WWE Money In The Bank Betting Odds: Who’s Taking The Briefcase?
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June 12, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Extreme Rules and Best of the Super Juniors finals reviewed, tons of news
Submitted by dave on Wed, 2017-06-07 19:13Samoa Joe won the five-way title shot eliminator at Extreme Rules on 6/4 in Baltimore to set up a WWE Universal title match with Brock Lesnar on 7/9 in Dallas. Joe winning gives the match with Lesnar an interesting aura with the idea of two tough guys going for the championship and is something of a 2004 dream match that took 13 years for it to take place. While the PPV didn’t appear to have that much interest as compared to usual Raw shows coming in, with Joe winning, clearly interest was there coming out as the first hour of Raw was way up, the best opening number in seven weeks and the overall rating for the show was up 14 percent from the week before. Plus, an angle where Joe choked out Paul Heyman, leading to a phone call where Heyman talked to Lesnar and said that he wanted the beast unleashed and to teach Joe to fear Lesnar was done to build up the 6/12 Raw in Lafayette, LA, which features Lesnar’s first appearance since the day after ..
Mojo Rawley Being Groomed As The Next Big Babyface?
<p>On this past episode of Smackdown Live, we saw <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/mojo-rawley" title="Mojo Rawley">Mojo Rawley</a></strong> take on Jinder Mahal yet again on WWE programming. It was under different circumstances with Mahal being WWE champion and Mojo fighting for a chance to be in the Money in the Bank ladder match. This match was match after Mojo told Shane McMahon he wanted more opportunities on Smackdown Live. Mojo put up one great fight but failed to come away with the victory.</p><p>We fast forward to Talking Smack and Mojo is one of the guests. Instead of sitting there whining and complaining, he owned up to the lost and gave repeated thanks to Shane for the opportunity. This whole stint may not mean anything to most of you, but it spoke something to me. I could be wrong here but I do believe this was the start of the big babyface push for Mojo Rawley.</p><p>Mojo Rawley is a superstar that is easy to love. He runs around all the time on his unlimited supply of energy, he hits hard, and he loves to have fun. He’s always been an exceptional talent that had his run stalled due to <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/zack-ryder" title="Zack Ryder">Zack Ryder</a></strong> getting injured. After that, we started seeing Mojo back in singles competition again. He would lose more than he would win, but you left the match feeling entertained by him. Then <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/go/wrestlemania" target="_blank" title="Wrestlemania">Wrestlemania</a></strong> comes along and the unthinkable happened when Mojo won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Sure he had help for Rob Gronkowski, but Mojo worked his tail off in that match and earned the victory.</p><p class="c2"> </p><p>Things were looking up for Mojo, until we recently stopped looking at him on our television sets. It’s like he vanished from the program. He recently showed on this past Tuesday, and there has to be a reason. We thought things were looking up for Mojo before, but this may only be the beginning. Heck with Mahal winning the WWE Championship, anyone is capable of winning some gold.</p><p>His actions on Talking Smack seemed like phase one in this plan. Although he failed to capture a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match, big things are on the horizon for Mojo.</p><p>Sooner or later Mojo will get an opportunity at the United States Championship. Owens looks to feud with Nakamura for the time being, but he will need a new challenger after that is over with. A battle royal could be held to determine a number one contender, with Rawley coming out victorious. This would set up Rawley vs Owens for the title.</p><p>Owens won’t hold on to that title forever. Eventually he’s going to challenge for the WWE Championship. We saw with his run as Universal Champion that he can be a great heel champion. So he’s going to get a run as the top heel on Smackdown Live sometime soon. This works well for Mojo because he can be the one that swoops in and takes the United States Championship. It’d be the first championship for Mojo, and what a celebration it will be.</p><p>The babyface push for Mojo seems to be beginning on a high note. If the crowd can stay behind him and help uplift him, then Mojo will receive all the opportunities he wants on Smackdown Live. When your moniker is “the land of opportunity”, you have to push new talent. The good thing is Mojo can be a special kind of talent and shoot up the ranks quick like Mahal did. Expect big things from Rawley, cause the hype train isn’t stopping anytime soon.</p>
Rusev Posts Cryptic Tweet
<p><strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/rusev" title="Rusev">Rusev</a></strong> took to his Twitter account to post this crytpic tweet that has a lot of people talking on social media:</p><p>As previously noted, Rusev was set to make his SmackDown debut a while back but those plans got <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/nixed/" title="nixed">nixed</a></strong> once the company decided to go all out with Jinder Mahal’s championship run. There is no new information on exactly when the company plans to <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/bring/" title="bring">bring</a></strong> him back, but we will keep you updated.</p>
Two Titles Changing Hands at Sunday’s Extreme Rules Events?
