One of the big questions regarding the Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt fight at UFC 200 is the USADA drug testing procedure.
When the procedure was first announced, a policy to avoid a fighter announcing his retirement, going on PEDs, only to then come out of retirement was addressed with this passage in the policy:
“An athlete who gives notice of retirement to UFC, or has otherwise ceased to have a contractual relationship with UFC, may not resume competing in UFC bouts until he/she has given UFC written notice of his/her intent to resume competing and has made him/herself available for testing for a period of four moths before returning to competition. UFC may grant an exemption to the four-month written notice rule in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete.”
While Lesnar has said he’s talked about returning for three months, he was not on the active roster and has not been drug tested. Zuffa stated Tuesday that because Lesnar last competed in 2011, long before the USADA policy was in place, he’s being treated as a new athlete just signed to the promotion for the purpose of the policy and not as a fighter who retired, was no longer being tested, and then decided to return.
Lesnar only signed to face Hunt on Friday, the day before the announcement. There had been a delay in finalizing the deal because Lesnar required permission from WWE to do the show.
In response to our question on this subject, UFC said the following:
“On June 6, 2016, UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar was registered by USADA into the UFC Anti-Doping Policy testing pool. As part of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, UFC may grant a former athlete an exemption to the four-month written notice rules in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete. Given Lesnar last competed in UFC on December 30, 2011, long before the UFC Anti-Doping Policy went into effect, for purposes of the Anti-Doping Policy, he is being treated similarly to a new athlete coming into the organization.
“While conversations with the heavyweight have been ongoing for some time, Lesnar required permission from WWE to compete in UFC 200 and only agreed to terms and signed a bout agreement last Friday. He was therefore unable to officially start the Anti-Doping Policy process any earlier. UFC, however, did notify Lesnar in the early stages of discussions that if he were to sign with the UFC, he would be subject to all of the anti-doping rules. Lesnar and his management have now been formally educated by USADA on the policy, procedures, and expectations.
“UFC Anti-Doping Policy testing statistics are publicly available at ufc.usada.org and are updated on a weekly basis.”
The Monday, June 6th Raw did 3.24 million viewers, up slightly from last week’s 3.22 million.
Last week had far tougher competition with a monster NBA game, but it was helped by being John Cena’s return to the show. This week has the Stanley Cup playoff game (Pittsburgh vs. San Jose) that did 4.23 million viewers on NBC, but The Bachelorette, in the spot of Dancing With The Stars, is doing just over half of what DWTS was doing.
Raw’s second hour was the high point, leading to a big third hour fade of 587,000 viewers. The second hour featured the Cena-A.J. Styles confrontation while the big things pushed in the third hour were Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens and the New Day vs. Club six-man tag match.
Despite a promising opening half hour, Monday night’s edition of RAW ultimately flattered to deceive. Here are the weekly sparse hits and myriad misses from this week’s Money in the Bank build-up show:
— The Hits —
The comedy-laden opening segment
Given the scriptwriting standard we’re accustomed to, six men reciting lines at each other in the ring should have been a disaster. Instead, highlighted by Owens’ interruptions and Jericho’s obnoxiousness, Monday night’s opening segment was consistently amusing.
The other members of the MITB ladder match finally challenging Jericho on his record in the match he created was wonderful. Jericho maintaining that he won “the first one….the sixth one!” in “Apple…..Appleton…..Stupididiotville!” was hilarious, as was Chris responding to Cesaro’s “your hometown?” rejoindre with: I’m from Winnipeg, idiot!”. That of course led to the crowd chanting “stupid idiot” for the second consecutive week, to which Jericho delightfully responded: “I know you are, but what am I?”.
While I could do without wacky Dean Ambrose talking about fighting polar bears, at least we also had Owens’ “Ooh, Spanish!” as soon as Alberto Del Rio opened his mouth. It was nice to see Teddy Long too, despite his flubs, if only to hear the on-fire Jericho insult him. Great stuff.
Backstage segments
Further credit must be directed towards the writing staff for the quality of this week’s backstage segments. From Del Rio cutting a strong heel promo on Zayn in the locker room to Long dancing along to his theme on his smartphone to Ambrose finally getting serious in response to Owens, they all worked really well.
