lesnar

Brock Lesnar’s Status for Tonight’s RAW Episode

Brock Lesnar is not scheduled to make an appearance on tonight’s episode of RAW.

Kurt Angle is expected to announce plans for Lesnar defending the WWE Universal Title at WWE SummerSlam tonight. It’s being rumored that he will be announcing a Fatal 4-Way for the Championship.

Here is the current list of WWE dates Lesnar is confirmed for:

SmackDown Live Event: July 29th (Detroit, MI)
RAW: July 31st (Pittsburgh, PA)
SmackDown Live Event: August 12th (Tampa, FL)
RAW: August 14th (Boston, MA)
SummerSlam: August 20th (Brooklyn, NY)
RAW: August 28th (Memphis, TN)
WWE No Mercy: September 24th (Los Angeles, CA)
RAW Live Event: September 30th (Winnipeg, MB)

Major Update on Brock Lesnar’s WWE & UFC Status

It was reported via Pro Wrestling Sheet yesterday that Brock Lesnar has made it clear to WWE officials that he won’t be re-singing with WWE after his contract expires shortly after WrestleMania next year. This doesn’t appear to be the case, according to the Wrestling Observer.

Dave Meltzer indicated on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio that reports of Lesnar leaving WWE once his contract expires to pursuit a career in the UFC are premature and he wouldn’t take these reports serious. Meltzer has a hard time believing that Brock would turn down “easy money” working for WWE at his current age of 40. The belief is that WWE is the better long-term option for Lesnar at his age.

In regards to UFC’s Jeff Novitsky shooting down reports that Brock Lesnar has not entered into the USADA drug testing pool, Meltzer said that he could enter the pool today and be ready to return for a fight early next year. Meltzer doesn’t believe that Lesnar will fighting for the UFC at the end of this year and also hinted that a fight early next year wouldn’t pan out well because of the Royal Rumble and the risk of him possibly getting hurt.

As far as possible opponents for Brock if he does make a UFC return, Meltzer named Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones as potential fights.

UFC Rep Denies Reports of Brock Lesnar Being Enrolled In USADA Testing Pool

Jeff Novitzky, the UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance, is denying reports that current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar has re-entered the USADA drug testing pool. Novitzky said there is “zero truth” to the reports and issued the following statement to MMAJunkie:

“[Lesnar] is not currently enrolled in the USADA testing pool, nor has there been any inquiry on his part to do so.”

MMAjunkie noted that their attempt to reach USADA for comment was unsuccessful. We will keep you updated if we hear anything new regarding Lesnar possibly returning to the UFC.

The Ross Report Recap w/ Lita & Madusa – Great Balls of Fire Analysis, Strowman is WWE’s ‘Next Big Thing’, Mae Young Classic, More!

Ross thought that Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar had a great match at last Sunday’s Great Balls of Fire event.  He thought the match was believable at every turn, and Joe actually had the majority of the offence during the bout. He liked the story that both men told, and he didn’t have a problem with the finish of the match at all.

Some fans were aggravated by the fact that it only took one F5 to defeat Joe, and this is a tale of the times in Ross’ opinion. Fans have become accustomed to wrestlers kicking out of each other’s finishing moves, and he thinks that’s a problem for the wrestling business. A wrestler’s ‘finisher’ is supposed to ‘finish’ the match, and he believes that apart from big events like WrestleMania, finishing moves should be protected.

He admits that the outcome of the match was somewhat predictable with Lesnar winning but he thinks there will be a rematch at some point down the road, maybe as soon as SummerSlam if Joe is able to defeat Roman Reigns on RAW next week.

Ross thinks that Braun Strowman has a chance to be the ‘next big thing’ in WWE. After seeing Strowman walk away from that crash at Great Balls of Fire, Ross feels it’s hard to root against him, even if he’s supposed to be a heel. Strowman is a powerful, believable character who Ross thinks fans can get behind. He says that Strowman is the type of performer that you build a company around.

Brock Lesnar’s Reaction to Samoa Joe’s Performance at WWE Great Balls of Fire

Brock Lesnar was reportedly very impressed with how his match against Samoa Joe at Sunday’s WWE Great Balls of Fire turned out.

Fightful.com reports that Lesnar was apparently “extremely happy” with Samoa Joe’s performance in the match. It’s being said that Lesnar was “particularly thrilled that Joe was able to keep up with his physical style and was able to give it back.”

It will be interesting to see if we get to see them go one-on-one again in the near future. Samoa Joe will have the opportunity if he can defeat Roman Reigns on RAW next week.

Big Match Announced for Next Week’s RAW

Kurt Angle announced on tonight’s episode of RAW that Samoa Joe will face Roman Reigns on next week’s episode of RAW. The winner of that match will face Brock Lesnar at the upcoming WWE SummerSlam event for the Universal Championship.

As of this writing, no other matches or segments have been announced. We will keep you updated if they announce anything.

Bischoff on Wrestling Recap – Russo’s Restraining Order, RAW & Smackdown on WWE Network, Should Joe Defeat Lesnar? More!

Bischoff is joined on today’s show by his co-host Nick Hausman.

Bischoff comments on the news that Vince Russo filed a restraining order against Jim Cornette recently. He simply calls this action by Russo ‘bizarre’, and he’s getting sick and tired of talking about Russo. At first it was fun to poke fun at Russo because he’s so easy to get fired up, but at this point it’s just silly.

Hausman mentions that initially fans thought all these verbal jabs between Russo, Cornette, Bischoff and Prichard were a work, which would ultimately result in some live debate tour featuring all men. It’s obvious now that was never the case. Bischoff mentions that we was offered a pretty good pay day recently to do an in-ring segment with Russo for an indie promotion in P.E.I.,Canada. Even though the money was good, he turned it down because Russo is just too weird to be around.

Bischoff thought the Samoa Joe/Brock Lesnar segment from RAW this past week created some mystique, and that’s something that has been sorely missing from WWE’s product lately. Joe is a great character, and luckily WWE has made a commitment to Joe’s character because now Joe comes off as a believable threat to Lesnar. Bischoff thinks Joe will give Lesnar some of the best matches he has had in recent memory.

The Taz Show Recap – Bryan Teases A Return to the Ring, Ranallo Back in WWE, Women’s MITB Rematch, More!

Blocks 1 & 2:

A listener calls into the show and asks Taz if he thinks WWE would throw us all a curve ball and have one of the Money in the Bank winners emerge on RAW to cash in their briefcase against Alexa Bliss or Brock Lesnar. Taz admits that would be a very shocking and surprising turn of events, and would make for a very memorable moment.

However, he doesn’t think cashing in on RAW (especially the day after the PPV) is a good idea. He has always been a fan of the Money in the Bank creative, and more often than not the goal is to get as much longevity out of that angle as possible each year. The briefcase holders can use that contract to boost themselves up throughout the year, and the constant threat of cashing in adds intrigue to the product throughout the year as well.

A listener calls into the show and says that he purchased the ROH PPV this past weekend, and this was the first PPV he purchased since 2014. He’s very happy he decided to spend the money on this PPV because it was a great wrestling show. Taz says that he’s a big fan of ROH, and there’s a lot of hard working people who make that company work on a daily basis.

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar Moved to SummerSlam?

There is speculation that the Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar match that was previously scheduled to take place at WrestleMania 34 could be taking place at SummerSlam this year instead.

This move is being taken to increase the presence of the Universal Title on weekly RAW shows in order to increase the poor TV ratings. The speculation holds a lot of relevance since Reigns announced that he was next in line to challenge Lesnar for the title on this week’s Monday Night RAW episode.

Additionally, Dave Meltzer mentioned in a recent installment of Wrestling Observer Radio that plans may have changed because Braun Strowman returned from injury much earlier than expected. With his early return, some planned matches have been switched around.

What are your thoughts on this match-up? Sound off in the comment box below…

Pete Dunne Once Again Mentions his Willingness To Fight Brock Lesnar

WWE UK Champion and current PROGRESS World Champion, Pete Dunne was a guest on the Card Subject To Change podcast. Dunne talked about a number of talking before addressing the subject of who he considers being his dream opponent.

According to Dunne,  his dream opponent would be the WWE Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar. Here’s what Dunne had to say about the topic: (credits to Cards Subject To Change/ quote credits: SEScoops)

“The big one for me is Brock Lesnar. I like that you believe in him because that is him. I try to carry myself that way and I look to someday reach that level. I think it would be a match people wouldn’t expect but it’s one I’d love to have. It’d be a good fight.”

Would you folks like to see the Bruiserweight go at it against the Beast Incarnate himself? Tell us in the comments!

Dinner with the King Recap – Great Balls of Fire Insight, Advice for Wannabe Wrestlers, Who Had the Best ‘Puppies’ in WWE? More!

Lawler is joined on today’s show by his co-host Glenn Moore.

Lawler informs that he appeared at the Comicon in Washington, DC this past weekend. He says that he had a great time there and he was able to see a lot of old friends. WWE Superstars Charlotte Flair and Nakamura even made an appearance on Saturday.

A listener writes into the show and asks Lawler which current WWE Superstar would fit well in Memphis Wrestling back in the day. Lawler says that he worked as the top babyface in Memphis for a long time, so their goal was always to find big, strong heels to work against him. Guys like Kamala and Bam Bam Bigelow fit that mould.

In that sense, there are a number of guys in WWE today that would work out well in Memphis. Lawler says that they would have made a lot of money with someone like Brock Lesnar in Memphis back in the day. They could also do wonders with talents such as Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt and of course Braun Strowman.