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Possible Opponent for Kurt Angle’s First WWE Return Match

It was reported a couple weeks back via Wrestling Observer that the storyline plan for Kurt Angle’s text message that Corey Graves received that could “ruin Kurt” would ultimately lead to the return of Stephanie McMahon to weekly WWE programming.

Dave Meltzer indicated on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio that the goal for this storyline is to eventual set up a match between Kurt Angle and Triple H. While Meltzer didn’t confirm exactly how it would go down, one could speculate that Stephanie McMahon could return to RAW and there could be a power struggle angle that leads to Triple H’s involvement.

In regards to when the match could take place, it is very unlikely that WWE would have a match of this caliber at one if their “B” pay-per-view events. It’s more likely that a match between The Man of 3 H’s and the Olympic Gold Medalist take place at one of their “Big 4” events — SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. It’s just a matter of how long the company wants to stretch this storyline out.

Interesting Fact on Brock Lesnar’s Title Defense at Great Balls of Fire

As seen at Extreme Rules last Sunday, Samoa Joe won the fatal 5-way match against Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt to earn a shot at Brock Lesnar’s WWE Universal Championship title.

The match is scheduled to take place between Joe and Lesnar at the July 9th Great Balls of Fire event. What’s interesting about the match is it’s date, as it is exactly one year to the day after Lesnar returned to the UFC and controversially defeated Samoan knockout artic Mark Hunt at UFC 200.

Unless plans change, Lesnar is expected to go over Joe at the event and move on to a new challenger at the next pay-per-view event.

Jeff Hardy Says “BROKEN” Gimmick Will Be The Most Exciting Thing To Hit WWE Programming

WWE has footage of Matt and Jeff Hardy being interviewed by Corey Graves on the WWE Network. Graves asks about the “Broken Hardys” gimmick and Matt had the following remarks to say regarding the chances of it re-surfacing in WWE:

“I definitely think there is a chance. It’s a work in progress. Unfortunately, because of legal reasons, I really can’t go into it right now but I find it very flattering and humbling that every time we come and wrestle in front of the WWE Universe, they chant and they address it and they acknowledge it.”

Matt added, “When it happens, and I’m not even going to say if, when it happens, it’s going to be the most exciting thing to hit WWE programming in a long, long time. We’ve got to keep people guessing.”

Bray Wyatt’s Wife Accuses Him Of Adultery with WWE Co-Worker — Files for Divorce

Bray Wyatt’s wife has filed for divorce, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

The story is that Samantha Rotunda filed for divorce in a Florida court after she discovered that her husband Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) committed adultery with WWE ring announcer, Jo Jo Offerman. Samantha’s lawyer told Daily Mail that he has obtained phone records that indicate that Wyatt is still maintaining “continuous contact” with Jo Jo.

Samantha and Windham were married back in 2012 and separated in March after Wyatt allegedly walked out on her and their two daughters, 6 and 4.

Windham’s attorney made the following remarks regarding the divorce:

“I do represent Mr. Rotunda in his dissolution of marriage case in Hernando County, Florida. As you know, these cases involve the private lives of the participants and sometimes unpleasant disputes. I would ask that you respect the privacy of both litigants in this matter and I have no other comments to make.”

In his counter-petition for divorce, Windham requested an injunction to force his wife to keep quiet about the situation. He claims she made ‘defamatory statements about the husband to several people in the community in an effort to ruin his reputation.’

Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Russo as WCW Champion, Changing Landscape of the Wrestling Business, Undertaker Returning? More!

Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).

Russo comments on the growing speculation online, that WWE’s promotional image for the upcoming ‘Great Balls of Fire’ PPV resembles a penis and two testicles. Sasha Banks even tweeted this week that she actually agrees with the speculation and can see the resemblance. Russo doesn’t understand why WWE would blatantly do this given their ‘PG’ environment, and the fact that their target fanbase is mostly children.

Gilbertti points out that there was a recent study which concluded that the median age of WWE’s fanbase is 54. Russo is shocked by this news but it proves what he’s been saying for a long time now, that WWE isn’t making new fans. Gilbertti says that this number has nearly doubled from 28 in 2000, and today’s fans are mostly attitude era leftovers. He adds that WWE’s fans are literally dying off.

Russo says that wrestling isn’t ‘cool’ anymore, and teenagers aren’t watching today’s product. In turn, WWE is unable to generate and maintain new fans. Gilbertti says that WWE had the biggest increase of median fan age from 2000 to 2017 out of the 25 sports that were studied.

Top ROH Name Not Heading to WWE

PWInsider reports that Dalton Castle agreed to a new deal to stay with Ring of Honor and will not be heading to WWE. Castle’s previous deal was set to expire this month and they had not yet come to a new deal until the last few days.

It should be noted that he only “agreed” and has not officially signed anything. Some websites have got those two terms confused.

Another Name Done with Impact Wrestling

Jessie Godderz is no longer working for Impact Wrestling and his profile has been removed from the roster page on the company’s website. Godderz worked for the promotion dating back to 2011.

While speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider last month, Godderz was asked about why he hasn’t been appearing on television for Impact and he confirmed that he was still under contract with the company.

“I just had a handful of other projects that took precedent. They were understanding with it. I’m still under contract right now. Other than Sonia and my CBS family at Big Brother, obviously I owe the world to Impact Wrestling for giving wrestlers chances to branch out. Everything is as planned and on schedule as of right now.”

It is very possible that he contract could have ran out over the past couple of weeks. We will keep you updated if we receive more information.

