• [WR] REVIEW: Summerslam 1994: Sweet Home Chicago (1/3)

    From WrestlingRumors.net@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jul 16 10:17:04 2019
    WrestlingRumors.net

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    REVIEW: Summerslam 1994: Sweet Home Chicago

    Posted: 16 Jul 2019 12:24 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/review-summerslam-1994-sweet-home-chicago/


    Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net, starting today. It could be anything from modern WWE
    to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using
    letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?
    Summerslam 1994

    Date: August 29, 1994

    Location: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

    Attendance: 23,000

    Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
    This is the old review of the year and that’s an interesting choice. The
    show has a double main event of WWF World Champion Bret Hart defending
    against his brother Owen to continue their awesome feud, plus the wholly unawesome Undertaker vs. Fake Undertaker match. It’s the best of both
    worlds you see. Let’s get to it.
    Here’s Randy Savage to welcome us to the show, held in the brand new United Center. Somehow, this is the only pay per view the company has ever run
    from the arena.
    Jerry Lawler has some breaking news: Shawn Michaels and Diesel have become
    the new Tag Team Champions after defeating the Headshrinkers last night.
    What an odd time to do a title change, but 1994 was an odd time.
    IRS/Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Headshrinkers
    IRS and Bigelow have Ted DiBiase in their corner and this was originally
    going to be a title match. The Headshrinkers (Samu/Fatu) have Afa and Lou Albano with them, just to crank up the bizarre state of the show so far. Bigelow runs Fatu (not Samu Vince, though to be fair it’s a pretty easy mistake to make) over with a shoulder but eats the superkick for two. Fatu avoids a very early top rope headbutt and a double superkick puts Bigelow
    down again. Samu comes in, so Vince says Samu is now in, after saying Samu started.
    Vince really wasn’t great at this whole thing. Samu starts cleaning house
    and ducks an IRS charge to send him outside. Back in and Bigelow low
    bridges Fatu to the floor but it’s a double clothesline for a double knockdown. The hot(ish) tag brings Samu back in for a BAAAACK body drop and
    a headbutt to Bigelow, which works because Samoans have hard heads. The
    middle rope headbutt gets two on IRS with Bigelow making a save. With
    Bigelow being knocked to the floor, the double Stroke sets up the Superfly Splash but Bigelow goes after Albano. That’s enough to draw Afa in for the
    DQ at 7:18.
    Rating: D+. Pretty lame opener here with the lack of the titles taking away
    the little interest this match had. The Headshrinkers are good in their
    roles but Bigelow and IRS are a pretty generic team who don’t have much to
    do here. I’m still not sure what the point is in having the titles change early. Why not just do it the next night on Raw?
    They brawl to the back.
    And now, for your comedy of the show. The detectives from the Naked Gun
    movies are trying to find the Undertaker, complete with a bunch of puns and sight gags. Such gems include “we’re both on the case” as they stand on a briefcase.
    Women’s Title: Bull Nakano vs. Alundra Blayze
    Blayze is defending and Nakano has Luna Vachon in her corner. For those of
    you of a younger age, Nakano is a rather terrifying Japanese monster and Blayze’s archnemesis. We get the ceremonial flower presentation but Vachon throws hers at Blayze to really be a jerk. Nakano kicks her in the ribs
    instead of shaking hands but it’s too early for a powerbomb. A knee to the ribs cuts the champ off and Nakano throws her down by the hair.
    We hit the chinlock (with Nakano’s back to the camera because she doesn’t know how to work) until Blayze makes the rope, which isn’t an escape you
    see that often. The yet to be named hurricanrana gives Blayze two but
    Nakano pulls her down into a Boston crab with both legs under one arm. With that broken up, Nakano puts on what would become Paige’s Scorpion Crosslock. Since Blayze hasn’t been tortured enough yet, Nakano switches to a cross armbreaker. Back up and three straight running sleeper drops have Nakano in trouble but she powers out of a piledriver attempt. A powerbomb gets two on
    the champ as the pace has picked WAY up out of nowhere. Blayze avoids the guillotine legdrop though, kicks Vachon down and grabs the German suplex to retain at 8:17.
    Rating: B. For 1994, this was some insane stuff in America, especially for
    a women’s match. Blayze really was good but Nakano was one of the best of
    the era. She was big, strong, could wrestle on the mat and had the
    submission skills to be that dominant. Unfortunately these two pretty much
    the entire division for a long time so it could only go so far.
    Shawn Michaels and Diesel brag about winning the titles because the
    Heartbreak Hotel needed some more gold. Diesel says Razor Ramon isn’t
    taking one of his two titles tonight. Razor has had a bunch of chances and tonight isn’t going to change anything.
    Intercontinental Title: Razor Ramon vs. Diesel