Big Cass’ intensity
I wasn’t crazy about Enzo & Cass’ Ali-laden tribute promo, but I really liked the idea of using Aiden English’s attempt to repeat the events of Payback to fire up Cass. Cass showed signs of being able to exhibit believable aggression during his short-lived recent singles run, and that was on display here again as he dismantled the Vaudevillains. I didn’t even mind the cheap DQ finish for not responding to the referee’s instructions.
— The Misses —
Meaningless matches
It was very difficult to care about any of the seven matches on this show, particularly the three matches involving the MITB participants. All six men are already in a key match at the PPV, and nothing is going to change regardless of the results of their singles bouts. Why, therefore, am I supposed to get invested? At least all three matches were fine, with those who most needed credibility picking up the victories.
Repetition, repetition, repetition
There was so much on this show that I’ve seen before, with much of it as recent as last week. Rusev’s match against Swagger was a repeat from last week’s Smackdown as was the Life Lessons promo. Enzo & Cass fought the Vaudevillains on last week’s Main Event too, while Ambrose vs. Owens is a match that I really never need to see again for a very long time. News of another Ambrose vs. Jericho bout on this week’s Smackdown only increases my jadedness.
Reigns/Rollins “History Revisited”
Although last week’s WWE 24 documentary on the returning Seth Rollins was a fantastic piece of television, airing clips of it here only underlines how utterly boneheaded it was to bring “The Future of the WWE” back as a heel. If this two-part video package was intended to get the crowd to boo him and cheer Roman, it failed as anyone who saw it would surely be inclined to get behind Seth.
Getting Rollins to call Reigns a “placeholder” and reminding us of his Wrestlemania cash-in is unlikely to build sympathy for a champion that few like.
The Cena/Styles follow-up
The feud that the company is billing as a “Wrestlemania match” did not have a great sophomore outing this week. Their promo was as meta as a bad episode of Community with Cena’s jorts self-awareness and AJ’s talk of getting the shovels. The explanation that Styles recruited the Club to help him best Cena out of fear of getting “buried” is weak sauce in the extreme. Very disappointing.
Stephanie’s characterisation
So apparently Stephanie McMahon is an all-out heel this week, in Shane’s absence, abusing the doddery Long and stealing his ideas. She did deliver one piece of big news however, informing us that she will be the head honcho of Smackdown when it goes live on Tuesday nights. Hands up who laughed heartily at the laundry list of the qualities she supposedly possesses: “intelligent, young, vivacious, smart, has business acumen, and can usher in the New Era!” That’s a no-hitter for you there Steph, I’m afraid.
The Golden Truth follow-up
One Smackdown repeat I would have liked to see was the karaoke version of R-Truth’s new song, complete with a bobbing Goldust head to help you sing along. If the company was willing to spend months filming vignettes for these two, it might be an idea to get out of the way and let them get themselves over. Not only were the lyrics not on-screen, but Michael Cole talked over the song for the second week running too!
The latest battleground in the WWE concussion litigation is whether or not Christopher Nowinski can be compelled to testify. Issues cited in a WWE opposition to the plaintiffs’ effort include:
With 13 days until Money in the Bank, Raw originates tonight from Oklahoma City. The WWE is promoting the Club as its new top heel group, which is new considering its a pushed faction that has no connection to the Authority. At least, not yet. A.J. Styles, as the group’s mouthpiece, will likely be relied upon to give a promo explaining his attack on John Cena last week.
It could also be another night of returns. Bray Wyatt has been rumored to return imminently. With only two weeks to go before the show, there’s only three matches announced for Money in the Bank, and even the Money in the Bank match itself is unclear. Originally, there were seven participants announced, but only six are currently listed.
**********
The Big Takeaway:
This was a show that was full of talking and not much action. John Cena and A.J. Styles had a verbal joust full of inside references. Cena said wrestling Styles at Money in the Bank was a dream match (and was promoted that way throughout the show), then called Styles a bust because he lost to Roman Reigns twice. Teddy Long made a surprise return, booked to look like a out of touch goof who had no idea what the current fans want to see. The only match officially made for Money in the Bank is a Fatal Four-Way for the WWE tag team titles with The New Day vs. Anderson & Gallows vs. Enzo & Big Cass vs. the Vaudevillains.
Show Recap:
The show started with the six men involved in the Money in the Bank match already in the ring hovering on top of their own ladders.
