WWE

As usual, the most interesting things happening in WWE occurred outside the ring (how can it not be? There was something like fifteen minutes of wrestling on Smackdown last week, a two hour show). Sasha Banks still hasn’t been officially fired as yet, but her first appearance outside the ring under her real name has been announced: Mercedes Varnado will be doing a signing at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo in August. I wonder if she will prove more popular with the Star Wars fans rather than the wrestling community there. $70 for an autograph or $90 for a photograph; that doesn’t seem to bad compared to Billy Dee Williams price of $210.

The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Palazzolo and Ted Mann appeared on the Busted Open Radio podcast on Monday to discuss their ongoing story regarding the multiple settlements Vince McMahon has reputedly paid out to various women over the past two decades, including one $7.5 million payout to an unnamed former wrestler. There seems to be more to come, without any sign that the owner of WWE will ever be removed.

For SummerSlam week in Nashville, Tennessee, WWE are going to be hosting tryouts with “50 male and female participants with collegiate athletic backgrounds across football, basketball, track and field, wrestling, volleyball, gymnastics, cheer and dance” which will be ticketed for the general public to view. This is a shame because I was imagining a public tryout anyone could attend, ‘Always Sunny’ Philadelphia Eagles style.

AEW

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Swerve In Our Glory (AKA Shane Strickland and Kaith Lee) defeated the Young Bucks in their first tag team championship title defence on Wednesday’s Dynamite. It seemed that the pieces were in place for a Bucks/FTR super-showdown for ALL the belts (AEW, AAA, ROH & NJPW championships).

In a less shocking announcement, the company is returning to Chicago (area, I guess?) for another PPV in September. All Out, Dynamite, and Rampage will all be held at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. JR did say that AEW will be touring the United Kingdom sometime in the calendar year; I really hope it’s more than just one show in England, because personally I can’t afford two trips to the capital so close to each other! Have you been to London, it’s expensive as hell! And dirty. And full of rude people.

Dark featured two matches filmed overseas. Tokyo Joshi’s Miyu Yamashita defeated Thunder Rosa to earn a future title shot, and the Bastard PAC defeated ‘Shooter’ Unimo at a RevPro event in the UK. The Pink Striker is just top tier and I thoroughly recommend both of these matches.

NJPW

G1 Climax 32 begins today, baby! After two years in the autumn, G1 Climax returns to its rightful place in the midsummer this year. The tournament of tournaments will also return to its traditional starting place of Hokkaido, with two big nights of action to come completely free on NJPW World.

ELSEWHERE

If you have the time, I thoroughly recommend this free live Stardom show from last week: NEW BLOOD 3 in Shinagawa City Hall: