WWE giving away money matches?
With Braun Strowman challenging Brock Lesnar for the Universal title at No Mercy and John Cena facing Roman Reigns on the same show, one has to wonder what WWE is thinking.
There are so few money matches left in WWE, and those are two of them.
Why is WWE giving them away at No Mercy instead of having them at a WrestleMania or even a SummerSlam?
There may be more to it.
There was word earlier this week that this will be Lesnar鈥檚 last match in 2017, and if that is the case, either Strowman is winning the title or Lesnar will hold it until the Royal Rumble when he is rumored to drop it to Roman Reigns.
In the case of Reigns and Cena, it appears that Cena is leaving again later this month or in October to film a movie.
With a win, Reigns will have presumably ended The Undertaker鈥檚 career at WrestleMania and defeated 鈥渢he man鈥� in Cena before possibly beating Lesnar for the Universal title.
Will it lead to Reigns defending the title against Strowman at Mania?
Reigns a 鈥渇irst鈥� in WWE?
Recently, Reigns was interviewed by ESPN and made a statement that left me wondering.
When asked if he is a 鈥済ood guy鈥� or a 鈥渂ad guy鈥� and his response was intriguing.
鈥淚 am neither,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 the first of my type鈥鈥檓 the first true gray area guy.鈥�
But is he?
There have been several wrestlers who have skirted on and around the line of being 鈥済ood鈥� or 鈥渂ad.鈥�
It can be said that 鈥淪tone Cold鈥� Steve Austin was, and the same can be said about The Undertaker among many others.
Who are some wrestlers that have been in the proverbial 鈥済ray鈥� area?
Share some with me and I will list some next week.
I also think back to Vince McMahon during the Attitude Era when he said, and I am paraphrasing, that 鈥渨e don鈥檛 have good guys and bad guys, the fans will cheer who they want to cheer.鈥�
Pro wrestling class coming to local college
Respected Pittsburgh pro wrestling historian Tom Leturgey will be teaching a two-week class at CCAC鈥檚 North campus on Oct. 18 and 25.
The classes will be three hours each and begin at 6:30 p.m.
A reporter in Pittsburgh for more than 20 years, Leturgey currently serves as ring announcer for the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) and is also an editor for several pro wrestling websites.
Most notably, Leturgey has contributed to www.1wrestling.com, World of Wrestling online, the Pittsburgh Sporting News, and The Patch among other sites.
鈥淭he class will review the history of professional wrestling in Pittsburgh from 1920 to the present day,鈥� the Cal U graduate said.
For more information on the class or to register, visit www.ccac.edu/community-education; or call (412) 788-7507.
Tom, a longtime friend of mine, can be reached at tom.leturgey@gmail.com for more information.
Mae Young Classic continues
WWE released the first handful of episodes of the Mae Young Classic, a tournament featuring 32 female wrestlers.
Must like the Cruiserweight Classic and the European tournament, the entire series will air on the WWE Network.
There are a bunch of indy wrestlers from America as well as some from other countries as well.
To learn more about them before watching the series, watch the Bracketology special on the Classic.
On this date鈥�
In 1995, Lex Luger wrestled his last WWE match when he teamed with Shawn Michaels to beat WWE tag champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna by disqualification.
While this does not seem like a noteworthy happening, Luger showed up the next night on the debut episode of WCW鈥檚 Monday Nitro.
The fact that Luger jumped ship and debuted with WCW when he was written into WWE storylines after verbally agreeing to a new deal with WWE was a big deal.
At the time, WWE鈥檚 TV shows were syndicated and shows like Superstars and Challenge had to be altered as Luger had already taped matches for the shows.
This week鈥檚 question:
When is Pittsburgh getting another WWE Pay-Per-View? Steve, Waynesburg.
I have seen WWE鈥檚 PPV calendar into late 2018, and of the shows listed, Pittsburgh is not hosting any of them.
Considering how bad Raw drew in July, WWE may not want to chance a brand-specific PPV.
What I mean by that is that while they know one of the dual brand PPV鈥檚 like the Royal Rumble or SummerSlam would draw here, shows with only one brand may not.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com