    Razor is challenging and has NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton in his corner
    to balance out Shawn. The white boots are a weird look for Razor. Shawn
    talks trash to Payton to start and Razor fires off the right hands, which
    look very good against someone Diesel’s size. Back in after a quick trip to the floor and Diesel gets in his own punches to take over. A sleeper slows Razor down even more and Diesel throws him outside.
    Shawn goes for the turnbuckle pad but Payton chases him off, allowing Shawn
    to forearm Razor behind the referee’s back. I could watch Shawn outsmart people for days. Back in again and the referee stands in front of the
    exposed buckle but Shawn’s second distraction allows Razor to be whipped
    in. Diesel hits Snake Eyes onto an unexposed buckle as Lawler thinks the
    pad fell off the other one. A chinlock with a knee to the back keeps Razor
    in trouble and a big boot knocks his head off.
    We hit the abdominal stretch, which at least looks more painful than a
    chinlock with a knee in the back. Diesel grabs the rope, making me wish we
    had Bobby Heenan there to explain why it’s more to avoid a hiptoss counter than to add more leverage. Razor gets out and sends Diesel ribs first into
    the exposed buckle, sending Lawler into hysterics as it should.
    The middle rope bulldog (the Hall Buster) gets two and there’s a right hand to knock Shawn off the apron for a great over the top sell. A flying
    shoulder gives Diesel a breather so Shawn goes after the belt. Payton goes after him again and of course the referee yells, allowing Shawn to
    superkick Diesel by mistake. Shawn gets pulled outside and Razor finally
    crawls over for the pin to get the title back at 15:01.
    Rating: B-. I’ve always had a mixed reaction to this one as the match
    itself is pretty good but Payton being out there was just a celebrity cameo that could have been anyone. Razor getting the title back was the right
    call as Shawn and Diesel are already having issues. They could have cut a
    few minutes out here, but what we got was still good enough and didn’t get sunk by the extra time.
    Diesel yells at Shawn all the way to the back.
    Savage talks about what we just saw.
    Lex Luger and Tatanka are in the back. A fan poll has 54% saying that Luger sold out to Ted DiBiase and Tatanka is tired of hearing Luger deny it. We
    see a montage of DiBiase and Luger getting very close, but Luger still
    swears there’s nothing going on because DiBiase is lying. Tatanka is going
    to prove his story in the ring tonight.
    Lex Luger vs. Tatanka
    There’s no DiBiase to start. Feeling out process to start with Luger
    running him over but not following up. Tatanka’s armbar has no effect so Luger puts him down again, only to miss the jumping elbow (as always). That means we get more of Tatanka’s lame offense, including the top rope chop to the head. The second attempt gets punched out of the air and Luger starts
    in with the clotheslines. Cue DiBiase with a gym bag as Luger hits a
    powerslam. DiBiase pulls money out of the bag as Luger yells at him,
    allowing Tatanka to grab a rollup for the pin at 6:02.
    Rating: D. This was all about the storyline instead of the wrestling and that’s not surprising. Neither Luger nor Tatanka were going to have a good match at this point so the story was the only way this was going to work. Tatanka was a fine midcard hand but if he had even a slightly better
    offense, he could have been a much bigger deal. There comes a point where
    you need the wrestling to back up the character and that just wasn’t the
    case for him.
    Post match Luger kicks the money out of DiBiase’s hands so Tatanka jumps
    him from behind, revealing that he sold out. I’ve always liked that story,
    as bad as the match was. What I don’t like is how long this goes on, as Tatanka beats him up three different times, capped off by the Million
    Dollar Dream. We get the money in Luger’s mouth for a little old school touch.
    Gorilla Monsoon is aghast at what we just saw. Agreed. That money must be filthy.
    Jeff Jarrett vs. Mabel
    This is going to be a disaster. During the entrances, Vince and Jerry
    debate the detectives’ skills and if Lawler has any rhythm. Mabel tosses
    away a wristlock attempt (Jarrett’s sell is quite good) and drops the big elbow when Jarrett tries a drop down. A clothesline puts Jarrett on the
    floor so he shoves the rapping Oscar. That’s not going to get him booed as Oscar isn’t very good. Back in and Jeff scores with some middle rope ax handles but Mabel crushes him in the corner.
    The spinwheel kick (the one good thing that Mabel could do) gets two as Abe Knuckleball Schwartz (the Brooklyn Brawler as a baseball player) is on
    strike in the crowd. This adds nothing and isn’t funny or interesting, but it’s a thing that happens. Sounds like 1994 as a whole. They head outside with Oscar getting in a slap and Mabel splashing Jeff against the post.
    Back in and the middle rope splash misses, followed by a missed sitdown
    splash to give Jeff the pin at 5:57.
    Rating: F. Oh what were you expecting here? Mabel was fat and useless while Jarrett wasn’t exactly someone who was going to carry anyone at this point, especially someone that big. This should have been on Raw at best and comes
