Here's your wrestling news for July 7th 2021
And your headlines for today include
How Is WWE Dealing With Jimmy Uso’s DUI Arrest?
WWE Announces Several Matches For RAW Next Week!
Eva Marie Confirms WWE Return Was Delayed, Talks Fan Criticism; How Did WWE Treat Her? And More!
Stephanie McMahon’s Arrogant Statement To WWE Superstars Before They Were Fired!
Charlotte Flair Wrestles AEW Wrestler In Training Session!
Tegan Nox Returns During NXT Great American Bash!
Terry Funk Provides Quote From Assisted Living Facility, WWE Issues Statement On Funk!
WWE Making Big Plans For Roderick Strong In NXT!
Cody Rhodes Takes A DIG At WWE! And More!
We’re starting today with Jimmy Uso who was arrested earlier this week for Driving Under the Influence yet again.
At this time, no public statement or punishment has been given by WWE, but we now have an idea of how the company
is dealing with things. When Ringside News asked their sources about Jimmy’s arrest, they received an
interesting question in response: “Who has had time to deal with it?” A tenured member of WWE’s team noted
how Uso’s arrest happened during the third-hour of this week’s RAW, and since the company taped next week’s RAW
yesterday, that means that members of WWE were all up night re-writing the show.
The source added “How could anyone have had the time to deal with something they don’t need to deal with before they
address this Friday’s SmackDown?” WWE doesn’t plan on dealing with Jimmy’s arrest just yet, but they’ll have to discuss
it soon ahead of this Friday’s SmackDown. On Twitter, Dave Meltzer posted that the company hasn’t made a decision on
what to do with him, but one is expected soon. Things don’t look good for former Tag
Champion, as Wrestle Votes reported that high-level people in power in WWE are extremely disappointed by his latest arrest.
Sources have even noted that there was talks of releasing Jimmy after his last DUI arrest in 2019, but the company opted to
keep him. This is Jimmy’s fifth arrest in WWE since joining WWE as he was arrested in 2011,
2013, and twice in 2019, with all but one arrest being for driving under the influence.
This latest arrest is sadly, one of many for Jimmy Uso, and we’re sure that alarming fact will play a factor in WWE’s
decision later this week, whatever it may be.
Over to RAW, as next week’s go-home show for Money in the Bank will be pre-taped later today, and WWE is
packing a lot into the three hour show. Next week, fans will see John Morrison and Ricochet face-off again, this time in
a Falls Count Anywhere match. United States Champion Sheamus will return to the ring when he defends
against Humberto Carillo, marking the champ’s first title defence since winning the gold at WrestleMania 37.
The RAW Tag Champions AJ Styles and Omos will be in singles action when they face the Viking Raiders, as Ivar
will face Styles and Erik will face Omos \in the latter’s singles debut. This will build towards the inevitable
title match between the two teams in front of a live crowd, and we’ll have to see who builds momentum on next
week’s RAW.
One person fans can expect to see is Eva Marie, who’s made quite the impression since returning, and gotten
a not-so-positive response from the WWE Universe. Many fans haven’t forgotten or forgiven
the former Total Divas star for her last run in WWE, but fortunately for Eva, she has one very important group on her side.
Speaking to Graham Matthews of Bleacher Report, Eva spoke about her return to the company, and the support she’s had from
the McMahon family. She said: “I absolutely love WWE. They’ve been such a great support for me, even the
five years I’ve been away. I have so much love, respect and admiration for Vince [McMahon], Stephanie [McMahon] and
Triple H] because they gave me my shot. They gave me a go and started my career. “They’ve also been super supportive of
everything I’ve done on the outside of WWE, and I knew it wasn’t a matter of if. It was just a matter of when Eva Marie
was going to come back into the company, and I’m glad that it’s now.” Marie’s return and Eva-lution campaign has
seen the main-roster call-up of Doudrop, aka Piper Niven, as the former NXT UK Superstar has been her protégé in a
tension-filled storyline. Although she retuned just a few weeks ago, Marie’s comeback was first reported
last October, but her return was delayed, and in the interview, she explained how WWE kept pushing back on her big TV return:
There’s always so many things where creatively, story-wise, there were so many thing where I was going to come
back before ‘Mania, and then I wasn’t,” she said. “Timing is everything, and just making sure it made sense. That’s kind
of where it was at where I thought I was returning a lot sooner, and then it didn’t make sense.
“WrestleMania wasn’t the right moment, and right after wasn’t, either. It was just looking for that right little slot to insert the
storyline and create it and start it.” After many years away, Eva remains a hot topic among fans on social media,
but she doesn’t care all too much what fans have to say about her. Not only does the vitriol she receives on
a daily basis not bother her anymore, but she uses it as a reminder that she’s excelling as a heel. She added:
“Obviously, first coming into the company so brand-new you’re trying to take everything in stride,” Eva said. “At the
same time, I was brand-new to social media, brand-new to WWE, brand-new to Total Divas. You’re taking certain
things and trying to learn as you go. Now that I’ve learned so much, especially outside of the company, I take everything
stride. Any type of criticism, to me, is like, ‘ Good, I’m doing my job.’
“No matter what, you have to think no one is going to be happy. You’re not going to appease every single person. If you’re
taking certain things to heart, then you shouldn’t be in entertainment.” With Vince McMahon reportedly extremely
pleased with the Marie-Doudrop angle, fans can expect plenty more of the pair on TV, despite the grudges some fans
still have for Marie following her last tenure with the company over four years ago.
