Why WWE RAW’s best show in years took place in the wrong city.

By: Noah Trombley

The Triple H era of WWE truly began this week as the game’s influence on the Monday Night Raw program was very clear from the get go. This episode of the Monday night staple was such a breath of fresh air as many of the annoying habits and booking decisions that Vince had used throughout his many years running the ship seem to be non-existent. Storylines seemed to be treated with care and given reasons to exist, champions were made to look like a huge deal, and most importantly there was plenty of wrestling on the show. That seems weird to say out loud but one of the most prevalent criticisms of Vince McMahon’s WWE, especially on a weekly programming front, was that there wasn’t enough wrestling on the shows. This week had no such issues as we had 6 matches on this week’s show that all went over at least 12 mins. In the case of the Bianca Belair vs Iyo Sky match, they put on a 20 minute banger of a match while lower on the card we got another amazing match consisting of Seth Rollins vs Montez Ford. This was such an amazing turn around from just a week ago, we actually had a 3 hour wrestling show where wrestling was the focus of the show. 

With that being said however there was one thing that happened, or didn’t happen, during this week’s Raw which brought the whole show down. Raw this week emanated from the Toyota Center in Houston Texas, and let’s just say WWE should not return to the Houston area for a while. The entire show had amazing matches, amazing promos from the likes of Edge, and the continuation of some of the year’s best storylines. However, this Houston crowd seemed like they couldn’t care less about what was going on in the ring or backstage. No matter what the performers did the crowd remained deadly quiet throughout the entire night. The near falls that Bianca and Iyo were getting on each other barely received any kind of reaction, you could’ve put crickets in this crowd and they would have been louder than the people in the arena. This just baffles me as why would you pay your hard earned money to go to a show like WWE, where crowd participation is almost as important as the performers themselves, and just sit on your hands all night. There were entire sections of the crowd just sitting there motionless while the main event of the Usos vs the Mysterios for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships raged on. This took so much out of the show as watching it on TV you couldn’t help but notice how the crowd seemed to not care at all with wah

This crowd seemed to not respect these performers working their butts off to give them an amazing show with some amazing action. It seriously was a show of disrespect by this crowd. WWE should not put up with this lack of crowd participation. If this show was in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, anywhere else the crowd would’ve gone nuts at the action on display this night. Compare the reactions on Raw to the opening match of last week’s Smackdown which saw Drew Mcintyre vs Sheamus for a shot at the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship and you will see just how disappointing this Houston crowd was. WWE should seriously send a message to the city of Houston and not return for a while to show that if they want another show again they are going to have to show up and be a raucous crowd and appreciate what these performers are giving them.

Deshaun Watson Suspended

By: Mike Rifkin

Monday morning Judge Sue Robinson handed a six game suspension to Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and did not fine him for violating the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy stemming from multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.  

In her decision Judge Robinson said “ Mr. Watson is hereby suspended for six (6) regular-season games without pay. Although this is the most significant punishment ever imposed on an NFL player for allegations of non-violent sexual conduct,  Mr. Watson’s pattern of conduct is more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL.” Six games is not enough for this kind of behavior and the NFL, who has three days to appeal this, absolutely should appeal this. The decision also said the NFL wanted Watson suspended for the season and with reinstatement for 2023 hinging on specific conditions. The League says its request is unprecedented, because his conduct was unprecedented. Yes the league has suspended players for sexual assault and misconduct before, but not to this extent. Watson will miss games against the Panthers, Jets, Steelers, Falcons, Chargers and Patriots. 

The NFL needs to make a statement saying this kind of behavior will not be tolerated. They made that stance on Tom Brady with deflategate and with Calvin Ridley this offseason suspending him for the season for gambling. But this behavior is much worse and Roger Goodell needs to appeal this. Even if Watson and his team want to take this to court the NFL needs to make the right call.