Kevin Owens put down Sami Zayn as being less famous than the other five. Chris Jericho said he was more famous than any of them. Owens said he would be more famous than any of them because he will be the one who will take the Money in the Bank briefcase and the other five will be in his shadow. Dean Ambrose wanted to skip the talking and get to fighting. Owens talked him down and said he would get the briefcase some more and said he would take on all comers as champion. Owens said he wouldn’t defend the title against any of the men in the ring, but he would face anyone else, including the Nation of Domination, Waylon Mercy or the Four Horsemen.
Alberto Del Rio ignored Ambrose’s pleas to start fighting and said Zayn was a dog covered in fleas compared to him. Crowd actually started chanting “Si, si, si.” Cesaro spoke up before Jericho shouted him down and reminded everyone he created the Money in the Bank match. Cesaro then asked “How come you’ve never won a Money in the Bank match?” Jericho said he had. Zayn asked which one? Jericho mumbled something about the first one. Then he said the sixth one in Appleton, Wisconsin. Cesaro acted like had no idea what Jericho was talking about and called him a stupid idiot.
Jericho did his new “Gift of Jericho, Drink it in, man” catchphrase. Ambrose climbed up and punched Jericho. They all started brawling.
Then, out of nowhere, Teddy Long made a surprise return to “Teddy” chants. Long heard that SmackDown was heading to Tuesdays live. Teddy was all over the place on the mic. He said SmackDown was the longest running network wrestling show. Michael Cole had to issue a correction afterwards saying SmackDown was the 2nd longest weekly episodic series in television history. Cole had to explain the entire purpose of the Long cameo afterwards. Ordinarily, Long said he would arrange a disqualification match (that’s what he said), a six-way match and various other stipulation matches. Everyone looked confused.
Stephanie McMahon came out acting like she had no idea Long was going to be there. She asked what Long was doing. Long said he wanted to run SmackDown. Stephanie said a decision on who would run SmackDown hasn’t been decided yet. Teddy asked to see Shane McMahon. Stephanie said Shane was on vacation and asked him to get to stepping. Long wanted to dance off the stage, but Stephanie ordered that his music not be played.
Stephanie said Zayn would face Del Rio; Ambrose would take on Owens, and Cesaro takes on Jericho immediately. Then Stephanie ordered Long’s music to be played and she danced to the back. This was a really weird segment that Stephanie actually had to save.
Cesaro defeated Chris Jericho via submission (12:05)
Cesaro used a 13-rep Giant Swing then used a Boston Crab to get the tapout. Earlier, Jericho blocked an attempt at the Giant Swing and turned it into a small cradle. Some spots were mistimed, including Cesaro going for a springboard uppercut but Jericho catching him with a Codebreaker. Overall, a solid match.
– Anybody else notice the Money in the Bank music is also Donald Trump’s WWE music from WrestleMania 23?
– They honored Muhammad Ali by showing tribute tweets from HHH, Bret Hart, Shane McMahon and Steve Austin.
An amazing but perplexing video package aired focusing on Seth Rollins.
It was basically a five-minute version of the documentary that’s airing on the WWE Network. They showed the debut of the Shield at Survivor Series 2012, where they jumped Ryback. Rollins said, in or out of the Shield, he always wanted to be the best, not one of the best. Rollins said people misunderstand his relationship with Roman Reigns. He doesn’t dislike Reigns, it’s just that Reigns is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rollins said when he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, it was his moment, not Reigns.
They replayed his injury in Dublin, Ireland. There were even videos of Rollins as an infant playing with a Hulk Hogan stuffed action figure, pinning it to win the championship. When the video of Rollins’ surgery aired, he was shown cutting a promo from his bed, slurring his speech, saying he was coming back for his championship on day one. Cameras caught him watching Reigns beat HHH at WrestleMania from a luxury suite. Rollins said Reigns was a placeholder, not a real world champion.
Reigns is just sitting on Rollins’ throne, keeping it warm for him. Rollins said Reigns has never beaten him. It was such a good piece…so how are fans supposed to treat Rollins as a heel now? This is something straight out of Florida Championship Wrestling in the 1970s if an injured babyface sidelined for six months was rehabbing for a run against Dory Funk Jr for the NWA strap.