<p>Smart Money bets are now coming in for Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules events. Unless there is a drastic shift over night, <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/the-miz" title="The Miz">The Miz</a></strong> is expected to leave the event as the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.</p><p>In addition to that, Cesaro and Sheamus are expected to win the tag team titles. We will keep you updated if there are any major shifts tomorrow, but here are the possible outcomes:</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/samoa-joe" title="Samoa Joe">Samoa Joe</a></strong> evens (favorite)<br />Seth Rollins 5/4<br />Finn Balor 5/1<br />Bray Wyatt 12/1<br />Roman Reigns 16/1</p><p><strong>Neville 1/7 (favorite)</strong><br /><strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/austin-aries" title="Austin Aries">Austin Aries</a></strong> 10/3</p><p><strong>The Miz 1/8 (favorite)</strong><br />Dean Ambrose 9/2</p><p><strong>Cesaro and Sheamus 1/3 (favorites)</strong><br />Matt and Jeff Hardy 15/8</p><p><strong>Alexa Bliss 8/15 (favorite)</strong><br />Bayley 11/8</p>
Possible Spoiler for Sunday’s Intercontinental Title Match at Extreme Rules
<p><strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/dean-ambrose" title="Dean Ambrose">Dean Ambrose</a></strong> is scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Championship against <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/the-miz" title="The Miz">The Miz</a></strong> at Extreme Rules with the stipulation being that the title will change hands should Ambrose get disqualified.</p><p>It’s being speculated that Ambrose could get disqualified and lose the championship at the hands of <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/elias-samson" title="Elias Samson">Elias Samson</a></strong>. The Belief is that to follow up on one of the lyrics to his song this past week, which included the phrase “an eye for an eye.” If you remember, The Miz attacked Samson during his debut match and is likely the person to whom the “an eye for an eye” line is directed at.</p>
Rey Mysterio Says He’d Love to Work for Impact Wrestling
<p>While speaking to Sport Illustrated, former WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio reveals that he had conversations with Impact Wrestling about working for the company, but thing’s didn’t pan out. He did however reveal that he would still like to work for the company, however he wouldn’t want to be under a contract.</p><p><em>“I was actually in conversations a while back with Impact about <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/doing/" title="doing">doing</a></strong> some shows. To be honest with you, it’s not that I don’t want to go work for them, it’s just like I didn’t have it in my game plan. I also didn’t have <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/lucha/" title="Lucha">Lucha</a></strong> Underground in my game plan before it was created. If the circumstances were right, I wouldn’t mind going. I’m not interested in signing a contractual deal, but I would love to do some shows. People want to see diversity in their opponents and fans want to see their dream matches. If people want to see a match-up, let’s make it happen.”</em></p><p>You can <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/check/" title="check">check</a></strong> out the full interview <a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/05/31/rey-mysterio-lucha-underground-wwe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
Finn Balor Helps Darren Young with Rehabilitation
<p>As <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/darren-young" title="Darren Young">Darren Young</a></strong> continues to train for his ring return, he noted on Twitter that <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/finn-balor" title="Finn Balor">Finn Balor</a></strong> introduced him to <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/blood/" title="blood">blood</a></strong> flow restriction therapy for rehabilitation.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thanks 2 <a href="https://twitter.com/FinnBalor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@FinnBalor</a> 4 introducing me 2 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bloodflowrestriction?src=hash" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">#bloodflowrestriction</a> for rehabilitation training. It's helped so much in my recovery. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/blockthehate?src=hash" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">#blockthehate</a> <a href="https://t.co/K6yFoOAW3R" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/K6yFoOAW3R</a></p> <p>— nodaysoff D-Young (@DarrenYoungWWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenYoungWWE/status/870074038047186944" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">June 1, 2017</a></p> </blockquote><p>As previously noted, Young has been out of action since January with an arm injury.</p>
Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Returning to WWE, Meltzer Argues with Stephanie, Bischoff & Cornette Scared? More!
<p>Russo <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/opens/" title="opens">opens</a></strong> today’s show by saying that some people within the wrestling business have reached out to him and said that he really needs to start sucking up to <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/wrestler/vince-mcmahon" title="Vince McMahon">Vince McMahon</a></strong> because WWE needs Russo more than Russo needs WWE. Russo refuses to kiss McMahon’s ass in order to get re-hired by WWE so that he can help them. If McMahon wants his help fine, if not that’s fine too.</p><p></p><p>The scary situation is that for five weeks now WWE has drawn less than three million viewers. There are no more excuses for McMahon and WWE, and they need to do something to combat their plummeting viewership. For a while they’ve been saying that their viewership drops are as a result of new ways to <strong><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/tag/watch/" title="watch">watch</a></strong> programming (social media, DVR), but these things have been around for years, not just the last few weeks.</p><p>Russo says that he will never suck up to WWE like Jim Cornette and Eric Bischoff did recently. Speaking of those two men, he says that both of them need to man up and have a face-to-face conversation with him because he’s sick of both of them talking behind his back. He assumes that they’re both afraid to have a discussion with him because he will expose all of their lies.</p>
Natalya Buys Her Parents a House
<h2><a href="http://www.ringsidenews.com/author/carrierlp/" title="Posts by Steve Carrier" rel="author">Steve Carrier</a></h2><p>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.</p>