Keith Lee鈥檚 time is now
Wednesday night, NXT North American champion Keith Lee defeated NXT champion Adam Cole to become the first person in the promotion鈥檚 history to hold two singles titles at the same time.
Without a doubt, Lee is going to be a megastar once he is called up to Raw or Smackdown and it is only a matter of time before it happens.
Agile big men are rare, and he is cut of the same cloth as talents like Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow.
Cole鈥檚 loss could signal the end of his NXT run with a potential callup to Raw or Smackdown on the horizon.
Will the Undisputed Era move up with him, or will he arrive alone?
Hopefully Vince McMahon does not hold it against him that he isn鈥檛 鈥渂ig鈥� which would lead to him being underutilized due to his size.
This has happened for years with so many performers who were stars in NXT only to be called up to Raw or Smackdown and disappear.
McMahon big on Smackdown call-up
Word broke on Thursday that McMahon is high on Matt Riddle with some people referring him to the next Shawn Michaels in McMahon鈥檚 eyes.
McMahon was impressed with Riddle鈥檚 promo last week about why he wears sandals all the time and because of how much McMahon liked it, Riddle is being given freer reign on the mic than others get.
Riddle is a polarizing talent as he ruffles a lot of feathers behind the scenes but is also well-liked at the same time.
Now if McMahon would give more wrestlers freedom during promo鈥檚 to be themselves, maybe they would also stand out more.
Important free agent on the market?
It was announced earlier this week that the Ring of Honor (ROH) contract of Bully Ray, best known as WWE Hall of Famer Bubba Ray Dudley, expired.
Normally, a wrestler past his prime, and at age 48, would not garner much attention on the free agent market.
However, Ray is a cohost of the popular Busted Open Radio show on SiriusXM鈥檚 Fight Nation channel (156).
Could AEW, Impact or WWE look to sign him?
I think it is a no-brainer for AEW to go after him, considering his knowledge of the business and the extra publicity he could give the company on Busted Open as it is the top-rated sports talk show on all of SiriusXM.
WWE may not be interested in the extra exposure, but AEW should ponder it. I also would not be surprised to see Ray head back to Impact.
Ray is one of four men in pro wrestling history to hold a title in WWE, Impact, ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
WWE wrestlers hosting shows
This past Thursday, Cannonball debuted on the USA Network and The Miz is one of the hosts.
On Tuesday, the premiere episode of 鈥淩-Truth鈥檚 Game Show鈥� will debut on the WWE Network.
Big WWE hire
WWE announced Tuesday that Kristina Salen has been hired as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
She previously served as the first CFO of Etsy and grew the business from $895 million to $3 billion in four years.
Impact鈥檚 Slammiversary Saturday
Impact presents Slammiversary on PPV on Saturday, July 18 and word is that there could be a handful of recently released WWE talents who appear.
Top matches include Eddie Edwards, Trey, Ace Austin and a mystery opponent vying for the vacant Impact championship while Moose defends the TNA title against Tommy Dreamer.
Will the mystery opponent be a former WWE star or maybe Bully Ray?
On This Day鈥�
In 1986, Bruno Sammartino wrestled his last match at Madison Square Garden. He headlined the venue for over two decades and www.wwe.com states that Bruno, as the main draw, sold out MSG 188 times.
In 1992, Big Van Vader pinned Sting at the Great American Bash to win the WCW championship.
In 1999, Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage on Nitro to win the WCW championship.
In 2009, Brock Lesnar defeated Frank Mir via a second-round TKO to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
This week鈥檚 question:
Last week, you mentioned Vince McMahon鈥檚 steroid trial. I don鈥檛 remember it too much but remember he had a bodybuilding league. Did one have to do with the other? Jeremy, Belle Vernon.
You are thinking about the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF).
The WBF was announced, as a surprise to everyone, at the 1990 Mr. Olympia.
Short-lived, the WBF ran its last show in 1992.
This was during the time that McMahon was being investigated for distributing steroids to his wrestlers.
All one has to do is look at the size of most the WWF鈥檚 top stars prior to the steroid accusations in the 1990s and compare them to the top stars in the mid-1990s, when business was so bad that WWF almost went under.
As far as crossovers between WWF and WBF, there were to be several but the WBF never got off the ground, other than a TV show on the USA Network and two ill-fated PPV鈥檚.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.