Here's your wrestling news for July 28th 2021
And your headlines for today include
Major Update on Randy Orton's WWE RETURN! Future Matches & More!
WWE’s HARSH Words For CM Punk’s AEW MOVE!
Natalya Suffered A ‘Really Ugly’ Ankle Injury On WWE RAW!
Scarlett Drops Hint Of Joining Karrion Kross On WWE RAW!
Shocking Booking Details Concerning Karrion Kross Is Revealed! Yet Another Reason Why Vince McMahon Should Retire!
MAJOR News As Becky Lynch’s Return Date & Future Opponent Is Locked In!
Sasha Banks' WWE Return Date Potentially Revealed!
Saudi Prince Requested A Controversial WWE Segment!
Wrestling Legend Super Porky Passes Away!
Interesting Details On The Upcoming WWE Queen Of The Ring Tournament!
Yet Another Famous Name Is Back To Working With WWE After Making FEW Appearances For AEW & more!
We’re starting today with Randy Orton, who hasn’t been seen in weeks, after disappearing before a Money-in-the-Bank
qualifying match. Since then, it’s been reported that Orton had been moved to the disable/inactive
roster, and there’s no word on why he’s been missing from TV. Whatever the reason, the Viper’s hiatus
may be ending sooner than anyone expected, as he’s reportedly being advertised for next week’s RAW from Chicago, Illinois.
For the show, Orton will be teaming with Riddle and Drew McIntyre to face Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles and Omos in a dark-match.
Before Orton’s absence, it was expected that RK-Bro would be having a run as RAW Tag Team Champions, and since the pair
will be facing the champs in this dark match, it seems those plans are back in action. Matt Riddle has certainly been missing his
tag-team partner, and we’ll have to see what explanation if any, is given when Orton eventually returns to TV following this
dark-match.
CM Punk certainly won’t be making any WWE dark-match returns, as he’s reportedly signed with AEW and will debut at September’s All
Out event. There’s still some WWE fans who are still holding out hope for a Punk return,
but it seems WWE wouldn’t even want him, even if he did want to work for Vince McMahon again
When Ringside News asked about the general feeling of Punk going to AEW, they were told by a someone pretty high-up in the company:
“WWE has no interest in CM Punk and even less for Phil Brooks as a human being.”
That wasn’t all this higher-up had to say, as when specifically referring to Punk joining AEW, they said: “let him be their headache.”
It’s been reported that Punk has signed with AEW and is ‘100% confirmed to be appear in Chicago’ by Bodyslam.net, and though
we don’t know if he’ll debut on Dynamite, Rampage or All Out, WWE wants nothing to do with the former World Heavyweight
Champion.
RAW news now, as on this Monday, Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya suffered some sort of ankle injury during her match with
Tamina against Eva Marie and Doudrop and the prognosis isn’t good.
Post-match, Natalya was helped to the back by Tamina and a medic, and according to Dave Meltzer, she could require surgery.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer explained:
“The ankle was twisted in a really ugly way… Without a doubt, it’s probably something pretty serious, because if it wasn’t,
she’d just have walked out on it. That’s the reality of it. Hopefully it’s not too bad and doesn’t require surgery, because if it
requires surgery then she’s gonna be out for a while.” A 13-year veteran of WWE’s main-roster,
Natalya has been practically injury-free throughout her entire run, and we’ll keep you viewers update on her condition
as more details come out.
Now, Karrion Kross has had an interesting main-roster run to say the least, losing to Jeff Hardy in his debut, only to defeat the
recently returned Keith Lee this week. One major issue fans have with Kross’ main-roster run is that Scarlett hasn’t
been with him, as the pair have been inseparable in NXT. Now, the 30-year-old Superstar may be
joining her real-life boyfriend, as on Twitter, she told fans that patience is a virtue.
Judging by the comments, many fans believe this is Scarlett’s sign she’ll soon be on RAW, and that things will improve for Kross very soon.