    off as terrible filler here. Mainly because that’s what it was.
    Vince introduces the detectives in the aisle, blowing their cover. Undertaker’s silhouette appears in the entrance but they don’t see him. Because they’re bad at their jobs you see.
    We recap Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. This started way back in 1993 when Owen
    was the only Hart eliminated at the Survivor Series, which he blamed on
    Bret. Owen and Bret then teamed up to try and win the Tag Team Titles, but
    Bret wouldn’t tag out when injured, leading to a referee stoppage.
    They went on to have a classic at Wrestlemania X with Owen pinning Bret
    clean. Bret won the WWF World Title later in the night and the feud was on
    for the rest of the summer. Owen even won the King of the Ring (just like
    his brother the previous year) to earn another title shot. Tonight is the
    big blowoff inside a cage. This really was a great feud as you could see Owen’s point all along and it built up perfectly over time.
    Earlier today, Owen and crony Jim Neidhart (Bret’s former partner) were in the cage and promised to destroy Bret once and for all tonight.
    Bret is going to forget they’re family tonight because Owen will be crying
    a river of tears, just like he did when he was a baby.
    The Hart Family, including Davey Boy Smith, is at ringside and Helen can’t believe this is happening. Stu hopes the best wrestler wins and sounds as
    only he can. Lawler accuses both of them of causing all of this and thinks Smith will turn on Bret again. Lawler: “Wouldn’t you love to be in there with Bret again tonight?” Smith: “Uh, not really.” Neidhart is behind Smith
    and says we’ll see Owen prove that he’s the better man once and for all. Bruce Hart spins around and says stay out of this.
    Bret, recovering from strep throat, says his condition won’t change
    anything tonight. What we’re going to see tonight is barbaric and nothing like what they did when they were kids. Everyone wants things to end
    tonight and Bret is going to finish it to heal his family.
    WWF World Title: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
    Bret is defending in a cage with escape only to win. Owen goes right at him
    to start and hammers away during the entrances, followed by some hard right hands to the head. You can see Helen panicking over the whole thing and a
    DDT by Bret makes things even worse. It’s too early to escape though and
    Owen scores with some headbutts, followed by an enziguri to really rock
    Bret. He’s fine enough to suplex Owen off the cage and it’s a double knockdown.
    Owen goes for the door so Bret bends him around the ropes for a save and
    drags him right back in. They’re setting up a good feel here with both of them going for the escape and being pulled back for more punishment. That
    ties in the idea of wanting to hurt each other but wanting to be the better
    man even more, which is really what this is all about. They both wind up on
    the top rope and slug it out with Owen knocking him down.
    Instead of getting the easy climb out though, Owen comes back with a
    missile dropkick into a nipup. Both make some fast climbs up the cage but
    get pulled down for a crash each. A collision gives us another double
    knockdown as they’re taking their time building the drama, mainly because they’ve got the time to do so. It’s still too early for Owen to get out the door as Bret pulls him out, only to get pulled back down from the top for a hard crotching.
    Bret is up fast enough for the headbutt between the legs but Owen pulls him down again. Owen gets closer to getting out than any other attempt yet,
    even getting his feet and legs out of the cage. Bret pulls him back in and sends Owen face first into the cage for a big knockdown. This time the
    climb is cut off by a belly to back superplex as the crashes and falls are getting bigger and bigger. A good piledriver plants Bret but he’s fine
    enough to catch a tired Owen again.
    They both fall off the ropes this time for a breather until Bret catapults
    him face first into the cage. Owen has to literally dive over for a save
    and sends Bret into the cage, with the champ coming up holding his knee.
    The knee is fine enough to climb up and kick Owen away but he gets pulled
    back down by the arm.
    Owen gets out again and you can feel the fans quiet down as he gets close. He’s pulled back in yet again and Bret kicks him down to the mat but it’s Owen’s turn for a last second save. Bret catches him in the corner and
    pulls Owen back down with a huge superplex (Bret always had a great one)
    and they’re both down again. Owen is up first with a Sharpshooter but Bret reverses into one of his own.
    A little cranking has Owen down but, say it with me, he lunges over for the save by pulling Bret down hair first. They both climb and this time make it over the top, leaving them hanging on the side. Bret hits him in the ribs, causing Owen to slip and get tied up in the cage wall. That’s enough for
    Bret to drop down and retain at 32:18.
    Rating: A+. I’ve had to say this about several Bret matches before but the wrestling isn’t the point here. This was all about telling a great story