U.S. Champion Rusev defeated Jack Swagger via countout in a nontitle match (3:36)
Rusev and Jack Swagger did a double clothesline spot on the floor that looked still as hell. Titus O’Neal was on commentary. As the referee got closer to a 10 count, Rusev kicked Swagger into O’Neal and got back in the ring for the win. Postmatch, Swagger and O’Neal sent Rusev packing. Odd to see two babyfaces send one heel out of the ring. Swagger was over in his home state.
John Cena came out.
He said you don’t know what you got until its gone. Last week, there was energy and excitement when A.J. Styles and Cena was in the ring together. He called it a once in a generation moment. He tried to get it over like it was the 2002 staredown between the Rock and Hulk Hogan, then started doing his own dueling chants to mimmick what the crowd was doing. Cena said he’s only had electricity like that with one other Superstar, the Rock. Cena said for 15 years, people had been curious to see Styles vs. Cena. But Cena wanted to know why Styles chose the easy way out.
Cena wanted Styles to come out and explain himself. Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came out. Crowd had more dueling chants. Styles said he took the easy way out because he had a plan to punch Cena right in the face. And it worked perfectly. Styles said Cena insults him. He said Cena was great on his morning shows and his movies. But Cena insults him when the bell rings. And Cena knows deep inside that “You can’t beat me.” Styles says his kids ask him all the time why doesn’t he wrestle Cena. He answers because if he did, he would run rings around Cena.
Cena said Styles’ jokes are as outdating as his jorts. Cena said he looks at Styles as someone who worked two decades to get to the Royal Rumble, and failed. He failed twice against Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Cena said Styles was a bust. Styles said attacking him was desperate. Cena said Styles didn’t know who he was dealing with because he failed twice against Reigns, and now he was going after him?
Styles shot back that he could go back to Japan tomorrow and sell it out tomorrow. He said he nothing else to prove because he has nothing left to lose, so that makes him dangerous. Styles said after someone wrestles Cena, they get out the shovels and bury Cena’s opponent. Styles said Cena didn’t know who he was dealing with.
The Club went to the ring and surrounded Cena. The New Day ran down to join Cena and chase them away and it ended. A trios match between the three was announced for later tonight. A strange promo by Cena. On one hand, he compared Styles to the Rock. Then minutes later, he called him a bust. Styles did a promo straight from the heart of every Internet fan, or anyone else who has paid attention over the last 11 years. It was the time for Styles to give the best promo of his life, and it was very good.
The Vaudevillains defeated Enzo Amore and Big Cass by DQ (2:22)
Aidan English teased throwing out Enzo Amore over the top rope the same way he did at Payback. He threw Amore to the ropes, but Amore slid under the ropes and still sold it like he suffered a concussion. Big Cass went nuts, pounding English in the corner. The referee called for the bell when Cass refused to back off. Fans booed the DQ. Cass gave Simon Gotch the East River Crossing. Enzo got back in the ring. It’s clear they want Cass to break out of the singles pack because he’s tall, but he doesn’t have the charisma that Enzo has. Big Cass quoted Ali. Enzo Amore brought up the Vaudevillains knocking him out and said he could blow a bubble with a Now-A-Later.
Zayn did an interview saying he would have to consider himself an underdog against Del Rio tonight because ADR has captured the World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio showed up and said if Zayn won the Money in the Bank briefcase, it would prove all those people who Zayn could never win wrong. But Del Rio said Zayn’s dream is his reality and Zayn was destined to stay in the same spot he’s in now.
– More tribute tweets to Ali from Cena, Stephanie, Jerry Lawler and Mick Foley.
Long walked up to Stephanie dancing to his music, which was the ring tone on his phone. Long said if he was running SmackDown, he would take Enzo & Cass, the Vaudevillains, Anderson and Gallows and the New Day in a four-way for the tag team titles. Stephanie blew off that idea and asked Long how he got back security. Long pulled out a dollar bill and said “it makes you go holla holla.” Stephanie just glared at him. Teddy showed himself out. First thing Stephanie did was arrange the Fatal Four-Way tag team match that Long suggested for Money in the Bank.
Alberto Del Rio pinned Sami Zayn (8:18)
Surprisingly one-sided match where Del Rio won with the diving double foot stomp off the top rope. Zayn didn’t get much of a comeback after the heat. In fact, he didn’t even get a ring entrance. Del Rio’s first attempt at the double foot stop led to Zayn throwing him off the top rope. But Del Rio was back up in no time for the finish.
