Roman Reigns made his triumphant return to WWE SmackDown tonight, but he didn't get the reception he was hoping for. Part of that was the crowd, but it's mostly in regards to The Usos, who came out after Reigns kept referencing them. They had a lot to say and told Reigns he was going to suffer his first pin in 3 years, and they sowed some seeds of doubt in regard to Solo and Reigns. Jey got in Reigns' face and after Reigns taunted him, Jey responded with a shove, which led to a kick from Jimmy. Then it was complete chaos as Sikoa got involved and security hit the ring, but everyone was still fighting when SmackDown came to a close. Now they will face each other at Money in the Bank.

Reigns kicked things off with a promo. "For a long time, maybe two years, I've allowed the Bloodline, allowed my cousins to say we the ones. But the truth is, we ain't the ones. I'm the one. I'm the only one. And I know a lot of you are thinking he is arrogant and a narcissist. No, I am the best. I am the greatest of all time. I am the head of the table. I am the tribal chief. No, what I'm talking about is, I'm the only one who cares about my cousins. I'm the only one who loves The Usos. I'm the only one who has given them opportunity after opportunity. I'm the only one who has lifted them up into the promised land," Reigns said.

Should @WWESoloSikoa be the next Tribal Chief?!@WWERomanReigns #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/fEitBUpx8r

-- WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) July 1, 2023

Roman Sucks chants broke out, and he wasn't pleased. "Naw naw, I'll tell you what sucks. Family who betrays you. That's who sucks. But the most important thing about this is, I'm the only one in this family that wants to give them a second chance, and I've felt like I've done this before and it's like fathering my children, but when they mess up I give them a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance. As a tribal chief, I'll give my cousins an infinite amount of chances, but what you need to do is come out here, bow down, acknowledge me, apologize, and then let's move on," Reigns said.

"You are nothing without me!"@WWERomanReigns @WWEUsos #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/HPGjXHim7B

-- WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) July 1, 2023

Reigns wasn't very happy with the crowd reactions, and then The Usos' music hit. "Hey yo, I think cuz got this thing twisted," Jimmy said. "Do you think, we're trying to get back into The Bloodline? Let's spit facts Uce. We are past acknowledging. We are past the excuses. Have you ever thought about the consequences Uce if you lose?"

"We go to war at Money in the Bank Uce. And when you lose, you the only one out," Jey said. "Hey, and guess what, and when you lose, you're not going to be tribal chief no more. I don't even want to be tribal chief. Hey Jimmy, do you want to be tribal chief?" Jimmy said, "Hell no."

Jey then said, "I got somebody who might fit the job perfectly." Jimmy then said, "And even though he's trippin. He got my vote." Jey then said, "And he got my vote too." They looked at Solo Sikoa, and Reigns started laughing, but then Sikoa looked his way and unfolded his arms as the Solo chants started to rise.

Reigns then stopped laughing and directed attention toward the Usos again. Jey got up on the ring apron and Reigns got in his face. He taunted him and said he's never done anything, Jey then shoved Reigns in the face, and that set him up for a Jimmy superkick. Solo then started brawling and threw Jimmy out, and Jey then punched Reigns and started punching him on the mat. Reigns hit Jey with a Superman Punch, and then outside Jimmy went right at Sikoa.

Reigns started throwing security and knocking them back to get to Jimmy, but Jey dove and knocked everyone down. SmackDown came to a close as everyone was brawling around the ring. These two sides will now face each other at Money in the Bank, and you can find the full card for the big premium live event below.

What did you think of the segment and who will win the match? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

WWE SmackDown set up a few intriguing elements ahead of this weekend's Money in the Bank, but there was also Championship gold on the line. The WWE Women's Championship was at the center of a match between the Champion Asuka and the challenger Charlotte Flair, but there was one other Superstar who would have a huge impact on the match. That would be Bianca Belair, who is still upset that Flair jumped the line when she was promised a rematch. That's why Belair was in the crowd for the match, and after Flair missed Asuka and kicked Belair, Belair would interfere with the match and caused a DQ. Then she would hit both Asuka and Flair with the KOD, stacking them on top of each other on the announce table.

Asuka and Flair traded quick attacks and then Flair hit several chops to Asuka's chest. Flair went for a big boot but Asuka reversed the move and then went for a hip toss, but Flair reversed into a suplex. Flair charged forward but Asuka caught Flair with double knees and then got Flair's shoulders down for a 2 count. Flair then covered Asuka but Asuka broke it with the ropes.

The EST just sent a clear message to @ScrapDaddyAP!@BiancaBelairWWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/PvFfbyxLOe

-- WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) July 1, 2023

Flair dragged Asuka further into the center of the ring before covering again but Asuka kicked out. Asuka hit a backstabber and then recovered in the corner. Back from the commercial, Flair went up top and went for the moonsault, but Asuka got her knees up. Then Asuka went for an armbar but Flair countered and then Asuka countered into a roll-up. Flair then hit a Spear on Asuka and went for the cover, but Asuka kicked out.

Flair went up top and hit the Moonsault again and did connect, but didn't get all of it. Flair hit big chops to Asuka right in front of Bianca Belair, who was in the audience after buying a ticket. Flair went for Asuka with a big boot but she dodged it and Flair kicked Belair instead. Flair then slammed Asuka onto the apron, but Asuka rolled out of the ring.

Asuka then rolled right into Belair, and that led to Asuka getting slammed to the ground by Belair. That caused a disqualification and for the match to be stopped, frustrating Flair greatly since it cost her a shot at the Title. Flair and Belair got in each other's faces, with Flair yelling 'This is my match.' Belair threatened Flair but then decided to punch her.

Flair returned the favor but then Belair evaded Flair's charge and that sent Flair into the steel steps. Asuka attacked but Belair reversed it and slammed Asuka into the announce table with a KOD. Then Flair was back on her feet and Belair picked her up and hit another KOD, slamming Flair on top of Asuka on the table. Belair made her presence felt in this match and cost Flair her Title shot. We'll have to wait and see how Adam Pearce reacts and if anyone gets a one-on-one Title shot or if we see a Triple Threat happen because of what went down.

Asuka isn't set to defend her Title at Money in the Bank, but we could see some movement on Belair or Flair's storyline before the show is over. If not, we will definitely see more of this feud on next week's SmackDown, and you can find the full card for Money in the Bank below.

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Bloodline Civil War: Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
• Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

WWE's Money in the Bank kicks off on Saturday, July 1st at 3 PM EST, and will stream exclusively on Peacock.

What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

A few weeks ago there was supposed to be a match between Bayley and Shotzi that would decide whether or not Bayley kept her spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but it sort of vanished and never happened. WWE finally had the match happen on tonight's episode of SmackDown, which first came to be after IYO SKY accepted the match on Bayley's behalf. Bayley was ultimately able to defeat Shotzi with some help from SKY, securing her spot at Money in the Bank. Shotzi would attack Bayley and SKY backstage but that would lead to Shotzi getting slammed onto a table. Then SKY would hold her down while Bayley cut her hair, and we'll likely see the ramifications of that next week on SmackDown.

Bayley kicked Shotzi and then grabbed her hair as she clubbed her on the head. Bayley missed a punch and Shotzi hit a bulldog. Then Shotzi hit a running knee and a big right hand but Bayley kicked out of the cover. Shotzi took out IYO SKY and then got back in the ring with Bayley, but Bayley hit a Bayley to Belly into a cover but Shotzi kicked out. Then Bayley hit Shotzi with a number of punches on the mat.

Did #DamgeCTRL go too far? ?@itsBayleyWWE @Iyo_SkyWWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/vjKQR6d8ZG

-- WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) July 1, 2023

Shotzi blocked a suplex and then reversed one into a DDT. Shotzi then hit punches on Bayley and a running knee before connecting with a stand-up enziguri. It appeared that Shotzi tweaked her knee but she was still able to go over Bayley. Shotzi covered Bayley but she kicked out and then Shotzi hit a big move off the second rope.

Shotzi pinned Bayley but IYO SKY pulled Bayley's foot over the bottom rope. Then Bayley raked the eyes of Shotzi without the referee seeing and then she pinned Shotzi for the win, retaining her spot in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. A little bit later we got a backstage segment that had Shotzi confronting SKY and Bayley. Numbers eventually were too much to overcome and Damage CTRL picked her up and slammed Shotzi onto the table.

Sky then held Shotzi down on the table as Bayley threw powder into Shotzi's face. Then Bayley took scissors and started cutting Shotzi's hair, revealing a big swatch of green hair before they left Shotzi in the room. We'll have to wait and see what Shotzi's new look is next week, but in the meantime, you can find the full card for Money in the Bank below.

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Bloodline Civil War: Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
• Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

WWE's Money in the Bank kicks off on Saturday, July 1st at 3 PM EST, and will stream exclusively on Peacock.

What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

Former WWE star Darren 'Droz' Drozdov has passed away at the age of 54. WWE shared a statement from Drozdov's family, which revealed that Drozdov passed away this morning of natural causes. Drozdov was involved in a tragic ring accident while wrestling for WWE in 1999, and as a result, he was unable to move from the neck down. In the statement from his family, they shared a message from Drozdov that exemplified the positivity he brought into the world despite the difficult circumstances. Drozdov said, "There is always another day. Just because I'm paralyzed and stuck in a wheelchair, doesn't mean my life is over. I've learned to live again, and my life is far from over." Our thoughts are with Drozdov's family and friends, and you can find the family's full statement below.

"We are sad to share our beloved Darren passed away this morning of natural causes. There are no words to convey the deep sense of loss and sadness we are feeling right now. Darren, affectionately known as "Droz," was involved in a tragic ring accident while wrestling for the WWE in 1999 that rendered him a quadriplegic. Nevertheless, Droz maintained a championship mindset and lived every day to the fullest even though he was unable to move from the neck down for the past 24 years.

His own words sum up his relentless positivity in the midst of adversity: 'There is always another day. Just because I'm paralyzed and stuck in a wheelchair, doesn't mean my life is over. I've learned to live again, and my life is far from over.' We lived this journey with him over the past 24 years. We were always there through the good times and the bad, and provided him with our unconditional love.

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to everyone. All of his fans, teammates, colleagues, and friends for all the love and support he received over the years. You all gave him meaning, purpose and something to live for. He loved each and every one of you and cherished the conversations, notes and letters he received. His faith in humanity never faltered, so know that for all the love you've shown him, he loved you back. We also would also like to thank WWE for treating him like family, and for all of their love, support and stepping up to make sure that Darren always had the proper care and treatment needed to live in his condition over the past 24 years.

He was a devoted son, brother, and friend who had always put others first, especially his family. He was kind, generous and was always there for his people. He was our guiding light who lit up our lives with infinite love and wonder. His smile was healing. His warmth, love, and laughter were infectious. We could always turn to him for wisdom and solace and his absence feels like a giant hole in our family and our hearts.

Everyone who knew Darren was a better person because of it. He taught everyone so much about how to look at life: how to put things in perspective, how to overcome adversity, and how to show compassion for others. He would not want anyone to be sad at this moment and would want to this to be a celebration of his life, to be remembered for all the great things that he accomplished, the fun, the laughter, the great memories he shared with everyone."

Our thoughts are with Drozdov's family and friends.

