Here's more wrestling news for July 1st 2021
And your headlines for today include
Sasha Banks Part Of Mandated Training At WWE Performance Center
AEW Wrestler Horribly Injured During AEW Dynamite Tag Team Match!
WWE Advertising Big Matches For Upcoming Events!
Scammer Busted For Trying To Steal Thousands Of Dollars From Wrestling Fans!
Veteran Pro Wrestler Reportedly Signs With AEW To Work As A Producer After Leaving WWE!
Otis Finally Uses His Real Voice And Undergoes Another Drastic Appearance Change!
Jim Ross Responds To Calling AEW Dynamite “WWE Dynamite” On TNT Tonight!
Former WWE Writer Says He Would Reject WWE Hall Of Fame Invitation!
The Rock Hypes Exciting Plans With Jeff Bezos!
Latest On Mercedes Martinez Getting Knocked Out During WWE NXT This Week!
Goldberg Could Be Facing RAW Superstar Bobby Lashley At Summerslam! And More!
We’re kicking off today with WWE, and as the company prepares to welcome back fans on July 16th, Vince McMahon wants
everyone to look their best. It was previously reported that Superstars were being sent to the Peformance Center
to brush up on their skills, and that includes Superstars who haven’t been on TV in quite some time.
Fightful Select reports that Sasha Banks is one name that WWE has demanded workout at the Performance Center, with her last
televised appearance being in the main- event of night-one of WrestleMania 37. It’s also reported that talent who have
asked for time off aren’t exempt, and they too will have to get their reps in if the company decides they need to.
Banks has been announced for the July 16th SmackDown, which’ll mark the return of live fans, and WWE want the Boss looking her
best when she makes her return.
Over to AEW now, as Rebel teamed with Britt Baker to face Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero this week, and didn’t leave the
match unscathed. At one point in the match, Rebel went down and had to use her arms to pull herself out
of the ring, after suffering an apparent leg injury. Watching the action continue with the
other three, Rebel wasn’t able to walk under her own power, and was checked-on during the show by trainers and later
carried to the back. Hopefully, Rebel will be able to recover quickly, and things aren’t too bad, and
we’re sending our best wishes to the former OVW Women’s Champion.
Back to WWE, and with the company set to welcome back live fans from July 16th, some huge matches are being promoted
to entice fans back to the show. For upcoming RAW TV events, a huge six-man tag is being advertised, featuring
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and RAW Tag Champions AJ Styles and Omos facing Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro.
On SmackDown, it’ll be the Usos and Universal Champion Roman Reigns facing the SmackDown Tag Champions the
Mysterios and a mystery partner. For the women’s division, Charlotte Flair Vs. RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley
is advertised for multiple events, as is Bayley Vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair.
From the sounds of it, these matches will be dark-matches for the fans in attendance only, as WWE wants to make sure fans
get their money’s worth after over a year away from live wrestling.
More from AEW now, and with the company preparing to welcome live fans back very soon, this huge step has unfortunately
brought out some nefarious people. This week, a scammer going by the name Jacob Miranda was caught trying to con
AEW fans out of thousands of dollars, claiming to have tickets to All Out. Miranda, representing a fake social media
group called ‘Pro Wrestling Junkies’ offered box suite’s for the AEW Pay-Per-View to Jonathan Escudero of Dirt Sheet Radio,
promising tickets to the show, fan fest and AEW Rampage, as well as complimentary food and drink, and hotel accommodation,
all for the low price of $450. Claiming that there were only 20 tickets available, Jonathan was quickly able to
fill the entire suit, with $9,000 being collected and sent. Fortunately, Jonathan insisted on using
PayPal’s goods and services feature, which ensures buyer protection, despite Miranda’s pleas not to do so.
Before any money was sent, a fan contacted Escudero, revealing that Miranda is a Canadian felon, previously convicted of
scamming sports fans with bogus tickets. Thankfully, Miranda didn’t get a cent, and everyone who paid got their money back,
but it goes to show that if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Earlier this week, we reported on the WWE departure of Sonjay Dutt, who chose to leave his position as a producer after two years.
It was reported that Dutt actually left the company two weeks before the news broke, and he’s already found a new
home with another company. That’s according to PW Insider, who reported that Dutt has already signed with AEW, and
was at last night’s Dynamite taping in Jacksonville, Florida.
It’s noted that Dutt has signed as a producer only, and is not expected to wrestle, and it certainly seems that he left WWE with the
intention of joining AEW. Dutt quietly retired from the ring in 2017 after an Achilles surgery, and after showing his
skills as a producer in WWE, the former X- Division Champion will do the same in Impact, just in time for their return to touring.
Back to WWE, and Otis shocked fans when he turned heel, aligning himself with Chad Gable, and the former Money in the Bank
holder has undergone another dramatic change. Last month, Otis changed his look by shaving
his huge beard in favour of a clean-shaved face, and during an appearance on The Bump, Otis revealed he’s also cut his long
hair, and is now sporting a much shorter haircut. The most notable takeaway from his Bump
appearance, was that Otis used his authentic voice, a far-cry from the voice he’d put on for comedy as part of Heavy Machinery.
Before joining WWE, Otis had a successful amateur wrestling career, briefly being considered the the U.S. wrestling team at the
2012 London Summer Olympics, where his future tag-partner Gable competed. Time will tell if this new look is leading to
anything, but fans can expect a much different looking Otis on this Friday’s SmackDown on FOX.
Now, this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite was the company’s last at the Daily’s Place, and a huge show for the All-Elite promotion,
but that’s not according to Jim Ross. During an incredible video package which showed highlights of the past 15 months,
JR tried to plug tickets for upcoming AEW live events, but said there’s nothing like seeing ‘WWE Dynamite’ live.
Fans noticed the botch immediately and it quickly went viral, and although everyone knows what JR meant to see, we doubt
Tony Khan appreciated this mistake. In a tweet, Ross said there’s no excuses for the mistake, but made it clear he’s not quitting.
This isn’t the first time JR has made a botch like this, as he previously referred to Kenny Omega as the WWE Champion, and after
decades with WWE, this is proving to be a hard habit for the Hall of Famer to break.
When it comes to wrestling writers, there’s few names more controversial than Vince Russo, who had his share of highs and
lows in the Attitude Era. Whilst Russo may not be every fans favourite writer, he did make significant contributions to
the industry, but don’t expect him in the WWE Hall of Fame. Speaking to the My House Podcast, Russo
said he doesn’t believe WWE will ever offer him an induction in a million years, and if they did, the answer would be no
I would say, ‘Thank you but no thank you.’ I don’t need to be validated by Vince McMahon to consider my life worthy.
I need to be validated by my wife, by my dad, by my kids, by my friends. That’s who I need validation from.
Nowadays, Russo is doing his own thing, but still comments on WWE’s product, and despite shocking names like Jeff Jarrett and
the Ultiamte Warrior have been inducted in recent years, don’t expect Vince Russo to join their ranks
As a leading man in Hollywood and with rumours of a WWE return, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is a busy individual, and he’s
now finding time to team with Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos. On Instagram this week, the Brahma Bull
shared a photo with Beos, saying that his own studio, Seven Buck Productions will be working with Amazon studios to produce
the upcoming Red One movie. Details are scarce about Red One, though it’s being described as a “a globe-trotting, four
quadrant action-adventure comedy, imagining a whole new universe to explore within the holiday genre.”
Getting the Great One onboard is a huge win for Amazon Studios, who are continuing to battle against other streaming services like
Netflix. Not everyone was happy with the announcement, as a ton of fans knocked the
partnership, based off of Amazon’s infamous employment practices, not paying taxes, destroying new, unsold products and other
reasons. We’ll have to see what other plans are In the works for the Johnson-Bezos alliance
as we imagine Red One will be the first of many films produced by the duo.
Back to the ring, and during this week’s NXT, Mercedes Martinez was legitimately knocked our against Xia Li, causing the
the match to end via referee stoppage. Thankfully, the latest news seems to be more positive, as during Wrestling Observer
Live, Bryan Alverez said that the NXT Superstars seems to be doing fine now.
Li’s spin-kick to the jaw was what knocked her out, and after being checked-out backstage, Martinez was taken to hospital.
It’s unclear at this time when Martinez will return to the ring, though we imagine she’ll want to be back as soon as possible,
and she might want to stay away from Xia Li’s spin-kicks in the meantime.
And we’re ending with Summerslam news, and although a Universal title match between Roman Reigns and John Cena is practically
guaranteed at this point, there’s no concrete plans for WWE Champion Bobby Lashley. We know that Lashley will face Kofi Kingston
at Money in the Bank, though it’s not expected that this feud will last past that Pay-Per-View, and in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Dave Meltzer noted the Almighty’s two potential opponents on August 21st: "The Raw brand doesn’t have any challenger
set up but they can always elevate Randy Orton, or really anyone if they so choose. Bray Wyatt and Bill Goldberg are always on
the bench and the idea is an all-top hands- on deck show." Out of the three, Goldberg is the most likely
challenger, having last been seen at the Royal Rumble, where he faced then-WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.
Not only would Goldberg be the perfect opponent to put Lashley over at Summerslam, as the two behemoths are match physically
but they also use the spear, which would add to the storyline build. Of course, the match Lashley wants is
Brock Lesnar, but with the Beast nowhere in sight, fans can expect Lashley-Goldberg at the Allegiant Stadium on August 21st.