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Get your passports ready. WWE presents a bunch of major events every year, with some of them being held in fairly prominent locations. This involves WWE going outside of the United States to make things more international and the company has been leaning more in that direction in recent years. That will be the case later again this year as WWE is heading overseas again.
This week on Monday Night Raw, WWE announced that they will be returning to Saudi Arabia for their latest show in the kingdom, as Crown Jewel will be held on November 5. The event will be WWE’s first in the country since February’s Elimination Chamber and the fourth Crown Jewel event. There have been no matches or names announced for the show so far.
Opinion: These shows are going to be the norm for a long time to come and this is the latest edition. The Saudi Arabia shows are hit and miss at best most of the time and that very well may be the case again. You never know what you might see from them and hopefully they ..

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 23, 2022
Location: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We’re in a bit of a different era these days, as we now have unified Tag Team Champions, plus the lack of Sasha Banks and Naomi. I know WWE got their chance to complain about Banks and Naomi last week, but why do it once when you can do it again? Other than that, we might actually get something new set for the pay per view next weekend. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the Usos beating RKBro to win the Raw Tag Team Titles. The Bloodline wrecked RKBro after the match.
Here is Riddle for a chat. Riddle talks about how things have been hard for Randy Orton in the last few years. His back was messed up before the unification match and he could barely walk. Riddle isn’t happy with “that tribal piece of trash” Roman Reigns and he wants revenge on all of the Bloodline. Vengeance is sworn and he knows that Orton is watching at home. The RKBro chants ta..

Impact Wrestling
Date: May 19, 2022
Location: Promowest Pavilion, Newport, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt
We are on the way to Slammiversary and as of last week, we have a new #1 contender. Eric Young won Gauntlet For The Gold to earn the title shot against World Champion Josh Alexander, but that leaves a lot of the card to be filled in. This week will feature the Briscoes defending the Tag Team Titles against Violent By Design in an Under Siege rematch so let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week’s Gauntlet For The Gold, with Eric Young beating Chris Sabin to win the title shot.
Opening sequence.
Ultimate X Qualifying Match: Laredo Kid vs. Mike Bailey The winner moves on to Slammiversary. They trade legsweeps and no counts to start before flipping to their feet. An exchange of armdrags sends Bailey outside but he blocks a dive with a kick of his own. Back in and the fans are behind Bailey as he kicks Kid down for two more. The exchange of kicks goes..

This could be a bad one. The biggest wrestling story of the week has been Naomi and Sasha Banks walking out on WWE. The two left last week’s Monday Night Raw over creative differences involving the show’s planned main event. Since then, WWE has spoken negatively about the two of them and things are not looking great. Now things have been taken to another level.
According to Wrestlinginc.com, Naomi has removed all references to WWE from her social media accounts. This includes removing the “WWE Superstar” description and “FeelTheGlow” hashtag. Now, her biography simply has links to her Instagram and TikTok, though her handle is still @NaomiWWE. There is no word on when or if Naomi could return to WWE programming.
Opinion: This whole situation is such a mess and I have a bad feeling that it is going to turn into a huge logjam as neither side is interested in waiting. Banks and Naomi leaving might not have been the best decision, but WWE burying them on national TV wasn’t exactly great ..

It’s a group project. Wrestling and acting have a weird relationship, as wrestlers are acting but when it comes to acting, they are only seen as wrestlers. You will occasionally see a wrestler who has success in the acting world but they are often few and far between. Every wrestler turned actor has to start somewhere though and now we might be seeing that be the case again.
Film director Michael Matteo Rossi has announced that Impact Wrestling’s Tenille Dashwood has been cast in his upcoming film The Charisma Killers. Dashwood is at least the third wrestler who will appear in the film, along with Jessie McKay and Brian Pillman Jr, whose participation was announced earlier this month. There is no word on if any other wrestlers will be cast or when/where the film will be released.
Here is how the film is described:
When the old mentor of 7 killers finds out he has terminal cancer, he gives them all an opportunity at his fortune to prove themselves for one night only to exact revenge…

Another look. There have been all kinds of wrestlers over the years and several of them have some very interesting stories. That is the kind of thing that can make for some fascinating looks back and in recent years, a good many more of those looks have taken place. Now we seem ready to see even more, as some fresh wrestling documentaries are in the works.
According to Fightful Select, the Reelz movie channel is planning to release several new wrestling documentaries this summer. Names that are confirmed for such documentaries are Roddy Piper, Steve Austin and Chyna, though it is not clear if the living people or their families will be involved. These are not part of the A&E documentary series and are not expected to have involvement from WWE.
Opinion: This is an interesting idea, but at the same time I’m not sure how well things will go with limited participation. At the same time, Piper and Austin are names who have been documented before, with Austin’s story being fairly well know..

Impact Wrestling
Date: May 12, 2022
Location: Promowest Pavilion, Newport, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt
We’re done with Under Siege and that means we need a new #1 contender. Josh Alexander successfully defended the World Title against Tomohiro Ishii so now it’s time for something new. That means the return of the Gauntlet For The Gold, a huge gauntlet match, to crown a new #1 contender. Let’s get to it.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt are in the ring to hype up the Gauntlet For The Gold.
Video on Gauntlet For The Gold.
Ultimate X Qualifying Match: Chris Bey vs. Kenny King The winner is in the Ultimate X X-Division Title match at Slammiversary and Maria Kanellis-Bennett is on commentary. King takes him down with a headlock to start but gets armdragged into an armbar. A dropkick puts King on the floor, where he gets knocked down again for a bonus. Back in and King hits some running knees in the corner for two, followed by a snap powerslam for the same.
Th..

That’s certainly a way to go. There are a lot of ways to present a match to draw in the fans’ attention, though some of them are a little less conventional. Sometimes you will see someone doing something very different, which may or may not be the best idea. That was the case again this week, and thankfully it did not go nearly as badly as it could have given the danger included.
Over the weekend, former AEW star Joey Janela wrestled a match against Drew Parker at GCW’s Maniac event. During the match, Janela set his boot on fire for a superkick to Parker but was unable to put the fire out. Several bottles of water were thrown into the ring to douse the flames, which were eventually put out. Janela was burned, but there is no word on the extent of his injuries.
This is a different kind of injury. Check out what happened (contains some strong language):
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: What do you even say to this? Janela burned his foot because he lit it on fire as..

It seems to have been building. Earlier this week, Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on Monday Night Raw, turning the WWE women’s division on its head. Banks is one of the biggest stars the division has ever had but is now gone, despite the possibility of challenging Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Title at Hell In A Cell. The match might have been more personal than expected.
Banks and Naomi won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 38. During the same show, Ronda Rousey defeated Charlotte to win the SmackDown Women’s Title. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Banks was upset that Rousey got the shot against Charlotte, which had been planned for Banks for months. Banks was given the Tag Team Titles as a consolation for losing the Rousey match.
Opinion: I can’t say I’m surprised at Banks for being annoyed at the change, though I’m still not exactly ok with the two of them walking out on the show. I don’t know what the future holds for Banks and Naomi, but it seems ..

I guess he isn’t a fan. There are several different stories that can be told in wrestling and some of them can get rather intense. The best stories are often the most personal ones, with a wrestler’s life behind the camera occasionally being included. WWE wanted to do that again with a top star, but it turns out that he was not much of a fan of the concept being used.
During a recent edition of the Universal Wrestling Podcast, former WWE creative member Matt McCarthy told a story about a potential story involving WrestleMania. Former WWE executive Eric Pankowski suggested that an unnamed wrestler reference to Orton’s wife and daughter. According to McCarthy, Orton’s response was something similar to ‘Why don’t we keep my f***ing work at my f***ing work? Leave my f***ing family in my f***ing family’s house.’. There is nothing to suggest that the angle ever took place.
Opinion: This is one of those things that can be rather interesting and also understandable. Orton did not want someth..

They’re listening. Every now and then, sometimes WWE is going to have to make a last second change to make whatever they have going on work that much better. Sometimes you might not realize just how things are going at the moment but it can make for some very fast changes. That was the case this week and now we know a bit more about how it came together.
The main event of this week’s Monday Night Raw saw Asuka defeat Becky Lynch to become the new #1 contender to the Raw Women’s Title. This was not the original plan for the match though, as Naomi and Sasha Banks walked out on the show, meaning the planned Six Pack Challenge had to be scrapped. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lynch herself pitched the idea to lose to Asuka, as WWE does not want Bianca Belair and Lynch having another singles match. As a result, the solution was to have Asuka defeat Lynch and earn the title match.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that gives me some hope for WWE, as it does seem that the..

They’re a bit banged up. WWE has a lot of television time available to them and it can be difficult to find ways to fill in all of that time. The company has several wrestlers available to help, but sometimes they need to make a few changes for the sake of a little freshening up. That seems to be the case again, as we might not be seeing a pair of stars, at least for a little bit.
The main event of this week’s SmackDown saw the Usos defeat RKBro to unify the SmackDown and Raw Tag Team Titles. Following the match, the Bloodline attacked RKBro and laid both of them out, including putting Riddle through the announcers’ table. After the show, WWE released a medical update on Riddle and Randy Orton. Riddle has suffered a bruised hip and lower back while Orton will be undergoing a medical evaluation. There is no word on when the two will be back in the ring.
UPDATE: @SuperKingofBros and @RandyOrton are undergoing medical evaluation following #TheBloodline's vicious attack on #SmackDow..