There’s a lot to cover this week, so let’s just get into it…
Assorted News and Notes:
Though details are scarce, it’s being widely reported that Neville is finally free from his WWE contract. Popular stars from other organizations are making it known they would love to work with him, but the man himself has yet to make any public comments on his future plans.
It’s looking more and more like Matt Hardy’s days as a full-time wrestler may be over. As we reported last week, Hardy has begun training for a backstage role as a producer. This past Sunday at a live event he worked one final match alongside his most recent tag partner Bray Wyatt. Afterward he tweeted his appreciation to the fans for the “heartwarming send off.” While the occasional one-off appearance shouldn’t be completely ruled out, it would seem that Matt has decided a full-time schedule just isn’t the right choice given the condition of his back.
With Raw emanating from Toronto this week, WWE took the opportunity to announce that the city would play host to Summerslam 2019. Having spent multiple years in the same location recently (first LA and then NY), I’m curious if this is a return to having different host cities each year or the beginning of their latest Summerslam residency.
Following his loss in a fantastic IC Title match on Raw, Kevin Owens finally had enough of his recent losing ways and declared he was quitting. The rumor from backstage says the current plan may be for him to eventually return as a Paul Heyman guy. It seems odd to pair Heyman with a guy who is already a great talker instead of someone else desperately in need of a mouthpiece. However the rumor suggests that Owens would be a silent assassin allowing Paul to do all of the talking for him. Plans are always changing of course, but this could be a very interesting refresh for a talented but often misused star.
Kurt Angle made an Instagram post this week featuring a throwback photo of Team Angle with the caption, “I Would love to reunite this team one… more… time!!!!” Maybe that’s just a personal bit of nostalgia, or maybe it’s a tease of things to come. Personally, I would love to see Charlie Haas come back and rejoin his former tag partner Shelton Benjamin. They were so successful as a pairing that even after they left WWE they continued working together in Ring of Honor and other indy promotions. Benjamin has been back in the WWE fold for a little while now, but hasn’t really done much other than a brief pairing with Chad Gable. Maybe they should use the past as a springboard to the future by having the former American Alpha pairing of Gable and Jason Jordan reform as part of a newly supersized Team Angle faction with the Angle, Benjamin and Haas. All parties involved need a bit of a refresh.
Injury Report:
In what could be potentially damaging news to more than one show WWE has coming up, it appears that Toni Storm may have been injured at this past weekend’s NXT UK tapings. It’s difficult to say much more without revealing spoilers, but even for those who haven’t yet read the results Storm was expected to be a major player in both the Mae Young and NXT UK Women’s division.
Mae Young Classic 2:
The Bracketology preview special finally went up on WWE Network this week introducing us to this year’s competitors and revealing the full tournament bracket. Here are the 1st round matches:
Left Side:
Meiko Satomura vs Killer Kelly
Ashley Rayne vs Mercedes Martinez
Lacey Lane vs Vanessa Kraven
Taynara Conti vs Jessie Elaban
Toni Storm vs Jinny
Rachel Evers vs Hiroyo Matsumoto
Mia Yim vs Allysin Kay
Kaitlyn vs Kavita Devi
Right Side:
Tegan Nox vs Zatara
Isla Dawn vs Nicole Matthews
Rhea Ripley vs MJ Jenkins
Kacy Catanzaro vs Reina Gonzalez
Io Shirai vs Xia Brookside
Zeuxis vs Aerial Monroe
Deonna Purrazzo vs Priscilla Kelly
Karen Q vs Xia Li
Round 1 action begins airing next Wednesday, September 5th immediately following NXT!
PPV Event Plans:
The WWE has a busy schedule of events this fall, and they’ve already begun announcing booking for at least 3 of them. In order to try and keep things straight I’m going to keep a running list of plans for each that I’ll update for you each week. Let’s get started with what we know so far…
Sept 16: Hell In A Cell
Smackdown GM Paige has announced that a pair of tag team triple threat matches will be held on SDL. The winners of each triple threat will then square off for the right to Face New Day for the titles at HiaC. In the 1st of these triple threats this week, The Bar defeated the Colons and Gallows & Anderson to move forward. Next week Rusev Day, Sanity, and the Usos will compete in the 2nd triple threat.
At the top of Raw this week Braun Strowman announced that he would be cashing in his MitB contract for a Universal Title match inside Hell in a Cell. Also on Raw, Alexa Bliss invoked her rematch clause for a title match against Ronda Rousey at HiaC.
On SDL this week it was confirmed that Aj Styles and Samoa Joe will meet again at HiaC. Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton will also try to settle their differences inside the Cell structure.
Announced:
Mixed Tag-Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella vs The Miz and Maryse
Smackdown Tag Title Match- New Day© vs ?
Universal Title- Hell in a Cell match- Roman Reigns© vs Braun Strowman
Raw Women’s Title- Ronda Rousey© vs Alexa Bliss
WWE Title-Aj Styles© vs Samoa Joe
Hell in a Cell match- Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton
Rumored:
Ambrose and Rollins vs Ziggler and McIntyre
Oct 6: Super Show-Down from Melbourne, Australia
More matches were confirmed via social media announcements from WWE this week. First up were a pair of 3 on 3 tag matches (listed below). Adding a title match as well as an actual Australian Superstar to the mix, Cedric Alexander will be defending his Cruiserweight title against Buddy Murphy.
Announced:
Triple H vs The Undertaker
Daniel Bryan vs The Miz with a future WWE title shot on the line
John Cena and Bobby Lashley vs Kevin Owens and Elias
The Shield vs Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre
Ronda Rousey and the Bella twins vs Riott Squad
Cruiserweight Title Match-Cedric Alexander© vs Buddy Murphy
Oct 28: Evolution-All women’s PPV
The NXTUK division held tapings this past weekend and crowned their first women’s champion (spoilers available elsewhere). No word yet on when the UK show will begin airing, but the new champ is expected to defend her title at the Evolution PPV.
Announced:
Alexa Bliss vs Trish Stratus
Expected:
Raw Womens Title Match, Smackdown Womens Title match, NXT Womens title match, NXT UK Womens title match, Final match of MYC2
Rumored:
Maryse vs Brie Bella
