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Maybe not? Wrestling has a bit of a shaky reputation when it comes to being a real spot. There are a lot of people who will instantly point out that the endings are scripted and that is going to cause some people to look at it skeptically. It can help to have more mainstream athletes participating for the sake of offering credibility, but one such star might be taking his time getting there.
Back in 2021, NCAA and Olympic wrestling champion Gable Steveson signed a contract with WWE and was officially drafted to Monday Night Raw. Steveson made an appearance at Summerslam 2021 and at WrestleMania 38, but he has yet to wrestle a match. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Steveson is considering a return to the University of Minnesota for an attempt at a third NCAA Heavyweight Championship and possibly another Olympic gold medal in 2024, though he has yet to make up his mind. There is no word on when he would appear for WWE again.
Opinion: While I think that ultimately Steves..

Rampage
Date: July 22, 2022
Location: Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Jim Ross
We’re finally finishing up the two week long Fyter Fest and hopefully there is a bit less shark enthusiasm this time around. We’ll be seeing some good stuff this week, including Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Lethal as we are only a day away from Ring Of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Hangman Page/John Silver vs. Butcher and the Blade Silver charges at both of them to start before Page can even get his vest off. That means Silver gets beaten down in the corner as the numbers game gets the better of it. Butcher, who looks to have slimmed down a bit, chops away and it’s off to Blade for the stomping. A suplex gets Silver out of trouble and it’s back to Page to clean house. The fall away slam sends Blade flying and a slingshot dive takes Butcher out. A top rope clothesline gets two on Blade but Butcher pulls Page to the floor for some whips into ..

It’s an opportunity. While WWE has a lot of television time to fill, there are only so many spots for the wrestlers to fight over. The top stars have their spots almost guaranteed, but at some point a change might need to be made in order to bring up someone new. That was the case earlier this month, but it turns out that it was more a matter of necessity than anything else.
Back at Money In The Bank, Liv Morgan won the show’s namesake match and cashed in her briefcase later in the night to win the SmackDown Women’s Title. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the change took place partially due to Sasha Banks and Naomi walking out on WWE back in May. The company needed a new top female star and the fans had shown enough support for Morgan to give her the spot. Morgan is set to defend her title against Ronda Rousey at Summerslam.
Opinion: I don’t think it’s that hard to fathom that WWE didn’t want to push Morgan in the first place given her track record, but at least she is..

That could slow him down. Wrestling can be a violent sport and sometimes a wrestler is going to be put on the shelf due to some kind of an injury. That can happen to anyone and the question becomes how long someone is going to be out of action. That time can range from a little while to a very long time, but thankfully this instance seems to be a bit more on the lighter side.
Last week on SmackDown, Sami Zayn appeared with his arm in a sling while talking to Theory. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Zayn’s injury is legitimate, though it is not clear what exactly is wrong. The injury is not seen as major and Zayn is expected back in the ring in a few weeks. Zayn has not wrestled since July 2 when he competed in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Opinion: That’s almost a relief as just a few weeks is a lot better than several months after major surgery. Hopefully Zayn is ok sooner rather than later as he is doing rather well as of late. Zayn is quite good in the r..

That could have been worse. Friday was one of the busiest days in WWE history, as not only did Triple H return to his role as Head of Talent Relations, but Vince McMahon also retired from the company entirely. That is the kind of day you never expect to see happen and it remains to be seen how far some of these changes go. Now though we do know one change that doesn’t seem to have happened.
Following McMahon’s announcement, another story broke saying that Brock Lesnar had walked out on SmackDown and would not be appearing. However, Lesnar did appear at the end of the show and attacked Theory. According to Fightful Select, a wrestler said that the situation was “overblown” but it was not clear if Lesnar would be back for the show or not. The ending was intentionally written so that it could take place with or without Lesnar being involved.
Opinion: Thankfully things seem to have calmed down, but it could have been quite the mess had things not gone this way. If nothing else, WWE needs..

Welcome to the team. With WWE being as competitive as it is, there is only so much that can be done to make yourself stand out. At some point, a wrestler has to do something that gives you a reason for WWE to believe in them enough to give them a new role. That seems to be the case again, as an NXT star has been moved up to the main roster as someone completely new.
This week on SmackDown, NXT’s Sofia Cromwell made her main roster debut as Maxxine Dupri, the sister of Max Dupri. Maxxine promised that Maximum Male Models would debut their swimwear collection next week, though that had originally been announced for this week. Maxxine had appeared as Cromwell in NXT as part of the Robert Stone Brand for the last few months, though she has yet to wrestle a match on television.
Opinion: That’s quite the upgrade for Cromwell, who thankfully hadn’t built up a big reputation for herself in the ring before being turned into someone new. This is something that could go a little somewhere for h..

Smackdown
Date: July 22, 2022
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole
And then Vince McMahon retired from WWE and everything changed. This is one of those moments that you knew would happen in some way at some point but you can’t actually fathom it going down. On top of that, Brock Lesnar has reportedly walked out on the show and won’t be here, though maybe something can be salvaged. Let’s get to it.
Here is Stephanie McMahon to get things going. She announces Vince’s retirement and the fans immediately go into a THANK YOU VINCE chant. Stephanie asks the fans to not get ahead of them her and says thank you Vince for everything.
Here are the Street Profits to be all hyped up for their Tag Team Title shot at Summerslam. Cue Theory to remind us that he will be cashing in on Roman Reigns. That brings out the Usos, who don’t like Theory threatening Roman Reigns. The Usos says Montez Ford and his wife are leaving Summerslam with no titles and the ..

I guess he wasn’t pleased. There are a lot of wrestlers in WWE, but there is only one Brock Lesnar. Throughout his multiple runs in WWE, Lesnar has been one of the most dominant stars the company has ever seen. Even though he only appears occasionally now, it means something when he shows up. That was supposed to be the case this week, but now things might have changed.
Lesnar has been advertised for this week’s edition of SmackDown, but according to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lesnar has left SmackDown as of just before 5PM EST. There is no word on why Lesnar left, though it comes less than an hour after Vince McMahon announced that he is stepping down as WWE CEO and Chairman of the Board. It is not clear if Lesnar will appear on the show in any fashion.
From several sources, Brock Lesnar has left Smackdown.
— Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) July 22, 2022
Opinion: I’m not sure what is going on here, but at the end of the day, things are going a bit more nuts ..

It actually happened. There is no one in the history of wrestling as powerful as Vince McMahon. Whether you like him or not, McMahon has been the force in wrestling for well over twenty years now and anything he says or does can change the industry as a whole. No one has ever had his kind of power or influence, but now two people are going to have to try.
On Friday afternoon, McMahon announced that he is officially retiring as Chairman and CEO of WWE. McMahon said that at 77 years old, it was time for him to go. He also announced that Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan will be co-CEO, with Stephanie serving as Chairwoman. Vince will still be the majority stockholder in WWE, though there is no word on what this means for his status as head of creative. This comes amid an investigation into Vince over hush money payments for a series of alleged affairs with various women in WWE.
At 77, time for me to retire.
Thank you, WWE Universe.
Then. Now. Forever. Together. #WWE #thankful
— Vince ..

The Game is back. WWE issued the following press release today, regarding Triple H and his executive role within the company:
WWE today announced that effective immediately, Paul Levesque will resume his executive position as EVP, Talent Relations.
“I look forward to returning to my prior position as head of Talent Relations. I’m healthy, fired up, and ready to take charge,” said Levesque.
Triple H replaces John Laurinaitis, who has been on administrative leave since June 21 due to his involvement in the recent scandal involving Vince McMahon. McMahon currently under investigation for paying several million dollars in hush money to cover up inappropriate relationships that he had with women in the past.
It had been reported that several members of the WWE roster were “very happy” when Laurinaitis was placed on his administrative leave.
The Game has been battling several health issues recently, including a cardiac event last year that forced him to step away from his duties within ..

Call it a tease? Wrestling can be a fun sport in that you never know what kind of a match you might see. Every now and then you see people get together for a match that you wouldn’t have imagined seeing under almost any circumstances. That can make things very fun, and now WWE might be teasing a rather personal showdown, though then again they may not be.
Over the years, Monday Night Raw’s Riddle has been open about his dislike for WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg’s work in the ring. This includes criticizing Goldberg’s mixed martial arts style, including on WWE programming. WWE has posted a clip of the two of them running into each other backstage at Summerslam 2019, with Goldberg saying that they needed to talk and Riddle saying anytime. Goldberg also said that he wasn’t Riddle’s bro. According to Cagesideseats.com, this has led to speculation about a possible future match between the two, but this is not yet confirmed.
It was an intense moment. Check out Goldberg meeting Riddle:
[This ..

That’s always cool. Wrestlers are able to do a lot of things with their celebrity status and it can often be rather positive. Sometimes you see a wrestler get to do something worthwhile that can help other people. That is the case again with some of the more popular wrestlers today and in this case, it is something that is going to help someone who is rather close to one of them.
This week on AEW Dynamite, Dax Harwood told a story about his eight year old daughter facing heart surgery due to a hole in her heart. Harwood revealed that his daughter fought to get better, which will cause him to “fight like an eight year old” at Death Before Dishonor. He has since revealed a new t-shirt from Pro Wrestling Tees, featuring the “Fight Like An 8 Year Old Girl” moniker. All proceeds will go to the American Heart Association, with Harwood saying he will match all royalties.
So many of you guys asked. LFG!
100% of Royalties Will Be Donated To The American Heart Association
I’m truly proud to ..