By Jeff Knapp
Not wrestling related but I want to say RIP to the Say Hey Kid Willie Mays, arguably the greatest baseball player of all time.
The biggest story in my opinion this week was the debut of The Wyatt Sicks. This was the most amazing thing I’ve seen in a LONG time. Not taking anything away from the cinematic experience from the first Hardy Compound match, Sting’s first AEW match when he tagged with Darby Allin or the AJ Styles vs Undertaker match at Wrestlemania, but this was pure creepy, suspenseful, dark, haunting pleasure. As of this writing, I have watched that moment about 10 times. LET THEM IN !!!
It was announced that AJ Styles will be facing Naomichi Marfuji at the NOAH Destination 2024 show on July 13 at Budokan. For those who don’t know he is a 4x GHC World Champion for Noah and is currently 1 ⁄ 2 of the GHC Tag Team Champions. He’s also held championships for NJPW and All Japan and was voted (with his partner) in 2003 and 2004 as the PWI Tag Team of the Year.
Seth Rollins returned to Raw for the 1st time since losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Drew McIntyre (who then lost it to Damian Priest) at Wrestlemania.
After their victories on Raw, Iyo Sky and Jey Uso have qualified for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
After showing complete frustration, Drew McIntyre quit Raw and walked out past Triple H in the back. On Friday’s Smackdown in Chicago McIntyre attacked CM Punk and left him a bloody mess on the entrance way. This rivalry is so good right now and they haven’t had a match yet.
Congratulations are in order for Je’Von Evans who outlasted 24 other men in a battle royal and is now the number 1 contender to Trick Williams’s NXT World Championship.
Speaking of NXT and the battle royal, it was amazing to see Joe Hendry and Frankie Kazarian from TNA make an appearance. The crowd gave Joe Hendry an amazing reaction. Do you believe in Joe Hendry?
It appears that ROH Women’s Champion, Athena has torn some ligaments in her ankle and could be sidelined 4-6 months. She has held that championship for around 500 days. I wish her a speedy recovery. No word, as of this writing, what will happen to the title and when they will crown a new champion.
The WWE filed to trademark the name “Talla Tonga,” which many believe is reserved for former NJPW star Hikuleo. They have also filed a trademark for the name Caesar Sikoa.
Although nothing has been confirmed, it appears that Lio Rush will be a regular with AEW going forward.
It was announced this week that NXT will debut on The CW on Tuesday October 1st.
After some wait, The Samoan Werewolf Jacob Fatu, son of Sam Fatu aka The Tonga Kid debuted on Friday on Smackdown and took out Kevin Owens, Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes.
Ahead of their match at Forbidden Door, Mercedes Mone arrived at Arena Mexico to confront NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer.
After 8 amazing years with the WWE, KAyla Braxton has decided to leave the WWE and pursue interests outside the company. I wish her all the best and hope to see her come back to the company where millions of people loved her.
Rollcall of Current Champions from Around The Wrestling World
WWE
Undisputed WWE Champion – Cody Rhodes
World Heavyweight Champion – Damian Priest
World Tag Team Champions – The Miz & R-Truth
WWE Tag Team Champions – Grayson Waller & Austin Theory
WWE Women’s Champion – Bayley
Women’s World Champion – Liv Morgan
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions – Isla Dawn & Alba Fire
WWE US Champion – Logan Paul
WWE Intercontinental Champion – Sami Zayn
NXT
NXT Championship- Trick Williams
NXT Women’s Champion – Roxanne Perez
NXT North American Champion – Oba Femi
NXT Women’s North American Champion – Kelani Jordan
NXT Tag Team Champions – Nathan Frazer & Axiom
NXT Heritage Cup – “The Don of NXT” Tony D’Angelo
AEW
AEW World Champion – Swerve Strickland
AEW TNT Champion – VACANT
AEW Women’s Champion – Toni Storm
AEW TBS Champion – Mercedes Mone
AEW World Tag Team Champions – Young Bucks
AEW & ROH Unified Trios Champions – Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Austin & Colton Gunn)
AEW International Champion – Will Osprey
AEW Continental Champion – Kazuchika Okada
TNA
TNA World Champion – Moose
TNA X Division – Mustafa Ali
TNA Tag Team Champions – The System (Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers)
TNA Digital Media Champion – AJ Francis
TNA Knockouts Champion – Jordynne Grace
TNA Knockouts Tag Champions – The System (Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich)
ROH
ROH World Champion – Mark Briscoe
ROH TV Champion – Kyle Fletcher
ROH Pure Champion – Wheeler Yuta
ROH Tag Champions – The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
ROH Women’s Champion – Athena
ROH Women’s TV Champion – Billie Starkz
NWA
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion – EC3
NWA World TV Champion – Max The Impaler (unified men’s and women’s)
NWA World Jr Heavyweight Champion – Joe Alonzo
NWA National Champion – Thom Latimer
NWA Mid America Heavyweight Champion – Jeremiah Plunkett
NWA World Tag Team Champions – Blunt Force Trauma – (Carnage & Damage)
NWA US Tag Team Champions – VACANT
NWA World Women’s Champion – Kenzie Paige
NWA World Women’s Tag Team Champions – The King Bees (Charity King & Danni Bee)
NJPW
IWGP World Champion – Jon Moxley
IWGP Global Heavyweight – David Finley
IWGP Junior Heavyweight – Sho
Strong Openweight Champion – Gabe Kidd
IWGP Television Champion – Jeff Cobb
IWGP Tag Team Champions – TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions – Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors)
Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions – TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls)
NEVER Openweight Champion – Shingo Takagi
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Champions – Los Ingobernables de Japón (Yota Tsuji, Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi)
KOPW 2023 – Great O Khan
IWGP Women’s Champion – Maya Iwatani (Shared with Stardom)
Strong Women’s Champion – Stephanie Vaquer (Shared with Stardom)
AAA – Triple A Worldwide
AAA Mega Champion – Nic Nemeth
AAA Latin American Champion – Octagon Jr
AAA World Cruiserweight Champion – Komander
AAA World Tag Team Champions – Nueva Generacion Dinamita (Sanson & Forastero)
AAA World Trios Champions – Los Vipers (Abismo Negro Jr, Psicosis & Toxin)
AAA Reina de Reinas Champion – Flammer
CMLL – Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
CMLL World Heavyweight Champion – Gran Guerrero
CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion – Averno
CMLL World Middleweight Champion – Templario
CMLL World Welterweight Champion – Titan
CMLL World Lightweight Champion – Stigma
CMLL World Tag Team Champions – Los Nuevos Ingobernables (Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja)
CMLL World Trios Champions – Los Bárbaros (Dragon Rojo Jr., Bárbaro Cavernario & El Terrible)
CMLL World Women’s Champion – Stephanie Vaquer
CMLL World Women’s Tag Team Champions – Stephanie Vaquer and Zeuxis
Stardom
World of Stardom Champion (main title) – Maika
Wonder of Stardom Champion (secondary title ie IC tite) – Saori Anou
Goddess of Stardom Champions (tag) – Fukuoka Double Crazy (Hazuki and Koguma)
Artist of Stardom Champions (trios) – Empress Nexus Venus (Maika, Mina Shirakawa & Xena)
High Speed Champion (lightweight or x type of title) Saya Kamitani
The Sports Insanity Network 