As previously reported, Chris Jericho will take part in the RAW brand tours on June 30th and July 1st in Tokyo, Japan. At the events he will take on Hideo Itami. Both WWE Superstars commented on their upcoming match on social media with the following remarks:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVw26jnl9qC/
Steve Austin was vocal on a recent installment of his podcast regarding WWE booking Naomi to defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Lana at the Money in the Bank event. He made the following remarks:
“Naomi deserves better, the title deserves better. Lana wasn’t up for this task at hand, at this point in her career. I thought she had much more mystique as the valet, whatever the term is, with Rusev. Man, they kind of killed her gimmick off, and reinvented her, and I just liked her the way she was. So, if she wants to be in the ring, that’s more power to her, but a lot of the stuff I got on Twitter was, ‘Hey man. For a first match, she did a lot better than I expected.’ Ok. As I say that, good for her. But as a company who’s striving for excellence in sports entertainment/professional wrestling, the best of the best belong on a pay-per-view.”
You can listen to the podcast here.
As previously reported, Alberto El Patron broke up with Paige last night in Orlando. After …
TMZ recently caught up with the famous rapper, Lil Yachty who was donning an old-school Hardy Boyz/Team Extreme T-shirt. When asked if he would ever step into the squared circle, the 19-year-old rapper said he already had meetings with the WWE to make a “special appearance” for the company.
Yachty said that he wants to take a major beatdown by some WWE Superstars if he ever shows up in the squared circle. He then talked about his favorite tag team, The Hardy Boyz and also talked about how his signature move would be.
Former Ring of Honor wrestler Bobby Fish has been spotted at Full Sail University, which NXT tapings.
According to our correspondent at the event sent word that he was seen speaking to producer Ryan Katz. While it’s not confirmed, it is very possible that he could make his debut at tonight’s tapings. As of this writing it is unknown if he signed a deal with the company. It’s worth noting that The Wrestling Observer reported back in March that he didn’t want to sign a full-time deal with ROH because it may tamper with his chances of getting hired on by WWE.
We will keep you posted if we find anything out.
WWE has made an announcement on wwe.com stating that RAW Superstar Apollo Crews and his partner, Linda invited their first-born this week. Here’s the official announcement made by the WWE:
“Titus Brand member Apollo Crews has become a father, WWE.com is happy to announce.
The powerful Raw Superstar and his partner Linda have welcomed their first child, Sade Sofiya, into the world.
Join WWE in congratulating the proud parents!”
Crews’s friend and Impact Wrestling star, Moose posted this photo on Instagram, congratulating his friend and welcoming the baby to the “family”:
A post shared by Moose Moose Moose Moose (@moosenation69) on Jun 22, 2017 at 7:38am PDT
The word going around is that Mauro Ranallo has signed a deal for two years with WWE that will also allow him to appear and work for non-wrestling events. This means that he can still work with Bellator MMA under WWE clearance while simultaneously working for WWE.
It was announced earlier that Ranallo will be joining the colour commentating team on WWE’s NXT starting from this week. He will also be calling the iconic and hyped Mayweather vs McGregor fight in August of this year.
On the latest episode of his podcast, Conversations with the Big Guy, Ryback revealed some interesting details about a teased feud between him and Triple H. Here’s what the “Big Guy” said: (Quote credits: wrestlinginc.com)
“I had a weird deal with Hunter. Did I ever tell [podcast co-host Pat Buck]? Do you remember that, where they had a thing where it looked like they were teasing a program with me and Hunter? They had us face off in England after I wrestled Kane. I think I broke my finger wrestling Kane one night. We were doing something and our hands hit and my finger went sideways.”
Ryback then continued:
“so I get through this match with Kane. I think it was the main event on SmackDown. Then, they have this big stare [down] with me and Hunter and they teased it for a couple of weeks with different things and then it just went away. It was nothing. And even he came up, ‘the plan was never for us to work, just so you know.’ And I go, ‘Oh, okay. I don’t know.’ I’m not in the creative meetings. I don’t know why. I just do what I’m told. He would always explain things weirdly, but, yeah, that never happened. It would’ve been nice, so he could f–king know that I could wrestle.”
Would you have liked seeing Hunter go at it with The Big Guy? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Triple H recently spoke with Sky Sports. Here are some highlights from the interview.
The announcement of Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in a boxing match: “I think that is the – look I’ll go a step further and say all sports is entertainment, the news is entertainment today, it’s just the way of the world. This is what people do with their time. It’s no different. I think there is an interest level there. Can a world class boxer, probably the best ever, can he stand in the ring with an MMA guy and can that MMA guy bring his striking skills up to the level of someone, like say, a Floyd Mayweather? The one thing it will be, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is entertaining. One thing Floyd Mayweather is, is entertaining. One thing Conor McGregor is, is entertaining, and it’s funny that you say it’s sports entertainment. I’d invite both guys, that really want to showcase what they do, I invite both guys to come to Monday Night RAW because there is no bigger platform that they can have to show the world, and tell the world, who they are and why they’re the man.”
Previously Working With Mayweather: “Yeah, Floyd got involved then. I trained Floyd to step into the ring with The Big Show, which was a big highlight for me, and he did. He got it the ring at our Super Bowl, Floyd is a big fan and has a huge respect for what we do, we have stayed in touch over the years, and here he is getting thrown out of the ring by the Big Show. At the level of athlete that he’s at, for Floyd to agree to that kind of stuff was amazing for us, but you know he’s a huge fan and couldn’t have been more engaged in what we do. The Mayweather / McGregor fight, people can say what they want, but it’ll be entertaining.”
Possibility of doing a match with boxing star Gennady Golovkin (GGG): “It would be the perfect fight, we have a little beef over the three letter thing going on, maybe. It’s funny you should – we had a date at Madison Square Garden for GGG’s last fight and we made an arrangement to allow GGG to have that date for his last fight – there’s a little bit of history there. I’d love to get in the ring with him and see what we can do.”
Mauro Ranallo announced on Instagram that he is back with WWE working under the NXT brand. He wrote the following remarks about his new gig with the company:
THE NXT CHAPTER BEGINS!
WWE and I mutually agreed to end my responsibilities on SmackDown having nothing to do with rumors about disputes. As I remained under contract with WWE, we discussed a variety of options. Despite originally agreeing to part ways, there was always a desire to continue working together. We have come to terms on a new agreement that benefits both WWE and me, and I am thrilled to announce I will now be part of the NXT broadcasting team.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVp4v6IgOoc/
It looks like the RAW brand isn’t the only brand that is splitting up tag teams, as it looks like The Hype Bros will be going their separate ways as well.
Bryan Alvarez discussed Zack Ryder’s recent return to SmackDown Live and speculated that Ryder’s days of teaming with Mojo Rawley would soon be ending. The belief is WWE once had plans to push The Hype Bros prior to Ryder’s injury that sidelined him for six months. WWE was forced to change their plans after the injury and decided on new plans that would see Mojo as a singles star.
It’s being said that WWE only put the two back together recently as a way to eventually split them up in storyline. Mojo is expected to continue his path as a singles star after the split.