All Elite Wrestling's top prize has been heavily protected since it was first introduced back at the company's inaugural event, AEW Double or Nothing 2019. The AEW World Championship has been contested for 39 times in its four-year history, and the bulk of those bouts have come on pay-per-view. Inaugural champion Chris Jericho and longest-reigning champion Kenny Omega both defended the championship just twice on television while second champion Jon Moxley put it up for grabs on AEW Dynamite on seven occasions. Since winning the strap in November 2022, current AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman has defended his title just once on AEW television.

The rest of this article contains minor spoilers for AEW Collision.

That is set to change this weekend. AEW taped this Saturday's episode of AEW Collision earlier this week, which is set to feature MJF's AEW Collision in-ring debut. This began as a squash match with Friedman making quick work of Kip Morris. He then took to the microphone to blast the fans in attendance before Ethan Page interrupted. It's worth noting that Page was said to have cut a babyface promo, which would make this the first time that he has operated as a fan favorite since joining AEW. This led to a title match between the two.

MJF vs. Ethan Page may just be an impromptu bout on AEW Collision this week, but this matchup is actually one with deep-rooted history. These two had a blood feud at Page's Alpha-1 Wrestling promotion in Canada back in 2019, which ultimately culminated in a Dog Collar Match.

These foes became friends briefly in AEW last summer. MJF assembled a faction on retainer known as The Firm which included Page and another longtime confidant in Stokely Hathaway among the ranks.

"I have known Max probably since his first week in professional wrestling. He used to work for me in Canada [at Alpha-1]," Page told ComicBook.com last fall. "Stokely was actually his manager at Alpha-1 Wrestling. The three of us have had a relationship together forever. We have natural chemistry. We're all actually friends. For us to be working together on a national and global stage like All Elite Wrestling, to be put in a position like this is incredible."

AEW Collision goes down this Saturday at 8 PM ET on TNT.

WWE is heading overseas for WWE Money in the Bank weekend. The global leader in sports-entertainment is mirroring its WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico schedule from earlier this year, running a WWE SmackDown episode in the O2 Arena in London before heading back to that same venue for the ladder-based premium live event the next day. Tonight's WWE SmackDown will be a taped version of the show, as the broadcast ran live for United Kingdom audiences but will air in its traditional 8 PM ET time slot for western viewers.

The following contains minor spoilers for tonight's WWE SmackDown.

As shared on social media by those who caught WWE SmackDown live, Kevin Owens appeared to suffer an injury during his tag match with Sami Zayn against Pretty Deadly. It was noted that the injury looked to be knee-related, but Owens was seen without his left wrestling boot on and was grabbing his ankle. There is no word on whether Owens was legitimately injured or if he was simply selling offense from Pretty Deadly.

NOOOOOOO I HOPE KO'S SELLING ?? pic.twitter.com/FUYkMuVGoj

-- iBeast (@ibeastIess) June 30, 2023

WWE Money in the Bank goes down on Saturday, July 1st.

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Finn Balor has had some start-stop momentum throughout his WWE career. Upon arriving in NXT, Balor was red hot. He impressed in his early NXT TakeOver matches and rode that wave to an NXT Championship win, reigning with the black and gold brand's top prize for a record-setting run at the time. Balor wasted no time come his main roster debut, pinning Roman Reigns clean on his first Monday Night Raw and going on to WWE SummerSlam 2016 to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion. An ill-timed injury forced Balor to vacate that title less than 24 hours later, and except for a short return to NXT from 2019 until 2021, he really has not been the same.

Things began to look up for Balor when he joined The Judgment Day last year. Turning heel for the first time on the main roster, Balor appeared reinvigorated with this new attitude. That said, the win-loss column didn't reflect it.

What could have been a career-making victory at WWE WrestleMania 39 against Edge actually ended up being a confusing loss. Balor brought back his demon persona for this Hell in a Cell clash, body paint that he was almost unbeatable in, yet was pinned.

"It became a crutch. I'll hold my hand up and say I'm guilty of trying to please too many people and not please myself," Balor told After The Bell regarding his alter ego. "The thing with that character, or even a lot of the stuff that I was doing in WWE in general, was a result of trying to please too many people, be it the creative team, the writing team, the merchandise team, the promotions team, the tickets team and not really pleasing myself."

Aside from that one bump in the road, Balor is having his best run on the main roster right now, and he is personally feeling the boost from his heel turn.

"I feel like it's reinvigorated me on a personal level. I don't really wanna speak too much from a professional level, I haven't really completed that stage of the journey yet. I feel personally that I'm back enjoying my work, I feel refreshed," Balor said. "I feel creative again, and it's something that I haven't really had the chance to fully explore this type of character on Raw or SmackDown. It's something I wanted to really do on a second run in NXT, but when we lost interaction with the crowd, we kinda had to tweak and adjust course to change the character because of no audience in the arena. This is the version of the Prince that I wanted to deliver in NXT three years ago."

Balor challenges Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship this Saturday at WWE Money in the Bank.

It has been over a year since Sasha Banks has been seen in a WWE ring. The former multi-time WWE Women's Champion walked out of the company in May 2022 alongside tag team partner Naomi, citing creative frustrations. While rumors hinted that the Triple H regime would be able to reconcile with Banks and Naomi, both women ended up moving on from WWE. Banks rebranded herself as Mercedes Mon? and signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling and Naomi took her talents to Impact Wrestling, wrestling as Trinity.

Despite being in a different promotion, Mon? still has the support of her friends from her former employer. Longtime friend Bayley was spotted at NJPW Battle in the Valley, cheering on Mon? as she captured the IWGP Women's Championship.

Even though the Damage CTRL leader is happy to see her friend succeeding, she still hopes to see her back in a WWE ring one day.

"I beg her every day. I beg her every chance," Bayley told Gorilla Position when asked about Mon? returning to WWE.

Bayley and Mon? have a deep-rooted history during their time in WWE together. They both came up through NXT simultaneously and would meet in the ring on multiple occasions. Their singles match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn is largely credited as a vital point in the women's revolution. While they made good foes, they were even better friends, as they became the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions together and went on to have two reigns with those titles.

The stars may not be aligning right now, but Bayley hopes her and Mon?'s in-ring paths with cross again one day.

"You know what, it doesn't matter where it is. It doesn't matter how it happens. I would love to one day step back in the ring with her," Bayley continued. "Whether it's teaming with her, whether it's against her. But right now, I just want whatever happiness she needs to feel, whatever she needs to accomplish her dreams, accomplish her goals. I'm just happy to see her happy."

Mon? is currently out of action with an ankle injury. She suffered the injury last month at NJPW Resurgence. It is currently unclear how long she will be out of action for, but it's worth noting that foot-related injuries that require surgery usually take 3-4 months to heal.

LA Knight is currently on the run of his career. The charismatic megastar has been on the main roster for just over one year now but has been officially wrestling as his fan-favorite persona for much shorter, as he was previously stuck with the now-infamous Max Dupri gimmick upon his WWE SmackDown arrival. While Knight has yet to have a true signature moment on the WWE stage, he has been receiving massive reactions from audiences on a weekly basis, regularly getting cheered over fan favorites like Rey Mysterio and Montez Ford. Knight has the opportunity to get that first signature moment this Saturday at WWE Money in the Bank when he competes in the show's titular ladder match.

A big reason why Knight has gotten over has been due to his mic skills, specifically regarding his cadence and catchphrases. Despite that praise from fans and critics alike, Knight believes his speaking skills are low on the totem pole in terms of wrestling value.

"Whenever I hear guys, in the act of talking, say they are the best at talking, I'm like, 'What does that matter in the grand scheme of things?' It matters in the form of entertainment, but in the scheme of what we're actually doing, I'm trying to fight this guy, beat this guy, win his championship, what the hell does me being good at talking matter in the scheme of that?" Knight told My Love Letter to Wrestling. "Even outside of the universe of wrestling, just because it feels weird and self-serving. The guys who brag about that, it seems like a strange thing. Do you think Muhammad Ali was ever like, 'I'm the best on the mic.' No, he was, 'I'm the best in the ring. I'm the best boxer.'"

WWE Money in the Bank goes down on Saturday, July 1st.

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

All Elite Wrestling is making its overseas debut in grand fashion. AEW heads to the United Kingdom on August 27th for AEW ALL IN: London, a resurrection of the pay-per-view that inspired the company's creation. The first iteration of ALL IN was independently promoted by Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks in an effort to prove that they could sell out a 10,000 seat arena. The spirit of that first event beats in AEW ALL IN: London as AEW is making its biggest bet on itself yet: sell out Wembley Stadium. While they are still thousands of tickets away from accomplishing that feat, AEW is well on its way, selling over 66,500 tickets thus far.

All of that has been done without announcing a single match, but recent advertisements have indicated which talent will be competing on the show. Early posters showcased a bulk of the AEW roster including Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Jamie Hayter, and others.

As revealed on Twitter, new AEW ALL IN: London advertisements are being shown in local newspapers. This new advertisement comes with a new poster with six new stars: CM Punk, AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler), AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander, Pac, and Ring of Honor Television Champion Samoa Joe.

Looks like #AEW All in will be having CM Punk with the full page advert in the metro. pic.twitter.com/M2YfF0iKya

-- Dylan Shah (@DylanShah) June 30, 2023

This is the first time that Punk has been showcased on AEW ALL IN: London promotional material. Punk's AEW return had not happened nor had been announced when AEW ALL IN: London was initially revealed by Tony Khan and Nigel McGuinness.

There is no word on who Punk could be facing at the event. His initial return on AEW Collision featured him teasing that he will still claim to be AEW World Champion, so it's possible that this teased clash with current AEW World Champion MJF to decide an undisputed titleholder could go down at Wembley Stadium.

AEW ALL IN: London will be Punk's first time wrestling in front of a stadium-sized crowd since WWE WrestleMania 29. It was over ten years ago now that Punk locked up with The Undertaker at MetLife Stadium in front of 80,676 fans.

AEW ALL IN: London goes down on Sunday, August 27th. It is currently unknown whether this event will be on pay-per-view or if it will stream on a separate platform.

Since he walked into the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center for NXT TakeOver: Dallas, Shinsuke Nakamura's entrance music has been championed as one of the best themes in the company. Utilizing critically-acclaimed violinist Lee England Jr. for the the instrumentals and fan-favorite duo CFO$ for the producing, "The Rising Sun" has accompanied Nakamura for just about every major moment in his career. It didn't take long for WWE audiences to learn the tune either, as every Nakamura entrance these days is showered with whoas and ohs from those in attendance. As evident by a recent album track, Nakamura's theme has made fans outside of the professional wrestling world too.

Multi-platinum recording artist and noted WWE fan Lil Uzi Vert dropped the long-awaited Pink Tape today. The 26-song album is headlined by pre-release "Just Wanna Rock" but includes a number of noteworthy features like Travis Scott and Don Toliver. The 14th track will catch the ear of wrestling fans, as it is titled "Nakamura" and samples the King of Strong Style's WWE theme.

"Nakamura" also features a couple of lyrical nods to the WWE world.

"On my bully, so I'm standing like a bulldog (Grr) / I'm th? king of the ring, I could take off for ya (Woah)," Uzi raps in the second verse.

"We not sellin' mid, we be gettin' flock off (Yeah) / Feel like Nakamura jumpin' off the top, dog (Woah)," Uzi's third verse on "Nakamura" goes.

This sample comes just three months after Uzi appeared at WWE WrestleMania 39. There, he performed his hit "Just Wanna Rock" ahead of then-Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos' entrance.

"Oh my God, that feels really, really good (to know that WWE talents were feeling my music). I can't believe it. I just can't believe I'm here, I can't believe I saw so many people that I always wanted to see my whole life. It's crazy. I can't believe it," Uzi said. "And throw up the 'one' (with The Usos)? Oh man. I wanted to get in the ring."

After his performance, WWE backstage correspondent Cathy Kelley caught up with Uzi, where he revealed that he intends to be at WWE WrestleMania 40 next year.

"I was ready to get in the ring but you know, you'll see me, April, Philadelphia, 2024," Uzi revealed. "So, I don't wanna give up all the surprises but you'll see me there. Oh, for sure (I gotta do it in my hometown)."

Pink Tape is streaming now on all music platforms.

Golden Globe winning actor Paul Walter Hauser may be recognizable for his work in shows like Black Bird, I, Tonya, and Cobra Kai, but he's also a very vocal fan of wrestling. The day after winning the Golden Globe he would even appear on All Elite Wrestling Dynamite, wherein Jeff Jarrett smashed a guitar over his head and stole his award. Speaking with ComicBook.com about the upcoming new season of The Afterparty on Apple TV+, and considering the recent release of AEW Fight Forever, we had to ask Hauser who he's picking first when he gets his hands on the new game.

"The first person I'm going to play as is my favorite wrestler of all time, Steve Borden. You fans know him as Sting," Hauser revealed. "I love that guy. He's my number one. He's on my Mount Rushmore of wrestlers." For the interview Hauser was paired with co-star Jack Whitehall who admitted that his own love for wrestling is how he and Paul first bonded. "Oh, I don't make him watch it. He's a fan," Hauser added.

"That's how we first bonded was our love of wrestling," Whitehall added. "I slid into his DMS and we started talking about AEW. We've been to wrestling together." When asked by Hauser who he's playing first in AEW Fight Forever, Whitehall selected, Hangman page, hoping to pit him against CM Punk.

"Barn burner," Hauser added "I'm gonna do Sting versus Dustin Rhodes in a loser retires match."

ComicBook.com's own Connor Casey reviewed AEW: Fight Forever and scored the game a 4 out of 5, writing in part: "AEW: Fight Forever has the core of a genuinely great wrestling game, as the gameplay is pure, unabashedly fun. And while going the route of No Man's Sky has been teased in interviews -- in which waves of post-launch updates and DLC help improve the experience -- it's also possible this goes the route of Street Fighter where a sequel could build off the original idea and strike gold. This game won't change the pro wrestling video game landscape, but fans of AEW and players looking for a different experience from WWE's annual offering will enjoy it."

AEW: Fight Forever's Standard and Elite Editions is available now for PlayStation 5 & 4, Xbox Series X/S and One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.

The Afterparty season 2 premieres on Apple TV+ on July 12.

It's been quite some time since the WWE Evolution pay-per-view, an all women's event that took place back in 2018. While there was hope the event would become an annualized tradition, that never came to fruition. While some of WWE's biggest stars are women, fans would definitely love to see the Women's Division featured more on television, and a recent idea from Liv Morgan and Michin would be a perfect way to make that happen. The two superstars recently spoke to Nick Hausman's Haus of Wrestling at a community event ahead of Money in the Bank, and they were asked what was left in the evolution (H/T Fightful). Their answer was a weekly all women's show, and it's an idea we are absolutely behind.

"It is a good question because it is very equal playing fields right now," Morgan said. "There's nothing that the men have done that we have not done, and so I just hope that we just keep getting more opportunity more time. Maybe an all-female show, who knows?" Michin then said, "Like a weekly show."

"Yeah, a weekly all-females show," Morgan said. "We have the talent and the roster to do it. But I think just think at this time, we just appreciate being equal and not less than. We are equal to, you know, the men in our company, which, at one point, they were the focal, and we were the accessory, and now to be seen on the same playing field as them, I think we all just appreciate that and are enjoying that and looking to show the company that they made the right decision."

Right now WWE has three main shows on TV and one additional weekly show, which include Monday Night Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and Main Event. Even with three hours to its runtime, many fans still want to see far more of the Women's Division featured on television, especially after WWE brought several Superstars back into the mix over the past year.

We'll have to wait and see if WWE ends up adding another show to its lineup, but in the meantime, everyone is focused on Money in the Bank, which will take place in London this Saturday. The event will have two superstars walking away with the Money in the Bank briefcases, which will undoubtedly shake up the Title pictures in future weeks and possibly months. You can find the official card for Money in the Bank below.

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Bloodline Civil War: Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
• Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

WWE's Money in the Bank kicks off on Saturday, July 1st at 3 PM EST, and will stream exclusively on Peacock.

What do you think of the changed plans for WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

Bryan Danielson's victory over Kazuchika Okada came with a cost. The American Dragon got his long-awaited dream match against The Rainmaker this past weekend at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. In a shocking turn of events, Danielson forced Okada to submit, making this Okada's first submission loss in over eight years. While Danielson got the W, he did not walk away unscathed. Danielson revealed at the post-show press conference that he believed to have suffered a fractured forearm, but later x-rays revealed the bone to be broken. There is no word on how long Danielson will be out of action for.

According to Fightful Select, Danielson's injury has caused "several adjustments creatively" within AEW, specifically regarding Danielson's work inside the ring. The report added that "there were plans" for Danielson to wrestle on AEW television more after this past weekend's pay-per-view. It was speculated that Danielson was originally going to wrestle Tomohiro Ishii on AEW Dynamite this past Wednesday, but that spot ultimately went to Jon Moxley.

Beyond Danielson's in-ring work, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion had also been contributing to the "first several weeks of AEW Collision." It's unclear if Danielson's injury will keep him away from AEW altogether or if he will remain traveling with the company and strictly work in a backstage capacity. It is always possible that Danielson's creative duties could be accomplished remotely.

"I love working with Tony and I love working in AEW," Danielson said during the AEW Double or Nothing press conference. "It's a lot of fun because, sometimes, before I even got here, Tony and I would talk on the phone sometimes for an hour-and-a-half to two hours and we'd just be talking about things and wrestling and that sort of thing. I think we have a lot of similar ideas on wrestling, and sometimes he says things to me and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, that's a great idea,' and we riff off each other really well. When we do it, it doesn't feel like work. When you love wrestling, stuff like that is fun."

Danielson's original injury timetable was 6-8 weeks, which would have had him ready to compete by AEW ALL IN: London in August. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Danielson's recovery.

Logan Paul has been on a tear since officially joining WWE last April. The social media superstar impressed in his debut match at WWE WrestleMania 38 and went on to wow fans in his first singles match that summer. Paul's performances gave WWE the confidence to book him in a title match against Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel. That bout began a losing streak for Paul that continues to this day, as he also lost the Men's Royal Rumble Match in January and a singles contest against Seth Rollins at WWE WrestleMania 39 earlier this year.

Paul has the chance to reverse his momentum this weekend when he competes in the titular ladder match at WWE Money in the Bank. While he remains one of the favorites to walk away with the briefcase, it is no guarantee that he would immediately pursue a championship should he win. Past Mr. Money in the Banks have held their cases for close to a year before cashing in.

Regardless of what happens this Saturday, Paul's next program is reportedly in motion. According to Fightful Select, WWE has discussed running a feud between Paul and The Brawling Brutes after WWE Money in the Bank. This rivalry would presumably culminate at WWE SummerSlam in August.

Seeds for this program could be planted this weekend, as Butch of The Brawling Brutes also competes in the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match. It's worth noting that the Brutes are a trio, which could hint at Paul enlisting some help in this program. While he does not have many friends in the WWE locker room, Paul has had backup in two of his matches thus far: brother Jake Paul at WWE Crown Jewel and friend KSI at WWE WrestleMania 39.

That said, both Jake and KSI are unlikely to wrestle. Jake is schedule to box Nate Diaz on the same day as WWE SummerSlam and KSI previously emphasized that he has no interest in physically competing in WWE.

With that in mind, Paul is likely looking at a singles match against one of the Brutes. This could leave him going up against Butch, Ridge Holland or Sheamus. Sheamus is the most experienced of the bunch, making him the likeliest opponent as WWE tends to pair Paul with veterans.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Paul's WWE future.

The Bloodline has imploded. After months of tension within WWE's most dominant faction, Jimmy Uso pulled the trigger on Roman Reigns at WWE Night of Champions, superkicking him multiple times which in turn resulted in him officially leaving The Bloodline. Reigns, Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman attempted to court Jey Uso into staying with the faction by promising him Tribal Chief status after Reigns retired, but Jey ultimately sided with his brother. This has led to a Bloodline Civil War match booked for WWE Money in the Bank which will pit The Usos against Reigns and Sikoa.

"We stick it out together, all of a sudden, somebody starts wanting more and starts messing up the whole vibe," Jimmy said during a sparring session. "Especially if it's going well. It had to be Roman."

Jey chimed in, noting no one on the WWE roster will be able to get to Reigns except them.

"If somebody is going to put him in line, it had to be our own family. They are teaming together against the best tag team in the world. We are that," Jey added. "They are moving alone. You can do whatever you want to do alone. The way Roman has been acting lately, you really think he trusts anybody but himself? No. They can't reach each other's minds. We really can."

Not only are The Usos going to war with their greater family, but they are also battling their own brother. Sikoa remains aligned with the Tribal Chief, a decision that Jimmy doesn't necessarily blame him for.

"Solo, why wouldn't you want to align yourself with the top? The champ. The best of the best," Jimmy said. "He's a man of very few words, but he's going to smarten up. At the end of the day, he'll always be the little brother. He's going to know."

"He's going to smarten up. Just like we left his ass, Solo is going to get smart and leave his a-- too," Jey added. "That's what Roman has been doing lately. Mistreating us to stay on top. Nobody is going to have your back, not here. No friends, none of that. Family will though, all day. He's going to learn."

WWE Money in the Bank goes down this Saturday, July 1st at 3 PM ET and streams live on Peacock.

Heels is returning for a second season. Stephen Amell's professional wrestling series last aired episodes in Summer 2021, chronicling the story of Jack Spade (Amell) as he attempts to resurrect the Duffy Wrestling League after his father's sudden passing. Tensions boil when younger brother Ace Spade (Alexander Ludwig) gains huge momentum in storylines but Jack has hesitancy in fully pulling the trigger on making his brother world champion. Fans last saw the Spade brothers battling it out at DWL's biggest show yet, working themselves into a shoot when Jack revealed to Ace late in the match that he played a big role in getting the crowd to boo him earlier in the season. Season 1 concluded with Crystal Tyler (Kelli Berglund) as DWL World Champion, Ace disappearing, and Jack's professional life in the best place its ever been but his personal life in shambles.

Ahead of Heels Season 2's release next month, Stars has debuted the first trailer for the new installment. The fresh footage features Jack attempting to get his life back together while Ace sets the terms for his return to the DWL. Crystal celebrates with her new championship before Ricky Rabies (CM Punk) introduces her to a new member of the DWL's women's division, El Dorado (AJ Lee). Rival promoters tease invading the DWL, more worked shoot chaos ensues, and a mystery man is seen standing in the ring before the Heels title card hits.

You can watch the new trailer below...

Heels is a passion project for many involved, included Amell himself. Amell is a lifelong wrestling fan and has even wrestled a couple of matches both in WWE and Ring of Honor, facing off against the likes of Cody Rhodes and Christopher Daniels.

"Well, casting the lead of any show is hard, because they've just got to be an awesome, tremendous actor who can carry a show on their shoulders," show runner Michael Waldron said when it came to finding Heels' front man. "Playing Jack Spade, there's the added requirement of you have to have the physicality of a great wrestler. We had to have somebody who could believably pull off this stuff in the ring and outside of the ring, when framed against his wife and kids, and other people in the town, you'd believe this is a pro wrestler who lives here."

Heels Season 2 premieres on July 28th.

AEW Fight Forever has finally arrived. Tony Khan's young company's first venture into console video games has been highly touted for many months now, with AEW Fight Forever trailers hyping up the game's arcade-style action as well as its unique match types like the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match. Longtime fans of All Elite Wrestling know that this game has been in development for quite some time, as plans for a console video game were first publicly announced in November 2020. That said, ideas for AEW Fight Forever were first conceptualized much further back than that.

"On day one, Tony Khan creates AEW. On day two, Tony Khan creates AEW Fight Forever," AEW SVP Nik Sobic told AEW Unrestricted. "It's very close to the truth. I was the first employee to AEW. On day one, we pumped a bunch of money into this company to get it off the ground. On day two, we had the nerve to go back and ask him for another pile of money to make this video game."

It's no secret that AEW Fight Forever was a major financial investment for the company, but Sobic noted that it all came with a strategic mindset.

"The nice thing about Tony is that he's not a super emotional thinker. He's a super strategic, data and high-level thinker. We just presented our case," Sobic continued. "We said, 'We think there is a gap in the market for a game like this. AEW's audience loves video games. You look at social media sentiment and the type of game people have been asking for, this is like 20 years in the making. People have been waiting for this for a long time.' It was a pretty easy pitch. It was a successful pitch because three and a half years later, we have a video game ready to go."

AEW Fight Forever is available now. Check out a snippet of ComicBook.com's Connor Casey's review of the game below...

"AEW: Fight Forever has the core of a genuinely great wrestling game, as the gameplay is pure, unabashedly fun. And while going the route of No Man's Sky has been teased in interviews -- in which waves of post-launch updates and DLC help improve the experience -- it's also possible this goes the route of Street Fighter where a sequel could build off the original idea and strike gold," Casey wrote. "This game won't change the pro wrestling video game landscape, but fans of AEW and players looking for a different experience from WWE's annual offering will enjoy it."

AEW officially confirmed the return of Blood and Guts for 2023 on this week's AEW Dynamite as The Blackpool Combat Club will look to end their months-long blood feud with The Elite. After drama between Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley kept popping up throughout the first hour of the show, The BCC's Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta along with Konosuke Takeshita and Don Callis jumped Hangman Page and The Young Bucks following their trios match with The Dark Order. Kingston ran out to try and even the odds, but it was to no avail. After the four men were left in a bloody heap, Moxley proclaimed it was time to end things.

The two-ring steel cage match will take place on the July 19 episode of AEW Dynamite at the TD Garden in Boston. The BCC will look to go 2-0 in the match after winning last year's bout against The Jericho Apperciation Society, only last year Kingston was on their side.

The feud between The Elite & the Blackpool Combat Club continues to intensify as both teams enter...BLOOD & GUTS on Wednesday, July 19th, at the @TDGarden!

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS pic.twitter.com/lYW3yX7RCV

-- All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 29, 2023

The match is AEW's version of WarGames, a creation of Dusty Rhodes that's been used in promotions like Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW and WWE over the decades. The concept was first introduced to AEW in May 2021 with The Inner Circle vs. The Pinnacle. MJF was able to win the match for his time by threatening to drop Chris Jericho from the roof of the cage, prompting Sammy Guevara to surrender the bout for his team. Friedman dropped Jericho anyway, causing him to crash through the entrance ramp below.

AEW's First Women's WarGames Match?

While not announced, many believe the first Women's Blood and Guts match will also take place in Boston between The Outcasts (Saraya, Ruby Soho and Toni Storm) versus The AEW Originals (some combination of Dr. Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, Skye Blue, Willow Nightingale and Hikaru Shida. Baker loved the idea when talking with ComicBook back in March.

@comicbookwrestling

#AEW announces RETURN of aewbloodnguts! #aewtiktok #aewtok #fyp #wrestletok #theelite #blackpoolcombatclub #wwetok

? Blade Runner 2049 - Synthwave Goose

"Let's do it. I do pretty okay in the hardcore matches, so I'm not worried. And I wouldn't want anyone else on my side other than the Originals," Baker said at the time.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Results

• Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) def. Roppongi Vice & El Desperado (Zero Hour)
• Owen Hart Cup: Athena def. Billie Starkz (Zero Hour)
• El Phantasmo def. Stu Grayson (Zero Hour)
• Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, TJP) vs. (Zero Hour)
• AEW World Championship: MJF def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Owen Hart Cup: CM Punk def. Satoshi Kojima
• AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy def. Katsuyori Shibata, Zack Sabre Jr., Daniel Garcia
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Sanada def. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
• The Elite (Hangman Page & The Young Bucks), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii def. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta), Konosukta Takeshita & Shota Umino
• AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm def. Willow Nightingale
• IWGP United States Championship: Will Ospreay def. Kenny Oemga
• Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito def. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki
• Bryan Danielson def. Kazuchika Okada

AEW's annual Blood and Guts event is reportedly on the horizon. Sean Ross Sapp reported via Fightful Select on Sunday that AEW is targeting the July 19 episode of AEW Dynamite at the TD Garden in Boston. Last year's Blood and Guts also took place in late June, emanating from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The company utilized last year's Forbidden Door pay-per-view to help build to the Blood and Guts match by having The Jericho Appreciation Society brawl with The Blackpool Combat Club after the main event and it's possible the same will happen this year in any of the matches involving The BCC and The Elite at tonight's pay-per-view.

There have also been rumors of the first women's Blood and Guts match taking place this year between The Outcasts (currently comprised of Saraya, Toni Storm and Ruby Soho) and The AEW Originals (some combination of Dr. Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, Willow Nightingale, Skye Blue and Hikaru Shida). Baker loved the idea when talking with ComicBook back in March. Who do you think will all be involved in this year's Blood and Guts matches? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

"Let's do it. I do pretty okay in the hardcore matches, so I'm not worried. And I wouldn't want anyone else on my side other than the Originals," Baker said at the time.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Card

• IWGP United States Championship: Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
• AEW World Championship: MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Sanada vs. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
• AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Daniel Garcia
• Owen Hart Cup: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima
• AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale
• Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta), Konosukta Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. The Elite (Hangman Page & The Young Bucks), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii
• Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki
• Owen Hart Cup: Athena vs. Billie Starkz (Zero Hour)
• United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, TJP) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi) (Zero Hour)
• Stu Grayson vs. El Phantaso (Zero Hour)
• Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) vs. Roppongi Vice & El Desperado (Zero Hour)

All Elite Wrestling is bringing back the Owen Hart Cup Tournament. Matches for the second iteration of the bracket began this past weekend at both AEW Collision and AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. On AEW Collision, Willow Nightingale bested Nyla Rose to advance to the semifinals. The next evening at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, CM Punk defeated Satoshi Kojima and Athena beat Billie Starkz to move forward in their respective brackets. This set up Nightingale vs. Athena for the second round. The left side of the women's bracket was scheduled to begin tonight on AEW Dynamite, but the first bout has been delayed.

As announced by AEW President Tony Khan, Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Ruby Soho is off of tonight's AEW Dynamite due to Baker suffering from an illness. The match will now take place next week.

"Due to illness, 2022 Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament Winner Dr. Britt Baker DMD isn't cleared to wrestle tonight vs Ruby Soho Ruby," Khan wrote on Twitter. "Soho will be in action tonight, + the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quarterfinal Britt Baker vs Ruby Soho will take place next week."

It's worth noting that Baker's real-life partner, Adam Cole, also had a match cancelled recently due to illness. Cole was scheduled to wrestle Tom Lawlor at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door but arrived to the Scotiabank Arena with a fever which led to Khan sending him home and cancelling the bout altogether. Cole returned to AEW TV tonight on AEW Dynamite, appearing in a backstage segment alongside AEW World Champion MJF.

As Khan noted in his tweet, Baker won the Owen Hart Cup Tournament last year, defeating Soho in the finals. Baker and Soho have met in multiple grand stages, as they first faced each other in the main event of AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam for the AEW Women's Championship.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for live AEW Dynamite coverage.

• Jon Moxley def. Tomohiro Ishii
• Tornado Tag Team Match: "The Painmaker" Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara vs. Sting and Darby Allin
• Owen Hart Foundation Cup Women's Tournament Quarterfinal: Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. vs. Ruby Soho
• We'll hear from "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
• MJF and Adam Cole will speak
• Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament bracket reveal

WWE taped the July 4 episode of NXT on Tuesday evening, which revealed something big about WWE's plans for an upcoming call-up. The episode featured The Dyad (Rip Fowler & Jagger Reid) beating Julius and Brutus Creed in a "Loser Leaves NXT" match indicating that the Creed Brothers are on their way to either Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown. The NCAA All-American amateur wrestlers signed with WWE in late 2020-early 2021 and debuted on the NXT roster in August of that year as members of Roderick Strong's Diamond Mine faction.

The pair would go on to win the Men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and hold the NXT Tag Team Championships from June to September 2022. And despite plenty of lineup changes, the brothers and Ivy Nile have remained loyal to Diamond Mine since late Summer 2021. Which brand do you think the two will join next? Will they be involved in a faction or pop up as a tag team? Should anybody else come up with them? Tell us our predictions in the comments!

NXT returns to pay-per-view on July 30 with the annual Great American Bash event. The show will take place at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas.

WWE NXT Gold Rush 2022 Results

Night One

• NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee def. Tyler Bate
• Edris Enofe & Malik Blade def. Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs and Hank Walker & Tank Ledger (NXT Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender)
• Cora Jade def. Dana Brooke
• The Meta-Four def. Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins def. Bron Breaker

Night Two

• NXT Women's Championship: Tiffany Stratton def. Thea Hail
• NXT Tag Team Championship: Gallus def. Edris Enofe & Malik Blade
• NXT Heritage Cup: Nathan Frazer def. Dragon Lee
• Gigi Dolin def. Kiana James
• NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes def. Baron Corbin

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Mercedes Mon? is making her feature film debut in the Tom DeNucci-directed The Collective, and now we have our first trailer for the project. As you can see in the video below, The Collective revolves around a group of lethal assassins that have their hands in everything, and no target is off-limits. The group welcomes a new recruit into the fold named Sam Alexander (played by Lucas Till), but the trailer also gives us our first look at Mercedes' role in the film. Mercedes is another agent who is working with Ruby Rose, and she sends some guys in to face off against Alexander. We also see her throw down a bit with a knife, but the trailer cuts away before we can see more.

The trailer is action-packed and there looks to be a host of big action set pieces throughout. Hopefully, we'll get another look soon, but in the meantime, you can watch the full trailer below. The Collective is directed by DeNucci and is based on a script by writers Jason James and Matthew Rogers. You can find the official synopsis below.

"A group of righteous assassins called The Collective take aim at a highly sophisticated human trafficking ring backed by a network of untouchable billionaires," reads the official synopsis of the film. "With their backs against the wall, The Collective has no choice but to put their most important mission in the hands of rookie assassin Sam Alexander."

Mon? also recently returned to the Star Wars world in The Mandalorian season 3 as Koska Reeves, and she looks to play a role moving forward as well. In a preview interview with TV Insider, she revealed that she hopes to reprise Reeves in the future outside of just Television, and would love to take the character into a Mandalorian movie down the line.

"Besides freakin' Star Wars, I would love to be in a movie," Mon? explained when asked what would be her dream role. "I would love to put Koska Reeves in a Mandalorian movie. That would be incredible. I would love to be in any type of series like Fast & Furious, anything my brother would like. He likes action movies." She added of her Star Wars experience, "I can't believe I'm in two of the greatest universes ever. Wrestling universe and Star Wars universe have the craziest and best fans of all time."

Mine also talked about debuting in this new persona at Wrestle Kingdom, and since then she's only continued to soar. "It's cool to see how quick it was, the turnaround to go from another name and character I've done for ten years to now be Mercedes Mon?, and to see that instantly trend," Mon? continued. "Just people obviously caring and wanting to see my match with KAIRI was cool. For it to sell out, with that match being the only thing announced at that time, was amazing. I know my fans always love and support me, so I knew it was going to do well, but it was kind of a shock to see how quickly it went that well."

Are you excited for The Collective? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things movies and wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

Logan Paul will compete in his sixth WWE match on Saturday, taking on Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, LA Knight, Santos Escobar, Butch and Damian Priest in the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Paul's involvement all but guarantees at least one viral moment, but it also opens the door for him to win the briefcase and potentially win a WWE championship in the very near future. According to inside WRKD Wrestling, that is being discussed as a real possibility even though Knight and Priest are heading into the match as the odds-on favorites.

"While LA Knight and Damien Priest are the current favorites to win the upcoming Money In The Bank match, there have been internal pitches to give the win to Logan Paul," the account wrote on Wednesday. "Some feel that Paul holding the briefcase would bring publicity and put more eyes on the company."

While LA Knight and Damien Priest are the current favorites to win the upcoming Money In The Bank match, there have been internal pitches to give the win to Logan Paul.

Some feel that Paul holding the briefcase would bring publicity and put more eyes on the company. pic.twitter.com/78dUANWArP

-- WRKD Wrestling (@WRKDWrestling) June 28, 2023

Seth Rollins on Working With Logan Paul

While Paul has minimal in-ring experience and training, his work ethic and natural ring ability have received praise from WWE's tenured veterans. Seth Rollins talked about wrestling him at WrestleMania 39 in an interview with My Love Letter to Wrestling earlier this month.

"It's a hundred percent different," Rollins said. "Obviously, there's a lot more pressure on me to carry the weight of a match, carry the burden of a huge WrestleMania match. There's a lot of pressure on you. The company is basically saying 'Here, we trust you to handle this and do this well.' And then you're in there with a guy who, like you said, has very little experience."

"I'll say this about Logan, he's a hard-working cat," he added. "He is a hustler. And I don't think you get to his level of success just kinda phoning it in."

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Logan Paul has the opportunity to set his biggest WWE goal in motion this Saturday. The social media superstar re-upped his WWE contract earlier this year and specifically noted that he would not have inked a new deal if he did not believe that he could win a championship in the company. Logan has had one title match in WWE thus far, unsuccessfully challenging Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns last fall at WWE Crown Jewel. This Saturday, Logan is one of seven competitors in the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match, a bout that would grant him a title match whenever he pleases against any champion of his choosing should he win.

While LA Knight remains the fan-favorite choice, Paul has his fair share of supporters, including brother Jake Paul.

"Logan is the best choice to win. He's larger than life," Jake told SI. "He has the bravado. He's the heel. He's perfect for this. There's no doubt in my mind he will win."

Logan attempted to work as a babyface for a couple of months last year, successfully getting cheers at WWE SummerSlam and WWE Crown Jewel. That said, his support expired quickly, as he received loud boos this past January at WWE Royal Rumble. Logan has since embraced his heel persona, egging on jeers from even his hometown crowd.

Beyond Logan's character ability, Jake pointed to his in-ring style as being deserving of a top spot in WWE.

"At the end of the day, he's an entertainer and a super athlete. He can do backflips, the splits, kip-ups, and he's been creating his own moves out here training in Puerto Rico," Jake continued. "He's creative. That's what the sport is built around: creativity. We're hated in these worlds, and we fit perfectly into those characters."

WWE Money in the Bank goes down on Saturday, July 1st at 3 PM ET.

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

All Elite Wrestling has quickly become the land of factions. The wrestling promotion was essentially founded on the momentum of The Elite and went on to create dozens of groups in its first few years on television. The debut episode of AEW Dynamite saw the creation of Chris Jericho's Inner Circle, a unit that is spiritually succeeded today by the Jericho Appreciation Society. Stables like Death Triangle and House of Black have found success in the trios division. Units like the Blackpool Combat Club have dominated across company lines, regularly racking up victories in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

One stable that started out white hot but quickly fizzled out was The Pinnacle. Maxwell Jacob Friedman's first faction saw him enlist the talents of FTR, Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard to join him and Wardlow in a war with Inner Circle. The Pinnacle saw immediate success, main-eventing AEW Double or Nothing just weeks after assembling on AEW Dynamite but would see start-stop momentum after the Inner Circle feud ended.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Shawn Spears reflected on his time in The Pinnacle, noting he believes the faction lost steam due to AEW as a company growing rapidly.

"I just think [AEW] grew fast. When you have more guys coming in, or more opportunities for the company to branch out, there's just a lot going on," Spears said. "When there's a lot going on and there's one man at the helm, not every storyline is gonna take precedence. Things are gonna slip through the cracks. Things are not gonna maybe have the long longevity that one would've hoped or the promise of time that at least was an idea beforehand."

Following the Inner Circle feud, The Pinnacle operated as less of a cohesive team and more as MJF and Wardlow's lackeys. Friedman moved on to a feud with CM Punk while Wardlow dominated local talent in weekly squash matches. FTR backed up MJF in his segments against Punk, whether it be a trios match or a beat down, and Spears accompanied Wardlow to the ring for his quick bouts. Spears re-aligned with MJF when he began feuding with Wardlow but quietly left television after MJF lost to Wardlow at AEW Double or Nothing. FTR also ditched The Pinnacle on their own as well, leading to the group ending without a true blow-off.

"I think Pinnacle could have done a lot more," Spears continued. "I think we all think that. Everybody in the group thinks that, but this is the wrestling industry. Things move fast. Things move on. Unfortunately, some things fall through the cracks and unfortunately, Pinnacle was just one of those things."

AEW Dynamite airs tonight at 8 PM ET.

All Elite Wrestling only has five pay-per-view events every year, but it makes up for its down time by super-sizing various episodes of weekly television. AEW runs televised specials on about a bimonthly basis which have proven to be highly consequential to its bigger picture storylines. Kenny Omega's historic AEW World Championship reign began on AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming. CM Punk's AEW debut came on AEW Rampage: The First Dance. The company's version of WarGames arrived on AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts. While those aforementioned specials have yet to be confirmed for 2023, AEW's biggest is reportedly returning this fall.

As reported by Andrew Zarian of The Mat Men Podcast, AEW Grand Slam will return on September 20th. AEW Grand Slam 2023 will reportedly run exactly as it did in years past, emanating from Arthur Ashe Stadium and running as a live broadcast of AEW Dynamite and a taping of AEW Rampage.

AEW Grand Slam first debuted in September 2021, hosting the dream match between Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson. AEW Grand Slam 2021 still holds the record for AEW's largest attendance, as 20,177 fans attended the event. That record will be broken this August at AEW ALL IN: London, as over 65,000 tickets have already been sold.

Last year's AEW Grand Slam was a different story. 2022's edition brought in around 13,800 fans, which is double the size of a typical AEW television taping but down over 6,000 from the original show. Part of this could be attributed to the company's standing at the time, as AEW Grand Slam 2022 was AEW's first big special following the AEW All Out 2022 controversy. As a result, top stars CM Punk, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks were all off of the show.

That said, major events still transpired on the show. Jon Moxley officially recaptured the AEW World Title, The Acclaimed became AEW Tag Team Champions, and Saraya made her AEW debut.

There is no word what this year's AEW Grand Slam card will look like, but one match fans have clamored for is AEW World Champion MJF vs. Eddie Kingston. Kingston is a hometown boy and has been a fan-favorite candidate to dethrone MJF for the AEW World Title. MJF would have to get through both AEW ALL IN: London and AEW All Out if he is to walk into Arthur Ashe Stadium as champion.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on AEW Grand Slam. AEW Dynamite returns to television tonight, airing at 8 PM ET on TBS.

When All Elite Wrestling first announced it was working on its first console video game title back in 2020, it did so with a parody video of a 2000s-era Steve Jobs Apple presentation, complete with multiple wrestlers dressed in black turtlenecks, glasses and mom jeans. AEW: Fight Forever has finally arrived three years later, baked in the same kind of winking nostalgia that fueled the initial announcement. It's not just trying to revive an era when multiple wrestling promotions were putting out successful video game titles but longs for the days when the arcade style of wrestling games with simpler control schemes could thrive -- going so far as to hire Hideyuki "Geta" Iwashita, the director behind the gold standard of classic wrestling games in WWF No Mercy and WCW/nWo Revenge.

Fight Forever thrives in its quest to recapture that style of gameplay. The controls hit the sweet spot of being just easy enough for beginners to pick up and start playing while also having enough depth for more experienced players to dig in and attempt to master. Matches go at a quick pace and every wrestler has their own individual attributes that make them feel unique, from Kenny Omega's ability to spam V-Trigger knee strikes to Jon Moxley countering nearly every attack in brutal fashion. The game also manages to capture the essence of each wrestler to where playing as them will outshine any copy fans have attempted to create over in WWE 2K. There's also an obscene number of Easter eggs scattered throughout the venues and in particular matchups, actively rewarding players who try to get creative with their offense or attempt to recreate iconic AEW matches.

It's once you look beyond the gameplay loop that Fight Forever starts to fall short. The options for creating your own wrestler are frustratingly shallow, only somewhat redeemed by the wide variety of options for crafting your wrestlers' moveset. The "Road to Elite" story mode can be knocked out in just a couple of hours. And then there's the roster itself.

Based on who's available at launch and the ring gear that's available, the cutoff was set somewhere around late 2021 and even then there are plenty of AEW originals still missing. This means none of the additions made in the past year make the cut -- including the AEW Trios championships, Orange Cassidy's International Championship, any mention of Ring of Honor or its roster and former champions like Samoa Joe, Saraya, The Acclaimed and Jamie Hayter. Even AEW's famously loaded tag division only has four of its tag teams, and its current champions -- FTR's Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler -- are DLC. So while plenty of AEW's main event players and fan favorites are available at launch, you'll feel the shallowness of the roster rather quickly.

If there's any saving grace to the game's shortcomings it's that it never takes itself too seriously. Most of the dialogue and visuals in "Road to Elite" feel like a cross between Street Fighter II and a Being The Elite sketch. The mini-games are good for a laugh and feel straight out of Pokemon Stadium. And there's plenty of fun to be had in the more extreme stipulation matches, from the absurdity of the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch to an assortment of weapons found in Lights Out matches.

AEW: Fight Forever has the core of a genuinely great wrestling game, as the gameplay is pure, unabashedly fun. And while going the route of No Man's Sky has been teased in interviews -- in which waves of post-launch updates and DLC help improve the experience -- it's also possible this goes the route of Street Fighter where a sequel could build off the original idea and strike gold. This game won't change the pro wrestling video game landscape, but fans of AEW and players looking for a different experience from WWE's annual offering will enjoy it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

AEW: Fight Forever's Standard and Elite Editions will release on Thursday, June 29, for PlayStation 5 & 4, Xbox Series X/S and One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.