The NFL as a whole has a massive cultural issue whether it be players or owners. Deshaun Watson is the latest example of part of the problem along with what is going on with Commanders Owner Daniel Snyder, if Roger Goodell wants to show the fans what he truly believes both reports have to be released. At the end of the day six games for Watson’s behavior is not enough for me and I hope the NFL appeals the suspension and give Watson a much lengthier suspension

TWIW – This Week In Wrestling  7/25 – 7/29

By Jeff Knapp

Although this was the biggest news of the week, this might be the biggest news in over 40 years. Vince McMahon has retired from the WWE. I’m not going to go into what caused him to retire, but he has been at the forefront of wrestling since 1984 when he brought us WrestleMania. It appears that his daughter Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan will be CO-CEOs while Triple H has not only taken over talent relations but has taken over creative. If he is truly gone and will have no input into the WWE, then this is an end of an era. When Triple H took over NXT we saw what he was capable of doing. At one point it was the better of the 3 shows that the WWE put out and when Vince took that away, we saw what happened.

It appears that Tully Blanchard is no longer with AEW/ROH, but there isn’t much out there as to why, so I will not speculate on anything.

Speaking of no longer in AEW/ROH, it appears that former ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham has asked for his release. Once again, until there is anything said by either AEW/ROH and/or Jonathan Gresham himself, I will not go into why he asked, but many sites are stating it was because he lost the ROH Championship and a few other reasons. I am huge fan of him and hope to see him back on TV once again soon. If things don’t work out, then could we see him show up on Impact or even the NWA?

Over the weekend, ROH held their 2nd Tony Khan owned PPV, Death Before Dishonor, which was main evented by FTR vs The Briscoes in a 2 out of 3 falls match. I thought they couldn’t top their 1st encounter, but I was mistaken. This was just as good and possibly better. FTR retained the Tag Team Titles, but with The Briscoes signing a contract, you never know what could happen.

Speaking of DFD, congratulations to Claudio Castagnoli in winning his 1st major wrestling world heavyweight championship when he defeated Jonathan Gresham for the ROH World Title.

The 2 sleeper matches from the PPV were the Wheeler Yuta vs Daniel Garcia for the Pure championship and Mercedes Martinez vs Serena Deeb for the ROH Women’s championship. Top to bottom this was a solid PPV and worth the money spent.

This week AEW announced that on Sept 4th at the All Out PPV they will crown the 1st AEW Trios Tag Team Champions.

Speaking of Championships, there was an announcement made by STARDOM and NJPW at the recent 2022 STARDOM Strategy Meeting that an IWGP Women’s Championship Title will be introduced at the NJPW x Stardom Event on Sunday, November 20th at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan and that the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion will be crowned during that event. It was also announced that the IWGP Women’s Championship will eventually be defended on NJPW’s Events all over Japan as well as in the United States.

WWE – RAW

Roman Reigns, The Usos and Paul Heyman come out. Roman has the Garden to acknowledge him then says that he doesn’t feel like talking anymore and hands the microphone to Paul Heyman. He talks about how Brock likes to piss on everyone’s parade, from ruining Randy Couture’s party, ending the Undertaker’s streak, sending John Cena to suplex city. This eventually leads to Theory coming out and talking trash, but Roman tells him that he appreciate what Theory’s trying to do but he has no clue what he’s doing with that briefcase, Roman says that Theory’s daddy isn’t here anymore, Roman says that if Theory keeps messing up he’s going to be his daddy, Roman says that he runs the Garden now, Jey then slaps Theory on the back of the head, Theory then hits Jey twice with the briefcase, Roman remains calm as The Bloodline walks up the ramp.

That was one of the best openings in a while on Raw.

In what was supposed to be Drew McIntyre vs Theory turned in to Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley vs Theory and Sheamus after Drew is attacked from behind.

In the end Ziggler comes out and distracts Theory which gets him put into the Hurt Lock and then taps out. After the match, Theory walks up the ramp to then be super kicked by the Usos.

Not sure where this is going, but I’m sure Dominik will eventually turn on his father, but in the meantime, Rhea Ripley returns and along with the rest of Judgement Day attack and destroy Rey Mysterio

In a tag team heavy match night in which we saw AJ Styles and Ziggler defeat Otis and Chad Gable… Shoosh !!! (How amazing that he got a simple Shoosh and thank you over?) The main event saw The Street Profits and Riddle face The Bloodline where Roman was dominate and speared Riddle for the victory. He is looking strong and confident going into SummerSlam.

After the match Rollins came out to an already defeated Riddle and curb stomped him onto the steel steps which injured him and not may not compete at SummerSlam.

NXT

This one was hard to get excited about. This program is feeling the effects of what Vince and Kevin Dunn did to it. The opening match was Wes Lee vs Grayson Waller and it was not bad, but I just don’t know the direction of either character.

Thankfully the show was saved by 2 really good matches. The 1st one being Andre Chase vs Giovanni Vinci and then the main event was Diamond Mine vs Tony D’Angelo where Roderick accidently kneed Julius Creed allowing Tony to hit his finisher for the win.

I’m 100% positive this will lead to some type of match in the near future, but how the Creeds are not the center of the tag division is beyond me.

We also found out that there will be a 4 team women’s tag for the vacant tag titles. The teams will be  Feroz & Valentina vs Chance & Carter vs Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley  vs Toxic Attraction. If I’m the booker the titles would go on Chance & Carter.

AEW – Dynamite

The show starts off with Interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defend his title against 2x ROH Champion RUSH (pronounced rooosh). 2 different styles that gave us an amazing match. Moxley ends up getting RUSH to tap out to the Bulldog Choke. After the match Jericho comes out and challenges Jon for the title, in which Moxley accepts but he wants to face the Lion Heart Chris Jericho and not one of his daily new titles like the wizard or something. Great segment

Ricky Starks put his FTW championship on the line against Danhausen and easily wins, but after that he says he’s ready to put it on the line again right now. This brings out Hook, the son of Taz, the man who invented that title. Hook ends up locking in Redrum and becoming the NEW FTW world champion.

The 2 men show a sign of respect to each other and then Ricky starts to talk about moving onto other titles but is laid out by his partner Powerhouse Hobbs. The crowd is shocked.

During the Shane “Swerve” Strickland vs. Tony Nese & “Smart” Mark Sterling match, Keith Lee is attached from behind by former ROH pure champion Josh Woods. I’m guessing Woods has aligned himself with Nese and Sterling.

In another successful title defense, AEW Women’s champion Thunder Rosa defeated Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling superstar Miyu Yamashita by way of pinfall after hitting her Thunder Driver.

In the amazing main event Bryan Danielson made his return and faced off against Daniel Garcia. When we though Danielson was going to win, he was grabbed by a mystery person under the ring, who ended up being Jake Hager, which allowed Garcia to lock in a sharpshooter and Bryan passes out and never taps.

IMPACT

The show starts off with 2 of the best that Impact has to offer, Eddie Edwards of Honor No More and Ace Austin of the Bullet Club. Eddie has been solid his entire time in Impact and Ace is leaps and bounds better than he was when he 1st arrived at Impact. This was hard fought and could have gone either way with both Kenny King and Chris Bey getting involved, but EE ends up connecting with the Die Hard Driver for the win.

The HNW and Bullet Club rivalry has become one of the top feuds in all of American pro wrestling over the past few months, so let’s see where this goes.

Although Tiffany Nieves defeated Jada Stone, nobody won after the match because we welcome back the returning beautiful, talented and hard-hitting Killer Kelly who takes out both ladies. I’m sure the Knockouts championship will be in her sites soon, but who will be the 1st woman in her path?

The one thing I can’t understand is that you have your world champion on the show wrestling, and this isn’t the main event. The Kushida vs Rich Swann match which was another solid match and had me the entire time and it was great to see Kushida back to his winning ways with a Hoverboard Lock submission on Swann, but how is your champion not in the main event? Alexander made Shera look as great as anybody could make him.

Before the Kushida vs Swann match we go to the truck where we see Honor No More. Scott D’Amore comes in and says they have gone too far but Mike Bennett is tired for being blamed for everything and that they deserve the tag team title shot. In response, D’Amore makes a match for Emergence in which it will be Honor No More vs. Bullet Club. The stipulation is that if they win, they get their title shot but if they lose, then they’ll have to disband forever.

WWE – SMACKDOWN

Smackdown starts off the way we need WWE shows to start off, and that’s with a hard hitting, exciting match. The fans got that this week with a no dq match between Sheamus and Drew for opportunity at the WWE World title in the UK at “Clash at the Castle” against whomever is the champion after SummerSlam.

Although Butch and Ridge all got involved, Drew was able to put Sheamus through a table and then connect with the Claymore to become #1 contender. 

This type of physicality reminds me of the 80s when 2 big hosses would battle it out.

Tonight was the go home show for SummerSlam and most of the night were promos that set up everything for Saturday night.

The Usos brawled with the Street Profits and ended up accidentally super kicking Jeff Jarrett

I love Baron Corbin. He’s such an annoying pain in the neck and he’s great at getting the crowd really mad at him and that’s what I love about what he does with his character…or is it a character?

Aliyah vs Shotzi seemed like it came about for no real reason except that Lacey Evans couldn’t compete. I’ll admit that when I see Shotzi get any type of tv time and pick up a win, I’m a happy man. She is too talented to not be showcased on tv more often. She did pick up the win with the “never wake up” suplex cradle ddt or at least that’s what it looked like.

AEW – RAMPAGE

I love Orange Cassidy. A fan offered him his french fries and he accepts. Love his new theme, it just works. 

It was also nice to see “All Ego” Ethan Page pick up a win

In what was the biggest news of the night, Jericho was goated into a match against Wheeler Yuta next week on Dynamite and Jericho was so sure he can beat Yuta that he is putting his AEW championship match against Jon Moxley on the line and if Yuta wins, he can take Jericho’s place.

In the main event Anna Jay put up one hell of a fight against a battle tested Ruby Soho and picked up the submission victory when she used her cast underneath the neck of ruby unbeknownst to the referee.

Kings Of Queens

By: Mike Rifkin

On Wednesday Starling Marte got the walk-off hit as the Mets defeated the Yankees 3-2 completing a sweep in the first installment of the Subway Series. The Mets have now won six of the last eight meetings against their in state rivals. 

A big difference in the series was hitting with runners in scoring position. The Yankees in the two games went 0-15 with runners in scoring position while the Mets went 6-20. The new Mets also played a pivotal role in the series Starling Marte in the two games against the Yankees hit .444 with a home run and two RBIS. Pete Alonso hit .667 with a home run and two RBIS. Eduardo Escobar had big hits in both games as well, a two run home run to give the Mets the lead in the first game and the double to get the ninth inning started on Wednesday. 

The Mets pitching was very good in this series as well. Taijuan Walker didn’t have his best stuff but gave the Mets six solid innings on Tuesday and Edwin Diaz did what he has done all year got four huge outs all via the strikeout. On his 38th birthday Max Scherzer threw seven scoreless innings striking out six including three of AL MVP candidate Aaron Judge. Seth Lugo threw an 1.2 innings striking out three. 

This was a big series for the Mets especially after what happened in the four games against the Houston Astros. This was a statement series for the New York Mets. The two teams will play again August 22nd and 23rd at Yankee Stadium.

Vote Of Confidence?

By: Mike Rifkin

Tuesday in Oxnard California the Dallas Cowboys opened up training camp. Which meant team Owner, President, and General Manager Jerry Jones spoke to the media. During his press conference Jones said on Head Coach Mike McCarthy “ I want to be real clear: He wouldn’t be sitting here today if I didn’t believe he was the man to lead this team to a Super Bowl. And I have choices.” McCarthy is entering his third year as the Cowboys coach with a record of 18-15. 

Last year the Cowboys won the NFC East for the fourth time in seven years. But once again the Cowboys lost in the Wild Card round to the San Francisco 49ers. The end of the game had people talking about McCarthy’s usage of time management . But Jones’s comments to some might seem like a vote of confidence, but to me it’s more of an ultimatum .

And Jerry will have choices to be the next head coach if McCarthy cannot get the job done. The Cowboys were able to retain both coordinators Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn, both of which did interview for head coaching vacancies this offseason. And Quinn did lead the Atlanta Falcons to a Super Bowl appearance. Then there is Sean Payton the former Saints head coach who stepped down this offseason. Payton was an assistant coach/Quarterbacks coach under Bill Parcells in Dallas prior to becoming the Saints head coach. As Saints head coach Payton went 152-89 in the regular season and led them to a Super Bowl victory. If McCarthy cannot get the job done this year I would think these three names will top Jerry’s wish list for the next head coach. 

Jerry will see his team get tested early on this season as three of their first five games are against three of the four teams that played on Championship Sunday as the Cowboys will host the Buccaneers and the Bengals the first two weeks of the season and travel to Los Angeles to play the defending Super Bowl Champion Rams in week five. They will play six teams who made the playoffs in 2021 including two meetings with division rival Philadelphia Eagles who seem to be the biggest threat to the Cowboys winning the NFC East again. Jerry clearly believes this team is good enough to get to the Super Bowl and if McCarthy doesn’t get it done he will be gone. 

Subway Series Preview

By : Mike Rifkin

Tuesday night at Citi Field will be the first installment of the Subway Series 2022 with both the Mets and the Yankees sitting in first place in their respective divisions. Both teams made changes after disappointing seasons.  Last season the Mets won four of six meetings, but overall the Yankees lead the Subway Series 76-58.

The Yankees currently hold the best record in all of baseball at 66-31 and are running away with the American League East. The Yankees pitching staff is third in ERA (3.15) and fourth in strikeouts. Offensively the Yankees live up to the moniker Bronx Bombers as they lead baseball with 165 home runs. They are led by AL MVP front runner Aaron Judge who has 37 home runs which leads all of Baseball and is second in Baseball with 81 RBI with a slash line of .294/.376/.650. Judge in his career against the Mets has seven home runs in seventeen games. Former Marlin Giancarlo Stanton has 37 home runs and 87 RBI in 119 games and Anthony Rizzo has 16 home runs and 38 RBI career against the Mets. 

The Mets currently own the second best record in the National League at 59-37 and are 1.5 games ahead of the Braves in the National League East. The Mets have the sixth best ERA in baseball at 3.60. Mets starting pitching has not given up more than two runs in 14 straight games which is a franchise record. Since July 7th the Mets starters have a 1.58 ERA.  The Mets starters have done all of this without Jacob deGrom who could be back shortly. Offensively the Mets are nineteenth in home runs, so they have relied more on timely hitting. The offense is led by NL MVP candidate  Pete Alonso who leads baseball with 82 RBI one ahead of Judge. Alonso is fifth in baseball with 25 home runs and has a slash line of .274/.349/.534. Alonso has five home runs in 16 games vs the cross town Yankees. The Mets other star Francisco Lindor has had a nice bounce back season after struggling last season. Lindor already has more RBI than he did all of last season and is on pace to have more home runs. Lindor in his career vs the Yankees is hitting .317 with 10 home runs three of which came in a single game last season. 

The pitching matchups are scheduled to be Jordan Montgomery vs Taijuan Walker on Tuesday and Domingo German vs Max Scherzer on Wednesday. It is possible that this could be a World Series preview. But whether it’s the World Series or regular season you know that New York will be rocking for the first installment of the SUBWAY SERIES.

TWIW – This Week In Wrestling 7/18/22 – 7/22/22

By Jeff Knapp

The biggest news of the week was Friday when Vincent Kennedy McMahon officially retired from the WWE. Good or bad, Vince changed the wrestling business forever.

It was announced that Ric Flair’s last match on July 31 in Nashville, TN will be a tag team match and he will partner with his son in law Andrade El Idolo vs Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal

As it stands right now the card will be as follows (in no real order)

Impact World Championship Match: Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu

Impact Knockouts Championship Match: Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Rachael Ellering

The Wolves vs. The Motor City Machine Guns

Killer Kross vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Clark Connors vs. Ren Narita

Laredo Kid vs. Bandido vs. Taurus vs. Rey Fenix

The Von Erichs vs. The Briscoes

Bunkhouse Battle Royal

Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship Match: Trevor Murdoch vs Tyrus (after Billy Corgan stripped Nick Aldis of his opportunity at the title live on Busted Open Radio

Bully Ray vs Mike Knox in tables match

NWA President Billy Corgan announced that at the NWA 74th Anniversary show, we will see the return of the NWA United States Tag Team Championships

WWE – RAW

This week we saw Carmella challenge and lose to Bianca Belair once again for the Raw Women’s Championship.

After Damien Priest defeated Rey Mysterio, he told Dominik to join the Judgment Day, or he would destroy his father. He agrees to join, but Priest told him that’s not how it works.

This was a hard show to get behind but did have its moment. KO-Bro? I’d take anything Owens is involved in, and the Riddle vs Rollins at SummerSlam? That will be another amazing match and could be match of the night.

The 24/7 champion was once again passed around like a collection plate at a church. It’s enjoyable for the entertainment value of a laugh

Finally, to end the night Ciampa tries to attack Logan Paul, but his attempt is thwarted and now The Miz has to accept Paul’s SummerSlam challenge. Logan really did impress me at Wrestlemania, just like Bad Bunny did and both men have earned my respect for all the time and effort that put into preparing for their respective matches.

One of my biggest gripes that Raw is a 3 hour show that has 7 matches, but only for a total of under an hour and they could have gotten at least 90 minutes of wrestling in there.

NXT

In an overall better wrestling product, NXT gave us 5 really good matches this week including the debut of Axiom, who is supposed to be a mathematical genius or something? I’m not positive about the gimmick, but I’m guessing he uses match to solve how to escape different holds? Either way, this was a fun match and hope to see more from him with higher profile opponents.

Now, in my opinion, Cameron Grimes vs JD McDonagh was the match of the night, but Roderick Strong put on another great showing against Damon Kemp, and it would be a shame to see him leave. Not sure what would happen to the Diamond Mine of he left. Speaking of the DM, the promo with the Creed Brothers had great passion and I hope they keep it up.

I am a fan of Joe Gacy and his odd peace / doomsday gimmick, but ENOUGH with the name changes. The Grizzled Young Veterans are now known as Joe Gacy’s Dyads. James Drake is now Jagger Reid and Zack Gibson is now Rip Fowler. Why? Just bring in some new performance talent that are ready to step up to the plate. They were a solid tag team and I’m sure could remain that, but this is just bad booking.

The night ended with the return of Zoe Starks. She had a lot of great tools and sadly she got hurt and was out for a while before she could get some real traction behind her. Of course, being that she is returning and in a battle royal, you have to win. Forget any ring rust or the momentum of any of the other wrestlers. I’m just glad it wasn’t Cora Jade, Lash Legend or Tiffany Stratton.

AEW – DYNAMITE

Dynamite started out like a ball of fire with Darby vs Brody King. Darby put up one hell of a fight. It had its pros and cons. The pros were how hard hitting and entertaining the match was, but the cons were the near-death experiences I saw Darby either perform himself or that crazy piledriver type move Brody finished him off with. I hate having to close my eyes, yell of S**t more than once per match. I’ve always been a bit scared for the safety of the wrestlers, but after that horrible bump that broke Big Es neck a few months ago, I never want to see that happen to any wrestler again.

Moxley and Wheeler Yuta took on and defeated Best Friends in another great match that both these teams can have. Chuck Taylor is very underrated and gets a lot of slack for some of the artistic things he did while in PWG and other indy promotions, but I give him an A for inventiveness. He did the slow motion and pants grenade spots. I wouldn’t want to see that on TV, but as an overall performer along with Trent they are great together.

After some time off from the beatdown, Jungle Boy returns to AEW and just when Christian thought Luchasaurus was going to attack Jungle Boy, he stood beside him. Now, how will Cage get his revenge and who will stand beside him now?

Absolute Ricky Starks comes out to defend his FTW championship in an open challenge, which is answered by Cole Karter, who is the reincarnated Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan from NXT. Donovan doesn’t sound like a made guys last name, but it was a WWE idea. Although Starks retained the title, we got to see more of Karter than just some, well whatever it was the WWE had for him. Good for him.

After the match, Starks said he was ready to defend his FTW title again, and this brought out the very nice and very evil Danhausen. Starks looked shocked and said he didn’t mean right now but will face him next week. If Danhausen captures the title, the roof will come off the building since the AEW faithful absolutely adore him.

In tag team action we saw Athena & Willow Nightingale take on the TBS Champion Jade Cargill & one of her baddies Kiera Hogan. Although Jade got the pinfall over Willow, she is loved by that crowd and who can blame them. She has this energy and spirit that is contagious. She’s young and will learn and grow, but the fans are behind her 100% from what I can tell and I’m one of them.

In the main event it was “The Painmaker” Chris Jericho facing Eddie Kingston in a barbed wire anywhere match. I enjoyed this match, but my biggest gripe was the amount of time this match was given. I was hoping for at least another 10 minutes. The bookers could have cut out the entire Tony Nese gets knocked out by some rapper in the front row segment.

IMPACT

Women’s tag team VXT started things off against Jordynne Grace and Mia Yim, who will face each other at Emergence. Mia got double teamed and was pinned by Purrazzo. Both teams need time together to get some type of rhythm since it was ehh at best.

In what was the match of the night, X-Division champion Mike Bailey defended his title against VBD’s Deaner. Bailey’s been showcased quite well lately so I know what I’m getting, but this match really let us see how Deaner can go on his own and it was great to see.

The main event saw Alex Shelley defeat his MCMG partner Chris Sabin to become the #1 contender to the Impact World Championship and will now face Josh Alexander at Emergence.

After the match, VBD came down and attacked but they were saved by The Time Splitter, Kushida.

WWE – SMACKDOWN

Stephanie came out to start the show and announce her father’s retirement and led the crowd with a “Thank you Vince” chant

Ludwig Kaiser with the WWE Intercontinental champion Gunter at ringside defeated Shinsuke Nakamura with some assistance from Gunter. After the match Kaiser had his hand raised by the champ and then his chest was hit with those meat hooks again this week even though he won. Tough love I guess

Raquel Rodriguez had another strong outing, this time against Sonya Deville who keeps getting put in last minute matches by Adam Pierce because she can’t stop running her mouth and that gets her in trouble.

Leading up to the tag team championship at Summerslam, which might steal the show the Usos teamed up with Theory to face the Street Profits and Madcap Moss. Just when the Usos thought they were going to walk out on Theory, the tables get turned and Theory walks out on them, only to be super-kicked and thrown back into the ring and eventually defeated.

After the match Brock Lesnar came out and totally kicked the daylights out of Theory, giving him 2 F5s, one which was on the MITB briefcase. This was a great surprise, since it was all over the dirt sheets that Brock walked out of when he heard the news of Vince’s retirement.

Deal In The Desert

By : Mike Rifkin

On Thursday the Arizona Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray agreed to a five year 230 Million dollar contract with 160 Million guaranteed. Murray’s 46.1 Million in average annual salary is second behind Aaron Rodgers. Murray had two years and 35 Million dollars left on his rookie contract. 

In his career Murray has a 66.9 completion percentage 11,480 yards, 70 touchdowns and 34 interceptions with a 93.8 QBR. Murray has also run for 1,786 yards and 20 touchdowns. The last two seasons Murray has gotten off to MVP caliber starts and down the stretch he and the team faded.  

This chart shows Murray’s decline down the stretch of the last two seasons. Last year Murray and the Cardinals started the season 9-2 before their bye week, and went 2-4 down the stretch. The Cardinals still made the playoffs and lost to the Rams in the Wild Card Round. Murray was 19-34 for 137 yards and two interceptions including one returned for a touchdown. Part of the reason Murray struggled down the stretch last season was due to the absence of Deandre Hopkins who had an MCL injury. Hopkins will now miss the first six games of the season due to a failed drug test. The Cardinals did acquire Murray’s former college teammate Hollywood Brown from the Ravens to help the receiving group.

After the season Murray unfollowed the team on social media in hopes of getting a new deal. Murray still had two years left on his contract, but the Cardinals had to pay him. They had to pay him not because of the social media unfollow but because they extended head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Because Kingsbury was brought in and immediately told the team to draft Murray first overall they were tied together. If I was Steve Keim I would have had Murray play out this season and then decide if the extension is warranted, but the same should have been for Kingsbury before they gave him his contract. This situation could really blow up in the face of Keim. 

Is Kyler Murray an electrifying player? Yes. Is he worthy of this contract? As of right now I would say no. He needs to put the last two seasons behind him and have a consistent season. There will be a lot of heat in the desert for Murray to live up to this contract.

CAMERON SMITH WINS THE BRITISH OPEN

By Ross Mazin

     Cameron Smith is you’re 2022 British Open winner, and it was a well-earned victory. Before the open began he was not even in my top 5 to win this tournament. He was cool calmed and collective during these four rounds. He shot rounds of 67,64,73,64 making him 20 under par for the tournament. The third round was a little tough with weath and some bad luck but he got rid of the yips and took care of business. With this win, he has now won the British Open Championship and the PGA Championship in his career, which is more than many golfers accomplish on the pro circuit in their time on the tour.

 The course at St Andrew’s is one of the more challenging courses and probably the most legendary in the world. This course is where the game of golf was invented. This course is steeped in rich history and reverence. To get the chance to play on this famous course is an honor. It is like playing in the original Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, and Texas Stadium, as it is never short of a superstar. This course will test a golfer’s mental aptitude. Weather is just one of the many factors that will challenge a golfer on this esteemed course. The course is designed with traps, Hazzard, and at times, visibility issues which anyone will tell you if you can’t see where it’s going just yell “FORE.”

  Cameron Smith has quietly become one of my favorite golfers on this year’s tour. He is just an overall gentlemanly golfer, and with all the changes going on with the LIV signing more and more players, this will give Cameron the chance to be a clear shot at being in the top ten in the PGA in the world.

JEFF MCNEIL’S RETURN TO FORM

By Mark Halpern

Picture it Queens 2018; a young 2nd baseman is promoted from AAA to the majors to become a staple in the Mets organization. Jeff Mcneil has done the same thing every day he steps out onto the ball field, and that is to give his team the best shot to win the game no matter what the cost. Jeff McNeil is 30 years old and really in the prime of his baseball career, and this year he has returned to the 2019 version of himself. The Mets have plenty of Mega and Superstars, and Jeff is just one of those stars in this constellation. This Mets team is special with Alonso, Lindor, Marte, McNeil, Nimmo, Scherzer, and DeGrom, and in the minors, the Mets have three young studs ready to make their big league arrival. McNeil is just one cog in a giant machine, but he has been the Mets unsung hero, in my opinion.

     In Jeff’s first three seasons with the Mets, his batting average was .319, his OPS .868, his slugging percentage was .485, his OBP was .382, and his play in the field was pretty flawless. You look at those numbers, and you see an above-average ball player who doesn’t get the recognition and spotlight a player like that should get. However, with every up, there is a down, and for McNeil, 2021 was his downfall. All those stats that i mentioned above dropped better than half a point across the board. He was very injury ridden and was also learning to play the outfield because the Mets had traded with the Mariners, which brought Robinson Cano to play second (A colossal failure, in my opinion). At the time, the Mets had no interest in trading McNeil, and thank goodness they didn’t.

   This year from the start of spring training to the moment I am writing this, you hear his name much more than ever. The Jeff McNeil we all came to love has returned. Jeff has come to a complete 180-degree turnaround. Through the first half of this year, he is slashing .300/.452/.816 also to go along with four home runs, 38 runs scored, and 35 rbi’s. These are the type of stats the Mets need from a player like McNeil. Consistency is always better than power in this case.

     McNeil hasn’t shown off the power on home runs, but that doesn’t matter if he is producing offense in other ways. He is not super-fast, but he runs the bases well. Jeff has two stolen bases on the year, and again he is doing this to help this team win. His play in the outfield has been good, but not as good when he plays second, in my opinion. Jeff hustles not only on the base paths, but he lays his body out for any ball that is close and is not afraid to go for those long outfield catches that he might hit the wall. Jeff is the type of player all teams want. He plays hard every game, he doesn’t make excuses when he is slumping (which happens to all of us), and he is one of the most indispensable and irreplaceable Mets on the current roster. Jeff earned his way on the all-star team this year originally as an alternate, but due to injuries of some players, he got to start alongside Alonso. Also, right before the all-star break, he and his wife welcomed a new baby boy, and they brought their little bundle of joy to the event. Jeff took pictures on the national stage with his wife and child with him, and the smiles were ear to ear. 

    I genuinely hope Jeff keeps this up and, if he does, will be a featured piece of the Mets organization for years to come.