    and that’s what we got. The thing to remember here is that they don’t hate each other but rather Owen wants to prove he’s better and Bret wants to
    shut Owen up. It explains why they weren’t trying to kill each other in
    what is usually a violent match. Instead, they were trying to win, which
    should be the case in most matches and especially one like this. Notice how
    the match ends: not with a big spot, but with Bret being one step better
    than Owen, which is the point of the feud.
    It is slower paced and it does feel like they’re doing the same things over and over, but it’s a case of WHY they’re doing the same things over and over. They’re not trying to destroy each other and it really is about being the better man. Owen has gone off the deep end with trying to beat Bret,
    but it never felt like he wanted to hurt him. That might not make for the
    most exciting match, but it’s how things should have gone when you think about it.
    Post match Neidhart jumps the barricade and clotheslines Davey, knocking
    him into his wife. Neidhart locks himself inside the cage and the double beatdown is on as Owen has completely snapped. The Hart Brothers storm the
    cage (always cool) but Owen keeps knocking them off. Davey finally punches
    Owen down (for a great bump) and gets in, sending Owen and Neidhart running
    as the rest of the brothers get inside as well.
    In the back, Owen and Neidhart yell about how Owen should be the winner and Davey isn’t family. Owen: “Let’s go celebrate my victory!”
    Survivor Series ad, making fun of football. Considering how meh that show
    was, I wouldn’t go that way.
    We recap the Undertaker vs. Undertaker. Back in January, Undertaker was destroyed by about a dozen guys and put in a casket. Not to worry as he ascended out of the casket in one of the most ridiculous things you’ll ever see in wrestling. After being gone for several months (aside from some sightings, including by a young child in school), Ted DiBiase said he had
    seen Undertaker. Paul Bearer said no way but DiBiase brought him back, only
    to reveal that it was a fake Undertaker (played by Brian Adams, better
    known as Chainz). The lack of about three inches was a, ahem, dead giveaway. With Undertaker succumbing to the power of money, Bearer went to the
    graveyard and said he had the real Undertaker again. After the lights went
    out one night on the King’s Court (Todd Pettengill: “Look at that brain surgeon Jerry Lawler.”), the real Undertaker said he was back and not with DiBiase. He would be around this coming Monday (at Summerslam) against
    whatever DiBiase had with him. This video gets well over five minutes as we need to get rid of the cage.
    Undertaker vs. Undertaker
    For the sake of simplicity, I’ll identify them by the colors of their
    gloves: gray for the fake one and purple for the real. DiBiase brings his
    man to the ring but Bearer comes out with just a casket. There’s nothing inside though and the casket is wheeled to the back. Instead Bearer opens
    the Urn to reveal a light….and here’s the real Undertaker. That certainly seems to be worth the wait for the fans.
    Purple shrugs off some forearms to the back and leapfrogs (!) gray, who
    falls to the floor. Gray stalks Bearer and gets suplexed back inside for
    his troubles, only to be sent right back to the floor. A Stunner over the
    top staggers Purple but Old School just isn’t happening. The real Old
    School connects and now Lawler believes Bearer has the real thing.
    Purple misses a charge and falls to the floor as Vince defends the silent crowd. More right hands from gray don’t have much effect but a good looking chokeslam gets….no cover. Gray goes with a Tombstone for no cover again as
    he spends too long pointing at DiBiase. Purple hits a Tombstone of his own, followed by a second for good measure. A third finally gives purple the pin
    at 9:10.
    Rating: F. Well what was that supposed to be? The biggest problem here is
    the match was really, really bad with the Tombstone being the only thing worthwhile from the fake Undertaker. That leaves you with about eight
    minutes of lumbering forearms and right hands as the fans had no idea what
    to make of anything because there was nothing to get excited about. This
    would have been much easier to sit through if it didn’t come after twenty minutes of build and a great cage match. For the life of me I’m not sure
    how they thought this was going to work, but it failed miserably.
    Gray gets put in the casket and purple poses before the Urn’s flashlight. Savage wraps the show up but throws it to the detectives, who find a
    briefcase. “The case is closed.” That ends the show. Summerslam mind you, ends on a sight gag. I remember watching this live and my dad tried to
    explain the joke to me because at six years old, this went flying over my
    head. What a great way to end a show.
    Overall Rating: D+. It’s certainly not the worst show as there’s enough good stuff to carry it past horrible, but my goodness they didn’t do themselves any favors here. There’s a reason that 1994 was one of the worst years in company history and this show was a good example. With the fake
    main event being such a mess, they’re lucky to have an instant classic in
    the real main event to bail it out. It’s watchable, but be ready to fast forward a lot.

    Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
    over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
    wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

    Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
    for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
    to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
    available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

    The post REVIEW: Summerslam 1994: Sweet Home Chicago appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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    Whos First? Brock Lesnars Universal Title Opponent For Summerslam Revealed.

    Posted: 15 Jul 2019 08:10 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/whos-first-brock-lesnars-universal-title-opponent-summerslam-revealed/


    The next victim? Extreme Rules 35 saw a lot of things take place,
    including a variety of title changes. One of the title changes was quite
    the surprise though as it came in a match that was not announced coming
    into the show. After the main event was over, Mr. Money In The Bank Brock Lesnar cashed in his briefcase to win the title from Seth Rollins. That
    means he needs a new challenger and that has been taken care of already.

    This week on Monday Night Raw, Seth Rollins won a ten man battle royal to become the new #1 contender to the Universal Title at Summerslam. Rollins
    last eliminated Randy Orton to win the match, which also included Sami
    Zayn, Rey Mysterio, Big E., Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Baron Corbin, Bobby
    Lashley and Braun Strowman. Rollins previously defeated Lesnar for the
    title at WrestleMania 35 earlier this year.

    Rollins needs some support. Check out what happened last night after he
    lost the title:
    [This post contains video, click to play]


    Opinion: This was going to be Rollins or Reigns winning and Seth is a much better pick than Roman in storyline terms. I don’t need to see him fight Lesnar again, but that is the kind of thing you have to expect here. I’d rather they go with this than rush what could be a big story in four weeks
    so at least it makes sense. Rollins vs. Lesnar might not be the most
    thrilling match in the world but it should be entertaining while it lasts.

    Does this interest you? Who do you think leaves as champion? Let us know
    in the comments below.

    Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
    over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
    wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

    Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
    for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
    to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
    available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

    The post Whos First? Brock Lesnars Universal Title Opponent For Summerslam Revealed. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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    The Recovery Can Begin. WWE Star Undergoing Surgery On Tuesday.

    Posted: 15 Jul 2019 07:46 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/recovery-can-begin-wwe-star-undergoing-surgery-tuesday/


    Maybe it won’t be too bad. Injuries are the kind of thing that happens to everyone in wrestling at one point or another. One of the most important details though is how bad the injury is, as it determines how long they are going to be out of the ring. Some of these are far worse than others, but
    in a current case, a WWE name is in some pretty bad shape and needs to get fixed.

    According to Nick Aldis on Twitter, his wife Mickie James will be
    undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday after injuring her knee on June 1 during
    a house show match against Carmella. At the moment, there is no word on
    how long she will be out, though it could be quite a long time. James’
    most recent televised match was the WrestleMania 35 Women’s Battle Royal.
    She has not wrestled on Monday Night Raw since January.

    Please keep @MickieJames in your thoughts and prayers as she prepares for
    knee surgery tomorrow morning. Shes a warrior. Shell be back. ?

    - Nick Aldis (@RealNickAldis) July 15, 2019



    James has had some big moments in the last year. Check out a legendary
    rivalry being renewed:
    [This post contains video, click to play]


    Opinion: I know James has not been doing very much as of late but it is
    never a good thing to have someone have to go under the knife. James is someone who can still offer a lot to the division in the form of good
    matches or mentoring so having her back would be a benefit for the
    company. Hopefully she is back soon, but knee injuries aren’t the easiest things in the world to predict.

    What is James’ best match? Will she ever be Women’s Champion again? Let us know in the comments below.

    Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
    over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
    wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

    Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
    for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
    to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
    available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

    The post The Recovery Can Begin. WWE Star Undergoing Surgery On Tuesday. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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    The First Of Many. First Title Match Set For Summerslam.

    Posted: 15 Jul 2019 07:20 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/first-many-first-title-match-set-summerslam/


    It’s not like they have a lot of time. Sunday night, WWE presented a
    pretty good show with Extreme Rules. As good as the show was though, it wasn’t like they had time to celebrate because it was time to start the
    build to Summerslam. With less than four weeks to go before the show,
    things had to move in a hurry. That’s what happened on Monday, with a big title match being set.

    This week on Monday Night Raw, Natalya won a four way elimination match to become #1 contender to Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Title. The match also included Alexa, Carmella and Naomi with Natalya last eliminating Bliss to
    win the title. Natalya is a two time Women’s Champion but has never won
    the Raw Women’s Title. This is the first match set for Summerslam on
    August 11.

    The two do have a history together. Check out a brawl from back in the day: [This post contains video, click to play]


    Opinion: The interesting part of this match was that it went over twenty
    three minutes, which has to be some kind of a record. I’m not sure what
    the point is in having the four of them go out there for a match that
    wasn’t going to be well received, but at least Natalya is a fresh
    challenger for Lynch. The match should be good, though I’m not sure how
    much interest it is going to have.

    Do you like the sound of this match? Who will leave with the title? Let
    us know in the comments below.

    Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
    over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
    wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

    Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
    for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
    to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
    available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

    The post The First Of Many. First Title Match Set For Summerslam. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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    It Explains A Few Things. Big WWE Name Taking Some Time Off Soon.

    Posted: 15 Jul 2019 06:31 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/explains-things-big-wwe-name-taking-time-off-soon/


    That would explain a few things. Extreme Rules has come and gone and there
    were a lot of interesting things going on with the show. There were a
    variety of title changes as the champions didn’t have the greatest night in the world. One such title change included Finn Balor losing the Intercontinental Title, which came out of nowhere. It turns out there is a little more to the story.

    According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Balor lost the title last night as he has requested a few months off from WWE, likely starting just after Summerslam. Balor has asked for the time off in order to recharge and the request has
    been granted, hence the need to take the title off of him. There is no word
    on how long Balor will be gone or when he will be making his return.

    Balor has seemed a bit off lately. Check out his title loss last week:
    [This post contains video, click to play]


    Opinion: That certainly clears up what happened to Balor last night as he
    lost the title in a short match with little fanfare. I can understand that
    he might just need some time off and at least he lost the title to someone
    who doesn’t have anything going on at the moment. Balor can come back recharged and ready to go, hopefully with some fresh ideas from creative.

    What do you think of Balor? What should he do when he gets back? Let us
    know in the comments below.

    Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
    over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
    2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
    wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

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    The post It Explains A Few Things. Big WWE Name Taking Some Time Off Soon. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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