Here's your wrestling news for July 21st 2021
And your headlines for today include
BOBBY LASHLEY TURNS DOWN GOLDBERG’S CHALLENGE FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
VINCE MCMAHON POSSIBLY SENT MESSAGE WITH KARRION KROSS’ WWE RAW DEBUT LOSS
BACKSTAGE REACTION TO KARRION KROSS’ WWE RAW DEBUT LOSS!
JOHN CENA WWE RETURN SCHEDULE LEAKED !
XIA LI SEEMINGLY INJURED DURING WWE NXT; Current status revealed!
WWE’S PLAN FOR RHEA RIPLEY’S BOOKING ON RAW!
mystery regarding nikki bella is solved!
TONI STORM GETTING CHARACTER CHANGE ON WWE MAIN ROSTER!
WWE CONFIRMS NXT TAKEOVER EVENT AFTER SUMMERSLAM!
WHY MICK FOLEY IS ANGRY ON DREW MCINTYRE & MORE!
We’re starting today with Bill Goldberg, who returned on RAW to confront Bobby Lashley, following the WWE Champion’s
victory over Keith Lee. Seemingly challenging Lashley to a title match, it’s expected that the two will
square off at Summerslam, but that won’t happen if the Almighty can help it. On Twitter, Lashley declined Goldberg’s
challenge, saying that the Hall of Famer doesn’t belong in the same world or ring as him, and ended by saying ‘No thanks
old man.’ With Goldberg’s return known a week before it happened, fans haven’t been
thrilled with the idea of Goldberg having yet another WWE title shot, but WWE isn’t too fussed about what they consider
a vocal minority on Twitter have to say. WWE has insisted that Summerslam 2021 will be as big as WrestleMania, and
bringing Goldberg in will give the show a much bigger feel. In storyline, the Goldberg-Lashley match
hasn’t been made official yet, and if Lashley gets his way, he won’t be facing the WWE Hall of Famer on
August 21st.
RAW also saw the red-brand debut of NXT Champion Karrion Kross who despite being the top star of the gold brand, lost to
Jeff Hardy in two minutes this week. This decision has baffled fans, and during Fightful’s RAW review, Sean Ross Sapp
revealed a text message he received from a source in WWE, who said that it “felt like a message being sent,” and that message is
that Vince McMahon “does not give a damn about NXT.” On this week’s NXT, Kross gained some of
his momentum back, attacking William Regal, but it’ll be hard to undo the damage from his disastrous RAW debut.
We hope that Kross can recover from this, but the top star of the gold brand didn’t have the best showing on the USA Network
on Monday Night.
It’s hard to think of a worst RAW debut than Kross’ as not only is he one of WWE’s most protected stars, but Hardy has been used
as little more than a jobber in 2021, and even those backstage are baffled by the result. In another report from Fightful, it was said
that there was “significant frustration” over how things went down on Monday, as it reads:
“There was significant frustration from those we spoke to about how Finn Balor, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Santos
Escobar, Oney Lorcan and others had worked hard to help make Kross as dominant as possible.”
The general mood is that they’re not mad, but disappointed, as many feel that Kross wasn’t able to represent the NXT brand well,
and it reflects how the gold brand is seen by higher-ups.
Kross at least hinted at a feud with Jeff in a post-match promo, saying the Charismatic Enigma has made the worst
mistake of his life, and hopefully the Champion can bounce-back after this disastrous RAW debut.
Not only did Kross lose on RAW, but he did so without Scarlett by his side, yet another problem fans have had with his red-brand
debut. The reason Scarlett wasn’t with him is because she wasn’t at the arena at all,
but she did watch what happened to Kross on TV. In a tweet, Scarlett didn’t directly address
the loss, but instead tweeted that this is only the beginning. Karrion Kross’ time on the main-roster is
only getting started, but he’s already had some major setbacks, and losing to Hardy was an interesting way to kick off his
main-roster career.
Over to SmackDown, and this Friday’s show will feature John Cena, his third appearance for WWE in under a week.
Returning at Money in the Bank and challenging Roman Reigns for a Summerslam match on RAW, fans are
thrilled to see Cena back after being gone for over a year, and we’ll be seeing a lot more of Cena in the coming months.
PW Insider reports that Cena has committed to a full-time schedule with WWE throughout the Summer, as the company is hoping that
a full-time return will be the much-needed boost in the ratings. Cena won’t just be on TV, but will also be
appearing at live-events, as WWE has listed the ‘Summer of Cena schedule, where he’ll make a total 15 appearances between now
and Summerslam. It’s impressive that Cena has signed on for this schedule, as he’ll be plenty busy in
August, when filming will begin for his newest film, the star-studded movie ‘Argyle.’
On RAW, Cena made his views on Roman Reigns very clear, claiming that the Tribal Chief isn’t as over as he believes,
and whether you agree with that or not, you’ll be able to see plenty of the 16-time WWE World Champion from here on.
Over to NXT now, as last night’s show saw NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez defend against Xia Li in a match that was
going well, until It wasn’t. During the match, Li was slammed down hard and Gonzalez did a twisting-senton
on her, and the challenger didn’t get up. Medical staff surrounded her as the referee held Raquel back, with the
Champion yelling for Li to get up. When Li eventually got back to her feet, Gonzalez landed one more move to end
the match, as it appears Li was injured quite badly, but let the match finish.
In an update, Sean Ross Sapp said that Li appeared backstage after NXT, so it’s possible this injury was actually just
excellent selling. We’ll continue to monitor Li’s situation as more details are made known, and we’re
sending her our best after this week’s match evidently didn’t go as planned.
Back to RAW, and this has been a tough week for Rhea Ripley, who lost the RAW Women’s title at Money-in-The-Bank,
and now the Australian is going through a major character change. PW Insider reports that Ripley will be a
100% babyface from now on, adding that this turn has happened quietly over the last few weeks, after she was initially
brought to the red brand as a heel. Ironically, if there was a time for Ripley to be heel, it’s now, as her character
is no-doubt frustrated over losing the RAW Women’s title at Money-in-the-Bank, failing to regain it, and having to watch
Nikki A.S.H. cash-in and win the title instead. As for who the face Ripley could go against, perhaps a Women’s tag title feud against
perhaps a Women’s tag title feud against Natalya and Tamina could happen, or even a feud with Alexa Bliss, something that
Ripley recently said she wants to do. Ripley has already turned from heel to face before on RAW, and now she’s doing it again,
and only time will tell how many turns are in her future.
More from RAW, as the show airs each Monday on the USA Network, but with the Tokyo Summer Olympics starting soon
the WWE is being forced to change things up. Andrew Zarian of the Mat-Men Pro-Wrestling
podcast reports that due to the Olympics, RAW will air at the same time on the East and West coasts, but it’s unclear how
long this will be for. The Olympics, which were meant to happen last year, hasn’t caused RAW to
switch channel, unlike NXT, but fans on the west coast will have to change their schedules as the Red brand will be
airing far earlier than what they’re used to.
Now, it’s been nearly three years since Nikki Bella last wrestled on TV, but fans of hers still hope for an in-ring return,
and this week, one fan got a very special gift from the former Divas Champion. On Twitter, a superfan called Jake revealed
that he came across some of Nikki’s gear being sold on eBay, and found It strange that the seller didn’t have any other
wrestling items for sale. When he contacted Nikki and her mother Kathy, it was released that this gear was
loaned to WWE to use at one of their fan events, but it never got back to her. Doing the right thing, Jake purchased the
items and sent them back to Nikki, after it was confirmed that she had never given her gear to the seller in the first place.
Jake then had the seller reported for selling stolen items, and as thanks, Nikki autographed all the gear, and sent them
back to Jake to add to his collection. This was a great act by Nikki, as Jake is a huge fan of the Bellas, and even appeared
on an episode of Total Divas, and he’ll no- doubt remain a fan of the Hall of Famers after this incredible gesture.
AEW news next, as the company has insisted that it’s an alternative to WWE, despite a roster full of former WWE
Superstars. From Chris Jericho to Matt Hardy, Christian Cage to Miro, there’s no shortage of guys
who made their names in WWE, and it’s o ne of the company’s most constant criticisms.
Speaking of his podcast this week, Jim Ross refuted the idea of AEW having too many WWE names on it’s roster, saying:
It’s a weak argument. They’re WWE lite. I don’t agree with that, and I’m not knocking WWE. I had 26 great years there and I’m
not anti-WWE. I don’t feel like we’re in a wrestling war. The war is AEW against its self – getting our young guys to
continue to evolve and get better. I think we’re seeing that. Some of your homegrown kids are starting to find their way.
JR added that there’s a difference between working an indie show and working for a nationally televised promotion, and said
he’s loving the evolution of AEW. AEW does have it’s own pool of talent, including Darby Allin, Anthony Ogogo and
Wardlow, but to many fans the company’s biggest setback is relying too much on Vince McMahon’s talent
SmackDown news next, as this Friday’s show will see the debut of Toni Storm, and she’ll be getting a majorly different presentation than
what fans are used to. That’s according to PW Insider, who report that Storm will be a face on SmackDown,
despite most recently being a heel in NXT. WWE ran a couple of video vignettes for Storm to build toward her debut, and it was
revealed last week that she’ll be in Cleveland this Friday to make her SmackDown debut.
The fact she’ll be debuting as a face refutes any idea of an immediate SmackDown Women’s title feud, as Bianca Belair is also
a face, and we’ll have to see what plans are in motion for the face Toni Storm when she comes to SmackDown this Friday.
More from RAW now, as Drew McIntyre was rightly ticked-off this week, after Jinder Mahal, Veer and Shanky cost him the chance
to become Mr. Money-in-the-Bank on Sunday. During RAW, McIntyre took out his frustations on Shanky, delivering a series of vicious
chairshots which has left the 29-year-old battered and bruised. Now, WWE has uploaded a video of
Shanky’s torn up back, which you can see is bruised heavily, and the back of his head was busted open as well during the attack.
Mahal ended the video by cutting a promo, saying karma is coming for McIntyre, as he, Veer and especially Shanky now
have a huge bone to pick with the Scottish Superstar.
McIntyre’s attack was one of the most hardcore things we’ve seen on RAW all year, but a certain Hardcore legend
wasn’t a fan. In a tweet, Mick Foley said he’s a big fan of Drew, but delivering 20 chair-shots
should be done to build a feud of epic proportions or shouldn’t be done at all. Given that this is the start of McIntyre’s
feud with Mahal, it’s no wonder why Foley doesn’t consider this story ‘epic’ and even if this does turn into an all-out war, WWE
have pulled the trigger on the multiple chair shots spot far too soon.
NXT news now, as the next TakeOver event has been confirmed for after Summerslam.
During this week’s NXT, TakeOver 36 was confirmed for August 22nd, just one day after Summerslam, and though no name
or venue has been confirmed, we’re expect a great TakeOver as usual next month.
And we’re ending with more NXT, as next week’s show will be on SyFy due to the Olympics, and will have a stacked card.
Next week, Bronson Reed will face Johnny Gargano, whilst Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher take on Oney Lorcan
and Pete Dunne. In the 2021 Breakout Tournament, Carmelo Hayes will face Josh Briggs, and fans
can expect plenty more matches to hook fans into tuning into SyFy next week.