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UPDATE: AEW later clarified the situation, saying that Punk has NOT vacated the title and that an interim champion will be crowned at Forbidden Door.
That could be worse. There are all kinds of ways to slow a wrestler down and one of the biggest is an injury. You never know when you are going to see someone have to hit the brakes pretty hard because they have been hurt in one way or another and it can be quite the blow. That was the case again this week, as a fairly big star had some bad news to tell the world.
This week on AEW Rampage, CM Punk announced that he is vacating the AEW World Title due to an injury that will require surgery. Punk addressed the issue in the ring, saying that he suffered the injury earlier this week and promised to be back, better than ever. While Punk did not specifically say he was vacating the title, commentator Chris Jericho clarified that the title is being relinquished. There is no word on what will happen with the title or how long Punk will be out o..

Smackdown
Date: June 3, 2022
Location: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
It’s the to home show for Hell In A Cell and there are no Smackdown matches set for the event. That isn’t a good sign, but it is also familiar ground for the Cell show. Hopefully they can do something this week, as there are a lot of people who need to be on the card. That has never stopped WWE before but let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here is New Day to get things going and they are fired up after their win last week over the Brawling Brutes. After making fun of the Brawling Brutes name, the two of them thank Drew McIntyre for helping them out last week. Cue McIntyre, who had a lot of fun taking the Brutes down last week. McIntyre talks about Big E and promises to keep sending “those pictures to keep you going”.
We get to the point though, as McIntyre wants to take the WWE Universal Title from Roman Reigns at Clash At The Castle in September. After Kofi isn’t sure..

I know you! WWE and AEW are the two most popular and successful wrestling promotions in the United States and nothing else is really in the same ballpark at the moment. The company features some of the biggest names in wrestling, but there are several who are not working for either company right now. Some of those names were backstage at AEW this week, along with a current WWE star.
According to Fightful Select, several former WWE names, plus a current WWE star, were backstage at this week’s AEW Dynamite. Dolph Ziggler was backstage visiting friends, as well as his brother Ryan Nemeth. In addition, CJ Perry (formerly known as Lana) was backstage with her husband Miro, along with Renee Paquette (formerly known as Renee Young), with her husband Jon Moxley. None of the names were mentioned on the broadcast and there is nothing to suggest that any are coming to AEW.
Opinion: This isn’t much of a surprise as all three of the names have family working for AEW. It is nice to see some of the..

It is a problem that can happen. AEW has come a long way in just about three years, with a very talented roster helping bring them a long way. That is the kind of thing that any promotion would love to have and AEW has made the most of it. However, there are always going to be some bumps in the road and that was the case this week with one of its more prominent stars.
AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa did not appear on this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite. According to PWInsider.com, Rosa was backstage at this week’s show but was said to not be feeling well. The company doctor ultimately sent her home to rest rather than having her appear. There is no word on what was planned for Rosa had she been on the show. Rosa retained her title over Serena Deeb on Sunday at Double Or Nothing.
Opinion: Hopefully everyone is fine here as you do not know how long Rosa might be out of action. There is always the chance that she will be fine all over again next week and nothing comes of this, w..

Not so fast? We are less than three days away from WWE Hell In A Cell and the card is not quite finished. So far there are only six matches set for the show and that leaves a few spots left to fill. There are also currently no SmackDown wrestlers on the show, which means WWE might be needing to add some in. Now we might know some more names who are not expected for the show.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Riddle and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Champions the Usos in a Champions Contenders match. As a result, Riddle and Nakamura will receive a shot at the titles at some point in the future. However, according to Wrestling Observer Radio, the title match is expected to be held at Money In The Bank rather than Hell In A Cell. As a result, the expected Riddle vs. Roman Reigns match at Money In The Bank is not likely taking place either.
Opinion: This is the latest decision that makes me wonder what the heck WWE is thinking these days. Not only are we supposed to ..

They’re back. There are all kinds of wrestling promotions in the world today and some of them have been around for a long time. Some of these names are well known to a lot of fans but there is one that is in the middle of a rather big transition. Now though, we might know a bit about the company’s future and it is a very good thing after some shaky times for the promotion.
According to Fightful Select, the AEW roster has been told that Ring Of Honor will be returning to pay per view over the weekend of July 23. The event will be Death Before Dishonor in Lowell, Massachusetts, though there is no word on who will be at the show. It is also unknown what will take place after the show, with no announcement for a return to television. Ring Of Honor has only run one event this year, with Supercard of Honor on April 1.
Opinion: That is the kind of news that changes things for Ring Of Honor, as the company now has something to look forward to. You can only get so far with wrestlers appearing..