Title Match Announced for Monday’s RAW

WWE announced that Sheamus and Cesaro will defend their RAW tag team championships against The Hardy Boyz on Monday’s episode of RAW. WWE wrote the following regarding the match:

Just one week after losing the Raw Tag Team Championship in a brutal Steel Cage Match at WWE Extreme Rules, The Hardy Boyz invoke their rematch clause against new titleholders Cesaro & Sheamus this Monday night, live on Raw.

Last Monday, The Celtic Warrior boasted that Matt & Jeff were “sitting at home, licking their wounds — Jeff gluing in his false tooth — just dreaming about their rematch.” This Monday night, the dream becomes a reality much sooner than the champions likely anticipated.

Can The Hardy Boyz reclaim the titles they won during their triumphant return at WrestleMania, or will Cesaro & Sheamus continue to raise the figurative bar in Team Red’s tandem division?

Brock Lesnar has also been announced to return to the show to address Samoa Joe’s attack on Paul Heyman.

Samoa Joe Should Be The Next Universal Champion

Mr. Brock “The ‘Conqueror’ Beast” Lesnar will finally defend his Universal Championship at the aptly named Great Balls of Fire. His opponent is none other than Mr. Samoa “Samoan Submission ‘Destroyer’ Specialist” Joe. This has all the potential in the world to be a great match if WWE actually decides to book a proper match. It should be a hard-fought battle, but many feel that he is a placeholder contender until the proper Samoan can win the title. We still don’t know what WWE’s plans are, but hopefully, they crown the Destroyer in July. The Samoan Submission Specialist would be a great Universal Champion, and here’s why.

He’d Actually Be There Most of the Time

We can’t really fault Lesnar for wanting to work 10 times a year and get paid millions for it. He took Mr. Perfect’s advice to refrain from making wrestling his whole life. Good for him. I can respect that.

However, when Lesnar has the championship and disappears for months on end to go kill a wolf with his bare hands, it can leave Raw feeling a bit barren. Obviously, when he does show up, it’s a big deal, which adds to his star power (and to an extent, the star power of the belt).

If Samoa Joe had the title, we’d be seeing it a bit more often, what with the fact that Joe is actually a full-time Superstar. There are two groups of people when it comes to top championships. Some people prefer frequent defenses, while others want to save those for big occasions. Both are right, but there’s a fine line in between them. It’s been 69 days since the title was defended, and it hasn’t been successfully defended at all in almost 100 days. That’s kind of bad.

With the Destroyer holding the championship, we’d see it defended a bit more frequently, which could help boost the stock of the belt.

He Could Have Great Matches With the Rest of the Roster

Brock is an incredible wrestler, there’s no doubt about that. So is Joe. The problem is that ever since Lesnar defeated John Cena at Summerslam, his matches have since devolved into suplex spam. It’s like when you first learn to play Mortal Kombat and all you do is press one button and try to win. The difference is, Brock Lesnar actually wins. So there’s that.

Joe’ first/last feud with Seth Rollins sucked a whole lot, but that was because of the story. The matches were fine. There was just no real reason for the Destroyer to fight the Kingslayer other than “hurr durr Stephanie fell through a table, I’m gonna kick your ass”. Rollins defeated Triple H; that should have been the end of his story with Joe.

If the Samoan Submission Specialist got his hands on the Universal Championship, then he could put on great matches with the other big names on Raw. I wouldn’t mind seeing Rollins v. Joe again. I wouldn’t even mind seeing Balor v. Joe again. Heck, let’s put the two Samoans in one match and have them beat the hell out of each other for the Universal Championship.

It Will Boost the Championship’s Image

We are all aware of the Universal Championship’s lineage. Finn Balor was the inaugural champion and vacated the title the very next day. Kevin Owens held the title after and sucked more than a black hole during his reign. Goldberg won the belt in 30 seconds and dropped it in 28 days, and now Lesnar has the title. How many truly great Universal Championship matches can you count? Maybe 4 or 5. How many truly great WWE Championship matches can you count? Way more. Heck, even the World Heavyweight Championship (RIP) had more great matches. Randy Orton v. Christian at Over the Limit, Randy Orton v. Christian at Capitol Punishment, Randy Orton v. Christian at Money in the Bank, Randy Orton v. Christian at Summerslam, etc.

The Universal Championship hasn’t even been around for a year, so obviously, there have been less memorable matches. With Samoa Joe as champion, those matches can start happening. The Destroyer locking horns with the Demon, the Big Dog, or even the Eater of Worlds over the Universal Championship would be a sight to see.

Of course, none of this will come to pass because Lesnar is keeping the belt warm for the Big Dog. Beleedat.

Reason Why Sister Abigail May Never Appear on WWE Television

While appearing on the PWTorch Livecast, former WWE writer Kevin Eck explain why fans will never see Sister Abigail appear in physical capacity on WWE programming.

“From what I know about how Bray Wyatt envisioned that character, I don’t think that character is ever going to be seen, because the way Bray explained it, and I don’t think it’s ever come out on TV. He speaks in riddles, so maybe if you read in-between the lines.”

He continued, “But Bray Wyatt was apparently a young man and Sister Abigail was an old black woman. I believe the swamps of Louisiana who had some supernatural powers and you know the history of voodoo and such in New Orleans. I believe she took him under her wing and kind of taught him the secrets of what she knows of the dark arts and things like that.”

Eck asserted that Sister Abigail is a witch-like character and the person who turned Bray Wyatt into what he is today. Eck stated that if WWE goes by Bray’s vision, the fans may not get to see a physical Sister Abigail.