The announcement of the Evolution PPV is the top story of the week.
However, there’s a lot of other stuff to cover as well. More booking for Summerslam has been set, more names announced for the Mae Young Classic, and a major title change in NXT. Let’s get to it!
EVOLUTION
The biggest news of the week happened during the opening of Monday night Raw when the company had its entire roster on stage for the announcement of a new PPV event called Evolution. The event, scheduled for Sunday October 28th, will be WWE’s first ever all female PPV. Evolution is set to feature title defenses for all 3 branded women’s title belts (Raw, Smackdown, and NXT) as well as the final match of this year’s Mae Young Classic tournament. Additionally, it’s expected to feature appearances by stars from every current brand as well as past legends who paved the way to this monumental step for main stream female wrestlers. If rumors hold true, this event could also feature the debut of a women’s tag team division. With the UK brand having their 1st set of tapings this weekend, we could also see that brand’s Women’s Title defended at Evolution.
Also notable during the big announcement on Raw was the presence of NXT’s Nikki Cross on stage with the rest of the roster. As reported here previously, she has been traveling with the Smackdown brand and working tag matches alongside Becky Lynch and Naomi (among others). When the rest of Sanity were called up to Smackdown during the Superstar Shakeup, Cross remained in NXT to work with Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler. With that feud seemingly complete and the Evolution PPV looming, it may be time for Nikki to join her brothers on the main roster.
Summerslam
On Monday night Raw Roman Reigns defeated Bobby Lashley to earn yet another crack at Brock Lesnar’s Universal title. Kevin Owens also managed to weasel his way into a match where Braun Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase will be on the line. The only other match made official during Monday’s broadcast was another IC title rematch between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler. Given that they just headlined Extreme Rules with an Iron Man Match they’ll surely be adding another stipulation. Perhaps they will be in a cage to prevent interference from McIntyre.
Smackdown’s Summerslam developments included the naming of challengers for both the Women’s and WWE titles. Becky Lynch defeated champion Carmella to earn her shot at the belt, and with Mella’s buddy James Ellsworth getting fired this could be Smackdown’s 1st Women’s champion’s best opportunity to finally hold that belt again. On the men’s side of things, Samoa Joe was named #1 contender and kicked things off with a vicious attack on current champ AJ Styles. Finally, New Day defeated Sanity and will face the winner of next week’s match between the Usos and the Bar to determine new #1 contenders for the tag titles.
Card thus far:
Universal Title- Brock Lesnar© vs Reigns
Raw Womens Title- Alexa Bliss© vs Ronda Rousey
Smackdown Womens Title- Carmella© vs Becky Lynch
Kevin Owens vs Braun Strowman with the MitB contract on the line
Intercontinental Title- Dolph Ziggler© vs Seth Rollins
WWE World Title- AJ Styles© vs Samoa Joe
NXT
On this week’s show a lot of people seemed to have their sights set on the gold currently carried by the Undisputed Era. Ricochet challenged Adam Cole (Bay Bay) to a match at Takeover for the North American title. Cole declined, but clearly this was not the end of things between the two. On his way up the ramp Cole was joined by the tag champs who were then cut off by War Raiders and Mustache Mountain. Which of those teams will be facing the Era at Takeover?*
The biggest news out of NXT this week was the title change so big WWE actually spoiled it a week ago after it was filmed. After a brutal main event match, Tomasso Ciampa is now the NXT Champion. The match featured hard strikes and passionate performances from both the challenger and the former champ Aliester Black. In the end, it was the interference of Johnny Gargano that inadvertently allowed the #1 heel in all of WWE to claim victory. Surely a rematch is coming at Takeover.
*Spoilers from the tapings are available online, but I’ll only be reporting the developments as they unfold on television.
Takeover card thus far:
NXT Women’s Title- Shayna Baszler© vs Kairi Sane
Mae Young Classic 2
The latest batch of announced competitors includes two more returning stand outs from last year Mercedes Martinez and Mia Yim. India’s Kavita Devi will also be returning for a 2nd attempt at MYC glory. Also among the new additions is Portuguese wrestler Killer Kelly who recently made her debut as part of the NXT UK brand.
Up next is Zeuxis, a Puerto Rican luchadora known primarily for her work in CMLL. Scottland’s Isla Dawn worked the UK shows at Albert Hall recently, and now joins the 2018 MYC. Lacey Lane is a former college basketball player who trained in wrestling under Bubba Dudley. Lane was also recently announced as part of the most recent Performance Center Class. Finally we have Karen Q, who recently worked for ROH alongside fellow MYC competitor Deonna Purazzo. We’re now up to 19 announced participants with the tapings set to commence in less than 2 weeks.
New Prospects
There are a number of wrestlers rumored to be on WWE’s wishlist when their contracts are up wherever they may currently be working. At the top of this list are people like Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, but they are all contractually obligated to New Japan through the end of this year. Another NJPW wrestler said to be getting a closer look from WWE would be no stranger to NXT crowds. Juice Robinson was formerly known as CJ Parker, a talented guy with a lot of potential who just couldn’t seem to put it all together with a solid character during his previous run in NXT. Since then he has gone on to make a name for himself on the independent scene and done some excellent work in New Japan, including his recent US Title win over Jay White at the G1 special in San Francisco. However, Robinson himself made comments backstage this week that he was not interested in returning to WWE. Truth or misdirection? Only time will tell.
Another top talent who could be on his way to WWE even sooner is Matt Riddle. The company is said to have had their eyes on him for a while, and multiple sources this week are claiming that it’s a done deal. Of course it still needs to be considered rumor until we see an official announcement from the WWE.
Miracle Treat Day!
Last, but definitely not least, myself and other members of the Scrum team will be the Dairy Queen in Land O’Lakes, Florida next Thursday (August 2) from 6-8. Our podcast team will be hosting a Blizzard eating contest and you may get to meet some of your favorite costumed superheroes. Best of all, the entire event benefits Children’s Miracle Network and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. If you’re in the area, come on out and say hi!
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