Never mind. We are less than a month away from one of the most unique shows on the wrestling calendar as AEW presents Forbidden Door. The show will feature a series of matches between AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling stars, with the first match being announced this week. While CM Punk vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi is set, another match that was rumored will not be taking place.
On Thursday, a story reported by Dave Meltzer began circulating that IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will be defending his title against Hangman Page. However, according to Meltzer, the match is not going to be happening as the lineup that he saw for the show was not accurate. The rest of the card other than Punk vs. Tanahashi is being kept secret, with the June 26 card still to be announced.
Per @davemeltzerWON, his WOR note last night that Hangman Page vs. Okada was tabbed for Forbidden Door based on a lineup he had seen was incorrect. That match is not planned for the PPV as the lineup is being kept a secr..

Get her a different shirt. WWE has so many wrestlers on its roster that they have been able to slit them into multiple rosters. In addition to both versions of NXT, the main rosters are Monday Night Raw and SmackDown, which include all kinds of talented wrestlers who occasionally jump from show to show. That is the case again as a Monday Night Raw wrestler has moved to SmackDown (after a recent change).
According to PWInsider.com, Lacey Evans has been moved back to SmackDown from Monday Night Raw. This comes after Evans was moved from SmackDown to Monday Night Raw last month after appearing in a series of vignettes on SmackDown. Evans appeared on Monday Night Raw and addressed the fans but never wrestled a match, despite being advertised to wrestle on the May 30 Monday Night Raw. There is no word on why the change was made.
Opinion: This is one of those instances where WWE seems to be making all of this stuff up as they go. I’m not sure how they keep changing their minds on this stuf..

Catch you down the road. We are in a strange time in wrestling as we are seeing more great action and talented stars than have been around in a long time. The amount of content available at any time has allowed stars to emerge on a variety of stages and many of them have been on television. Now though, one of those names might be on his way to a new location.
According to PWInsider.com, W. Morrissey, formerly known as Big Cass in WWE, has finished up with Impact Wrestling with his match on this week’s television show being his last with the company. This comes a little over a year after Morrissey debuted with the company, though he also appeared with AEW earlier this year. There is no word on where he is expected to sign next.
Opinion: I’m not sure how surprising this really is as Morrissey was reportedly looking to find his next contract elsewhere. That is a bit of a shame though, as Impact Wrestling might not be the biggest game in town, but they gave Morrissey a chance and that is..

It’s that time of year again and….ok I might need to be a bit more specific. We are done with WrestleMania, but we are far from being done with the WrestleMania stories. The season might be done, but WWE has only milked one extra pay per view out of what they did at WrestleMania. That will be remedied this weekend by Hell In A Cell, because you know full well that WWE isn’t going to put in any extra effort than they have to. That has been on full display this week and now you can see it very clearly.
We are currently four days away from Hell In A Cell and as of this writing, there are six matches set for the show. Two of these were added earlier this week on Monday Night Raw and so far, there is not a single SmackDown star on the card. Not one, because there is not one match from SmackDown taking place. This is hardly the first time WWE has done this (they have even done it at Hell In A Cell before) but you would think they would have learned a lesson based on something else that has ..

NXT LVL Up
Date: May 27, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Nigel McGuinness
I’m not sure what to think of the show these days and there isn’t anything coming out of last week to set this up. They had something going for a few weeks with something leading to a possible story for the next week but that hasn’t bee the case in a long time now. Maybe we can get a little something here so let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Andre Chase/Bodhi Hayward vs. Bryson Montana/Demaris Griffin Hayward grabs a headlock on Griffin to start but Griffin reverses into one of his own. Back up and a hiptoss has Griffin in the corner but it’s off to Montana. A sunset flip gives Chase two before it’s time for the spelling stomps. Montana doesn’t care for that and sends him face first into the mat. Chase isn’t having any of this and fights up, getting over for the tag to Hayward. House is quickly cleaned and the Fratliner finishes Montana at 3:49.
Result: Andr..

History has been made! There are a lot of titles under the WWE banner and all of them have at least some kind of value. It means something to win any championship around and someone winning their first title can be a game changer for their career. You have to start somewhere and that is the case again, as a pair of wrestlers have picked up their first gold in the company.
This week on NXT UK, Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter defeated Die Familie and Moustache Mountain to win the NXT UK Tag Team Titles when Smith pinned Trent Seven. The win marks the first title in WWE for both Smith and Carter. The team had been chasing the titles for several weeks, with Moustache Mountain cheating to retain the titles in their previous successful title defense.
Opinion: At some point, you have to go with the title change to make some new stars and that is what they did here. Smith and Carter have been one of the hottest teams in NXT UK for a long time now and they finally won the titles to pay it off…