In WWE, people get hired and fired all the time, and though a lot of people have lost their jobs recently the company has been
letting people go with no good reason for decades. In 2003, former ECW star Rodney Mack,
but was let-go, alongside his wife Jazz, just one year later. Speaking to Wrestling Inc this week, Mack
discussed his departure from the company, and said how Stephanie McMahon herself had promised the couple job-security for life.
He said: “She pulled us to the side and said that we had a job for life. We were great to
around. We were the two most believable people on the roster. All that stuff. I think it was three weeks
later or a month or something, not precise, that we got fired. In fact, I think it was right before my birthday.”
Given that so much happens behind-the- scenes in WWE, it’s hardly surprising that the pair would be given this message mere
weeks before being released, and it’s possible that Stephanie would have never fired the pair, though that sentiment
didn’t extend to everyone in power at the time. Nowadays, WWE fires groups of people
for budgetary reasons, despite the company boasting record profits, so we doubt any Superstar would believe
Stephanie if she said they had a job for life in 2021.
Yesterday, we reported that wrestling legend Terry Funk is in an assisted-living home with dementia, and sadly, he isn’t
the only legend suffering. Last month, the son of Paul Orndorff shared a video of his Hall-of-Fame father
where he looked in a bd way, and Hannibal TV now reports that Orndorff too is suffering from late stages of dementia.
That news was confirmed by his son Travis, who uploaded the original video, which has since been taken down.
It’s also reported that Mr. Wonderful has since been taken out of the hospital he was staying in, and is being cared for
at his son’s home. Sadly, Paul’s condition doesn’t seem to be improving, and we’re sending our
very best wishes to him and the Orndorff family at this time.
Back to WWE, and Charlotte Flair is known for working out hard when off TV, and this week, the Queen shared a video of her
wrestling with her fiancé Andrade. In a recent interview, Charlotte said that she and the AEW star often train together,
but whilst he works on his moves, she works on her performance and presentation, as she’s established her
wrestling style since joining the main- roster in 2015. Charlotte and Andrade got engaged in
January 2020, and with Andrade set to make his AEW in-ring debut this week, we’ll have to see if all his training with
Charlotte has paid off.
NXT next, and during last night’s Great American Bash, another charging battery vignette aired, now fully-charged, and
Tegan Nox returned to NXT. Nox’s return came during the NXT Women’s Tag-Team Title match, which
distracted the champions Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark were more than
happy to take advantage of the distraction, as Nox clearly has her sights set on the Poison Pixie.
Nox has been out of action with yet another knee injury since September 2020, and she definitely made an impression on her first
night back in the Capitol Wrestling Center.
We’ve got an update on Terry Funk now, as the hardcore legend is doing far better than initially believed.
That’s according to Tommy Dreamer, who tweeted that he just got off the phone with Funk, and that he’s not as bad as
first feared. Dreamer added that Funk loves everyone talking about him, and gave this unique
quote from the man himself: I’m currently sitting in an assisted living place w/my thumb up my ass Whistling
Dixie but I don’t remember the words Funk’s official Twitter, which is ran by a representative confirmed that the Hall of
Famer is dealing with multiple issues that affect his mind and body, and some days are better than others.
In a statement from WWE themselves, the company said that few have as much fight in them than the Funkster, and sent
their best wishes to him and his family, whilst CM Punk sent positive vibes, calling Funk easily one of the greatest ever.
There was a huge outpouring of support and concern when news broke that Funk was struggling with dementia, and while
we’re continuing to send him our best wishes, we’re pleased that this is a much more positive update.
Over to RAW now and in recent months Dana Brooke has been aligned with Mandy Rose, but she now has a much-more
-term partner. On social media, Brooke broke the happy news that she’s engaged to professional
boxer Ulysses Diaz, who lives in Miami, and on Instagram, shared a photo of her reaction to the ring, and a video of the
proposal. Brooke has been very supporting of her fiance’s boxing career, and received some
flack when she appeared at one of his fights without wearing a mask. Hopefully, Diaz will be ringside to watch
Brooke compete when RAW welcomes fans back, and we’re sending our congratulations to the happy couple.
Back to NXT, and it’s been reported that Triple H has big plans for the Cruiserweight division on the gold brand, and Roderick
Strong will be part of those plans. Fightful Select reports that NXT has huge plans for the Diamond Mine, and that
Strong especially will receive a lot more attention this year. WWE wants to add a quote “marquee
value” to the Cruiserweight title, but details are still unknown as to what exactly the company has planned for Strong’s group.
Of course, plans could change, as Arturo Ruas and Marina Shafir were once meant to be in the Diamond Mine, but were
instead released from WWE. It’s reported that Strong agreed to a new contract extension ahead of the Diamond
Mine’s debut, and he isn’t the first NXT Superstar to be taken off TV only to re-debut with a new deal, and we’ll have
to see what the plan is to push Strong and his group in the spotlight
And we’re ending with the Great American Bash, as last night’s show took place in NXT, but the name itself is a Dusty Rhodes
creation. Since leaving WWE, Cody Rhodes has worked to obtain as much of his father’s
legacy as possible, but when a fan tweeted him, saying that WWE should have given him and Dustin
Rhodes the Bash Pay-Per-View name to use in AEW, Cody responded, saying he sees why WWE has kept the name. He said:
Business is business. They have the rights to many of Dusty’s greatest creations. My hope is that they do them justice and I
will never be bitter about his legacy being honored and a whole new generation seeing he was a genius with lasting
concepts. NXT Great American Bash 2021 was the 9th Bash event since WWE obtained the
rights to the name, and although he doesn’t own the show, that won’t stop Cody from wishing WWE well with his father’s creation.