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.

Vince Russo Issues Apology to Eric Bischoff

Vince Russo published another video to his YouTube channel where he issues an apology to Eric Bischoff. Here is a transcript of what was said in the video:

Hello, my name is Vince Russo, and we are summoned here tonight in what is a serious manner. Because, as you know I just offered an apology to Jim Cornette, and now suddenly an apology feels necessary to one Eric Bischoff. Let me apologize up front if I break down during this apology because as we all know, Vince Russo is a cryer, especially in meetings, so I’m going to apologize beforehand.

But Eric, I’ve said it all along, when Vince Russo is wrong he is not afraid to say that he is wrong, and I was wrong about you Eric, so I’m going to apologize. I’m going to go all the way back Eric, because there’s a lot to apologize to you for—even in your childhood. As the story goes, your teeth rotted and your hair turned prematurely gray at a very early age, and by the time you went into the 6th grade you had to have your teeth capped and you were dying your hair jet black. I can only imagine those kids on the playground during recess that were laughing at the kid with the chicklet teeth and the shoe polish in his hair.

Eric, you overcame that, which leads me to my next apology. I want to apologize that your former boss, Verne Gagne, Mr. Gagne kept sending you back to that same Deli time and time and time again because his coffee just wasn’t hot enough. I apologize for that Eric. I also want to apologize that a man had to have his lips sewn to another man for the better part of 20 years. It sounds like a bad centipede movie to me Eric, but that was the case—the case between you and Hulk Hogan, wasn’t it, Eric? How do I know this was the case? Here’s how I know it was the case, because I want to apologize that when Dixie Carter wanted to hire Hulk Hogan you rode in on the Hulkster’s coattails and you told Dixie Carter, “Hulkster ain’t comin without me, brother. This is a two for one deal.” Which you ended up milking Dixie for an exuberant amount of money when she never wanted you in TNA in the first place.

But Eric, once you got there, I really need to apologize for a couple of things that you did. I want to apologize for you convincing Dixie Carter that we had to go head to head with Monday Night Raw—it’s time Dixie, we are ready, we got the Hulkster, we can defeat them Dixie. Yes Eric, I believe it was you and the Hulkster, who were the big cheerleaders, why? It wasn’t your money, and what did you do? You embarrassed TNA. You ashamed TNA, and you scarred TNA for life.

You weren’t done there now were you? This leads me to my next apology. “Dixie, the Monday night thing didn’t work, but I got it this time! Screw this Universal Studios. Screw where you’ve been doing the shows for decades, we’re going to take the show live on the road every week. A different venue, a different arena, live! That’ll get the ratings up.” Eric, you know what that got up? That got up TNA’s debt. A debt that they haven’t been able to overcome to this day. This is what great ideas are made of I guess.

Now Eric, I want to apologize on the topic of balls. First of all, I want to apologize that going back to DX, driving that tank up to the doors of WCW, a script written by Vince Russo by the way. When you saw them coming, you screamed backstage like a little biatch, “Shut the doors! Shut the doors! Shut the doors!” You know what Eric? You didn’t have balls then. Anybody with a pair of balls would have let them in. It would have been great for live TV, but Eric let the big steel door come down right before DX can enter the building. That was when I first realized that Eric Bischoff has no balls. Here it is confirmed 20 years later when I apologized because Eric Bischoff does not have the balls to talk to me man to man, face to face, when he has been challenged. I gladly welcome the invite on Eric’s little show on WrestleZone, but no, he’d rather talk behind my back every chance he gets, reminiscent of that steel door coming down on DX.

Now Eric, I also want to apologize that you are now involved in a lawsuit with TNA attempting to milk them for even more money despite the fact that when you were under contract with them and they paid you millions and millions of dollars of the BS that you sold them, you delivered zero. You stole from TNA. You did nothing, but that wasn’t enough, and some would call you a greedy little bastard, but I’m not going to do that, I’m a gentleman. Now, we are going to sue them for even more money because the money that I stole from them just wasn’t enough, and I apologize for that.

Eric, I apologize that you had to bury me to SpikeTV every single chance that you got because that was the only way that you can even the playing field. You had to tear Vince Russo down to build your little self up; that is how politicians do it. That is how Car Salesman do it because they are not good enough to do it the All-American way. They are not good enough to take the challenge head to head and win the game. Why wouldn’t you take that challenge, Eric? Because on that creative playing field you knew you couldn’t touch Vince Russo so the only way to bring Vince Russo down is to bury him to the Television Executives, Eric, just like how you are trying to bury me in your little podcast now; same thing.

I apologize for that Eric, I really do. I also apologize Eric for telling Vince McMahon to hire you in 2002. I did that; despite the way I felt about you, because let’s face it Eric, everyone that worked with you all thought of you as an arrogant wussy, everybody. Despite that, with business being business, I said, “Vince, you have to hire this guy. He is a great performer. You can tell great stories with him.” I did that Eric, me, Vince Russo. Even though you were my arch enemy because it was right for business. You think Vince McMahon would have ever brought you in on his own? He heard the same stories about you that everybody else knew, but it was me that put you over to him that got you the job at the WWE.