The road to All Elite Wrestling's biggest event begins now. With AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in the rear view, all eyes look towards AEW ALL IN: London, the young promotion's first-ever stadium show. While it will be weeks until that card officially begins to take shape, Forbidden Door has pointed to a couple of different matches that could be set for Wembley Stadium. For starters, Maxwell Jacob Friedman is still AEW World Champion. Barring any unforeseen title changes on weekly television, it appears that MJF will walk into London with his big Burberry belt.

As for his opponent, recent weeks have indicated that MJF's work with Adam Cole is far from finished. Cole took MJF to a 30-minute time limit draw in an AEW World Championship Eliminator match, a bout that would've gotten him a title shot had he gotten the victory. Following the draw, it was revealed that Cole and MJF would be teaming together in the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament. Both Cole and MJF will speak tonight, and more random pairings for the tournament will be revealed on the broadcast.

Forbidden Door fallout comes in the form of three segments tonight. Following his pinfall victory for The Elite and Eddie Kingston, Tomohiro Ishii will face Jon Moxley. Mox went to work on Sunday, dominating a bulk of the ten-man tag match, but his unit lost after Wheeler Yuta took the pin. A victory tonight would swing some momentum back towards Blackpool Combat Club.

Chris Jericho looks to exact revenge on Sting tonight when he resurrects his "Painmaker" persona to team with Sammy Guevara against Sting and Darby Allin. Jericho was on the losing side of a trios bout at Forbidden Door.

After losing to IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada on Sunday, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry attacked tag partner Hook, turning heel for the first time in his AEW career. Perry will address the AEW audience tonight.

The full AEW Dynamite card can be seen below...

• Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii
• Tornado Tag Team Match: "The Painmaker" Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara vs. Sting and Darby Allin
• Owen Hart Foundation Cup Women's Tournament Quarterfinal: Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. vs. Ruby Soho
• We'll hear from "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
• MJF and Adam Cole will speak
• Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament bracket reveal

AEW Dynamite goes down at 8 PM ET on TBS.

Tonight's episode of WWE NXT held a number of surprises, sending out Gold Rush in style, and one of the biggest surprises involved Rhea Ripley. Ripley would show up during Gold Rush week two early on, confronting NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, but she would also show up later in the night and show some support for another big-time NXT Superstar. First thought she confronted Hayes, which tied to Hayes helping out Seth Rollins on this past Monday Night Raw. Hayes would take a chair away from Finn Balor in a post-match attack on Rollins, and that led to a match later in the night.

While Balor would win the match, it appears The Judgement Day and Ripley in particular wanted to send a message to Hayes to make sure nothing like that happens again. Ripley told Hayes "Next time you guys want to jump into our business, you become our business." It would seem the message was received, though it remains to be seen if Hayes will consider the warning.

#WWENXT #NXTGoldRush pic.twitter.com/1fWEFD6ygp

-- Carmelo-Hayes.Net | Fansite for Carmelo Hayes (@CarmeloHayesNet) June 28, 2023

Later in the episode, Jacy Jayne was featured in a segment with several other NXT stars, and she was complaining about Lyra Valkyria. She told the room that she was going to tell Lyra to get her little wings and send her back to Europe, not knowing that Lyra was behind her for most of the rant. Jacy kept taking, saying that Lyra peaked at NXT Battleground, and Lyra had enough.

"You kind of deserved it, Lyra's a badass."@RheaRipley_WWE approves of the beatdown of @jacyjaynewwe by @Real_Valkyria ?#NXTGoldRush pic.twitter.com/51nKUu5xrX

-- WWE (@WWE) June 28, 2023

Lyra then turned Jacy around and hit her with a forearm to the face, knocking her to the ground. Lyra then knelt down and told Jayne she doesn't play games before leaving, but the segment wasn't done. At that point, we see familiar shoes and purple gear in the camera shot, and it's non-other than Ripley. Ripley laughed and told Jayne "You kind of deserved it, and Lyra's a badass."

Jayne and Valkyria looked primed for a match, and it remains to be seen if Ripley will make another appearance when that happens. As for Hayes, his next opponent is to be determined after taking on Corbin and winning, but perhaps his time running into the Judgement Day isn't quite over. Regarding Ripley, she will have her eyes on Money in the Bank, as someone will walk out of the event with the chance to cash in on her and her Title.

The Money in the Bank Women's Match includes Zelina Vega, Zoey Stark, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Iyo Sky, and Trish Stratus. It's a star-loaded match, and there are a number of possible outcomes, but the early rumored favorite is Iyo Sky. Sky got a huge reception at WWE Backlash and has been in conflict with Bayley lately in regards to Damage CTRL. This could be the way to kick off her solo run, but we'll have to wait and see. You can find the full Money in the Bank card below.

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Bloodline Civil War: Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
• Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

WWE's Money in the Bank kicks off on Saturday, July 1st at 3 PM EST, and will stream exclusively on Peacock.

What do you think of Ripley's appearance on NXT? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

WWE NXT closed out its two-week Gold Rush event with the anticipated match between NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin, and Corbin wasted no time making a big impression. Corbin brought back the Lone Wolf with a new theme and a familiar yet updated look, and he also brought back the persona's sheer aggression. Corbin was the aggressor for most of the match, and at one point seemed to have beaten down the NXT Champion. Despite hitting him with just about everything, Hayes was resilient, and ended up being able to hit a second fadeaway leg drop (with massive air) to seal the win, retaining his NXT Championship and capping off a pretty great last 10 days for the NXT Champ.

Corbin and Hayes locked up and Hayes evaded a move from Corbin and then a second move, but ate a clothesline from the challenger. Hayes hit a move on Corbin and then collided with Corbin from the top rope, knocking him to the floor. Hayes kept Corbin busy on the outside, slamming him into the barricade and hitting him with strikes and chops. Hayes broke the count but then was slammed into the post by Corbin, who then slammed Hayes into the barricade.

Baron Corbin has gone back to the Lone Wolf as he challenges NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes!#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/8TIXe2mGrw

-- WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) June 28, 2023

Corbin threw Hayes into the corner turnbuckle but Hayes hit back with strikes. Corbin clotheslined the Champ again and knocked him to the ground. Corbin kept Hayes grounded with a hold and then went outside the ring and threw Hayes over the barricade. Hayes hit back with forearms and knocked Corbin to the floor. Hayes unfortunately got hit with a big boot that flipped him over and slammed him into the floor. Corbin rolled Hayes into the ring and went for the cover, but Hayes kicked out.

THIS IS AWESOME!

This is a @BaronCorbinWWE we haven't seen a long time ?#NXTGoldRush pic.twitter.com/WIkpqrUWXb

-- WWE (@WWE) June 28, 2023

Corbin then hit elbow strikes to Hayes' chest and locked in a hold. Hayes got to his feet and then broke the hold with the rope, and landed on his feet after Corbin threw him. Hayes hit a dropkick and then springboard clothesline before going for a cover, but Corbin kicked out. Corbin rocked Hayes with a punch and then delivered another.

Corbin threw Hayes again and was getting angrier by the second at the crowd's love for Hayes. Corbin clubbed Hayes with another shot to the head and then hit more strikes in the corner. Corbin then delivered a punch to the back and followed it with a clothesline into a cover, but Hayes kicked out. Hayes got back to his feet and hit a Frog Splash, but couldn't immediately cover. He finally did, but Corbin kicked out.

Hayes was able to hit the Fadeaway leg drop, but he couldn't cover Corbin right away once again due to the damage he had already sustained. Then he hit the DDT off the ropes into a cover, but Corbin kicked out. Hayes knocked the challenger down and then went up top but missed. Corbin caught Hayes but Hayes reversed into a cover. Corbin kicked out and then caught Hayes and hit a big slam, and then picked up Hayes again and hit the backbreaker into a cover, but Hayes kicked out.

Corbin charged at Hayes but hit the steel steps, and then Hayes went to jump but was caught by Corbin and slammed into the announce table. Corbin slammed Hayes into the announce table over and over again and then rolled him into the ring. Corbin covered him but Hayes kicked out. Corbin kept punching Hayes, but Hayes hit a knee strike and then hit another one. Hayes was then caught and slammed down into a cover, but Hayes kicked out.

Melo was able to come back with another burst of energy, hitting the Fadeaway Leg Drop on Corbin and getting the pin and the win. Hayes is still your NXT Champion, and now Corbin will likely look for a comeback win by heading back to SmackDown.

What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

Though a fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg has yet to be confirmed, the former has already started training for the fight. Tuesday, MIT researcher Lex Fridman shared a couple pictures of himself and Musk sparring in preparations for the fight. Though Fridman says he doesn't believe Musk should move forward with a fight, he believes the most entertaining option will end up winning out.

"I did an impromptu training session with [Elon Musk] for a few hours yesterday. I'm extremely impressed with his strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground. It was epic," Fridman said in his tweet. "It's really inspiring to see Elon and Mark doing martial arts, but I think the world is served far better if they train martial arts but not fight in the cage. That said, as Elon says, the most entertaining outcome is the most likely... I'm there for them, no matter what."

I did an impromptu training session with @elonmusk for a few hours yesterday. I'm extremely impressed with his strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground. It was epic. It's really inspiring to see Elon and Mark doing martial arts, but I think the world is served... pic.twitter.com/cq00A9Xnmw

-- Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) June 27, 2023

Musk followed up with his own response, saying the session was "fun!" Earlier this month, the serial entrepreneur joked about fighting Zuckerberg, one of the founders of Facebook, inside a boxing ring. Since then, Zuckerberg has confirmed through a Meta spokesperson that he's willing to fight Musk. Now, UFC CEO Dana White has entered the picture, saying he's going to do whatever he can to make sure the fight comes to fruition.

"Just to give some clarification, what he said was Mark Zuckerberg responded with send me location, which is something Khabib Nurmagomedov says when people challenge him. So that's what send me location meant, and I was talking to both Elon and Mark last night. Both guys are absolutely dead serious about this," White told TMZ.

He added, "Because they both said 'yeah, we'll do it' (laughs). They both want to do it. Mark Zuckerberg hit me up and said 'is he serious?' And I said I don't know, let me ask him. I asked him and he said 'I'm dead serious.' And I agree with you Harvey. This would be the biggest fight ever in the history of the world."

The longtime UFC boss says the fight has the potential to be "bigger than anything that's ever been done" and believes it could break any standing pay-per-view records.

"If these guys are serious, I make fights that people want to see. That's what I do for a living. If they really want to do it and they're serious and we can figure it out, figure out a way to pull this off, I would absolutely positively do this", White said. When asked if they would do the fight for charity, White said, "I don't think either one of them need any money. I don't think it would be a money thing for either one of them. They've both talked about what they could raise for charity. It would be a massive number. They both pick a charity they care about, and crazy money."

WWE kicked off week 2 of NXT Gold Rush with a battle for the NXT Women's Championship, pitting Chase U's Thea Hail against the Champion Tiffany Stratton. Duke Hudson, Drew Gulak, and Charlie Dempsey were all at ringside, and would all end up involved at some point or another before the segment was over. Hail would focus on Stratton's arm and locking in the Kimura Lock, and over time the strategy worked. She was even able to make Stratton tap, but the referee didn't see it thanks to interference from Gulak. Stratton was able to win as a result, and Gulak and Dempsey would then turn on Chase U. That led to the return of fan-favorite Andre Chase, who helped clear the ring and reunited Chase U's big trio.

