LA Knight in the ring at WWE SummerSlam 2023

LA Knight Planned To Recieve Huge WWE Push; Wrestling News September 8th 2023

Welcome to the September 8th 2023 TJRWrestling live blog, where every Wednesday and Friday we bring you the latest news from across the wrestling world including WWE, AEW, NJPW, ROH and more!

Today’s top stories are:

  • LA Knight Planned To Recieve Huge WWE Push
  • CM Punk Worked With Tony Khan Directly Before AEW Exit
  • Indication That SmackDown Could Be Set To Move From FOX
  • The Young Bucks Were Willing To Work With CM Punk Under One Condition
  • Demetrious Johnson Calls Out Kenny Omega For AEW WrestleDream
  • Jeff Jarrett Speculates On Surprising Next Move For CM Punk
  • Gable Steveson Purportedly Removed From WWE NXT Roster
  • John Cena Names Current Champion As The Greatest WWE Star Of All-Time
John Cena

John Cena Names Current Champion As The Greatest WWE Star Of All-Time

john cena wwe promo smackdown talk

John Cena has named, who he believes to be, the greatest WWE superstar of all time!

Ahead of today’s WWE Superstar Spectacle event in Hyderabad, India, John Cena spoke to Sportskeeda in a clip uploaded to Instagram and gave his thoughts on The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. Cena showered Reigns with praise, calling him not only the greatest WWE star today but of all time!

“In my perspective, I think Roman Reigns is the greatest of all-time!”

WWE

Take A Behind The Scenes Look At WWE Payback!

WWE have released a new video on their YouTube channel giving a behind-the-scenes look into their most recent Premium Live Event, WWE Payback!

The video features out-of-character interviews with stars like Raquel Rodriguez, Jey Uso, Becky Lynch, The Judgement Day & more before, during and following the event.

What was your favorite match or moment of WWE Payback? Let us know by sharing on Facebook or Twitter down below!

Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega Responds To Demetrious Johnson's Street Fighter Challenge

Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega has responded to former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson laying down a challenge for a Street Fighter match!

Johnson laid down the gauntlet on social media, suggesting that the two clash in the franchise’s latest title Street Fighter 6 at AEW WrestleDream next month with the loser donating money to a charity of the winner’s choice.

Now, The Cleaner himself has responded on X and accepted the challenge – though it’s currently unknown if that showdown will indeed take place at the pay-per-view event in Seattle. In the process, Omega also took a shot at WWE star and long-time gaming rival Xavier Woods!

Gable Stevenson

Gable Steveson Purportedly Removed From WWE NXT Roster

Gable Steveson making his entrance in WWE NXT

Gable Steveson has reportedly been removed from the NXT roster just over a month on from his in-ring debut.

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that Gable Steveson has decided not to compete in the upcoming World Wrestling Championships in Serbia for an as-yet-unknown reason.

In other news relating to his WWE career, the star has also been removed from the NXT roster and there are not plans for him on the black and gold brand going forward.

“Another interesting note is that Steveson has been officially removed from the NXT roster. I don’t know what that means past that’s happened and there are no plans for him in NXT at this moment.”

Gunther

Who Should Be The One To Dethrone The Ring General?

Gunther holding the Intercontinental Title above his head at WrestleMania 39

As of today, September 8th 2023, Gunther has broken the record for the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion in history!

The Ring General has now surpassed The Honky Tonk Man’s 454-day reign with the belt, breaking the record that the WWE Hall of Famer has held for over three and a half decades.

With successful title defenses over former world champions like Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio, there doesn’t seem to be a clear option for who could finally end Gunther’s dominant and now-historic reign.

Who should be the one to end Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship reign? Let us know by sharing on Facebook or Twitter down below!

Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett Speculates On Surprising Next Move For CM Punk

Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett has speculated on a new possibility for CM Punk’s next move in wrestling after his unceremonious exit from AEW!

During the latest episode of his My World podcast, Jarrett introduced the possibility of a surprising new move for CM Punk in wrestling: Forming and booking his own brand-new wrestling promotion!

“I don’t know his headspace. I don’t know any of that, but if I was a betting man, what’s the downside to doing something completely on his own? Name the card [his] way … He don’t want to be grinding every week, I don’t think. Do four shows a year — one on the east coast, one on the west coast, one in the midwest and his hometown, and pick another one and see what happens.”

The current AEW Director of Business Development went on to claim that Punk has the ability to promote and market his own promotion and shows and would likely excel in such an endeavor.

“In any form of sales, selling cars, selling houses, selling any product, [businessmen ask themselves] how are you new? How are you different? How are you going to cut through the clutter and how are you going to market and promote it well? I think Phil (CM Punk) has the ability to check all those boxes,” Jarrett said. “It can be a different type of show.”

h/t to WrestlingInc

Kenny Omega

Demetrious Johnson Calls Out Kenny Omega For AEW WrestleDream

Kenny Omega

Demetrious Johnson has laid down the gauntlet to face Kenny Omega at AEW WrestleDream, though it wouldn’t be a wrestling match!

The former UFC Flyweight Champion took to social media to challenge the AEW Executive Vice President to a battle at the pay-per-view event next month in Seattle. However, Johnson doesn’t want to clash with The Cleaner in the ring but rather in the virtual world of Street Fighter!

Johnson set the rules of the potential bout in the social media clip, stating it would be a 1-on-1 match in the franchise’s latest title, Street Fighter 6, and the loser would donate an undetermined amount to a charity of the winner’s choosing!

Who do you think would win in a wrestling match between Johnson and Omega? Let us know by sharing on Facebook or Twitter down below!

Young Bucks

The Young Bucks Were Willing To Work With CM Punk Under One Condition

The Young Bucks

The Young Bucks were willing to put their animosity with CM Punk aside under one condition for the now-former AEW star!

Writing in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that a source close to Matt and Nick Jackson claimed that they were willing to work with CM Punk despite their previous issues. They had a condition, however, that six months would have to go by without any issues relating to Punk occurring. Obviously, this did not come to fruition.

“One person very close to the situation said that the Bucks had said if six months went by without any issues, they would have been willing to sit down and work with him.”

Gunther

Check Out This Compilation Of Gunther's Intercontinental Title Defences!

WWE has released a new compilation video showcasing every title defence Gunther has made of the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

The video contains highlights from all 15 of Gunther’s title matches since winning the belt from Ricochet in June 2022. The Ring General made WWE history today when he broke The Honky Tonk Man’s 35-year-long record in becoming the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history.

Check out the video above and let us know your thoughts by sharing on Facebook or Twitter down below!

SmackDown

ndication That SmackDown Could Be Set To Move From FOX

wwe smackdown fox logo

A recent move from FOX has indicated that WWE SmackDown could be set to move off the channel next year!

As reported by Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, FOX has now canceled its WWE-focused podcast ‘Out of Character with Ryan Satin’. It is said that some see this as a sign that the blue brand will not be staying on FOX when its contract runs out at the end of 2024.

Meltzer goes on to note that TV analysts believe that SmackDown will not be staying on the channel for some time as the show is said to ultimately not be worth the cost of their ongoing contract, on top of WWE’s reported interest in increasing the contract’s value when it expires.

“FOX has canceled its ‘Out of Character’ WWE podcast. Some see that as another sign that Smackdown will be moving from FOX at the end of the current contract. Analysts have believed that for some time, that even with the ratings the show delivers that it isn’t cost-effective, especially if WWE wants the $205 million per year deal to increase to $310 million.

Still, the show wins the night almost every week of late and numbers are gaining so they could change the outcome of that. It also does lower ad rates than the other network programming on Friday because of the stigma of wrestling and wrestling fans to network advertisers.”

CM Punk

CM Punk Worked With Tony Khan Directly Before AEW Exit

CM Punk Tony Khan

More details have emerged on CM Punk’s backstage role prior to his AEW termination, revealing he worked directly with Tony Khan!

Aside from his contract as an on-screen competitor, it is believed that CM Punk had a second contract as an AEW employee as reported in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer noted that this was an attempt by AEW to get full insurance coverage for the star and that his backstage role was working on creative aspects of AEW Collision alongside Tony Khan.

“The belief was that Punk had two contracts, one being a pro wrestling contract and another being an employee contract, was that it was a way for the company to cover full insurance, although nobody officially confirmed that or what his job title entailed. But he was working directly with Khan on the creative facets of the Collision show.”

LA Knight

LA Knight Planned To Recieve Huge WWE Push

LA Knight in the ring at WWE SummerSlam 2023

LA Knight seems to have big things in his future as WWE is reportedly planning to give the up-and-comer a big push!

Dave Meltzer notes in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Knight’s strong segment ratings and merchandise sales will result in the 40-year-old receiving a “megapush” in the near future. His crowd reactions are also reported to be a contributing factor, but the financial results are said to mean much more to the company.

“Knight is expected to get a megapush going forward given that the ratings for his segments and his merchandise sales have both been very strong. The crowd reaction alone would help you but in many cases if WWE thinks it’s a fad and there isn’t economic indications they only take crowd reactions to a certain level. But with Knight, the success is across the board.”

WWE

Happy Friday!

Morning everyone, hope you’ve had a good week so far!

Welcome back to the TJRWrestling live blog! 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!

Today’s top stories are:

  • LA Knight Planned To Recieve Huge WWE Push
  • CM Punk Worked With Tony Khan Directly Before AEW Exit
  • Indication That SmackDown Could Be Set To Move From FOX