Sorry for the lack of wrestling blogs as of late. I’ve been so busy with my Clark Kent job that finding time to write has been next to impossible.
I never thought that I would say this about a Money in the Bank event, but the 2017 incarnation, for the most part, was a failed deposit. Every match had an anti-climactic finish, except for the WWE title showdown between Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton…And that’s not an endorsement.
It’s official folks. The highly anticipated boxing showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor is officially set for August 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will air live on pay-per-view, courtesy of Showtime, with a $100.00 price tag to finally see what happens when a top-level MMA fighter steps out of the cage and into the ring.
Let’s get this out of the way: McGregor only has a 1% chance of winning this fight and, depending on who you talk to, that’s being generous. Mayweather is arguably the greatest fighter of all-time and certainly the greatest defensive fighter that has ever lived. The sweet science is imprinted in the DNA of the Mayweather family and professionals who have trained most of their lives never came close to beating Floyd.
Samoa Joe is the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship and will challenge Brock Lesnar on 7/9 at Great Balls of Fire. Joe defeated Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Fin Balor in the Fatal 5-Way main event, last night, at Extreme Rules.
The finish saw Finn Balor hit Roman Reigns with the Coupe de Grace, only for Joe to pull him away from the cover and apply the Coquina Clutch. Balor passed and out and the referee called for the bell.
Finn Balor was the favorite to win the match from a booking perspective since it was teased on Raw a couple of weeks ago that Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar are watching Balor with a vested interest. The match would have made sense being that Balor never lost the Universal Title.
WWE will make history at Money in the Bank on June 18th. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina will compete in the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Shane McMahon made the announcement last night after a fatal five-way didn’t happen when a brawl ensued between the participants.
It’s one of my favorite times of the year as New Japan Pro Wrestling will kick off the Best of the Super Juniors 24 (BOSJ) on May 17th at Korakuen Hall. This tournament will span two weeks, which culminates on June 3rd at Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
The winners of Block A and Block B will face off to decide who will get a shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title on June 11th at Dominion. That is of course, if the current champ, Hiromu Takahashi should win the tournament.
The brackets are very interesting. Block A is so stacked that I almost want to skip the Block B matches…Almost.
Block A
Block B
Smashing Pumpkins frontman and former TNA Wrestling President Billy Corgan has purchased National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). PWInsider.com broke the news last week and has confirmed that Corgan owns the name, rights, and trademarks to the NWA as well as the rights and possession of the NWA championship belt.
At one time, the NWA was the governing body of professional wrestling and the NWA championship was the most prestigious belt in the industry. Iconic names such as Lou Thez, Harley Race, Dory Funk, Ric Flair, and others were among its stars.
The group of promoters who governed the NWA and voted on who the champion would be started going out of business by the 1980’s when Vince McMahon’s then-WWF went national, destroying the territory system.
The match that many have called the greatest of all-time will get its second chapter. Kenny Omega will lockup with Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Title at NJPW Dominion on June 11, at Osaka-Jo Hall.
The match was made on Wednesday at Wrestling Dontaku when Okada called Omega into the ring after defeating Bad Luck Fale. Omega entered the ring for a staredown, looked to the camera and said that Okada is not the champion that people want.
Okada defeated Omega in January at Wrestle Kingdom to retain the championship in a 45-minute classic, which earned an unprecedented six-star rating by famed journalist Dave Meltzer. Those who missed out on their first encounter will no doubt look forward to the sequel.
Jinder Mahal is the number one contender for the WWE Championship…There is no punch line here.
Mahal, who hasn’t won a match on television since September 12 of last year, will face Randy Orton for the title on Sunday, May 21 in the main event of Backlash. For the uninitiated, Mahal is pretty much the Glass Joe (Punch-Out) of WWE. Continue reading
Unfortunately, the biggest story in professional wrestling right now is the very real situation involving WWE commentators John (JBL) Layfield and Mauro Ranallo. It’s been reported by several news outlets that Ranallo, who suffers from mental illness, was bullied by JBL to the point where he was off TV for several weeks and is not expected to return to the company.
JBL is known for being a bully within the industry with reports going back over a decade. Several former WWE wrestlers have spoken out about JBL’s antics in light of the news. Coincidently, former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts released his new book, which chronicles his time in WWE including several instances where he was bullied by JBL.
While many have called for the Texan’s resignation, his termination won’t fix the problem. Ribbing, hazing, and bullying has always been a part of wrestling and is ingrained in WWE’s corporate culture.
In a long overdue move, Shinsuke Nakamura is finally on the WWE main roster. Nakamura debuted on the post-WrestleMania edition SmackDown last night following a segment involving The Miz and Maryse.
As the couple was finishing up their mockery of John Cena and Nikki Bella, a violinist was in the aisle way and Nakamura came out to a huge reaction. He did his signature poses in the ring without speaking a word to the audience tunes of “NA-KA-MURA.”
