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Throughout the month of July, a number of different wrestling stories stood out and caught the attention of wrestling fans, whether they were events in the ring or behind the scenes. Several of these stories were events that transpired in WWE, while others centred on online disagreements or notable moments in other prominent promotions. These stories gained traction via social media such as Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, and/or on television. One highlight was a former WWE champion admitting a past event to the world.
In another story, after an altercation that took place during a WWE taping, two rival groups suggested that they may someday come to blows with each other. Several of July's most newsworthy events are tied to WWE, as they gained the majority of the social media buzz. What made the internet wrestling community stand up and take notice? Here are the seven biggest and best moments in professional wrestling for July 2017.
#7 Jon Jones calls out Brock Lesnar
At the end of the Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones match at UFC 214, Jones made a challenge to one of the most notable men in the WWE. He called out Brock Lesnar in his post-fight interview, which soon garnered a response from the current WWE Universal champion. Jones stated, “Brock Lesnar if you want to know what it feels like to get your a** kicked by a guy that weighs 40 pounds less than you, come meet me in the octagon”. To this, Lesnar responded, “Be careful what you wish for, young man”.
As many are aware, Lesnar has been suspended from UFC for one year after testing positive for a banned substance, and while half a year still remains on the suspension that isn't to say that a confrontation could not take place in WWE. Nothing has been booked of course, but on the most recent episode of Raw, Lesnar and Paul Heyman planted seeds for a potential ‘departure' for the beast after Summerslam. The waters are conveniently murky.
#6 Kurt Angle's mystery reveal
For weeks leading up to the announcement, Kurt Angle hinted at a secret that was ‘controversial' and ‘scandalous' in its nature. Fans weren't aware of what it was all about but definitely anticipated something happening, as the nights ticked away. On Monday, July 10th, Kurt Angle made his big announcement, and it was revealed that he had an illegitimate son. And he announced in the ring on Raw that his son was none other than Jason Jordan.
The reaction from the fans at Raw was rather underwhelming. Fans online were either upset that Jordan was selected for this role instead of someone else, or they were just upset that American Alpha was being split up. Whether it was over the top or not, there was a sincere attempt by Angle and Jordan to make the reveal seem genuine and less staged. It was fairly well-done.
#5 Mae Young Classic tapings and Four Horsewomen's involvement
On July 13th and 14th, the WWE filmed thirty matches for the Mae Young Classic, and the tapings will be aired at the end of August and beginning of September, with the final to take place on September 12th. While we won't share any spoilers of the results, we will share that the involvement of an outside group made for a rather interesting set of circumstances.
What took place was that the formidable collection of female mixed martial artists known as the Four Horsewomen were at ringside during the event. Ronda Rousey, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir (who is Roderick Strong's fiancé) were seated at ringside to watch their fourth horsewomen, Shayna Baszler, participate in the event.
After Baszler's match, she walked towards the ramp way, but then turned to face Bayley, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch who were also in attendance, and gave the horsewomen hand signal. This got an angry reaction from WWE's Four Horsewomen (the fourth, Sasha Banks, was on a promotional tour of Australia, but was watching the events transpire via FaceTime.) This also caused fans in attendance to erupt at the suggestion that a battle between WWE's horsewomen and MMA's horsewomen was about to take place. The buzz that followed certainly suggests that something between the two groups may happen.
#4 Punjabi Prison
On Sunday, July 23rd, Randy Orton, and Jinder Mahal came together to compete in the first Punjabi Prison match in ten years. The nature of this structure is rather interesting, as it is essentially a bamboo cage within a bamboo cage.
There are also trap doors inside the cage, and in the lead up to the event, the Singh brothers made fans aware during a promo on Smackdown Live that the doors would be open for only a minute before being shut. The rule is that, once you are able to escape the inner portion of the structure, you have to climb the second structure in order to escape and be crowned the victor.
The concept is quite unique, but for fans in attendance, the view of what was taking place inside the ring was mostly obstructed. Through the wonders of carefully set up camera work, fans watching at home, or those at the event with a solid view of the big screen, could see what was happening between Orton and Mahal very well.
However, those that were closer to the front had their view inhibited. The structure itself is quite remarkable, to say the least. The match itself culminated in the return of the former World champion for whom the Punjabi Prison match was created, the Great Khali. Khali aided Mahal, who retained the WWE championship.
#3 WWE Programming Cancellations
One of the biggest and most surprising events to take place this past month was the cancellation of a couple of WWE Network programs. While the reaction by fans has generally been a disappointment, the manner in which the hosts of the show found out was rather surprising.
It was announced that WWE Network programs Talking Smack and Unfiltered, which are both hosted by Renee Young, were being cancelled. What was disappointing was that Young apparently didn't find out about the cancellations from WWE personnel, but rather via Twitter.
We would imagine that any employee would have liked to have heard about changes from their employer and not from a fan's tweet. It is disappointing for Young, who is as mentioned, hosts of both programs. It has been speculated that Vince McMahon decided that the unscripted nature of Talking Smack didn't help the talent, as it was perceived they broke character during the segments.
#2 G1 Climax 27
New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual tournament is a showcase for their stars, and with the month long event kicking off on July 17th, already several big matches were presented as part of the tournament.
While the list of matches already held includes Zack Sabre Jr facing Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto facing Tomohiro Ishii, Kenny Omega facing Minoru Suzuki and Yoshi-Hashi facing Yuji Nagata, one match stood out above the others. When Tetsuya Naito defeated Kota Ibushi on the first night of the tournament, it was a wonder both men were able to even walk away after the match.
They each other with some of the craziest, stiffest, riskiest moves that could cripple a normal person. For instance, there was a springboard deadlift belly to back suplex and several other moves where one of the competitors was dropped essentially on their head and neck.
The match culminated with Naito hitting his finisher, Destino, and he walked away victorious. Fans couldn't take their eyes off of this match, as these two men did everything they could to ensure victory. It was certainly a match that will have fans talking about for months to come.
#1 Paige and Alberto El Patron
These two have had a very eventful month, as both have been in the news for one reason or another. The biggest story emerged when it was suggested that El Patron may have been guilty of committing some act of emotional or social abuse to Paige during a heated altercation at the Orlando airport. As details of the story continue to emerge, it appears it was Paige that was the one that was guilty of committing assault against El Patron, and that she may be the one to be charged.
The circumstances were rather perplexing, and all involved would have rather this has been kept a private matter. However, onlookers reported the incident to several media outlets. Adding to this story is that her brothers brought to social media to make allegations of physical and emotional abuse. When the initial reports of these events came out, Global Force Wrestling choose to suspend El Patron indefinitely until they completed an investigation.
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