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Welcome to another edition of our weekly news roundup, where were we accumulate all the noteworthy stories from the big and lively world of pro wrestling.
It was a stacked week courtesy of SummerSlam, which ended up being a satisfying PPV offering from WWE. The company kicked off the second half of its schedule with a few big announcements that have painted a promising picture of what lies ahead.
WWE's competitors aren't lagging behind either. AEW and NJPW made the news this week, with the latter's G1 Climax coming to an incredible end.
Let's not waste any more time and shift the focus to the roundup for the week:
#1. Why Vince McMahon contacted Trish Stratus for one final match
Trish Stratus returned to the ring at SummerSlam against Charlotte Flair and put on one of the best matches of the night in front of her hometown fans in Toronto.
For a 44-year-old mother of two children who hadn't wrestled a proper singles match in years, Stratus looked like she hadn't missed a step and seamlessly worked a very entertaining bout with Charlotte.
In the build-up to the PPV, the 7-time Women's Champion was interviewed by tThe Toronto Sun, during which she revealed the reason why Vince McMahon contacted her for another match.
Stratus revealed that the WWE boss gave her a call and offered a proposal that was just too good to pass up. The plan was to give Stratus one last hurrah in front of her hometown fans.
The WWE Hall of Famer trained hard and looked in great shape in what was supposedly her final match. But, was it?
Our very own Tom Colohue has heard different things backstage regarding her in-ring future and it seems Stratus could be in for another match before she retires for good.
#2. Alexa Bliss would love to reunite with Braun Strowman
Sportskeed's Riju Dasgupta aka Dr. Hex, was on a conference call with Alexa Bliss recently during which Little Miss Bliss revealed her desire to reunite with Braun Strowman.
Bliss had teamed up with Strowman for the Mixed Match Challenge and the team went by the name 'The Little Big'. Five Feet of Fury said that she would love to team up with the Monster Among Men for a big match against WWE's real-life power couple, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.
I would love to see Team Little Big return to action. We had a lot of fun doing the Mixed Match challenge and if anyone would be able to come up and face Becky and Seth, it would be us for sure.
We like the sound that!
#3. Jon Moxley vs. Shawn Spears announced
All Elite Wrestling are all set to begin their weekly television programming on the TNT network from October 2nd onwards and the company has already released partial lineups for its first three shows.
Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) and Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger) will have a match on the second episode in Agganis Arena, Boston. This will be the first time the two former WWE Superstars will face each other in singles competition.
Given below are the confirmed lineups for the first three AEW shows on TNT:
October 2nd (Capital One Arena, Washington, DC):
- Cody Rhodes vs. Sami Guevara
- Crowning of the first-ever AEW Women's Champion
- Jon Moxley's live appearance
- Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho & two mystery partners
October 9th (Agganis Arena, Boston):
- Private Party vs. The Young Bucks (AEW Tag Team Titles Tournament Match)
- Jon Moxley vs. Shawn Spears
October 16th (Liacouras Center, Philadelphia):
- Chris Jericho or Adam Page vs. TBA (First AEW World title defence)
#4. AEW signs Orange Cassidy
AEW added to name to their burgeoning roster by announcing the signing Organe Cassidy, who is quite a popular figure on the indie circuit. His offbeat gimmick of simultaneously being aloof and incredibly cool has always spawned many entertaining moments. His performance at Double or Nothing was one of the biggest talking points from AEW's monumental show.
AEW put out an amazing video in which Cassidy confirmed signing a contract with the promotion.
Earlier in the week, Cody Rhodes revealed that the company has disclosed details of only 40% of the entire roster. By the looks of it, Cody and boys at AEW are certainly building something great.
#5. King of the Ring returns
As announced on the Raw after SummerSlam, the King of the Ring tournament will be returning on next week's episode of Raw in St. Paul, Minnesota. The tournament will feature eight superstars each from Raw and SmackDown, with the finals reportedly scheduled to take place at Clash of Champion on September 15th.
WWE announced the sixteen Superstars who will take part in the tournament, however, the brackets and complete details regarding the format are yet to be revealed.
Given below is the list of stars who will be involved in the tournament:
Raw:
- Drew McIntyre
- Sami Zayn
- Samoa Joe
- Cedric Alexander
- The Miz
- Ricochet
- Baron Corbin
- Cesaro
SmackDown:
- Elias
- Shelton Benjamin
- Buddy Murphy
- Kevin Owens
- Chad Gable
- Andrade
- Apollo Crews
- Ali
#6. SmackDown's 20th Anniversary will be a star-studded affair
SmackDown Live's premiere on Fox on October 4th will be a special episode. The WWE announced that it will be the show that marks the 20th Anniversary of SmackDown and the event will feature some big-name WWE legends in attendance.
Just like the recently concluded Raw Reunion show, WWE is looking to boost the TV ratings for its first SmackDown Live on Fox by brining in legends from the past.
Here are the names that have been confirmed to appear at the show:
- Mick Foley
- Lita
- Booker T
- Sting
- Kurt Angle
- Goldberg
- Trish Stratus
- Jerry 'The King' Lawler
- Hulk Hogan
- Mark Henry
- Ric Flair
WWE is expected to add a few more Superstars to the lineup. The Rock is one name that will surely be doing the rounds as we edge closer to the show. Who else do you think will turn up?
#7. G1 Climax final night
Another year. Another G1 Climax. Another extraordinary month of absurdly good wrestling.
NJPW's G1 Climax 29 came to an end this week with A block winner Kota Ibushi taking on the winner from B block, Jay White. The 31-minute final was a hard-hitting edge-of-the-seat thriller that saw Kota Ibushi have the last laugh at the sound of the final bell.
Ibushi booked his spot in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14 for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and while it was a major highlight of the evening, the biggest talking points of the show were Kenta joining Bullet Club and the return of Katsuyori Shibata.
It was a perfectly executed angle that ended with the new-look Bullet Club sitting on top of a beaten-down Shibata. We're still not sure whether Shibata has been cleared to return to in-ring action just yet, but the initial signs look promising.
The G1 Climax also brought Jon Moxley's in-ring skills to the fore. The former WWE Superstar's match against Tomohiro Ishi on the 6th night was universally termed to be his best match till date. All in all, the latest instalment of the G1 Climax was a resounding success. No surprises there.
#8. Mark Andrews on juggling band life with wrestling
Mark Andrews caught up with Sportskeeda's own Scottish Psychopath Gary Cassidy on the second episode of "Dropkick DiSKussions", and the WWE NXT UK and 205 Live Superstar opened up on a host of topics. In addition to being a wrestler, the former Impact Wrestling star is also the co-lead vocalist of a pop-punk bank called 'Junior'.
So how does Andrews manage to wrestle and tend to his musical career at the same time?
I quite like the challenge. We were talking today about going to the gym while on tour. When you're in the wrestling bubble, around loads of other wrestlers, it's a priority for everyone. When you're on tour, driving from Wrexham to Glasgow - as we did today, tomorrow is here to Manchester.
When you're in the van for five hours at a time, it is quite hard to maintain a decent diet and hit the gym regularly and stuff - but it's also quite rewarding then when you manage to pull it off! We accepted a long time ago that we were never going to be in the same situation as other bands. We're never going to be able to climb the ladder of the music industry in the same way that other bands do, be able to tour constantly, but I kind of like that in a way because it's a bit different.
#9. Real reason why Braun Strowman was not used at SummerSlam
Braun Strowman returned to WWE TV on the Raw after SummerSlam to help Seth Rollins against The OC. However, the Monster Among Men was one of the many big stars were kept away from the biggest card of the summer.
Sportskeeda's in-house humorist Kevin Sullivan spoke to Braun Strowman on the phone during one of the promotional interviews for 2K's WWE 2K20.
Strowman revealed that the reason why he wasn't featured on the show was because the company just didn't have a storyline for him.
"Yeah, that was a pretty tough pill for me to swallow. But, at the same time, with me not being in a storyline, and they didn't just want to shoehorn me in, just to have me on there for no reason. They're doing a good job of making sure that any time Braun's on TV, it's something impactful."
The former Strongman recently signed a new contract with the WWE and is reportedly slated to face Seth Rollins at Clash of Champions for the Universal Championship. Before that, though, Strowman will take on AJ Styles for the United States Championship on the upcoming episode of Raw.
#10. Paige undergoes second neck surgery
Former Divas Champion Paige was not in Kabuki Warriors' corner this week on Raw during their Women's Tag team titles match against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross as she had to undergo another neck surgery.
Paige was unavailable for SummerSlam meet-and-greet events as she was informed that there was a hernia in her neck that needed to be operated upon. This appears related to the same injury that eventually led to her premature retirement from pro wrestling in 2017
She took to Twitter recently about going under the knife with Dr. Juan Uribe and posted a successful update upon its completion.