Scarlett has had some try-out matches on the main-roster, but nothing has come of them yet, and here’s hoping that her
impending call-up will turn things around for the reigning NXT Champion.
Kross was able to undo some of WWE’s damage this week, by defeating Keith Lee, but that wasn’t the original plan for the
reigning NXT Champion. According to Fightful, Kross was meant to have a rematch with Jeff Hardy, but that
plan changed following Jeff’s positive test. Not only were they meant to have a rematch, but it was meant to see Kross lose yet again
again to Hardy, despite the outcry from fans after last week’s show. The report added that “several members of
creative and even more of the roster were baffled by the idea to beat Kross once, let alone a second straight week.”
Thankfully that match didn’t happen, but only because of Jeff’s sad news, and despite his win this week, Kross may be in for a
nasty surprise when Jeff is back and this rematch can take place.
Back to the present, and next month, RAW Women’s Champion Nikki A.S.H will have her first title defence on Pay-Per-View, when
she defends against Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair. Nikki’s win was a historic moment for the
Scottish Superstar, but with reports of crowds not onboard with her at house- shows, and even booing her when she
gets offence in on Rhea Ripley, Nikki’s days as Champion are seemingly numbered.
According to sources, Ripley is currently penned in to win the triple threat at Summerslam, becoming a two-time RAW
Women’s Champion, and her first opponent will be none other than Becky Lynch.
After over a year away, Lynch is reportedly ready to go, and the two ideas WWE are considering now are for Lynch to appear
immediately after the match at Summerslam, and make her intentions clear, or to retain on the RAW after the show
Either way, Lynch will return to challenge Ripley, in a fresh, new feud that fans will appreciate between two of the most
popular female Superstars of this generation. WWE have been notoriously quiet about Lynch for moths, but this return would
certainly live up to Stephanie McMahon’s promise of huge surprises on August 21st, and for Summerslam to be bigger than
WrestleMania 37. Of course, all plans are subject to change at the whim of one of Vince McMahon’s
mood swings, but if this plan sticks, then it’ll be less than a month before the Man finally comes around after over a year away.
Lynch isn’t the only big female name missing from WWE, as Sasha Banks hasn’t been around for quite some time.
The Boss’ last match came back in April when she lost the SmackDown Women’s title to Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 37, and we
now have an idea when she’ll be back. Banks has been advertised for the September 3rd edition of SmackDown, and for the
September 10th Supershow which’ll air from Madison Square Garden.
That show will also see John Cena appear, meaning the Summer of Cena will extend past Summerslam.
We also know what WWE has planned for her, as sources have reported that Banks will be sticking on SmackDown during the
draft, and will be feuding with Charlotte Flair, who’l be moved to the Blue brand. These two feuded for the RAW Women’s
title in 2016, meaning it’s been five years since their last storyline, and we’re expecting some phenomenal matches from the two
highly-talented stars. Following her WrestleMania loss, Banks hasn’t had a championship rematch against Belair,
and we wouldn’t be surprised if the rematch of the year happens at Summerslam, but that could all be a set-up for another championship
programme with the Queen.
Now, it’s no secret that WWE Programming has included many controversy segments, and even before the cameras turned on,
2018’s Greatest Royal Rumble event has garnered controversy. The show made international headlines as
the WWE was condemned for working with a nation that has various laws against women and punishes homosexuality with
death was against WWE’s supposed inclusivity. The show itself had even more controversy,
as a segment with Shawn and Ariya Daivari made international headlines, when the pair, waving the Iranian flag, badmouthed the
Saudi wrestlers, and said the greatest athletes came from Iran.
Playing up the decade long bloody conflict of Iran and Saudi Arabia, it’s no wonder why the segment was panned internationally,
and fans have Saudi’s Crown Prince to thank for it.
Speaking to Wrestling Inc, Ariya Davairi explained how the segment came to exist, saying:
“From what I was told, that was requested from the Saudi Prince. He booked the show. At the end of the day, it was his idea,
and for me, particularly being fairly new at the time, you’re not gonna say no to stuff. All this Saudi stuff was a big deal. It was
big money deal. Backstage, they made it seem like how important these Saudi shows are to the company. I’m not gonna
be like, ‘No, I’m not doing this type of thing.’ You just kind of have to do what you’re told or at least that’s how I felt about it.”
Ariya explained that his neck was injured at the time, and he was actually on the company’s injured list, and that’s why his
brother Shawn Daivari was brought back by WWE to take the worst of the bumps, whilst Ariya gets pushed to the ground and rolls
out of the ring. Ariya adds:
Looking back on in hindsight, and hindsight’s 20/20, I wish we didn’t do it, and you never want to disrespect people. And it’s not like
people in the United States were upset about it, but people in Iran, people in Saudi Arabia, they didn’t like it, and I said, ‘My goal was
never to offend anybody.’ You never want to do that with wrestling.”
I really care about wrestling. I really care about my work. I don’t want to offend anybody or stuff like that. That was why I took it upon
myself to put out that apology. Nobody told me to do it. The company didn’t ask me and all that stuff. I was gonna do it myself.
I want to make this right. If it truly offended people, and they’re not understanding that this is just a show,
then I’ll say I’m sorry. It wasn’t really a big deal to me to apologize for it.”
Not long after the Greatest Royal Rumble, Ariya issued an apology for his actions, saying he was playing a fictional character,
similar to an actor in TV show or film. Saying his personal views were not reflected by the character, Ariya’s apology
came after the pair received death threats by fans furious at their insulting of Saudi Arabia and praising of Iran.
This year, WWE released Ariya Daivari from his contract, and he’s sitting out a 90-day non compete clause, but with WWE
reportedly returning to Saudi Arabia, and WWE desparate to please the Saudi Royal Family, a return may not be off the table,
if there’s another storyline planned to generate some real heat from the Saudi fans.
We’ve got sad news to report next as Jose Luis Alvarado Nieves, better known as Super Pork, has died aged 58.
Nieves made his wrestling debut in 1977, as Brazo de Plato, aka Silver Arm, teaming with his brother Brazo de Oro, the Golden Arm.
Joining CMLL in 1985, he adopted the comedic gimmick and name Super Porky, and stayed with the company for 20 years,
before signing with WWE. Brought in to help SmackDown’s cruiserweight division, Super Porky didn’t last long, being
released the following year. In a statement, WWE referred to Nieves as “always charismatic and infectiously
and added that he was a Lucha Libre Legend. As of yet, no cause of death has been announced, and we’re sending our
condolences to Nieves’ friends, family and fans at this terrible time.
Now, last week we reported that WWE has big plans for a Queen of the Ring tournament, and more details have come forth about this
historic occasion. Yesterday, Andrew Zarian of the Mat-Men Pro-Wrestling podcast reported that the
tournament will begin on the October 8th SmackDown, and continue on the October 11th RAW.
Its unclear if the entire tournament will fit into these two shows, or if they’re the first of many shows to feature tournament brackets.
If these dates don’t change the tournament will begin immediately following the WWE draft, which is set to happen on the
October 1st SmackDown and the October 4th RAW, and unless there’s a bracket for both brand, with the winners facing off at
Pay-Per-View in the finals, the draft will be immediately overshadowed by the tournament.
As for the finals, Zarian reported that he’d confirm the date yesterday, but so far, no information about the finals has been given.
It’d make sense for the tournament finals to be at October’s Pay-Per-View, which is rumoured to be Clash of Champions,
but whether WWE goes in this direction or not remains to be seen.
And we’re ending with Snoop Dogg, who is once again on working terms with WWE.
Despite appearing on AEW Dynamite, that matter is seemingly in the past, as this week, WWE announced that Snoop will be
WWE Champions mobile game, and will host in-game content. This might not seem like a huge deal but
it shows there’s no heat between the rap legend and WWE over his AEW appearance, and it opens the door for more WWE
appearances down the line, if they’re willing to pay his huge fees.