Ambrose walked backstage with Owens laughing at him. Owens said he was concerned for Ambrose, not just because of the Money in the Bank match, but because Ambrose has been more off the deep end than usual. Ambrose asked if Owens thought he was off when he beat him for the Intercontinental Championship. Owens said Ambrose needed help. Ambrose said Owens is the one who needs help.
Reigns got a video package just like Rollins from earlier.
They showed Reigns pinning Daniel Bryan to win the tag team titles. Reigns said Rollins thinks he’s the smartest guy on Earth. Reigns said he felt betrayed when Rollins broke up the Shield. He said being in the main event of WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar was a roller coaster by itself. When Rollins cashed in the Money in the Bank contract, Rollins took away his WrestleMania moment. His wife, father and daughter were all there.
He felt anger, but sometimes anger is the best motivator a man can have. Reigns said Rollins has always attacked him from behind because Rollins is scared of him. Reigns said there will be a big fight feel (Cole used those exact words earlier) at Money in the Bank since it will be in Las Vegas. Reigns said he’s expecting a better Seth Rollins, and he will beat a better Seth Rollins.
Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens (6:33)
Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds. Before the finish, Ambrose went for a tope, but Owens caught him and rammed his back into the apron. Owens followed with a Bullfrog splash. Crowd was quiet for much of the match until Ambrose did a superplex. After the match, Ambrose pulled out a ladder and climbed to the top. Why did he do that? To show he could climb a ladder? The answer, of course, was to give Owens a chance to recover and throw Ambrose off the ladder and scream how he would win Money in the Bank.
– Life Lessons with Bob Backlund had Darren Young saying he’s been running. Backlund said Young should always be walking and that he hasn’t run since 1978. Young said that was long before he was born. Backlund said he had Young’s car keys and he wanted him to walk eight hours to Backlund’s house. Young just walked off unhappy about walking eight hours.
Charlotte and Dana Brooke came out.
Cole said the world was still reeling about what Charlotte said to Ric Flair two weeks ago. I’m still reeling from Stephanie stealing her heat last week. Charlotte acted like she was going to apologize for saying what she said to her father. Charlotte said when she said Flair was dead to her, she meant professionally. She still wants to spend the holidays with her father, work out with her father, etc. But she didn’t want Flair stealing her spotlight.
Natalya and Dana Brooke came out laughing over Charlotte’s acting routine. Charlotte said Natalya had a trainwreck of a family and they should have their own reality show on E! Lynch said Brooke would eventually get stabbed in the back by Charlotte. Natalya warned Brooke that Charlotte was a master manipulator, something she and Lynch learned the hard way. Brooke looked at Charlotte like she was concerned and started to walk over towards Charlotte and Natalya. Then Brooke punched Natalya, who fell over Lynch. Brooke gave Lynch a Samoan Driver whie Charlotte held Natalya in a Dragon Sleeper and they posed over the babyfaces bodies.
Primo and Epico did a promo about how great drinks in Puerto Rico are.
Tyler Breeze and R-Truth went to a no contest (:53)
Goldust and Fandango brawled into the ring for a quick DQ. Long came out and ordered the rematch restarted. Everyone just glared at him like he was crazy. Security ordered Long out with no more action between these four, and not a moment too soon. Breeze and Fandango did an inset promo where Breeze shaved Fandango’s back. Fandango said something about how having the right lotion on your body makes your muscles aerogigantic.
– Long walked out before we got our weekly “Stephanie chews someone out” moment. Stephanie scolded Long and said Raw was going to be in the hands of someone young, vivacious and strong, and it was going to be her, not her brother Shane. She said Raw wasn’t going to be in the hands of old, incompetent, out of touch geezer. The irony alert was instantly activated from the local Emergency Alert System. Then she ordered Long to get the hell out of her building.
– Ali tribute tweets from Vince McMahon, Booker T and Flair were shown. Cole introduced a tribute package to Ali, showing his knockouts of Sonny Liston and George Foreman. They showed Ali talking about how much Gorgeous George and Freddie Blassie influenced him. There was rare footage of Vince interviewing him with Blassie managing him, I assume for the buildup that aired on ABC’s Wide World of Sports that built up his match with Antonio Inoki. Plus, there was the angle with Gorilla Monsoon. Of course, there was also his appearance at WrestleMania I. Crowd gave the video package a standing ovation.
– They announced the Ambrose Asylum next week would return with Reigns and Rollins as the guest. So it’s a Shield reunion, even though Stephanie cancelled the Ambrose Asylum a month ago. We didn’t even get Shane texting in an order to revive the show, they just advertised it with no warning.
– New Day came out and compared The Club with the Mickey Mouse Club. Kofi Kingston said they were the WWE World Tag Team Champions, and that was the only club that mattered. It all started as a three-on-three fight that ended with Styles giving Xavier Woods the Styles Clash on the floor. Woods was carried to the back and they carried on with the bout now a 2-on-3 handicap match.
The Club defeated The New Day in a handicap match (5:12)
Styles pinned Kingston after the Phenomenal Firearm. Kingston got a near fall earlier after the SOS. Afterwards, Anderson and Gallows threw Big E. into the dasheboards. Cena ran out for the save and he decked Anderson and Gallows. Styles retreated. Anderson and Gallows jumped back on the apron, and Styles wallopped Cena from behind. Kingston gave Styles a missile dropkick. Big E. gave Anderson the Big Ending, and Cena gave Gallows the AA.
During the match, Styles gave Big E the Pele Kick on the floor, and Gallows followed with the Yakuza kick. The crowd actually chanted for Cena after that. Cole mentioned it’s been 288 days since the New Day recaptured the WWE World Tag Team Titles.
SUMMARY:
The highlight of the show was the video package for Rollins. It was almost as good as the documentary made about him on the network. The timing of the video is the lingering question. Why didn’t they show that in the month preceding his return, then have him come back as a babyface to feud with Reigns? Rest of the show was ordinary in front of the deadest Raw crowd since WrestleMania.
Considering the amount of professional wrestlers there are (and have been) in the world, very few make it to WWE. Of those who make it to WWE, very few win titles. Of those who do, there aren’t very many who win titles on their first day in the company.
One of those who did was Santino Marella.
Many WWE fans remember the “Milan Miracle” and the subsequent years that Santino spent in WWE (mostly as a joke cracking midcard act) and many will have their favourite Santino moment.
In this Wrestling Observer exclusive interview, we meet Anthony Carelli, the man behind the Santino persona.
During the interview, we discussed:
– His recent release by WWE and how it blindsided him
– How close he came to being the SmackDown GM in the upcoming brand split
– Whether he got any heat for winning the IC title on his first night in the job
– Almost winning the WWE Heavyweight Championship
– Jim Cornette slapping him in OVW and why he decided against retaliating against an “old man”
– Setting up the BattleArts Academy and training kids and adults in wrestling and judo
Bubba took a little boy’s sign and threatened to tear it up pre-match. Enzo saved the day and grabbed it, returning it. Fairly basic tag match. Enzo and Cass win with the big splash.
– Viktor vs Jack Swagger
Big pop for the hometown hero. Back and forth standard offensive the whole match. Pretty lengthy. Swagger wins with a Swagger Bomb.
– Darren Young vs Apollo Crews
Only big move Crews hit was the standing moonsault. Darren attempted a somersault pin which Apollo reversed to get the pin and win.
– Video of Kevin Owens backstage trash talking Ambrose saying he’s going to beat him. He gets a call from his mother who says Ambrose will beat him. In a fury, KO says Ambrose doesn’t stand a chance.
– The Wyatt Family vs Kane and Big Show
Rowan and Braun dominated the whole match until they both tried to get involved. Kane tossed out Braun and Show KO Punched Rowan for the win.
– Lana and Dana Brooke vs Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch w/Summer Rae as special ref
Glad to see the ladies getting time. The only thing that didn’t make much sense was Summer Rae as ref. Becky locked in the Disarm-her on Lana for the win while Sasha had Dana in the Bank Statement.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs The Vaudevillians
Both sides got in good offense. The Vaudevillians hit the Whirling Dervish but New Day still pulled it off with Big E hitting the big ending with the assist from Xavier.
– Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens
Fun match. For a night where not a lot happened outside the ring, both went out a couple of times. KO teased Byron Saxton and even took his chair to use but Dean hit Dirty Deeds for the win.
After UFC announced Saturday night that Brock Lesnar was returning to the Octagon for UFC 200, WWE responded shortly afterward with a post on their own website that gives some insight into the arrangement and when we’ll see him next in a WWE ring.
“Brock Lesnar remains under contract to WWE. However, he has been granted a one-off opportunity to compete at UFC 200. Following this milestone event on July 9, Brock will return to WWE for SummerSlam on Sunday, August 21, live on WWE Network.”
Lesnar has been out of WWE action since downing Dean Ambrose in a street fight at April’s Wrestlemania in Dallas, TX.
The 38-year-old Lesnar had a history of big matches at “the Wrestlemania of the summer”. Last year, he lost to the Undertaker in a rematch of their classic Wrestlemania clash (the infamous ‘call for the bell’ match) while the year prior, he destroyed John Cena to take the WWE title — the birth of Suplex City.
The year prior, he faced and beat CM Punk, and the year prior to that, he faced and submitted Triple H.
Truth came out first and got a loud pop. Breeze had little reaction. Started out as comedy match, then Breeze took control until run-ins by Fandango and Goldust. Truth won with a roll up after about 8 minutes.
– Cesaro vs Primo
Cesaro came out first to a really loud pop. Primo had no reaction until he cut a local promo. Epico wasn’t there. Back and forth match, Cesaro hit all his spots, and won with the Sharpshooter after about 10 minutes.
– AJ Styles did a local backstage video promo. Hard to understand, but the crowd was heavily booing throughout.
– Karl Anderson vs. an Uso (not sure which)
Anderson and Gallows came out first to medium boos then one of the Usos came out to a huge pop. The other Uso wasn’t there. Anderson won with a roll up after Gallows distracted Uso.
– Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler
Corbin came out first to little reaction. Dolph has one of the biggest pops of the night. Crowd wasn’t really into except six little kids relentlessly chanting for Ziggler, Baron eventually zeroed in on them and started saying each punch was for them and the like. This got the crowd more into it. Ziggler won by DQ after about 14 minutes when Corbin used a chair. Ziggler then came back in and kicked Corbin in the nuts, and hit the Zig Zag.
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte vs Natalya
Natalya entered first to a pretty good reaction. Charlotte got a really loud reaction, probably 70% negative. They worked the crowd before the match and got the crowd all on Natalya’s side. Crowd was probably most engaged in the near falls of this match than any other, besides the main event. Good match, eventually Charlotte started working the leg. Ended when Charlotte pinned Natalya, but ref missed Charlotte’s feet on the ropes.
– US Champion Rusev vs Sin Cara
Rusev got a lot of boos. Sin Cara got an ok reaction, but it was obvious that crowd was wanting Kalisto, who wasn’t there. Crowd couldn’t decide between chanting “USA”, “We want Lana” (who wasn’t there), or “lucha.” Rusev wins with the Accolade after about 9 mins. After the match, Rusev cut a promo until Titus O’Neil entered the ring and eventually hit a spinebuster.
– WWE World Champion Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles
AJ came out first to almost entirely boos, even though I saw quite a few people with his t-shirt on. His reaction was definitely not as strong as the other two guys. Rollins out next, and his reaction was about 70% boos. Finally, Reigns came out to by far the loudest reaction of the night. I would guess 80 to 90% cheers. Rollins started as cowardly heel, sitting out until he found a spot.
Really fun match, eventually Seth and AJ teamed up, and Seth teased tapping “too sweet” hand signal with AJ, but eventually turned on him. They kinda went back and forth working with Reigns, until everybody hit their signature moves (forearm, Superman punch, and Pedigree). Roman eventually won with a spear on AJ after about 17 minutes.
First reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Rusev and Lana have set a date! The couple known in their real lives as Catherine Jo Perry and Miroslav Barnyashev have announced that they will be married on September 2nd. With Perry joining the cast of Total Divas for the next season, it would have to be assumed that the wedding will be a big part of that show, as weddings generally are good for ratings to that audience.
Lana will be known as CJ on that show and will not use the accent that she floats in and out of on RAW and Smackdown. The couple announced their engagement earlier this year at the time that Rusev was injured and Lana was linked in storyline to Dolph Ziggler. The announcement forced plans to change and it was acknowledged on RAW that the two were engaged. The push of Lana seemed to stall after that point and it’s only been recently when she’s appeared with Rusev onscreen.
From this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
“The Rusev and Lana wedding, actually Miroslav and Catherine, will be on 9/2. It would be almost a lock that their wedding would air on Total Divas since that show, aimed at the women’s audience, is all about engagements and marriages.”