How ungrateful can you be? Let’s get to the matter at hand becuase I have two big apologies that I saved until the end. First and foremost Eric—I want to apologize for you for being the reason for being fired by WCW in the first place. You see Eric, you had such a huge astronomical lead in WCW. You were kicking our a** in the ratings week after week after week. Then Vince McMahon brings in somebody by the name of Vince Russo and outside of crying at meetings, this guy had never done anything, but what he was about to do Eric, was going to be historical. Because what he was about to do was school you. What Vince Russo was about to do was beat your a**.

It was like a magic show, Eric. WCW here [showing hand gesture aiming high], and WWE here [showing hand gesture aiming low], and within a matter of months, WCW here [showing hand gesture aiming low] and WWE here [showing hand gesture aiming high] . Eric, it wasn’t all my doing—a lot of it was your doing, so I’m going to apologize for yourself because Eric, at the end of the day, you were the kid with the chicklets; the kid with the black shoe polish in his hair; and the man with one good idea. A whole career—but one good idea.

Eric, there are many that say you stole the nWo angle from Japan; I’m going to give it to you, I’m going to give you the full credit because Eric, you were a one-trick pony. You drove that idea into the ground and you opened the door for me and you allowed me to kick it in and beat your a** and get you fired.

Isn’t that what this is all about bro? How 20 years later you still can’t get over that? Sounds very familiar doesn’t it? The last guy I apologized to had an ax to grind because two employers chose me over him. I beat you bro. A New York Italian beat you and you got fired.

Eric—I really want to apologize to you for this one; I really didn’t mean for this to happen; but you talk about adding insult to injury; not only were you fired, but Brad Siegel replaced you with me. Can you believe that, bro? Not only did I put you out of a job, he gave me your job! Here you are 20 years later whining and crying about—-who is the cry baby Eric? Who is the cry baby?

I didn’t cry at any meeting; you and I both know it, but you cried when I kicked your a**. You cried when you got fired, and you cried when I replaced you.

For all that, I apologize from the bottom of my heart, I apologize. So Eric, going forward, I hope we can turn the page and I hope this is a new beginning. Relax; maybe take some time off. I know you like some night club, stripper club, strip joint in Atlanta, maybe you go down there a couple of days, whatever you have to do.

As I told Jimmy C [Jim Cornette], when a man apologizes, there is not too much more he can do. Eric—I’m sorry for being better than you.

If I had a mic now, I would drop it.

Road Dogg Responds to Complaints About Nakamura’s Entrance Being Cut

Lead SmackDown creative writer Road Dogg responded to fans on Twitter that complained about Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance on Smackdown Live being cut to commercial. He made the following remarks:

WWE Planning “Something Significant” for the UK Brand

Jim Ross briefly mentioned plans for the upcoming UK show for the WWE Network on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio. While Ross didn’t reveal many details, he did mention that there are plans to do “something significant” for the brand. Ross said that talks are still on-going and the belief is he is just waiting to find out himself.

As previously noted, there was speculation that WWE would be adding a weekly show to the WWE Network that would consist of UK Superstars. The show was rumored to be taped once a month overseas once a month, with the shows airing later on the Network.

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.

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

What to Expect on the June 13th SmackDown Live Episode

WWE heads to Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA for tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live. The following is confirmed for tonight’s show:

Charlotte Flair will take on Natalya
Tamina vs. Naomi
The Usos, Primo & Epico will face Tyler Breeze, Fandango & The New Day in an eight-man tag team match
Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn & AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler & Baron Corbin
Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton face off before their match at Money in the Bank

Check back here at 8PM ET for our live play-by-play coverage. You can also join us for our SmackDown Live fan discussion on RingsideTalk.net.

Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Monday Nitro Analysis, Cutting A Live Promo for the First Time, Old Guard vs. New Blood, More!

On today’s show Russo and his co-host Jeff Lane will be discussing WCW’s Monday Nitro from April 10th, 2000.

Russo says that watching this show made him sad because it’s evident that he could work well and create some good television with Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett. This was the first episode of Monday Nitro that he co-wrote with Eric Bischoff, and he really wishes they could let bygones be bygones and move on with their lives without all of this bad blood.

Russo informs that he originally reached out to WCW after Vince McMahon told him to get a nanny to take care of his kids. Family was more important than that to Russo, so he inquired about work opportunities in WCW. Russo was hired in WCW as head writer, but he knew pretty early on that things were problematic there.

Bill Bush, an Accountant, was looking over WCW at that time for TNT and he knew nothing about professional wrestling. Russo and Ed Ferrara’s first goal when arriving in WCW was to elevate the mid card and introduce some new blood into the main event picture. The old guard of main eventers like Hulk Hogan and Sting were not happy about this, and they were quick to get in Bush’s ear.

Major Update on Braun Strowman’s Return to WWE

Braun Strowman has been cleared to return to action after suffering an elbow injury last month.

PWInsider reports that Strowman was cleared to return about a week ago. The belief is that he will return to television as soon as creative can fit him back into a storyline.

As previously reported, the “six months” recovery time that WWE reported was a work to make Strowman’s quick return look more impressive. Strowman was originally planned to face Brock Lesnar at the upcoming Great Balls of Fire event, but that match may be taking place at SummerSlam instead. We will keep you updated.