Week in Wrestling - Sunday June 10, 2018
WWE Money In the Bank Update
WWE’s Money in the Bank show takes next Sunday, 6/17 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago is largely finalized with eleven matches announced for the scheduled four hour show.
- Last Man Standing - A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title
- Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey for the RAW Women's title
- Carmella vs. Asuka for the Smackdown women’s title
- Money in the Bank men’s match - Bobby Roode, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rusev, The Miz, Samoa Joe and member of The New Day
- Money in the Bank women’s match - Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Ember Moon, Natalya, Naomi, Lana, and Sasha Banks
- Seth Rollins vs Elias or the Intercontinental title
- Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
- Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass
- The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Club for the tag titles
- Sami Zayn vs Bobby Lashley
- Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Dallas & Axel for the Raw tag titles
WWE NEWS
CM Punk Wins in Court
The three year legal battle between C.M. Punk and longtime friend Colt Cabana, as defendants in a defamation lawsuit brought on by WWE physician Dr. Christopher Amann ended on 6/5 with the jury ruling against Amann, ruling he was entitled to no damages. Punk, 39, and wife A.J. Lee, real name April Mendez, who testified for him in the case, broke down and cried as the verdict was read, just four days before Punk was scheduled to fight in a UFC PPV show at the United Center in Chicago against Mike Jackson.
The win was a major moral victory for Punk in a battle with WWE. While WWE was not officially part of the case, Punk has claimed that WWE was funding the case. When questioned about that, WWE did not deny that to be true, but also didn’t confirm it.
But if the goal was to bleed Punk dry with legal fees, the verdict, while certainly a relief for them, the fact is that legal fees were not part of the verdict, and in a case that lasted this long, for both men, particularly Cabana who never had the seven-figure years (and he may have never had six figure years) Punk had as a pro wrestler, it’s a significant loss of time and money for something that he never should have been part of.
Punk was not as fortunate in his 2nd UFC fight on Saturday night. Read all about that here, as Causioncreations.com has full coverage of his pathetic display.
The win was a major moral victory for Punk in a battle with WWE. While WWE was not officially part of the case, Punk has claimed that WWE was funding the case. When questioned about that, WWE did not deny that to be true, but also didn’t confirm it.
But if the goal was to bleed Punk dry with legal fees, the verdict, while certainly a relief for them, the fact is that legal fees were not part of the verdict, and in a case that lasted this long, for both men, particularly Cabana who never had the seven-figure years (and he may have never had six figure years) Punk had as a pro wrestler, it’s a significant loss of time and money for something that he never should have been part of.
Punk was not as fortunate in his 2nd UFC fight on Saturday night. Read all about that here, as Causioncreations.com has full coverage of his pathetic display.
HBK: One more Match?
In an interview with Sky Sports, Shawn Michaels hinted that he is at least open to do a one-time coming out of retirement match. Michaels had turned down previous offers, including in 2013 for a match with Bryan and earlier this year at the Greatest Royal Rumble show. He said the most likely option would be a DX reunion tag team match.
“If it was the Shawn Michaels of 10 years ago, I would love to have gotten in the ring with so many of the guys that are competing today. A.J. Styles and Daniel Bryan would be good and then there’s the guys in NXT too. Someone like a Johnny Gargano would be fantastic. But for a one-off match now, I’d need it to be a tag team match where Hunter and I can just do a few crotch chops and have some fun."
“If it was the Shawn Michaels of 10 years ago, I would love to have gotten in the ring with so many of the guys that are competing today. A.J. Styles and Daniel Bryan would be good and then there’s the guys in NXT too. Someone like a Johnny Gargano would be fantastic. But for a one-off match now, I’d need it to be a tag team match where Hunter and I can just do a few crotch chops and have some fun."
NXT NEWS
NXT Takeover: Chicago Preview
- Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa (Chicago Street Fight): One of the best blood feuds in recent memory in all of wrestling will continue on in a Chicago Street Fight.
- NXT Championship -- Aleister Black (c) vs. Lars Sullivan: The monster heel push for Sullivan continues and having him be Black's first title challenger will help that push if he puts on a good performance in a loss.
- NXT Women's Championship -- Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross: After a show-opening brawl on the June 6 edition of NXT, the championship bout between the champion Baszler and the challenger Cross was made official for Chicago.
- NXT Tag Team Championship -- Undisputed Era (c) vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch: With Burch recently signing a deal to stay with NXT full time, they're going all in now on the team of he and Lorcan. Considering the talent of the four men involved in this one, this matchup has a good chance of being a show-stealing bout.
- Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream: Speaking of matches that can steal the show, the consensus is that these two will do just that when they compete one-on-one in Chicago.
New Japan Pro Wrestling News
Kenny Omega Captures the IWGP Title
Early Saturday morning on the east coast, I witnessed one of the greatest matches I have ever seen, as Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada in a two out of three fall match with no time limit match, to become the new IWGP champion at the Dominion show in Osaka.
