of the shows.
It wasn’t noted what Kazarian will be doing, but as AEW’s Elite Hunter, it’s possible he could be hunting down AEW/Impact World
Champion Kenny Omega. A five-time X-Division Champion and 3-time TNA World Tag-Team Champion Kazarian
hasn’t been wrestling much for AEW since SCU’s split, instead being used for run-ins on the Elite, but he might soon be wrestling
on an entirely different program
More from Money in the Bank as last Sunday’s show saw Edge fail to capture the Universal Championship from Roman Reigns,
but he did pick up an accolade along the way. During the show, Michael Cole praised Edge as the inventor of the Money-in-the-Bank
ladder match, which fans were quick to point out isn’t the case, as AEW’s Chris Jericho is the one credited of inventing the match.
Fans online called out Cole and WWE, saying that they should stop rewriting history, but when Jericho himself responded, he revealed
that the actual match concept was the invention of former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz, but it was Vince McMahon who
insisted on the briefcase. It’s not known why Cole named Edge at the Money-in-the-Bank ladder match inventor,
but fans speculated it was WWE’s attempt to erase Chris Jericho, and though the Rated-R Superstar is the first-ever holder of the
briefcase, he certainly wasn’t the match’s creator.
Now, in 1994, the WWE’s second King-of-the- Ring Pay-per-View saw Owen Hart capture the crown, defeating three opponents and
utilising the help of Jim Neidhart. Becoming King a year after his brother Bret, Owen’s coronation saw the Rocket challenge
the Hitman for the WWF title, leading to their Steel Cage classic at that year’s Summerslam. Speaking to That 90s Wrestling Podcast, form
WWE announcer Todd Pettengill spoke about working with Owen at the King-of-The-Ring, and how the Rocket crossed the line:
Things got a little heated at the King of the Ring coronation with me and Owen. I'm a little foggy with it now, but I remember, there's
usually an Unwritten rule that you don't put your hands on the announcer, at least there was then. There was some back and forth
and then I think he had me kneel. I did it, you know, but he pushed me pretty good. Afterward, I let it all go because when
you're on oh, what are you going to do? What am I going to say, ‘Don't touch me?’ You can't be that way. Afterward, I went up to him and
I said, ‘Look, I don't appreciate it. Don't touch me again, please… He could not have been more apologetic. ‘I'm sorry. I was in the heat
of the moment. I'll never do that again.’ You try to avoid [those moments] but he was, again, one of the greats, man. He could put
over any storyline. He was just amazing.” Pettengill had already left WWF when Owen tragically died at the Over the Edge 1999 event,
but has returned in recent years for NXT’s In Your House events, where the Superstars have thankfully kept a respectable distance
from the New Generation announcer.
Now at Money in the Bank, John Cena made his big return, but there was another face around that fans don’t see anymore.
Sitting at ringside was Linda McMahon, who was sat next to a young fan who was trying to film Cena’s epic return.
That fans was quickly confronted by security, as WWE has a policy against fans recording the live action, but Linda quickly defused the
situation, saying everything was fine. It’s a good thing that security recognised the wife of Vince McMahon, and Linda’s
kindness was filmed itself by a fan sitting a few rows behind her. That fan went on to post the footage of
Linda’s actions, saying that she’s their hero, and we’re sure that Cena’s return will be a memory that lasts a lifetime for the young
fan, who’ll now be able to rewatch it anytime they want.
And we’re ending with Big E, possibly the biggest winner at Money-in-the-Bank, who now has a guaranteed World title match.
Big E’s push to the World title picture is something fans have been wanting for a long time, and even the Superstars are
happy to see the former New Day star get the chance to shine. On Twitter, Dolph Ziggler broke character to
praise Big E and issued a warning to the company, saying: I don't watch blah blah blah, whatever.
We are about to see even more layers, to [Big] E. This could be monumental & if it takes time, will be absolutely unforgettable.
Doesn't always happen to one of the good guys, but in this case it did. Now don't f it up Whether Big E challenges for the Universal
title or WWE title remains to be seen, but Ziggler isn’t the only one hoping WWE doesn’t ‘ f-up’ this huge opportunity for Big E.