Chris Jericho’s Surprising AEW All In Opponent Leaked; Wrestling News July 28th

Ric Flair is the latest wrestling star to shower Logan Paul with praise!

Even if you don’t like Logan Paul, you can’t deny he has taken to wrestling quicker than perhaps any other celebrity in history. In just one year, Paul has headlined a WWE pay-per-view against Roman Reigns, taken part in the Royal Rumble & Money In The Bank and competed at WrestleMania – all at an impressive level.

Speaking to Fox News Digital, The Nature Boy had high praise for the social media influencer’s athleticism and went as far as to say that Paul is better than 70% of the full-time WWE main roster!

“I can name three [true athletes]. I can’t name 10. I can name three: Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle and my daughter. I have a hard time thinking about who are great athletes. If [Logan Paul] committed himself to it, yeah. He’s better than — I think I said it — probably 70% of the full-time guys.”

A good athlete can do anything and pull off anything. What impressed me about him is he’s got balls. To never do it, to just start jumping off a ladder and s*** like that and never done that your whole life, it’s a little different.”

Despite being one of RAW’s most talked-about stars, Rhea Ripley still doesn’t have a match for SummerSlam!

The WWE Women’s World Champion has been inseparable from Dominik Mysterio since his NXT North American Championship win, so much so that there’s been little TV time for Ripley to focus on her own title. Now, with just over a week to go till SummerSlam, fans still don’t know if Rhea will be competing at the event.

Dave Meltzer noted in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the last match to be announced for the show will likely be Raquel Rodriguez challenging Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s World title The match has been planned for the show but has yet to be announced due to Raquel’s injury angle.

“The only match not announced is Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the World women’s title. We were told that as of last word, it was still on the show, although they are doing a knee injury angle with Rodriguez.”

The two last faced off over two years ago at NXT New Year’s Evil 2021. Raquel, then known as Raquel Gonzalez, defeated Ripley in a Last Woman’s Standing match in what would be Ripley’s final NXT match before being called up to RAW two months later.

Let Hulk Hogan tell you something, brother: The Hulkster loves The Miz!

The two have only appeared together on-screen twice when Hogan appeared on two editions of MizTV back in 2019 in the lead-up to the bizarre Team Hogan vs Team Flair match at Crown Jewel. Despite their minimal interactions, however, Hogan has high praise for the multi-time WWE Champion!

In an interview with Theo Von of This Past Weekend, Hogan claimed that Miz is one of the few “keeping this artform alive” and that Miz understood the wrestling business better than many others!

“That brother is keeping this artfrom alive. Every time I see him, I tell him how much I love him for what he’s done because he understands this business a lot more than most of the guys do. There are probably two or three guys that I can pick up that understand the business. He’s one of them. He gets it.”

Kevin Owens wasn’t the only star written off TV this past Monday as Liv Morgan was also brutalised to cover for her own injury!

The two-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion was set to face Rhea Ripley on RAW after Ripley cost Morgan & Raquel Rodriquez their tag titles the week prior. Before Morgan could get to the ring, however, Ripley attacked her – destroying her left shoulder with a steel chair.

Writing in the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that there is currently no timeframe on how long Morgan will be out for but should she require surgery, the injury could mean she’s out of action for a “lengthy” period. This is the reason the injury angle took place on RAW.

“There were two injury angles on the 7/24 Raw show that both covered for actual injuries. The Morgan injury came across more serious as Ripley attacked Morgan before their scheduled match and Pillmanized her shoulder twice and they showed Morgan crying in pain in a later segment as well.

There is no time frame how long she will be out but if she does need surgery it would be lengthy and the angle was done to prepare for that possibility. It appears that’s the reason they did the tag title change since it was her last match and they had started doing the thing where Morgan kept telling Ripley she wasn’t afraid of Ripley. Before the Atlanta title change she hadn’t wrestled since the title win at Money in the Bank.”

We wish Liv Morgan all the best in her recovery.

A positive update on Kevin Owens’ recovery from injury has suggested he could be back sooner than expected!

