Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News, I am a returning Luke Owen - back from my
honeymoon to the Great White North. Where I saw some mountains, swam in a glacial lake
and ate an untold amount of Poutine. Seriously, congrats Canada that is a fine little dish
you have right there. Chips and gravy is very British, but those cheese curds are a lovely
touch.
And if you want to welcome me back home in person, you can do so at Wrestling Media Con
this coming weekend in Manchester, England! Not only will myself, Oli and El Fakidor Laurie
Blake face off against Cultaholic live on stage, we’ll also be a part of Internet
Darlings 2 with Brian Zane from Wrestling Wregret and Maffew of Botch-A-Mania fame.
Get your tickets now using the link in the video description below.
And you can guarantee that we won’t need to be replaced by Renee Young, which Jonathan
Coachman was on commentary for last night’s Raw. BACK OF THE NET WITH THAT SEGUE. I’ve
still got it, never left me, son.
Unlike the last time Young replaced Coachman for commentary - which was hyped as historic
on social media - this was out of the blue and just happened. Which was quite nice, actually.
And WrestlingInc are reporting that the reason Coachman wasn’t on Raw last night was because
he’s filming for the Golf Channel at the WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma today.
Which means he wasn’t around for the announcement that Lita will be once again returning to
a WWE ring at Evolution in October - this time to face off against Alexa Bliss’ bestie
Mickie James. This is the second official match announced for Evolution, following on
from Bliss vs. Trish Stratus which was revealed just before Summerslam. The NXT and NXT UK
Women’s Championships will be defended on the show, along with the finals of the Mae
Young Classic 2 - which we won’t spoil here. The Smackdown Women’s Championship will
also be defended and it’s believed that Nikki Bella will challenge Ronda Rousey for
the Raw Women’s Championship.
But there are some reports about the ticket sales for Evolution that don’t scream ‘good
news’. Following on from All In selling out its 10,000 seats in Chicago in half an
hour, and Ring of Honor and New Japan’s G1 Special from Madison Square Garden selling
out quicker than Vince McMahon dialling the venue’s phone number to try and get the
show cancelled, the Wrestling Observer are reporting the total opposite for Evolution.
The show is being held at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, and tickets went on sale last
week. However according to Dave Meltzer, “They didn’t sell out and tickets remain in every
price category.” The event is set up for just under 11,000 and Meltzer adds that it
will likely sell out or at least come close but, “it’s notable for all the hype that
this was not the giant success out of the gate that most PPV shows are these days, and
virtually all would be in the New York market.” Meltzer also notes in the Observer that while
the advance ticket sales are good for WWE’s Super Show Down from Melbourne, Australia,
it’s, “not at the level of selling out without papering.”
One of the big matches for that show will be a giant six-man tag between The Shield
against Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. However one sixth of that line-up
might now be in question.
On last night’s Raw in the closing angle of the show, The Shield were attacked by Strowman,
MacInDolph and the heel Raw roster including Authors of Pain, Kevin Owens, Jinder Mahal
and a wild Drew Gulak and a rare Mike Kanneillis appearance. During the melee, Rollins was
thrown off the stage into a police van that The Shield entered the arena in. Some eagled
eyed viewers might have then noticed that Rollins’ arm went through the van’s window
and was bleeding profusely. While this could have been a planned spot, the commentators
didn’t make mention of it and no replays were shown - with the cameras trying hard
to not show the blood.
At the time of recording there has been no official word on Rollins’ health, but WrestlingNews.co
pointed out that there was a similar accident on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro with Goldberg
- which put him on the injured list for five months. For those keeping score, that would
be February next year.
Keep supporting indie wrestling by buying your tickets for Wrestling Media Con this
weekend by clicking the image on screen right now! I’ve been Luke Owen and that was wrestling.