SummerSlam will be held in Brooklyn, New York on August 20,2017 at 7:00 PM ET. It will air on pay per view and on the WWE Network. Here’s the card so far:
WWE Universal Title Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe
Fatal Four Way Match; If Brock Lesnar loses, he and Paul Heyman will leave WWE
WWE Title Match
Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE US Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens
Special Guest Referee: Shane McMahon
WWE Raw Women’s Title Match
Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks or Nia Jax
WWE Smackdown Women’s Title Match
Naomi vs. Natalya
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match
The New Day vs. The Usos
WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
Neville vs. Akira Tozawa
Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt
Randy Orton vs. Rusev
John Cena vs. Baron Corbin
Big Show vs. Big Cass
Enzo Amore will be suspended above the ring in a shark cage
NXT Takeover III will be held in Brooklyn, NY on August 19, 2017 at 7:00 PM ET and will air exclusively on the WWE Network. Here’s the official card:
NXT TAKEOVER: BROOKLYN III
NXT Championship
– Bobby Roode (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
NXT Women’s Championship
– Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon
NXT Tag-Team Championship
– The Authors of Pain (c) vs. SAnitY
– Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami
It seems that Enzo Amore is generating heat in a bad way. Last month, he was kicked off a tour bus by Roman Reigns and was involved in and or instigated incidents with other wrestlers outside of the ring. According to reports from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he was kicked off the bus because he was talking loudly on his phone about his income and speaking disrespectfully about the business in the minds of his peers. Enzo had also been bringing strangers into the locker room and backstage areas. He was also filming and taking pictures of wrestlers, which is especially sensitive given WWE’s new social media policy in light of the mass leaks. Meltzer states that WWE management is looking at ways to remove Enzo from Raw. A move to SmackDown apparently isn’t an option, because officials don’t want him in proximity with Vince McMahon. Two scenarios could see Enzo being sent back to NXT or being sent to 205 Live. Enzo has also drawn the ire of people outside of the ring too as he was put on blast on Twitter by a stripper by the name of Queen Bee on Twitter. It could be another case of the Jordan of Jargon once again pissing others off or simply a case of tip shaming. Simon Gotch, formerly of the Vaudevillians, weighed in on Enzo in a recent shoot interview with RF Video that’s on YouTube:
“I will say, to his credit, he believes his own bullsh*t,” said Gotch of Amore’s personality and part of the reason he has so much heat in the WWE locker room. “He is 100-percent confident in himself to his detriment and the detriment of others around him. He’s an example of someone who has no excuse to not know wrestling, but he doesn’t know wrestling.”
Gotch also spoke of Amore’s lack of in-ring ability as another key flaw.
“He broke his own leg trying to counter a wristlock,” said Gotch. “Yeah, when he was in the wheelchair on NXT TV, that’s how it happened. He broke his own leg trying to counter a wristlock. He blamed it on the canvas being loose.”
Speculation that Ronda Rowsey is going to take up wrestling is gaining steam. According to a report from Fightful, she was referred to Brian Kendrick for training in Southern California. He previously worked with Eva Marie. Ronda did do an angle at the Mae Young Classic. The consensus is that a match featuring Ronda would happen at WrestleMania.
It appears that Rey Mysterio Jr’s WWE comeback is dead in the water. It’s said that talks ended because of friction between the WWE and Rey’s representation in the form of Konnan. Another factor that possibly played a role is scheduling. The WWE’s schedule would’ve made it difficult for Rey to find time for side projects. At this point, it appears that GFW will be Rey’s stop, as Lucha Underground’s future is still a question. Io Shirai also won’t be coming to WWE. It’s believed that WWE got leery of the neck injury that suffered that kept her out of the Mae Young Classic and backed out of the deal.
Stone Cold Steve Austin recently mentioned on his podcast the possibility of the reigning IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada joining the WWE. While there’s no official word confirming the WWE’s interest, it wouldn’t be shocking if an overture is made. Jinder Mahal and Shinsuke Nakamura has given the WWE a much needed boost of viewership in India and Japan respectively. Tapping into the international market should help WWE boost its fan base in those largely untapped regions.
Kurt Angle took to Instagram to celebrate four years of sobriety. Kurt had issues with alcohol, pain pills, and other drugs for years but things really got of control during his run with TNA. He began supplementing his pill addiction with alcohol. After his wife threatened to leave, he sough t help.
HBO has announced that Ballers, starring The Rock, will be renewed for a fourth season. CMT has also announced that Stone Cold Steve Austin’s reality series, The Broken Skull Challenge, has been renewed for a fifth season.
It appears that Ring of Honor’s Donovan Dijak will be signing with WWE. His current contract with ROH has run its course and he’s currently booked to wrestle in some independent promotions until early September 3 and it’s being teased that he’ll be coming to NXT.
Wrestling Inc reported last week that NXT’s Hoho Lun had been released from WWE. The reason behind the surprise split was just revealed. Hoho asked for his release to take care of his mother who has fallen seriously ill.
Paige revealed in a recent interview on Busted Open Radio that she will be returning soon, pending the results of a recent CT scan. It remains to be seen what the WWE’s stance is given the recent flap that she was involved in at Orlando International Airport.
