bank

Possible Reason Why WWE Called Several Legends In for Sunday’s Money in the Bank Event

Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, Greg Gagne, Larry Hennig and Baron Von Raschke have all been spotted in St. Louis this afternoon.

As previously noted via Wrestling Observer, these legends are expected to take part in a segment at Sunday’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. While it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s very possible that they could be doing some sort of “father’s day” segment, considering that is tomorrow’s holiday. We will keep you updated if we hear anything as we head into tomorrow’s event.

Favorites to Win at Sunday’s Money in the Bank Event

Here are the updated Betting Odds for Sunday’s Money in the Bank event, courtesy of Best Wrestling:
(Note: The lower the number, the higher the chances of winner are)

WWE Money in the Bank Match
* Baron Corbin -190
* Sami Zayn +650
* Kevin Owens +650
* AJ Styles +750
* Shinsuke Nakamura +450
* Dolph Ziggler +1500

WWE Women’s Money in the Bank Match
* Carmella -145
* Becky Lynch +350
* Natalya +365
* Charlotte Flair +950
* Tamina +2800

WWE Championship Match
* Jinder Mahal(c) -250 vs. Randy Orton +175

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Match
* Naomi(c) -500 vs. Lana +300

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship
* The Usos(c) -120 vs. The New Day -120

Length of Men’s MitB Match
* Under 24 Minutes -137
* 24 Minutes or More -110

Length of Women’s MitB Match
* Under 20 Minutes -137
* 20 Minutes or More -110

Length of WWE Championship Match
* Under 18 Minutes -120
* 18 Minutes or More -120

MitB Men’s Special Bets
* Rusev to Appear Ringside During the Match +400
* Briefcase to be Cashed in the Night of MitB +500

MitB Women’s Special Bets
* James Ellsworth to be Ejected from Ringside +110
* Nikki Bella to Appear at Ringside +300
* Briefcase to be Cashed in at Event +500

The Taz Show Recap – Calling Live Matches Vs. Taped, Asuka Needs A Challenge, Does Lana Deserve A Title Shot? More!

Blocks 1 & 2:

A listener calls into the show and presents an idea he has for the Mae Young Classic. He says that Asuka has been complaining about a lack of competition in NXT as of late, so perhaps she should be entered into the upcoming women’s tournament where she’d have to defend her NXT Women’s Title in every match.

Taz says thats a cool, unique idea, but WWE wouldn’t really be able to explain giving out multiple Title opportunities to women who didn’t earn it. Taz admits that WWE just did this by giving Lana a Title opportunity against Naomi at Money in the Bank, so perhaps they don’t worry about those types of details as much as we’d think.

Another listener calls into the show and asks Taz what your main goal should be as a colour commentator for a wrestling company. Taz says that first and foremost, you should never worry about getting yourself over. Your talking points should always focus on the story that the talents are telling in the ring, and your goal is to do everything you can to get those talents over with the audience.

Taz points out that a lot of commentators seem interested in getting themselves over more than the talents in the ring, and that should never be the case. He adds that colour commentators such as JBL or Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler can get away with that to a degree because they both had lengthy, successful in-ring careers before transitioning to the announce booth.

Who Is Currently the Favorite to Win the Money in the Bank Briefcase?

While the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last week that Nakumara was the favorite to win the Money in the Bank briefcase this year, betting odds would have you thinking otherwise.

Early betting odds suggest that Baron Corbin will be leaving the June 18th as the rightful holder of the briefcase. Here are the odds for the match:

* Baron Corbin -165
* Kevin Owens +500
* AJ Styles +600
* Sami Zayn +600
* Shinsuke Nakamura +700
* Dolph Ziggler +2500

Speculation on Lana Competing on SmackDown Live Before MITB

WWE confirmed on their website that Lana will not be competing before the Money in the Bank event in her match against Naomi for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. There was speculation online this week in regards to her facing in a match before hand but that obviously won’t be happening.

WWE wrote the following, confirming that her match at MITB will be her first official match on the SmackDown Live brand:

“At SmackDown LIVE’s WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Lana will make her blue brand in-ring debut when she challenges Naomi for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a match that was made following the turbulent events of the June 6 edition of SmackDown LIVE.”

Mojo Rawley Being Groomed As The Next Big Babyface?

On this past episode of Smackdown Live, we saw Mojo Rawley 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.

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.

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 Zack Ryder 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 Wrestlemania 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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

WWE SmackDown Live Results – 6 June 2017

Welcome to another edition of SmackDown Live!

Tonight we have a bonafide first-time ever match-up between two huge stars: Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura! These two men are set to lock horns in the Money In The Bank ladder match in less than two weeks but tonight they get to inflict some damage and probably have a show stealer!

Also on tonight’s show, AJ Styles will face Dolph Ziggler once again – after losing last week in what was seemingly a botched finish. Dave Meltzer predicted this match would happen again tonight, in order to give AJ a win and some momentum back. The match last week was really starting to heat-up into a great affair but it ended abruptly when Ziggler superkicked AJ in the back of the head.

