UFC

Reason Why Nakamura Should Lose At WWE Backlash

The hype behind the upcoming Backlash pay-per-view is thanks to one man, Shinsuke Nakamura. He arrived on the Smackdown Live brand two nights after Wrestlemania. He has been involved in promos and a lot of loud fan chants, but has yet to have a single match. That changes on Sunday when he takes on the Show-Off, Dolph Ziggler.

Now the potential behind this match is beyond belief. Ziggler is one of the best performers in the company regardless of his win-loss record. Putting a talent like him against someone as gifted as Nakamura is going to be magic. Most people are expecting Nakamura to win the bout, as they should. With the way Nakamura has been promoted, it wouldn’t make any sense for him to lose his very first match on the main roster to a mid-card heel who is floundering around.

Or would it?

Charlotte Appearing on the Next Season of Total Divas?

With Eva Marie not returning for the 7th season of Total Divas, WWE is interviewing other active female Superstars for the role on the show.

According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Charlotte is one of the females have have been interviewed to join the cast of the upcoming season. A handful of other females have been interviewed as well however we are unable to confirm those names at this time.

In regards to Paige appearing on the next season, her status is unknown at this time. Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Natalya and Naomi are a lock for the upcoming season.

Reason Rusev Didn’t Appear on SmackDown Live Tonight

WWE announced on last week’s episode of SmackDown Live that Rusev would be returning on tonight’s show. For those who watched the show tonight would have noticed that he never appeared despite being advertised in their 5-point preview on WWE.com earlier today.

Rusev revealed on Twitter that he was at the Nashville Predators’ NHL game instead.

It’s very possible that he is using that excuse as part of storyline. We will keep you updated.

The Taz Show Recap – Raw Analysis, Rollins’ Set For A Big Year, Presentation of Finn Balor, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show by discussing Braun Strowman’s elbow injury. Taz says that he believes WWE made a mistake by showing Strowman in the hospital bed on RAW last night, as he thought it made Strowman look too ‘human’. He also doesn’t think that Strowman will be out for 6 months like WWE has announced.

He doesn’t think that Roman Reigns will win the Fatal 5-way match at Extreme Rules, because he believes Reigns will go right back into another match with Strowman when he returns from his injury. Taz thinks Strowman’s recovery time will be closer to 2 months than the 6 that WWE announced.

A listener calls into the show and says he enjoyed Goldust turning on R-Truth on last night’s show. Taz says that this is a ‘C’ angle, and WWE needs to have those angles in order to keep everyone relevant. He says that having captivating angles throughout the entire roster is what made the attitude era so successful in his opinion.

Another listener calls into the show and says that both Alexa Bliss and A.J. Styles had good years last year as rookies, and he wonders if that gives WWE the confidence to push talent quicker. Taz says that wrestling  is a work, and Bliss and Styles had good years last year because the company pushed them. If WWE has faith in a performer, they’re going to book them to win more matches than they lose.

Singles Match Added to Sunday’s WWE Backlash Event

Shane McMahon announced on tonight’s episode of Talking Smack that Erick Rowan would face Luke Harper at Sunday’s WWE Backlash event. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title Match
Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton

SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
Tyler Breeze and Fandango vs. The Usos

WWE United States Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens

Naomi, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch vs. Tamina Snuka, Carmella and Natalya

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler

Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin

Erick Rowan vs. Luke Harper

Kickoff Pre-show
Aiden English vs. Tye Dillinger

Dinner with the King Recap – Thoughts on Rip Rogers/Randy Orton Tweets, Stiff Punches, Why Does Lawler Still Work the Indies? More!

Lawler opens today’s show speaking about this past weekend’s tweets from Rip Rogers and Randy Orton. First off, he says that he’s obviously a fan of Randy Orton and his work, and he’s been a fan of Rip Rogers for years. He thinks both of those men have a point in their concerns regarding the state of indie wrestling.

He believes that the issues lie in the fact that a lot of young indie performers are trying to get their foot in the door in the wrestling business. When they have an opportunity at an indie show, they try to do whatever they can to show the promoter that they’re worth hiring again for a future show.

Lawler agrees with Rogers in the sense that there’s no ‘kayfabe’ anymore. Performers work their match, shake each other’s hands and then go on social media and thank each other for the match. Lawler’s not sure that the performers are even to blame, because it’s the way the business has developed over the last number of years.

He also points out that competitors in all other sports often shake each other’s hand after their match or game, so perhaps it’s not the most ridiculous concept for wrestlers to congratulate each other and put each other over at the end of a match or a feud.

Paige’s Ring Stolen from Hotel Room

Paige mentioned Instagram that the ring she received from Alberto El Patron was stolen from her hotel room. She wrote:

“Also he just keeps killing it with these rings. Unfortunately mine got stolen from our hotel room so he knew how heart broken I was and went and got a brand new one! This one is obviously different but it’s even more beautiful. He had me crying on the plane. This is my hubby ladies and gentleman, isn’t he just perfect?!?!?! After over a year and still have butterflies for my man. Always have and always will…”

Also he just keeps killing it with these rings. Unfortunately mine got stolen from our hotel room so he knew how heart broken I was and went and got a brand new one! This one is obviously different but it’s even more beautiful. He had me crying on the plane. This is my hubby ladies and gentleman, isn’t he just perfect?!?!?! After over a year and still have butterflies for my man. Always have and always will… ???

A post shared by Paige WWE (@realpaigewwe) on May 11, 2017 at 11:59am PDT

Darren Young’s Injury Rehab Progress

Darren Young indicated on Instagram that he is closing to returning to the ring after undergoing elbow surgery back in February. He wrote the following:

“I just wanted to share with world how far I’ve come since major elbow surgery and I hope it can inspire you to achieve your own personal fitness goals. I’m not finished yet. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re picking up the pace now. #standby #thedoubtersmademedoit #blockthehate #whyhidehardwork”

I just wanted to share with world how far I’ve come since major elbow surgery and I hope it can inspire you to achieve your own personal fitness goals. I’m not finished yet. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re picking up the pace now. ? #standby #thedoubtersmademedoit #blockthehate #whyhidehardwork

A post shared by Darren Young aka Freddie (@fredarren) on May 10, 2017 at 3:02pm PDT

Photo of Actress Florence Pugh as Paige

Steve is the Founder of RingsideNews, AllWrestlingNews, and Wrestling dot News. He has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He first got into website development at the time and has been focusing on bringing his readers the best professional wrestling news at it’s highest quality.

CM Punk & AJ Lee Appearances, WWE Backlash & NXT Takeover Pre-Shows, More

– There will be a thirty-minute pre-show for WWE NXT “Takeover: Chicago” will air at 7:30pm EST on Saturday.

– Speaking of pre-shows, Renee Young, Peter Rosenberg and Booker T will be on the WWE Backlash Kickoff pre-show next Sunday from Chicago.

– The RAW brand wrapped their part of the two-week European tour on Saturday with a WWE Live Event in The Netherlands. The SmackDown brand has a show today in Copenhagen but will be headed back afterwards.

– Former WWE Superstar AJ Lee will be making an appearance on NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” this coming Tuesday at 1:35am EST to plug her “Crazy Is My Superpower” book.

– Former WWE Superstar CM Punk will be making his first appearance in the New York City area since leaving WWE on July 1st and July 2nd at the Eternal Con. This event talkes place at the Nassau Coliseum.