samoa

Brock Lesnar to Appear for Every RAW Heading Into Great Balls of Fire

Brock Lesnar will be appearing at every RAW show from now until the Great Balls of Fire event to help build for his feud against Samoa Joe. Those dates include the June 12th RAW in Lafayette, LA, June 26th RAW in Los Angeles, and the July 3rd RAW in Phoenix. He is also confirmed for the show after the Great Balls of Fire event in Houston.

It’s unclear if he will actually be participating in any matches on these shows or appearing on television for that matter. In the past he would be advertised for the event, but sometimes not appear on television. He would often work the dark match main event instead. Let’s hope that isn’t the case this time around.

Edge Says Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe Should Have Been Saved for WrestleMania

During the recent installment of the E&C Podcast of Awesomeness, Edge talked about the upcoming match between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe and mentioned that WWE should have saved the match for WrestleMania next year.

“You want my take? Here’s my take, ok, I’m assuming that they wanna go Reigns and Brock at WrestleMania. I personally would have gone Brock and Joe at WrestleMania because it’s different, it is fresh, it is believable. You have this 300 pound Samoan you know, beast and then The Beast Incarnate. So I don’t know, I think that to me it would have been a fun match to get at WrestleMania and I think people would have been excited to see that too.”

You can listen to the complete podcast here.

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.

Current Plans for Brock Lesnar and the WWE Universal Title

As previously reported, Samoa Joe’s opportunity for the WWE Universal Title against Brock Lesnar at the Great Balls of Fire event is expected to be a one-off match with no followup match planned. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the company has plans for Brock to defend the WWE Universal Championship against Braun Strowman at the SummerSlam event this summer.

Speaking of Brock, he’s expected to eventually have matches with both Seth Rollins and Finn Balor before he has his match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania next year. Market conditions and injuries could potentially change these plans.

The Ross Report Recap w/ John Pollock – Extreme Rules Analysis, Delivering on ‘Extreme’ Expectations, Ross to Call Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar?…

Ross opens today’s show by speaking about the fact that wrestling commentary teams continue to  document the length of every Title reign. He can only assume that the higher-ups in each promotion want to have those stats discussed, but it’s starting to bother Ross because he doesn’t think it’s a necessary talking point.

He says that he was pleased to see Samoa Joe emerge victorious form the Fatal 5-way match at Extreme Rules, because he thinks a match between Joe and Brock Lesnar is a real money maker. He can’t wait to see  how WWE decides to book this program because if it’s done correctly, Ross thinks this can be a massive success for Joe, Lesnar and WWE as a whole.

Ross thought that all five men in that Fatal 5-way match came out of it stronger than they went into it. All five competitors had their chance to shine and none of them were really sacrificed to highlight another. He gives each man credit for carrying their weight Sunday night and delivering a terrific match.

Triple H Announces NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Event

Triple H announced on Twitter that NXT “Takeover: Brooklyn III” will take place Saturday, August 19th at the Barclays Center during SummerSlam weekend.

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn returns to Barclays Center on Aug. 19

For the third year in a row, Brooklyn, N.Y., will host NXT’s hottest event of the summer.

TakeOver: Brooklyn III comes to the Barclays Center Saturday, Aug. 19, one night before WWE SummerSlam emanates from the same building.

WWE COO Triple H made the announcement on Twitter:

Tickets for the WWE Network special event go on sale this Friday, June 9, at 10 a.m. ET, exclusively at NXTtickets.com.

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn has played home to such historic showdowns as Finn Bálor vs. Kevin Owens, Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe in previous years. There’s no telling what huge matches will go down this August, but this much is certain: Takeover: Brooklyn III will have the entire WWE Universe buzzing!

Don’t miss out on witnessing the action live in person — secure your ticket this Friday.

Huge Return Announced for RAW Next Week

WWE announced on tonight’s episode of RAW that Brock Lesnar will be returning to RAW next week. He is expected to confront Samoa Joe in some fashion for attack Paul Heyman on tonight’s show.

No other matches or segments have been announced for next week’s show, but we will keep you updated.

Several Notes & Possible Spoilers for Tonight’s Extreme Rules Event

WWE heads to Baltimore, MD for tonight’s Extreme Rules event. Here are a couple of notes and possible spoilers for tonight’s show:

With only six matches announced for the card, the Fatal 5-Way main event is expected to receive a lot of time.
While there is no pre-show match announced for the show, it is very possible that they either add a cruiserweight match or R-Truth vs. Goldust.
With The Hardy Boyz winning every match heading to their bout against Sheamus and Cesaro, it is possible that they drop the titles.
The Drifter is expected to attack The Miz because he “owes him one”.
Per betting odds, Samoa Joe is expected to win the Fatal 5-Way. It should be noted that betting odds are not always correct.

Check back here at 7PM ET for our play-by-play coverage of tonight’s show. We will also have a Extreme Rules discussion on our new social media site, RingsideTalk.net.

WWE Extreme Rules Results – June 4 2017

Welcome to Ringside News’ coverage of WWE Extreme Rules 2017!

Let’s start at the top for a change: the Kick-Off show begins at 7:00 PM EST, and the main show starts at 8 PM. The Kick-Off show will see another rematch between Kalisto and Apollo Crews, with Titus O’Neil in Apollo’s corner. Originally the pre-show match was supposed to be the mixed tag match but it was changed just today. So join us for the Kick-Off show and get the results of this match and the rundown of the entire card.

Two tag team matches take place on the main card tonight, one of which is The Hardy Boyz Vs Sheamus & Cesaro for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships. This match will take place inside of a steel cage and the stipulation is fitting because things have gotten personal between the two teams. The other match is the mixed tag team match with Rich Swann & Sasha Banks against Noam Dar and Alicia Fox. This match was on the pre-show but was moved to the main card, as far as I can tell. The match doesn’t really have a stipulation, besides the genders, but it will look to settle the score once and for all between Noam Dar, Alicia Fox, and Rich Swann.

Dean Ambrose puts his Intercontinental Championship on the line against The Miz on tonight’s show. This match is kind of the opposite of every other on the card tonight, as Dean Ambrose will lose his title if he gets disqualified against Miz. This stipulation was put in place because The Miz claims Ambrose cannot win matches without getting crazy, and also to differentiate it from the rest of the card. The odds are already stacked against Ambrose, but there is a strong chance Elias Samson may interfere and attack The Miz – reflecting his “eye for an eye” lyric on Raw this past week. Let us know who you think will walk out with the gold!

Speaking of gold, Neville stands a strong chance of losing his tonight, as he faces Austin Aries in a submission match. This is the third PPV in a row that Neville and Aries will have gone toe-to-toe and it seems like the chances of Neville retaining are super slim. Aries has been run through the gauntlet time and time again by Neville and TJP, but tonight the odds actually favour him, and the only way to keep things going is for Aries to grab a win against the King of the Cruiserweights.

Alexa Bliss battles Bayley in a Kendo Stick-On-A-Pole match, following one of the worst WWE TV segments in recent memory. Last Monday, Bliss gave us a Bayley, This Is Your Life segment, but what transpired was a lot more like Jerry Springer than The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection. This left us less-than-excited for the title match tonight, especially considering the gimmick of the match means that there won’t be any use of the Kendo Stick for the majority of the match. I expect this match to be as good as it could be, simply because of how good Bayley and Alexa are, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bayley take the win!

The main event tonight is the first-ever Extreme Rules Fatal 5-Way between Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns.

WWE Monday Night Raw Results – May 29 2017

Welcome to our coverage of Monday Night Raw, less than a week from Extreme Rules!

Tonight we get another tease of the Fatal 5-Way coming up at Extreme Rules, as we will see Finn Balor tackle both Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt in a Triple Threat match. The odds seem to be stacked against Balor but based on the Paul Heyman promo last week, I think Balor is a favourite to win the Fatal 5-Way! With that in mind, Balor is likely to lose tonight, or the match will see a screwy finish. Another tease for the Extreme Rules number one contender’s match, sees Seth Rollins battle his former Shield brother, Roman Reigns. Tonight, just like the past few weeks, is all about each man gaining some momentum heading into the match – which usually comes at the behest of the guy who got momentum the week before, thus leaving practically nobody with momentum by the time Extreme Rules rolls around!

Elsewhere tonight, The Hardy Boyz prepare to face Sheamus and Cesaro in a steel cage match at Extreme Rules. These two teams will likely put on a barn-burner this Sunday and tonight I fully expect a primer to all the extreme action. There may even be a cage hanging above the ring! Also deep in preparation for Extreme Rules is the former Women’s Champion, Bayley. WWE’s resident hugger has yet to use a Kendo stick against Alexa Bliss ahead of their match of the same name. Alexa says Bayley doesn’t have what it takes but it sure looked like she did last week when Bayley stormed the ring with a stick in hand. Will the hugger finally unleash her extreme side tonight, or will Bliss antagonise her one last time?

Last week Enzo Amore was found in the backstage area, attacked by an unknown enemy. Big Cass was beyond furious about finding his partner in such a state, and vowed revenge if Angle couldn’t find the perpetrator himself. Could the attacker be none other than The Revival, who are returning to action soon following Dash Wilder’s broken jaw? Or is it someone else, maybe even Big Cass? That would be a hell of a twist. Hopefully we get more clues tonight as to who the attacker was, or maybe they strike again, maybe Cass gets hit this time.

On top of all that, we have Dean Ambrose ready to face The Miz on Sunday, as well as Elias Samson, still drifting around in the background. Tonight should be a good final build towards the one night of the year when WWE gets extreme. If nothing else, the show should be a heck of a lot better than last week’s Raw, which was a real snore-fest. Are you excited for the show? Let us know in the comments, check out the awesome Ringside News app, and enjoy the show!

Jim Ross Reveals Best Opponent for Brock Lesnar

Good Ol’ JR listed out a number of dream matches that he’d like to see today. While talking about it, he revealed who he thinks is going to be the best opponent for Brock Lesnar.

Lesnar is scheduled to face the winner of the Fatal 5-way match between Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns and Finn Balor. However, J.R didn’t have any of the aforementioned superstars in his mind as the ideal opponent for the Beast Incarnate.

Ross said the following (quoted by Inquistr.com):

“I’m a different cat though, man. I’d like to see Braun Strowman – in a big build-up – against [Brock] Lesnar. I think that’d be a nice car crash.”

The good news is that rumours of Strowman vs Lesnar going down at SummerSlam have surfaced recently. This means that Ross and the fans are in for a treat.

You can listen to the entire interview here.