Major Update On LA Knight Ahead Of WWE SmackDown; Wrestling News September 29th 2023

Kenny Omega is officially set to face UFC legend Demetrious Johnson… in Street Fighter 6!

Omega vs. Johnson will take place a few days after AEW WrestleDream on October 3rd, live in Seattle at 4pm PT. Fans wishing to see the virtual battle can watch the entire event on Crown’s Twitch channel, which has previously featured gaming showdowns between the likes of YouTube star MrBeast and online streamer Ninja.

The two’s online rivalry stems from Johnson calling out Omega on his podcast, which was reposted as a clip on X. Omega responded to accept Johnson’s challenge, on the condition that the loser would pay an undetermined amount of money to the winner’s choice of charity.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!@KennyOmegamanX VS. @MightyMouse

🎮 STREET FIGHTER 6 🎮
🎗️ MONEY GOES TO CHARITY🎗️

Don't miss a GRUDGE match for a good cause!
⚙️ PIT CREW ⚙️
10/3. 4PM PT. @AEW
Only on Crown. pic.twitter.com/QFQ09OHeSK

— Crown (@crownchannel) September 28, 2023

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will emanate from the Golden 1 Centre in Sacramento, California. The next WWE pay-per-view event will take place next week: WWE Fastlane on October 7th.

Matches and segments announced for the show include:

• The Grayson Waller Effect with Bobby Lashley
• Charlotte Flair vs Bayley
• Santos Escobar vs Rey Mysterio (c) for the United States Championship

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!

Bryan Danielson had admitted that it may be “irresponsible” of him to attempt to compete in NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament.

The American Dragon recently appeared on the Getting Over podcast and was asked about the possibility of competing in the G1. Danielson admitted that whilst competing in the tournament has been a long-time goal of his, it may not be worth the potential cost of his health in the future as a result.

“I don’t know. Sometimes, I have delusions of doing the G1. I think that what they are. I think they’re delusions in the sense of, that’s something I’ve wanted to do forever and ever and ever. I’ve never been able to do it. ‘This year would be the year to do it,’ except, is it? By the time the next G1 rolls around, I’ll be 43, and with how many injuries…that’s a big part of why I want to step away from full-time wrestling too.

To do this, I love doing this, but it’s not worth the expense of my health later on in life. I’ve already had enough injuries as it is. Right now, I feel like the injuries that I’ve had are manageable in the sense of long-term. I’m constantly doing stuff for my neck so that my neck isn’t bad when I’m 70. The concussion stuff, I do my best, but all of us, we’re just hoping for the best. We don’t know. There is no concrete science on it.

I think now, doing a G1, might be a little irresponsible of me, in comparison to what my overall long-term goals are, which is being there for my kids and there for my family.”

h/t to Fightful

Swerve Strickland is still looking to settle the score with his former Swerve In Our Glory partner Keith Lee.

The two split up as a team last year when Swerve turned on Lee but never settled their differences in the ring. In a new interview with the Battleground podcast, Strickland made it clear it wasn’t his decision not to follow up the story and is still very much willing to clash with his former tag partner!

“I’m still looking for Keith Lee, where has he been? I’ll settle any score, anywhere, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s almost like those fighters in a boxing fight. Make the fight. I’m not the booker. I’m not the guy controlling the money on this whole thing. Set the fight up, I’ll be there. I might lose the weigh-in, but I’ll be there for the fight.”

h/t to Fightful

NXT’s next Premium Live Event No Mercy is set to take place this Saturday from the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California and we want to know what match YOU’RE most excited for!

The show’s most notable matches include Carmelo Hayes defending his NXT Championship against Ilja Dragunov, Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton for the NXT Women’s Championship and Butch challenging Noam Dar for the NXT Heritage Cup!

Let us know what match you’re most excited for by sharing on Facebook or Twitter down below!

Details have emerged on Matt Riddle having heat with WWE management due to him going off-script during a live promo!

Dave Meltzer reported an incident that occurred shortly after Randy Orton disappeared from television in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The former star is reported to have gone off-script in a promo to praise Randy Orton for pushing through with RK-Bro despite how much pain was in, which reportedly caused him to gain some heat with management behind the scenes.

Whilst he was praised by some for incorporating a very real backstage situation into his character and storyline, he did not follow what was scripted for him – which didn’t do him any favors with management.

“Riddle also had heat with management at one point right after that for going off the script and putting over Orton on a live television interview when talking about how much pain Orton was in during the latter stages of their team and before the injury angle was shot. While praised for the promo going behind the scenes and being real, it was not what was scripted for him.”

For the second AEW pay-per-view in a row, British fans will be able to watch AEW WrestleDream in full for free!

The inaugural WrestleDream event will air for free on ITV4 on Thursday, October 5th, a few days after the event takes place on the 1st. The show will begin airing on the channel at 10:30pm and whilst it’s currently unknown the event will run for, ITV4’s schedule has given it an airtime window of five hours and 10 minutes.

AEW’s last pay-per-view event, AEW All In from London’s Wembley Stadium, was also aired for free in the UK last month. All In was broadcast on ITV4 four days after the event took place and at the time of writing, remains free to watch in its entirety on ITV’s streaming service ITVX.

This week’s AEW Dynamite faced several last-minute changes, including one match being added to the show just 90 minutes before!

Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that both Rey Fenix vs Jeff Jarrett and the three-way bout between Brian Cage, Claudio Castagnoli and Nick Jackson were heavily affected by the changes. Meltzer notes that Fenix was cleared to compete shortly before the show began, hence why his match with Jarrett was added so late.

Meanwhile, the three-way match was added just 90 minutes before the show began. Nick Jackson was not supposed to wrestle at the event and did not bring his ring gear as a result, so was forced to wear makeshift gear for the match when Tony Khan asked him to compete at the last minute.

“The 9/27 Dynamite show in Broomfield, CT, show was changed around due to injuries at the last minute. Jon Moxley wasn’t there as he wasn’t cleared. There were other injuries and a lot of changes.

Rey Fenix was injured on the same cannonball spot that Moxley was injured on, as he hurt his back. At first he wasn’t cleared so Fenix vs. Jeff Jarrett wasn’t scheduled. But after doing physical therapy and an in-ring workout, Dr. Michael Sampson cleared him shortly before the show started so that changed the show as well.

The Nick Jackson vs. Brian Cage vs. Claudio Castagnoli match for a shot at Fenix was added about 90 minutes before the show started. Nick Jackson was only scheduled to come out with Matt and be part of the post-match of Matt’s match, but Khan asked him about doing the match. He said he’d do it but didn’t bring his gear. But he had enough stuff stowed away in the bins to wear makeshift gear.”

Becky Lynch has reflected on her NXT debut almost a decade ago, calling it “shameful” and claiming it was worse than Shockmaster’s!

Appearing on Insight With Chris Van Vilet, Lynch did not have kind words for her NXT debut back in June 2014. Lynch believes that debut is one of the worst in wrestling history, even more so than the infamous debut of The Shockmaster!

“If that is not proof that you can dig yourself out of any fall, then I don’t know what is. I would put that over Shockmaster in terms of shameful debuts. Yeah, he just fell over, okay, fine, that sucks.

I went out, I was committed to that. I think the difference is he didn’t intend to fall over. I intended to go out there and do an Irish jig like that and thought that I was worthy of being on WWE television. That happened.”

Lynch went on to discuss how she managed to escape that gimmick and go on to become one of the most successful female stars in WWE history.

h/t to Haus of Wrestling

Those behind the scenes at NXT are not happy over the recent talent layoffs which involved some of the brand’s stars!

Earlier this month, several high-profile WWE talents were released from WWE following the company’s merger with UFC to form the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings. Most notable among them were Mustafa Ali and Dana Brooke who had both been making headway as returning stars in NXT as of late.

Fightful Select reports that backstage figures at NXT were especially unhappy about Ali’s release as he was gaining momentum on the brand after moving from the main roster entirely. The report goes on to state there is frustration over a lack of communication between NXT and WWE as a whole.

Part of the frustration comes from the brand’s plans for Ali where he was set for an NXT North American Championship match against Dominik Mysterio. NXT sources that spoke to the outlet claim that there were no signs that Ali was going to be let go nor anyone else with a main roster contract.

A major update on LA Knight’s status has come to light after the star was pulled from last week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.

PWInsider reports that Knight is expected to return on tonight’s edition of SmackDown, per WWE sources. Knight was pulled from last week’s episode at the last minute after the star tested positive for COVID-19. He was reportedly set to be part of the main event segment with John Cena, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa.

The angle would have led to him being unveiled as John Cena’s partner in a tag team match against Uso and Sikoa at WWE Fastlane. At the moment, Cena is currently announced to face the two Bloodline members in a handicap match at the Premium Live Event.

There is currently no word on what Knight will be doing on tonight’s show. He last appeared on SmackDown on the September 15th edition where he successfully defeated The Miz in the final match of their short feud.

Morning everyone, happy Friday!

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:

• Major Update On LA Knight Ahead Of WWE SmackDown
• NXT Figures Frustrated Over Unexpected Talent Releases
  
• Becky Lynch Claims “Shameful” NXT Debut Was Worse Than Shockmaster’s