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New Match Added to Money in the Bank

WWE has announced that Zack Ryder will team with Mojo Rawley to take on Primo and Epico at Sunday’s Money in the Bank event in the kickoff pre-show. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title match
Jinder Mahal (c) (with The Singh Brothers) vs. Randy Orton

MITB ladder match
Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Smackdown tag team titles match 
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and/or Xavier Woods)

Women’s MITB ladder match 
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Carmella (with James Ellsworth)

Smackdown Women’s title match 
Naomi (c) vs. Lana

Kickoff match 
Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley vs. Primo and Epico

Former WWE Superstar Evan Bourne Claims He’s the Best Cruiserweight In The Business

While speaking to Chris Van Vilet, former WWE Supestar Evan Bourne commented on his position within the cruiserweights and claimed that he was the best out there. Here is what he said:

“I’m the best Crusierweight, X Division, Junior Heavyweight wrestler whatever you want to call it. The way that everybody tries to put their matches on, they’re basically just trying to do what I do. It’s as simple as that. I was just lucky to be there ahead of the curve to be the driving force behind bringing this amazing style of wrestling from Japan that combined Lucha Libre, American professional wrestling, Canadian professional wrestling and Japanese wrestling all into one beautiful mix that fans worldwide absolutely can’t get enough of.”

You can check out footage of him making those remarks in the video below:

Lana Shoots Down Rumors of Her Inheriting Eva Marie’s Gimmick

While recent reports would suggest that Lana inherited the gimmick that was originally planned for Eva Marie, Lana is saying otherwise. During an interview with USA Today, she claims that she is still using the “Ravishing Russian” gimmick she previously had while she was managing Rusev.

“I’m the same ‘Ravishing Russian’ that you’ve always known. It’s funny to me when I hear people say that it’s a new character. I embody ‘Ravishing.’ I come out in the most ravishing dress. I have a ravishing entrance. I’m ravishing people’s hearts. I was managing Rusev and wearing a suit because if you’re managing someone or an agent in real life, you are going to wear a suit to work. Right now, I’m the focal point, I’m the one competing. If people know anything about Russians, we do things really over the top. We wear high heels everywhere. We show up in the most extravagant outfits. I am just embodying how I was raised and what I grew up in. Some people might think we’re extra, I just think we’re ravishing. I’m the same woman, I’m just going to be crushing people myself.”

You can check out her full interview at this link.

Rumored Matches for This Year’s SummerSlam Event

The following matches are being rumored for this year’s SummerSlam event, courtesy of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman
John Cena vs. Jinder Mahal
Triple H vs. Kurt Angle

With WWE holding for back-to-back shows in the row at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, they are expecting to make this show as big as possible. Those events include NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III on August 19th, SummerSlam on the 20th, RAW on the 21st and SmackDown Live on the 22nd.

WrestleMania Possibly Heading to London?

The Independent published an article about the possibility of WrestleMania coming to London.

In the piece, they reference a survey that WWE sent out this week to individuals that attended WrestleMania 33, asking for their interest in future venues. It listed locations like New York City and Toronto.

The article points out that the last major show held in England was SumerSlam in 1992 and it drew over 80,000 fans at the Wembley Stadium. The event headliner saw the British Bulldog defeat Bret “The Hitman” Hart for the Intercontinental Championship.

Reason Why Finn Balor Hasn’t Been Using The Demon Character

While speaking to news.com.au, Finn Balor was asked about why his Demon Character hasn’t been being used on WWE programming lately. He responded with the following remarks:

“The Demon character is something I draw on occasion. It’s something that requires a lot of focus to tap into and really requires the right situation for me to sort of draw on that darker side of my personality. Since I’ve been back on Raw, the opportunity hasn’t really presented itself to tap into that side and I’ve had such a good time being back I haven’t wanted to change. I quite like walking out in my sweet new Balor club jacket. popping my collar and being Mr Cool.”

You can check out the full interview here.

Speculation on John Cena Facing Roman Reigns at SummerSlam

Following the announcement of John Cena being a “free agent” and appearing on both RAW and SmackDown, there was a lot of online speculation that the company may be setting something up between Cena and Roman Reigns for this year’s SummerSlam event. However, we can now confirm doesn’t appear to be the case.

Dave Meltzer was asked on the latest installment of Wrestling Observer Radio about the speculation between a match between the two at this year’s blockbuster summer event. Meltzer said that he was told that Cena will not be Reigns opponent for the event.

As previously noted, there is speculation that Cena will face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Title at this year’s SummerSlam event, despite Cena appearing for both brands moving forward.

Braun Strowman’s Possible Return Date

Braun Strowman may be returning at the upcoming Great Balls of Fire event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer mentioned in the latest installment that Strowman is currently scheduled to be part of the event. It’s unknown if he will face Roman Reigns at the show, but Strowman is still scheduled to face him one more time before having his match against Brock Lesnar.

The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, Defending Roman Reigns, Lana Readying for A Title Run, More!

Blocks 1 & 2:

Taz says that he didn’t think last night’s episode of Smackdown Live was very good for a ‘go-home’ show. It was an average show at best, but it should have been more given that it was the last show before Money in the Bank this coming Sunday.

Taz says that he liked the ladder match tease which ended the show, where Nakamura reached up and grabbed the briefcase. He thought this did a good job of promoting the ladder match and driving people to the PPV this Sunday, but this was the only part of the show to do so.

He didn’t like that during Jinder Mahal’s promo, The Singh Brothers were also standing on the area rug along with Mahal. He believes that mat should be solely for Mahal, and if he was the only person who was allowed to stand on it, it would seem far more important. He liked Randy Orton’s RKO out of nowhere, and he thought that spot was very well executed by the talent and captured perfectly by the cameraman.

Taz thought the 8-man tag team match between The Usos/Colons & Breezango/New Day was pretty entertaining. He adds that WWE is giving their viewers a lot of Breezango lately with in-ring matches as well as the Fashion File segments, and he urges them to be careful as to not over-expose the emerging team.

Spoilers for Tonight’s SmackDown Live Episode

The following are spoilers for tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live, courtesy of PWInsider:

Zack Ryder is backstage and is expected to make his return on tonight’s show. Ryder has been out of action with a knee injury since December.
There is talk that American Alpha will return.
Charlotte vs. Natalya
Naomi vs. Tamina
Usos/Primo/Epico vs. Breezango/New Day

Check back here at 8PM ET for our live play-by-play coverage. Also, you can join us on RingsideTalk.net for our live fan chat.

Paige Now Training for WWE Comeback

We noted earlier today that Paige went to go visit the doctors for a check up on her neck injury that has sidelined her for nearly a year.

Paige may have got some good news, as she posted the following photos to Instagram which would indicate that she’s training for her return:

Just getting alberto to take pics in the gym. Pretending to work out… Jkkkk. Boxing gym later. Time to start kicking ass again! ??

A post shared by Paige WWE (@realpaigewwe) on Jun 13, 2017 at 11:55am PDT

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A post shared by Paige WWE (@realpaigewwe) on Jun 13, 2017 at 11:58am PDT