Several news-worthy items in pro wrestling
There have been several news-worthy items that have gone down in the world of pro wrestling, so let鈥檚 jump right into them.
Nakamura and Cena
Tuesday night on Smackdown Live, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated John Cena to earn a WWE championship title shot against Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam.
The match was really good, and it is a shame that WWE wasted it on TV and not had it held at SummerSlam or WrestleMania.
Speaking on Mahal and Nakamura, my call as of today (with a few weeks to go until SummerSlam) is Baron Corbin causing a DQ so Nakamura can鈥檛 win and then Corbin will cash in to win the title from Mahal.
I am reserving the right to change that before the show!
Cena鈥檚 future
Speaking of Cena, the word is that he may be headed to Raw permanently after SummerSlam.
There had been talk that he would wrestle on both Raw and Smackdown Live, but that may have changed.
To further cloud Cena鈥檚 WWE role, he has signed on to play a role in the new Transformers movie about Bumblebee.
The movie is scheduled to be released in Dec, 2018 so it will begin shooting shortly.
Lesnar鈥檚 UFC return
Is Brock Lesnar using the prospective UFC fight against Jon Jones to negotiate a better deal with WWE?
Lesnar鈥檚 deal runs out the day after WrestleMania, so it is possible that he is solidifying his position for a raise but when he signed the last deal in 2015, he said it would be his last WWE contract.
WWE changes
As it has been doing, WWE is cutting corners to save expenditures in terms of its overhead.
According to Dave Meltzer, the reason is because WWE promised everyone that profits for 2017 would be better than the $30 million it made a year ago.
However, WWE鈥檚 profit for 2017 sits lower than $6 million so far.
Shane back into ring?
Several people have emailed me asking about Shane McMahon looking as if he is toning down and getting in better shape.
He will referee the Kevin Owens and A. J. Styles U.S. title match at SummerSlam, but I sense an Owens vs. Shane match is on the horizon.
If I had to guess, I would say that Shane will face Owens at WrestleMania.
Diva gone from WWE
Eva Marie and WWE have parted ways and it was announced Friday.
She was in line for a big role on Smackdown Live after the brand split, but she was suspended for 30 days just before SummerSlam and never appeared on the show again.
She is working on acting roles, and her manager is Dani Garcia, the business manager for The Rock and his ex-wife.
Sting in Washington Friday
Pro wrestling legend Sting will make an appearance at the Big Time Wrestling show at Wild Things Park in Washington this Friday.
Scott Steiner and Billy Gunn will square off, and other wrestlers scheduled to appear include Sabu, Gangrel, Gillberg, and more.
For more information, go to btwtickets.com.
On this date鈥�
In 2001, Tajiri defeated X-Pac for the WWE Light Heavyweight title.
Honestly, Aug. 6 has been a lackluster day in wrestling history, and I could not find anything else significant to share!
This week鈥檚 question: Who is the best trash talker in pro wrestling? I say The Rock. Larry 鈥淟.J.鈥� Davis, Fallowfield Township.
Over the course of history, there have been several wrestlers who could talk the talk, but we could tackle this in several different ways.
If we went by decades, we might have different answers than if we judged it by other attributes.
Several stand out like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, Steve Austin, among others, but I would agree with you and give The Rock the nod.
It still amazes me that he was only in WWE less than four years before starting his Hollywood career.
As far as today鈥檚 wrestlers, the promo鈥檚 are all scripted for them so it is really hard to say who is the best.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.