The New Day jumped right into the tag team title picture upon arriving on SmackDown last week. Xavier Woods, Big E, and Kofi Kingston challenged The Usos in their first appearance on the blue brand since coming over via the Superstar Shake-up. And now a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match awaits them at the Money in the Bank PPV. I expect to finally see The New Day in tag team action tonight, but will The Uso’s play fair?

The women’s Money In The Bank ladder match is also less than two weeks away, and it’s a match that has gotten a lot of people excited. However it does seemingly leave Naomi off of a PPV, having not defended her title in a while. This could really hurt the Champion as she looks to add credibility to her reign. Rumours suggest Lana might appear soon and challenge Naomi at Money in the Bank but I don’t see this happening – why would WWE promote Lana so heavily, only to have her lose her first match and fade away? Hopefully we find out tonight if Naomi will have a role at the PPV.

And then there’s Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton. The two didn’t meet physically last week, but Orton did give a good promo and Jinder appeared on the tron afterwards to annoy him. Expect things to really heat-up tonight between these two, as WWE need to add some fuel to the fire before long. That’s the preview for tonight’s show, let us know what you’re excited to see in the comments below, check out the free Ringside News app, and enjoy the show!

Backstage Plans for the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match

It was previously reported last week via Pro Wrestling Sheet that WWE has plans to have a first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match at this year’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view event.

In an update, Dave Meltzer reported on today’s installment the Wrestling Observer Radio that if the company still has plans to have the bout, WWE will setup the match during this week’s episode of SmackDown Live.

Meltzer said that he expects that only four female competitors will participate in the match. Meltzer also added that if the match could be switched to five competitors if they decide to bring someone up fron NXT. Meltzer did not indicate on who that person could be. We will keep you updated if we hear anything else.

Where Does Rusev Go From Here?

For those of you who may not know, Rusev was set for a big match at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view. After being traded to Smackdown Live in the Superstar Shakeup, Rusev declined to show up on the brand unless he received a WWE Championship match. It looked like this was the direction WWE was going in. It would have been perfect too. Randy Orton vs. Rusev.

Orton could win in his hometown and Rusev becomes a member of Smackdown Live. However, plans changed and Jinder Mahal is the current WWE Champion. Orton gets his rematch for the belt at Money In The Bank, which leaves Rusev as the odd man out.

So where does he go from here?

There’s the obvious choice of coming out during the championship match and costing Orton the match. This would in turn set up a feud between Rusev and Orton. Rusev would look strong if he came out of this feud on top, but WWE would probably not have Orton lose two feuds in a row.

The next option would be interfering in the Money In The Bank ladder match, costing a superstar their chance at winning. It could work, but I have a better idea. Rusev should attack AJ Styles before the match, take his place in the ladder match, and capture the briefcase.

You may be questioning yourself, wondering how on earth is this a good idea? Well, let me explain. Styles is the one guy in this ladder match (besides Nakamura possibly) who really doesn’t need to be in this match. They can get a shot at the gold any day. They are both pretty expendable at this point. Styles will more than likely get a shot within the upcoming year, so having him miss out on this opportunity won’t hurt him.

If Smackdown Live wants to capitalize on the return of Rusev, then he needs to return in a big way. Keep him off of television until the night of Money in the Bank. Rusev shows up and destroys Styles, making him unable to compete in the ladder match. Shane McMahon declares Rusev as the replacement since he is the one that caused all this mess. Rusev goes on to shock the world and win the Money in the Bank contract. It’s an outcome few, if any, would expect to happen going into the event. Seeing as how Smackdown Live has been booking on the shock value as of late, this would be right up their alley.

Not only would we see Rusev return in grand force, but we would also see him thrown into a rivalry with the hottest guy in the WWE. It’s a win-win for Rusev, who hasn’t been utilized the way he should’ve been throughout his short career. Rusev has all the tools to be a mega heel, and him going against Styles would only add to it.

Randy Orton Issues Sarcastic Apology to Indy Marks & Indy Guys

Randy Orton took to his Twitter account and issued an apology to fans that were offended after he re-tweeted comments made by Rip Rogers. For those not aware, Rogers was very vocal about how independent wrestlers perform in today’s wrestling and focused on how too many of their matches consist of flips and dives.

Orton wrote, “Sorry to the Indy marks, Indy guys and old timers who do DIVES took offense….. just having a good time over a few drinks in Denmark closing the Smackdown Live tour….while beating Raw in making over 5 million dollars in the last 11 shows. Now I know to some that doesn’t equate to a standing room only crowd of 150 people paying $8 at an armory somewhere…. but in the big boy world that’s called putting asses in seats. So enjoy your flips, dives, and 20 superkicks per match. To each their own. I will go “dive” back into my 13th title run and get ready to “flip” when my bank statement comes this month…………headlock”

Prior to that, he posted the following: