place

Simon Gotch Says He Was Unhappy While In WWE

Simon Gotch revealed in an interview with Wrestle List that he was unhappy during his time in WWE. Here are some highlights from the interview:

Leaving WWE: “I was really unhappy. I’d actually been pretty unhappy there for a while. It’s kind of an odd little side story – the previous year, right after the takeover they did in Dallas, which myself and my former tag team partner Aiden English weren’t even on the live special from Dallas. And I’d always been really close with Biff Busick or Oney Lorcan as he’s now known, and he walked by and said ‘Hey man, how are you doing,’ and I just looked at him and said ‘I f–king hate this place. I want to quit,’ and he got this huge grin on his face. If you’ve ever seen Biff smile you know he’s got this very unique sort of half smile does, but it was that thing of really, frustration building up and being really depressed about how we were being used. And you always want to be doing more and when you’re feeling like you’re not being allowed to you’re literally being barred from doing more, it can wear on you a lot.”

Main roster vs. NXT: “The one plus of NXT versus the main roster was in NXT they did the tapings every month or every couple of months. It was kind of like you knew where you were going or weren’t going. If you’re not used on a taping you know you’re not going to do anything for the next six weeks or month. So then you have time to work on stuff on house shows or put together ideas, new pitches – you know whether or not you need to do that. But, on the main roster, because everything’s so day-to-day and week-to-week, there’s very much that feeling of, am I doing anything on TV this week? No? Okay – let me pitch an angle. And next week comes and they tell me they like the angle but they don’t have time to start it yet. And another week goes by and they don’t do anything.”

If he would go back: “I wouldn’t say the door is closed obviously because in wrestling if it’s going to make them money, they’re not going to care about anything else. Serena Deeb was actually just back in the Mae Young Classic and I’m pretty sure everyone thought she was blackballed after she got released and I must have heard she’d retired a couple of years ago. So she’s an example of someone who a lot of people would’ve thought would never be back. Mickie James, Alundra Blayze, Drew McIntyre is probably one that people thought would never come back or Jinder Mahal. For me personally, I think it’s a matter of – I would need to come back under the right circumstances. I wasn’t happy with how I was used when I was there. I wouldn’t want to come back to basically fall into that same trap again.”

New Match Announced WWE Battleground

Shane McMahon announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that the winner of a 5-Way Elimination Match at WWE Battleground will earn a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos

#1 Contendership for the SmackDown Women’s Championship: Fatal 5-Way
Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana

Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Major Name Involved with Mae Young Classic

WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze revealed on Instagram that she’ll be involved with the Mae Young Classic.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWSKX2Zlcpy/

Tapings will take place July 13th and 14th at Full Sail University and the first four episodes will be available on-demand on August 28th on the WWE Network. The finals of the tournament will then air on a live special from Las Vegas on September 12 at 10 PM ET.

Kenny Omega Defending the IWGP US Championship at ROH Event?

As seen this past week, Kenny Omega defeated the likes of Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal and Tomohiro Ishii to become the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. Just days after this momentous victory, it is being reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer that The Cleaner’s first defence might take place at Ring of Honor.

Meltzer also predicted that the first one to challenge the Cleaner for the championship should be none other than the Aerial Assassin, Will Ospreay. The two have had a phenomenal match in the past at a PWG Event.

Would you like to see The Cleaner and The Aerial Assassin go at it for the newly made IWGP USA Championship? Sound off in the comments!

Possible Spoiler on The Hype Bros Splitting Up

As previously reported, there is speculation that the beginning to the end of The Hype Bros is currently on-going on WWE programming after Mojo Rawley eliminated Zack Ryder from the Independence Day Battle Royal Tuesday night.

Bryan Alvarez discussed the Battle Royal on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio and said it’s obvious that the team is splitting up. It’s believed that Zack will be the one to turn heel on Mojo in their on-going storyline.

We noted back in May via Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE has plans to push Mojo as a single’s star. Dave Meltzer indicated at the time that the company would probably split the team once Ryder got back from injury and it now appears that those plans are in place.

Two Possible Matches for WWE Battleground

Dave Meltzer discussed the upcoming WWE Backlash event on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio. As of this writing there are only two matches confirmed for the show. Those matches are Jinder Mahal defending his WWE World Title against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match and The Usos defending their tag team championships against The New Day.

Meltzer revealed that two other matches that will take place on the card. Those matches are:

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis
Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin

WWE Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.

Battle Royal & Rap Battle Announced for Next Week’s SmackDown

Daniel Bryan announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that an Independence Day Battle Royal to determine a #1 contender for the United States Championship will take place next week.

Also announced for next week’s show is the return of John Cena and The New Day will compete against The Usos in a rap battle.

Hulk Hogan Not Interested In WWE Return?

Hulk Hogan may not be interested in returning to WWE now that his Gawker problems are behind him.

According to Fightful, WWE had meetings regarding a possible return for The Hulkster, however the decision on whether or not he wants to return to the company is Hogan’s decision. WWE apparently reached out with the proposal of a “renewed working relationship” and Vince McMahon has also touched base with Hogan.

The feeling is that because of Hogan’s $31 Million settlement with Gawker, he’s in a good place financially and doesn’t need the money that WWE is willing to offer him for his return.

Alberto El Patron Says His Match Against Lashley Will Be A Thousand Times Better Than Lesnar vs. Joe

Alberto El Patron recently spoke with Sports Illustrated. Here are some highlights from the interview:

Match With Lashley Topping Lesnar vs. Joe: “Our match is going to be a thousand times better. I have deep respect for Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe, and I know they’ll give the fans an amazing match, but they’ll be limited by the politics in that company. That company won’t let one of them give one-hundred percent to the audience, they’re going to hold them back. Impact Wrestling says, ‘Here is the ring, go do your thing.’”

Facing Bobby Lashley: “When you’re in the ring with Bobby, you feel it. You know you’re competing and performing with a guy that is not just a sports entertainer. He’s a real athlete and a real wrestler. When you combine two wrestlers with the same background and similar styles, you’re going to get magic. That’s what is going to happen at Slammiversary. We’re going to go the extra mile. We’re not afraid, and that’s just the way we were brought up in the business. If I punch him extra hard, and he kicks me extremely hard, then we’re OK with that–that’s part of what we want to offer to the audience.”

Calling Vince McMahon to Resign: “I was in a place where I was not happy. I was waking up every morning and really struggling to go to work. I got to the point where I asked myself if I wanted to continue in the pro wrestling business. I said to myself, ‘I’ve lost the passion and love for the business.’ But I was wrong. I never lost passion for the pro wrestling business. I lost respect for that other company. …I realized that it was not the business, it was the place where I was working. So I decided to call the one that matters in that company and said, ‘I’m sorry, sir. Thank you for the opportunity, and thank you for everything, but I’m not happy in this place and I need to move on.’ I am blessed and lucky to find a place like Impact Wrestling. They needed someone like me, and I needed a company like Impact Wrestling. It was perfect timing to start doing business together.”

Best Potential Raw & Smackdown Live Summer Feuds for John Cena

On the July 4th episode of Smackdown Live John Cena will make his anticipated return. Absent since his memorable moment at Wrestlemania 33, Cena will likely start the build for his summer feud. Big Match John’s feud is likely to be a high profile one which is equally as high in quality. The interesting caveat to Cena’s return however, is his status as a free agent.

What exactly this means is still up in the air. However logic dictates it means Cena will begin to appear on not only Smackdown Live, but also RAW. This sets up a plethora of exciting feuds and matches which are sure to create buzz this summer. Fresh rivalries and dream matches always on the mind when you talk about John Cena. With his return imminent, the buzz within WWE through July to Summerslam will be huge. Undoubtedly superstars would love to take the opportunity to collide with the Face that runs the Place. Whether it be at the Biggest Party of the Summer or beforehand.

With that, this article takes a look at the best possible feuds for the Summer for John Cena from both Smackdown Live and RAW.