Amidst his Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship reign with Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens was written off TV this past week due to a fractured rib injury. Later reports revealed that Owens has been dealing with the injury for some time and the status of the tag team titles is currently unknown.

Thankfully, a new update has shone a positive light on the situation! In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter Dave Meltzer gave an update on Owens’ recovery, writing that whilst he was written off TV to heal but isn’t expected to be out of the ring for long.

“Owens had been working for some time with a fractured rib so the Judgment Day attack on him was a way to give him some time off to heal. We don’t know yet how the tag team title situation will be addressed. He’s not supposed to be out for a lengthy period.”

We wish Kevin Owens all the best in his recovery.

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will emanate from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisana with just over a week to go till ‘The Biggest Party Of The Summer’ – SummerSlam!

Matches and segments announced for the show include:

• Karl Anderson vs Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett)
• Rey Mysterio vs Santos Escobar – United States Championship Invitational Final

What are you most excited to see on tonight’s episode of SmackDown? Let us know by sharing your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter down below!

Bully Ray has made the bold claim that he, and another ECW Original, could draw over a million viewers to AEW Dynamite if they appeared, “guaranteed!”

The former Bubba Ray Dudley has remained an active competitor since his WWE exit in 2016, competing for the likes of Ring of Honor, IMPACT and NWA under his independent ring name Bully Ray. Now, the WWE Hall of Famer wants to add AEW to his extensive wrestling portfolio.

Speaking on the latest edition of Busted Open, Bully gave his thought on Jack Perry taking aim at ECW and one of its biggest stars, Taz. He went on to claim that if either he or Tommy Dreamer appeared on Dynamite to confront Perry, then they’d draw over a million viewers for the program.

“If the story went down the ECW road and I showed up in the right town … there’s monster business to be done there.

This is not me blowing smoke up my own ass … if you announced that Bully Ray, or even Tommy Dreamer to the matter, were showing up on ‘AEW Dynamite’ on whatever week it was, to come face-to-face and confront Jack Perry, you’re doing over a million viewers. Guaranteed.”

h/t to WrestlingInc

Cody Rhodes is set for a featuring role at NXT’s upcoming Premium Live Event this weekend, The Great American Bash!

The Great American Bash name is synonymous with the Rhodes family with Cody’s father Dusty being the one who envisioned the name in the first place.

The American Dream went on to headline the first-ever Great American Bash pay-per-view in 1985, defeating Tully Blanchard for the NWA World Television Championship inside a steel cage. Now, Cody will make his mark on the event 37 years later.

After Rhodes teased his involvement in a recent interview, Shawn Michaels confirmed during the pre-event media call that Cody will feature in the show’s opening video package.

Cody last appeared in NXT almost a decade ago when he and his brother Dustin, then known as Goldust, defeated The Ascension via disqualification.

Click here to read more about this story.

WWE are currently premiering a new SummerSlam compilation video ahead of the pay-per-view’s return next weekend!

The video features a whole host of ‘firsts’ to take place at SummerSlam events, ranging from Damage CTRL holding the first faction formation at the event in 2022 to Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano having the first SummerSlam Women’s match back in 1994.

Check out the video above!

What’s your favourite SummerSlam moment of all-time? Let us know by sharing your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter down below!

WWE’s No Mercy pay-per-view branding is returning for the first time in 6 years as NXT No Mercy this September!

The company last held a No Mercy pay-per-view back in 2017 which was saw Brock Lesnar defend the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman at the top of the card. The event returned after an 8-year absence the year prior, featuring Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton in the main event spot.

Now, the NXT brand will be taking on the name after reviving many other classic pay-per-views like In Your House, Vengeance Day and Halloween Havoc. The brand is set to its first PLE using The Great American Bash branding this Sunday, headlined by Carmelo Hayes vs Ilja Dragunov.

A press release from WWE provides information on the new NXT PLE, which is set to take place in Bakersfield, CA on Saturday, September 30th:

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that NXT No Mercy will take place live at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, Calif. on Saturday, September 30.

Tickets for the premium live event go on sale Friday, August 4 at 10 a.m. PT via www.axs.com. Exclusive pre-sale opportunities will be available beginning Wednesday, August 2 at 10 a.m. PT. To learn more about registering for pre-sale opportunities, please visit: https://www.wwe.com/nxtnomercy-presale.

NXT No Mercy will feature the biggest Superstars from NXT in action, including NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, NXT Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton, Roxanne Perez, Wes Lee, Bron Breakker and more.

NXT No Mercy will stream live exclusively on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network everywhere else. Additional information on the event will be announced in the coming weeks.

It seems Kenny Omega won’t be making his way to WWE anytime soon, despite the company previously believing they had “a good shot” of signing him!

The Cleaner left fans pondering about his wrestling future following The Golden Elite’s victory in Blood & Guts. Speaking off-air after the match, Omega stated that he would go wherever The Young Bucks went so long as he wrestled – suggesting the trio may be considering leaving AEW.

Dave Meltzer clarified the situation in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, noting that the backstage belief at AEW is that The Elite, namely Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and Hangman Page, will be remaining with the promotion.

Meltzer also noted that a few months ago, WWE believed they had “a good shot” at signing Omega next year but now that thinking has “gone cold” and the belief is that he will be staying with AEW.

“We do know from a WWE standpoint that months ago they had the impression they had a good shot at Omega in 2024 and he was the most coveted of all the guys being talked about like Jay White and the others. That has gone cold so they do believe he’s staying with AEW.”

Click here to read more about this story.

A divisive new change within WWE is said to have come directly from Vince McMahon!

Eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice an odd commentary change on the July 17th episode of RAW. Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves started giving various stars alliterative nicknames, such as ‘Scintillating’ Santos Escobar, to the point where the effort came across as very forced and unnatural.

Whilst some have stuck, like ‘Dirty Dom’ for Dominik Mysterio and ‘Big’ for Bronson Reed, many were abandoned entirely by the following week’s edition of RAW. Now, Dave Meltzer has given more insight into the strange edict.

Writing in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer notes that the idea was a Vince McMahon directive that the WWE Executive Chairman has since given up on. Though some nicknames, like Dominik and Bronson’s, will be remaining for the time being.

“It was confirmed to us that all the alliterative nicknames on the 7/17 Raw were a directive from Vince McMahon. It wasn’t pushed nearly as hard on Smackdown on 7/21 or Raw on 7/24, so it looks like it was just an idea he had (and that most thought was bad) and he gave up on it after. They are still doing new nicknames of course, but not so many that it got silly, with Dirty Dom and Big Bronson Reed and such, but not to where the announcers just sound so fake with one alliterative nickname after another. Still we did have Scintillating Santos Escobar”

UK fans have gotten a sneak peek at who Chris Jericho will face when AEW hosts its first show outside of North America at Wembley Stadium next month!

With AEW All In just four weeks away, fans have been eager to find out which matches will feature on the historic event’s card. With the likes of Tomohiro Ishii, Zack Sabre Jr and Shingo Takagi already announced for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s anniversary show the day before, it seems likely there’ll be a big New Japan presence on the show.

However, a new report has seemingly leaked a huge bout for the show featuring Chris Jericho. According to Fightful Select, Jericho is set to face former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay at the event in a first-time-ever match-up.

The match is certainly unexpected as many expected Ospreay to face off against Kenny Omega in London to round out their world-trotting trilogy after the two clashed at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Japan and Forbidden Door in Canada earlier this year.

What’s your dream match for AEW All In in London? Let us know your thoughts by sharing on Facebook or Twitter down below!

Morning all!

Welcome back to the TJRWrestling live blog, hope you’ve all had an awesome week! I’ll be with you from 7am to 1pm EST covering the latest stories & breaking news from WWE, AEW, NJPW and elsewhere across the wrestling world!

We’ve got some big stories fresh from this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter and elsewhere on the way, including:

• Chris Jericho’s surprising AEW All In opponent leaked
  
• Vince McMahon responsible for divisive WWE edict
  
• WWE efforts to sign Kenny Omega have “gone cold”
• Classic WWE pay-per-view returning as NXT Premium Live Event