Okada and Omega are the two best wrestlers in the world today, and this match only added to the legacy of their series of matches, which for me is the greatest series of matches I have ever witnessed. Later this week, I will have a full report of the entire show and the importance e of this historic match.
Okada and Omega are the two best wrestlers in the world today, and this match only added to the legacy of their series of matches, which for me is the greatest series of matches I have ever witnessed. Later this week, I will have a full report of the entire show and the importance e of this historic match.
Greatest Title Run Ever?
I find it very difficult to come up with a greater title run than the one we just witnessed by Kazuchika Okada. Okada, who at 30, has broken almost every career record for the IWGP championship–longest reign, longest time as champion and most successful defenses in a given reign. Okada has had more blow away performances in big show matches then anyone I can recall seeing. His matches with the likes of Omega, Tanahashi, Minoru Suzuki, Katsuyori Shibata, Zack Saber Jr., Will Ospreay and Tetsuya Naito were all top tier match of the year candidates. As much as Omega deserved to win the title, Okada deserved the long run we just experienced, and it was truly epic to see.
IMPACT News
Aries regains Impact World Title
Austin Aries defeated Pentagon Jr. to regain the Impact title a week ago on Impact. Now that Aries is back as champion, they are eliminating the Grand championship. They used it in the storyline with Aries that the belt doesn’t make the man, the man makes the belt, and thus with Aries, the top guy, as Grand champion, it’s the biggest title. This was said when Pentagon held the Impact title before Aries regained it.
The 7/22 PPV show in Toronto at this point is scheduled as Austin Aries vs. Moose for the Impact title, Sami Callihan vs. Pentagon Jr. in a hair vs. mask match, Eddie Edwards vs. Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore rules match, Matt Sydal vs. Brian Cage for the X title, Su Yung vs. Madison Rayne for the Knockouts title, Allie vs. Tessa Blanchard, and the new LAX of Santana & Ortiz, managed by Konnan, against the original LAX of Homicide & Hernandez, managed by The King (Eddie Kingston).
Both Johnny Impact and Taiji Ishimori were announced for Slammiversary. Matches were not announced for either. Ishimori is a big deal politically because previously New Japan has worked exclusively with ROH as far as a television partner in North America. Obviously with Don Callis helping run Impact and working for New Japan as an announcer, one of his goals was to work with New Japan, and in particular, get dates with he biggest stars. This is at least an opening of doors and when Impact announced Ishimori they used both the New Japan and Bullet Club logos. Right now the only thing in place is that Impact is able to use Ishimori, who had been working here previously.
Both Johnny Impact and Taiji Ishimori were announced for Slammiversary. Matches were not announced for either. Ishimori is a big deal politically because previously New Japan has worked exclusively with ROH as far as a television partner in North America. Obviously with Don Callis helping run Impact and working for New Japan as an announcer, one of his goals was to work with New Japan, and in particular, get dates with he biggest stars. This is at least an opening of doors and when Impact announced Ishimori they used both the New Japan and Bullet Club logos. Right now the only thing in place is that Impact is able to use Ishimori, who had been working here previously.
INDEPENDENT NEWS
Jericho working with Impact
Chris Jericho announced that Impact wrestling will also be aprt of his upcoming cruise in October. Which led to a tease of a ROH vs. Impact angle, which, short-term, should work for both sides. Don Callis on his podcast teased the idea, saying, “I think it’s an interesting thing that it’ll be the first time that you’ve really got ROH in kind of the same very enclosed space, I guess you’d say, with Impact Wrestling. Who knows exactly what is gonna happen with that. Should be interesting. We’ll see what happens.”
There were plans in 2017 to do an ROH vs. Impact program over the tag team titles, where the Hardys would win the ROH belts and the Young Bucks would win the Impact belts and it would blow off probably in a ladder match at the end of the year. But the Hardys going to WWE ended all those plans and the Hardys and Young Bucks rushed through a short program that had to end right before WrestleMania instead. And then, when Impact sent out the cease and desists to the cable companies regarding the Hardys doing their characters that Impact claimed ownership of (only to later give up any rights to), and Dish canceling the ROH PPV at the last minute, that pretty much ended relationships between the two companies. But Impact has new people in charge now.
There were plans in 2017 to do an ROH vs. Impact program over the tag team titles, where the Hardys would win the ROH belts and the Young Bucks would win the Impact belts and it would blow off probably in a ladder match at the end of the year. But the Hardys going to WWE ended all those plans and the Hardys and Young Bucks rushed through a short program that had to end right before WrestleMania instead. And then, when Impact sent out the cease and desists to the cable companies regarding the Hardys doing their characters that Impact claimed ownership of (only to later give up any rights to), and Dish canceling the ROH PPV at the last minute, that pretty much ended relationships between the two companies. But Impact has new people in charge now.
By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Sunday, June 10, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Sunday, June 10, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter