Battleground, McMahon wreck, Lesnar
Smackdown Live presents Battleground tonight on the WWE Network, and what can be expected?
This will be the first Battleground in three years that I will not be at, so I will not have any backstage news, but will we see a surprise?
Two years ago in St. Louis, I was there with my nephew DJ and kept the surprise from him that The Undertaker was in the building.
The look on his face was priceless as he saw Taker attack Brock Lesnar.
Last year, I was in Washington D.C. with several friends, including Brownsville Area school counselor Bill Rouse, and while we were backstage, I found out that Bayley would make her WWE PPV debut.
I kept it from everyone so that once again, others could be surprised!
The show emanates from Philadelphia and the “City of Brotherly Love” is known for having a tough pro wrestling crowd.
This show doesn’t look all that good on paper, and maybe that explains why ticket sales are really low.
There have been ticket specials all week in Philly to help fill the venue.
Randy Orton will challenge Jinder Mahal for the WWE championship in a Punjabi Prison match, and I am guessing the crowd is going to boo this match out of the building.
The Uso’s will defend the Smackdown tag titles against The New Day, and if the match is given enough time, it could tell a really good story in the match.
A.J. Styles defends the United States title against Kevin Owens, and I look for the crowd to be really hot for this match.
I would not be surprised at all to see this match steal the show, but is it really stealing if it is expected to be so good?
Hopefully the match is given a good 20 to 25 minutes to entertain the fans.
John Cena returns to his first PPV since WrestleMania 33 when he faces Rusev in a Flag match.
Naomi will head into SummerSlam as the Smackdown Live women’s champion, and a five-way elimination match takes place tonight to see who her challenger is.
The quintet of women in the match are Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Tamina, Natalya and Lana.
McMahon in helicopter scare
Shane McMahon survived a major scare Wednesday when the helicopter he was flying in was forced to make an emergency landing in the Atlantic Ocean outside of New York City.
No injuries were reported, but McMahon admitted the experience being “unnerving.”
Lesnar back to UFC?
Word broke a few days ago that Brock Lesner, whose WWE contract runs out at WrestleMania, has reentered the USADA testing pool.
Lesnar was suspended for a year after he failed a UFC drug test while training for his fight last July when he defeated Mark Hunt, but is it just a case of Lesnar looking to negotiate a better deal with WWE?
When Lesnar signed a new deal just before Mania 31, he stated it was for three years and would be his last WWE deal.
WWE must take this news seriously as the last time Lesnar left the company, he was “the man” and WWE was not able to capitalize on having Lesnar build other stars.
This time around, WWE must do this and if this situation, reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, is accurate, look for Lesnar to lose the Universal title at SummerSlam.
Speaking of, there has been a lot of talk on whether Lesnar will face Roman Reigns in a singles match or if it will be a multi-person match which will include Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman or possibly both along with Reigns.
Sting headed to Washington
Pro wrestling legend Sting will make an appearance at the Big Time Wrestling show at Wild Things Park in Washington on Friday, Aug. 11.
Scott Steiner and Billy Gunn will square off, and other wrestlers scheduled to appear include Sabu, Gangrel, Gillberg, and more.
For more information, go to btwtickets.com.
Raw in Pittsburgh
WWE returns to PPG Paints Arena on Monday, July 31.
Plenty of seats remain and can be ordered at www.ticketmaster.com.
On this date…
In 1984, Wendi Richter ended The Fabulous Moolah’s 28-year women’s title reign at WWE’s show titled “The Brawl To End It All.”
Well, Moolah technically lost the title four times (and won it back each time) between 1956 and 1984, but the title changes were not recognized.
Even though the other four reigns aren’t looked at as official, they were a combined 38 days as compared to Moolah being recognized as having a 10,170-day reign until Richter’s win.
This week’s question: WWE ran Raw and Smackdown in the same venue on consecutive nights here in Phoenix a few weeks ago. Why don’t they do this more often? Jim, Phoenix.
WWE occasionally does it, especially on weekends of huge shows like WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble.
When the product was popular and pro wrestling was the thing to do in the late-90s, this was a topic discussed by many.
If WWE puts out a product that enough people in a big city will sell out consecutive nights, WWE would do it.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me@BillHughes_III.