Hail got knocked down to one knee but then she came back with a roll-up. Stratton kicked out but Hail stayed on her, going up and over into a cover and then almost locked in a Kimura but Stratton got to the bottom rope and broke the hold. Hail went in for the lock again but Stratton got out of it. Hail dodged Stratton and then went for another hold but Stratton stopped it.

???@tiffstrattonwwe just tapped but the ref didn't see it!@theahail_wwe #NXTGoldRush pic.twitter.com/bcjzNTBfZm

-- WWE (@WWE) June 28, 2023

Hail then slammed Stratton and dropkicked the Champ out of the ring. Stratton then pulled Hail's feet off the ropes and knocked her to the floor. A clothesline followed and then Stratton rolled her into the ring. Stratton stomped on Hail and went for the cover but Hail kicked out. Stratton then hit a hip throw and went for the cover, but Hail kicked out. Hail went for a pin but Stratton once again broke it with the bottom rope.

ANDRE CHASE IS BACK!!!@AndreChaseWWE evens the odds and #ChaseU is whole again ?#NXTGoldRush pic.twitter.com/xDlUvRjxHA

-- WWE (@WWE) June 28, 2023

Hail then went for that move off the ropes again, but this time she hit it. Stratton hit a powerbomb on Hail and went for the pin but Stratton kicked out. Stratton charged towards Hail in the corner and then stomped on her and went for the pin, but Hail kicked out. Stratton locked in a hold in the middle of the ring, but Hail threw the Champ off her. Stratton took back control with a back elbow and a cover attempt, but Hail kicked out.

Stratton connected with a suplex and then kept Hail down, but Hail came back with a series of big moves, including a suplex of her own. Hail stomped Stratton while spelling out Chase U and then hit the slick Senton into a cover, but Stratton kicked out. Hail went for the Kimura again but Stratton threw Hail down. Hail then countered another move and tried to lock in the Kimura again, and then Dempsey pulled the rope to help but it was right in front of the referee.

Stratton then went to attack but Hail reversed and got the lock in for the tap-out, but the referee didn't see because Gulak was arguing with him. Then by the time he turned around Stratton came back with a roll-up, which got her the pin and the win. Stratton retains her Title, but there was still more to see.

After the match, Gulak and Dempsey were yelling at Hail and criticizing her after the loss, and Hudson then started getting after them. They then turned on Hudson, attacking him and holding him to do more damage, but that's when Andre Chase made his grand return. He teamed up with Hudson and knocked them both back and out of the ring as Mr. Chase chants came flying in. Hail was ecstatic too, running around the ring as the segment came to a close.

What did you think of Stratton's win and Chase's return? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada had a thrilling match at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view, which lived up to the hype in more ways than one. Unfortunately, Danielson didn't make it out of the match 100%, as he revealed in the press scrum after the event that he suffered a fractured forearm with about 10 minutes left in the match. Medical trainers said they expect him to be out six-to-eight weeks, and today Danielson's wife Brie Garcia revealed the injury was worse than they thought. She shared an x-ray of the injury on social media, which shows a large break in the bone.

It's a significant fracture, and in the post, she also added that she's not sure if she should be proud of him for wrestling for the last 10 minutes with it or upset that he kept going. On social media, Brie wrote, "Not sure to be proud or chastise him for wrestling 10 more minutes with this break!! Definitely worse than we thought!!"

...? pic.twitter.com/oVniCId6i0

-- Joel Pearl | Fightful Overbooked (@JoelPearl) June 27, 2023

It's unclear if he'll be out for more than the estimated six to eight weeks, but the first event he'd be able to be back for would be All In. All In takes place in August, where he could end up facing Zack Sabre Jr. or Will Ospreay. There's a chance he might not be recovered in time, so we'll just have to wait and see.

In the media scrum, Danielson said the injury was a freak accident, as when Okada landed an elbow drop Danielson didn't have his arm in a safe spot. Danielson's actually been banged up since the 60-minute Iron Man Match against MJF. That's why the only match he's really been a part of has been the Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing, but even then he was more protected. Those injuries weren't going to keep him from facing Okada though.

"I wanted this match for so long without ever thinking it was a possibility. I started watching him while I was in WWE, but there was no place to go work where that match would ever be possible. Then AEW started. That's why this is so special to me. I wanted it for so long, and it's now actually going to happen," Danielson told Sports Illustrated.

Fans got a welcome surprise before Danielson and Okada's match even started, as Danielson's original Final Countdown music hit during his entrance. During the media scrum, Danielson talked about bringing the music back and why it hasn't been used more, and it just comes down to financials.

"Tony and I talked about a couple of things," Danielson said. "We had talked about 'The Final Countdown,' but that was way too expensive," he said. "I hate talking business stuff when I don't exactly know what it was, but it wasn't just the amount of money. They would only let [AEW] play it like 20 times a year or something like that. For several $100,000 you can play 'Final Countdown' 20 times a year. That doesn't work for us. I had kind of wanted something a bit different, so I reached out to my friend, Elliott Taylor, and said 'Hey, here's an idea. But I don't know if it's any good. Could you do something like this?' He dropped everything. I think he's done 72 hours in the studio and made the song that I come out to now, which I think he's also going to do a full-length release because it actually has like two chorus lyrics."

We wish Danielson a speedy recovery and let us know what you thought of the Danielson vs Okada match in the comments. You can also talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB.

Shawn Spears is nearing the end of his in-ring career. The Perfect 10 has been in the wrestling business for over two decades now, wrestling a relentless full-time schedule for both WWE and AEW. While in Vince McMahon's sports-entertainment empire, Spears competed as Tye Dillinger for five years in NXT where he totaled nearly 400 matches during that span. Now being 42 years old, Spears has started to conceptualize how he anticipates his wrestling days finishing up.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Spears noted that he's thought about his last match "a little bit" but is expecting his actual retirement bout to be somewhat of a secret.

"I don't think it'll be announced as a last match. I won't announce it as a last match. I'll just have the match. I'll know when I'm done, and then I will just be away, and that'll be it," Spears said. "I'll just ride into the sunset on my own. That would kind of be a perfect full circle moment, because in this industry, you're on your own a lot. It'll mean the world to me, but people won't know that it'll be the last match."

Outside of the ring, Spears is now a father. He and wife Cassie Lee (formerly known as Peyton Royce in WWE) welcomed their first child earlier this year.

"It is changed my perspective on life in general and professional wrestling life. I'm more about now setting a good example," Spears said of becoming a dad. "I've been very driven, gung ho, tunnel vision [in wrestling]. Nothing else around me really mattered. When he came along, he's the path. He's the tunnel. Wrestling, I love it, and it is a wonderful part of my life, but that's it. It's just a part of my life. He is going to be with me much longer than wrestling will be.

"As long as my wife and son are happy and healthy, my job as a man and as a person who's employed is done. That's it. That's all I can control. It has made me happier. It has made me see things a little more clearer. When you hold your own, it just, it just switches everything."

AEW returns to television this Wednesday for AEW Dynamite at 8 PM ET on TBS.

While the WWE Draft earlier this year re-assigned various superstars to Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown, almost only in-ring talent were part of the shake-ups. In years past, WWE had used the draft to reset everything, including altering each show's respective announce teams. The only outside of the squared circle aspect of WWE broadcasts to change following this year's WWE Draft were the ring announcers, as Mike Rome and Samantha Irvin swapped shows. The commentary duos of Monday Night Raw's Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves as well as WWE SmackDown's Michael Cole and Wade Barrett remain unchanged, but both shows' backstage voices are shifting.

As reported by Variety, Jackie Redmond will now conduct backstage interviews for Monday Night Raw. Redmond has been with WWE since 2021 and had primarily worked on after shows Raw Talk and Talking Smack, and has over a decade of broadcast experience thanks to her work with the NHL Network and WBD Sports.

Megan Morant will now take her talents to WWE's Stamford studios where she will host Raw Talk, SmackDown LowDown and various other international and digital programs. Cathy Kelley is set to head to WWE SmackDown to join Kayla Braxton as a backstage interviewer.

With these changes, WWE's announce teams are the following...

• Monday Night Raw: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves, Jackie Redmond, Byron Saxton, Samantha Irvin
• WWE NXT: Vic Joseph, Booker T, McKenzie Mitchell, Alicia Taylor
• WWE SmackDown: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett, Cathy Kelley, Kayla Braxton, Mike Rome

WWE's new announce teams will go into effect this Saturday, July 1st at the WWE Money in the Bank premium live event. The full card for that show can be seen below...

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
• Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez

WWE Money in the Bank kicks off at 3 PM ET on Saturday, July 1st.

WWE's Money in the Bank 2023 pay-per-view takes place this Saturday in London, England. The show will feature two titular ladder matches, a "Bloodline Civil War" tag match involving Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa and The Usos and championship bouts including World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor, Intercontinental Champion Gunther vs. Matt Riddle and women's tag title match featuring Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Rounding out the card is a grudge match between Cody Rhodes and Dominik Mysterio.

While the ladder matches will likely shape WWE's championship plans for the rest of the summer, the match with the biggest storyline is easily The Bloodline's tag match. Jimmy Uso finally fought back against Reigns' tyranny at Night of Champions, costing "The Tribal Chief" and Sikoa the chance to win back the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships from Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Jey Uso would follow suit weeks later on Friday Night SmackDown.

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Start Time, Date, Location, How to Watch

Money in the Bank will take place at The O2 Arena in London, England on Saturday, July 1. Because of the differences in timezone, the show will start at 3 p.m. Eastern here in the United States. The show will air exclusively on Peacock.

WWE will finally host its first stateside pay-per-view since WrestleMania 39 with the SummerSlam show on Aug. 5. It will take place at Ford Field in Detroit.

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Logan Paul Back in a WWE Ring

The celebrity YouTuber, podcaster and boxer will be back in a WWE ring for his sixth pro wrestling match at Money in the Bank, competing in the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Should he win, he'll have the chance to challenge for any WWE title at any time over the next year.

"F-- y'all. You can bleep that? Bleep it again. F-- y'all. I'm coming for that ass," Paul said after being jumped by his fellow competitors on an episode of Raw after making his announcement.

WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view will feature a "Bloodline Civil War" match between Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa and The Usos. While nothing is on the line in the match, a loss for Reigns would give "The Tribal Chief" his first back-to-back pay-per-view losses since 2018. And if he were to get pinned, it would be the first time someone has managed to do that in any capacity since 2019 when Baron Corbin beat him at the TLC pay-per-view. If Jey or Jimmy Uso were able to pin Reigns, they'd also likely be next in line to challenge for Reigns' Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, a title he has not defended on either TV or pay-per-view since WrestleMania 39 against Cody Rhodes.

WrestleVotes had an update on WWE's booking for the match on Tuesday, stating WWE is currently debating two possible finishes for the match. The account wrote, "Hearing WWE has two very drastic finishes in play for the Bloodline matchup on Saturday. Creative seems split on the decision. In conjunction, I'm told the Usos & Solo were a part of a 'run thru session' this past Friday at a closed location to go over things. Hmm."

Hearing WWE has two very drastic finishes in play for the Bloodline matchup on Saturday. Creative seems split on the decision.

In conjunction, I'm told the Usos & Solo were apart of a "run thru session" this past Friday at a closed location to go over things. Hmm.

-- WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) June 27, 2023

Reigns' pay-per-view matches have consistently ended on dramatic notes since the start of the year. They include Sami Zayn finally turning his back on The Bloodline (Royal Rumble), Jey having his loyalty tested (Elimination Chamber), Sikoa saving Reigns' title reign against Rhodes (WrestleMania 39) and Jimmy finally snapping on Reigns at costing The Bloodline the chance to win back the undisputed tag team championships (Night of Champions).

How do you think WWE will book Saturday's match? Is a Roman vs. Jey title match enough to get you excited for SummerSlam in August? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Since taking over as WWE Chief Creative Officer in Summer 2022, Paul "Triple H" Levesque has helped provide direction for many floundering talents. This was especially true for LA Knight. The former Impact World Champion was brought back to WWE in early 2021 and reported to NXT, where he notably feuded with Cameron Grimes and WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase. Once crowds came back, Knight's popularity skyrocketed and he quickly became one of the hottest stars on the developmental brand. This led to WWE calling him up to the main roster but infamously repackaging him as Max Dupri, the leader of the Maximum Male Models.

Knight worked as Dupri throughout the subsequent months, exclusively performing as a manager. Reports had emerged that Knight had backstage heat around July 2022 and that he was going to be removed from the Maximum Male Models stable. As he told Chris Van Vliet on Insight, this was not in an effort to bring back LA Knight, at least initially.

"Let me just go ahead and say this: I'm pretty sure I was fired, and it just hadn't officially happened yet," Knight said. "Without getting into too many details, some things happened. I don't remember what it was, but some things happened. And then I had gotten a FaceTime. 'Hey, you know, we want to keep you around. We want to do this, this, that whatever.' Okay, cool. Good."

It's unclear how WWE's regime shift last summer affected Knight's status change, but it is worth noting that reports of his backstage heat and aforementioned MMM removal came within a week of Vince McMahon announcing his retirement.

"Somehow I had been saved from being thrown off the cliff. At least this is my interpretation of it," Knight continued. "Maybe I'm incorrect, I don't know. And so eventually, just things kind of worked out."

LA Knight competes in the titular ladder match at WWE Money in the Bank this Saturday, July 1st. The full premium live event card can be seen below...

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
• Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez

CM Punk beat Satoshi Kojima at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view on Sunday night, picking up his first singles win since his return from injury while also advancing in the Owen Hart Cup Tournament. The match was Kojima accidentally nail Punk with a low blow when he hit a diving elbow drop right onto the former world champion's groin. He later took to Twitter to apologize in hilarious fashion.

"My elbow drop hit his c--. Sorry. But it's not on purpose. Accident. Because I don't have that kind of technology," Kojima tweeted. "Please don't call me an ?elbow-c---drop?It's just an elbow drop."

AEW needs to ban the elbow drop after Okada broke Bryan's arm and Kojima broke Punk's dick. pic.twitter.com/N00xIBmDha

-- Nationally Published Troll (@mongo_ebooks) June 26, 2023

Punk returned to AEW for the first time since the "Brawl Out" incident at the AEW Collision premiere earlier this month. He also gave an interview with ESPN where he (somewhat) addressed the situation that led to him being off TV for nearly a year.

"I don't think what happened was a big deal," Punk said. "This has happened in the last 10 months in hockey, in basketball, in baseball, in just about every sport. It's covered and it's gone the next day. I think because I have injured my tricep and I've been out for so long, I think it has been exacerbated. I think it's been exacerbated by people spreading lies about the whole thing. And when, in reality, my attitude is, well, s-- happens."

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Results

• Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) def. Roppongi Vice & El Desperado (Zero Hour)
• Owen Hart Cup: Athena def. Billie Starkz (Zero Hour)
• El Phantasmo def. Stu Grayson (Zero Hour)
• Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, TJP) vs. (Zero Hour)
• AEW World Championship: MJF def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Owen Hart Cup: CM Punk def. Satoshi Kojima
• AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy def. Katsuyori Shibata, Zack Sabre Jr., Daniel Garcia
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Sanada def. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
• The Elite (Hangman Page & The Young Bucks), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii def. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta), Konosukta Takeshita & Shota Umino
• AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm def. Willow Nightingale
• IWGP United States Championship: Will Ospreay def. Kenny Oemga
• Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito def. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki
• Bryan Danielson def. Kazuchika Okada

Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa will face The Usos in a "Bloodline Civil War" tag team match at WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view this weekend. The tensions between "The Tribal Chief" and the former Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions reached a boiling point last month during the Night of Champions main event when Jimmy Uso finally snapped on Reigns and nailed him with a pair of superkicks. The attack wound up costing Reigns and Sikoa their chance to win the undisputed tag titles against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, while also handing Reigns his first loss in a pay-per-view main event since WrestleMania 34 in 2018.

Reigns could see another five-year-old streak end this Saturday should he and Sikoa lose, as it would be the first time Reigns has lost back-to-back matches on either TV or pay-per-view since 2018. That year saw Reigns fail to beat Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship in the WrestleMania 34 main event, followed by another loss to Lesnar inside a Steel Cage at the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Since returning from hiatus at SummerSlam 2020, Reigns has competed in 45 matches on either TV or pay-per-view. The number of loses he's taken during that time, even via DQ, can be counted on one hand.

"That's really Roman's greatest challenge in life is topping himself," Paul Heyman proclaimed in a recent interview with Pat McAfee. "The Roman Reigns of tomorrow has to be better than the Roman Reigns of today, and the Roman Reigns two days from now needs to be better than the Roman Reigns tomorrow. So the only true 'challenger' to Roman Reigns is himself, that he has to be constantly better; he can never truly peak because once he peaks, that's it, we've reached the apex, it's time to go do something else. But in challenging himself to be greater tomorrow than he is today ... then we are constantly evolving and 'The Tribal Chief' gets better and better.'"

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

WWE announced via Twitter on Monday afternoon that Matt Riddle will challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank this Saturday in London. "The Ring General" brought the IC title over to Monday Night Raw as part of the 2023 WWE Draft and has since surpassed one full year as champion. He and the rest of Imperium have repeatedly shown contempt for "The Original Bro," who still hasn't held a title since RK-Bro dropped their tag titles to the Usos in May 2022 and Randy Orton was written off WWE TV to recover from a back injury.

With rumors of Orton's impending return continuing to pop up and Gunther looking poised to break The Honky Tonk Man's record for the longest reign as IC Champion, the odds of Riddle winning on Saturday at The O2 Arena are slim. But if Gunther's last performance at a WWE pay-per-view set in the United Kingdom is any indication, it could be the best match of the night.

"It would be, obviously, a great accomplishment and maybe the biggest accomplishment of my career, to that date. But also, there's still some time to go, and I try to focus on what's right in front of me and make the best out of that situation. I don't try to get caught up in the future with what ifs and what could happen, even though it's not that far away. I think once it's all said and done, I'll be able to lean back and enjoy it a little bit. It would be very rewarding and a big accomplishment," Gunther said in a recent interview with Cincy 3:60 (h/t Fightful) when asked about breaking the decades-old record.

BREAKING: @SuperKingofBros lays down the challenge for @Gunther_AUT ... an Intercontinental Championship match this Saturday at #MITB! pic.twitter.com/AQZxMS8qdR

-- WWE (@WWE) June 26, 2023

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Matt Riddle
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay delivered another Match of the Year contender at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on Sunday night, with Ospreay winning back the IWGP United States Championship. Both men left the match incredibly bloody and Omega had to be helped to the back after the match, leading to concern that he might have been injured during the fight. But while Tony Khan noted both men were "beat up" after the fact, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is now reporting that both men walked away relatively unscathed.

"...We were told that both competitors emerged relatively unscathed. In fact, Kenny Omega told several people he was fine after the match ended," Sapp wrote before noting both men received a standing ovation after returning backstage.

"I lost and Will was the better man tonight. The US belt is in good hands. Keep Don (Callis) away from it," Omega tweeted last night after the match.

"Kenny Omega is once in a lifetime," Ospreay wrote this morning. "There will never be anyone that will be able to master the craft the way he has. Overcoming him was legitimately the most challenging and yet rewarding task of my life. While everyone can say they're 'all elite' You can say you're above elite."

The same cannot be said for Bryan Danielson, who suffered a fracture in his right forearm with about 10 minutes left to go in his main event match with Kazuchika Okada. "The American Dragon" was still able to win via a modified LeBell Lock and will be out of action for six-to-eight weeks.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Results

• Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) def. Roppongi Vice & El Desperado (Zero Hour)
• Owen Hart Cup: Athena def. Billie Starkz (Zero Hour)
• El Phantasmo def. Stu Grayson (Zero Hour)
• Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, TJP) vs. (Zero Hour)
• AEW World Championship: MJF def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Owen Hart Cup: CM Punk def. Satoshi Kojima
• AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy def. Katsuyori Shibata, Zack Sabre Jr., Daniel Garcia
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Sanada def. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
• The Elite (Hangman Page & The Young Bucks), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii def. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta), Konosukta Takeshita & Shota Umino
• AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm def. Willow Nightingale
• IWGP United States Championship: Will Ospreay def. Kenny Oemga
• Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito def. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki
• Bryan Danielson def. Kazuchika Okada

Roman Reigns' reign as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion officially reached 1,028 days last week, surpassing Pedro Morales' WWWF Championship reign from 1971-73 to become the fourth-longest reign in company history. Reigns now joins Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan as the longest-reigning world champions in company history and the longest-reigning WWE world champion of this millennium by a wide margin. The next big hurdle Reigns will attempt to cross is the second of Sammartino's two world championship reigns, which lasted for 1,237 days from 1973-77. Reigns will need to remain champion until January 20, 2024, to beat that record, a date that will likely come shortly before the 2024 Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Reigns is currently involved in the "Bloodline Civil War" against The Usos after the pair finally decided to fight back against "The Head of the Table's" tyranny. He'll team with Solo Sikoa in a match against the pair at Money in the Bank this weekend in London.

Who is Roman Reigns' Next Challenger?

As for his championship run, Reigns hasn't defended the title while the cameras are rolling since WrestleMania 39 and likely won't again until SummerSlam in early August. WWE also recently announced the Payback pay-per-view for Sept. 2, the same show Reigns started his Universal Championship reign on three years prior

"That's really Roman's greatest challenge in life is topping himself. The Roman Reigns of tomorrow has to be better than the Roman Reigns of today, and the Roman Reigns two days from now needs to be better than the Roman Reigns tomorrow. So the only true 'challenger' to Roman Reigns is himself, that he has to be constantly better; he can never truly peak because once he peaks, that's it, we've reached the apex, it's time to go do something else. But in challenging himself to be greater tomorrow than he is today ... then we are constantly evolving and 'The Tribal Chief' gets better and better,'" Paul Heyman said during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show before claiming Reigns is only in the "sophomore" stage of his career.

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Tonight's Monday Night Raw will serve as the go-home episode for WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view this Saturday in London. Only one match has been confirmed for the episode, but three promo segments centered around upcoming pay-per-view matches have also been booked. Ronda Rousey, fresh off unifying the WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships this past Friday, will compete in her first singles match of 2023 against Raquel Rodriguez as a preview for Rousey & Shayna Baszler's title defense against Rodriguez and a returning Liv Morgan. The promo segments will include Seth Rollins offering "an update on his condition" following last week's attacks from Finn Balor, a "Women's Money in the Bank Summit" involving all six of the ladder match's competitors and Cody Rhodes & Dominik Mysterio meeting face to face.

Rollins' segment all but guarantees another confrontation with Balor, who sabotaged Rollins' World Heavyweight Championship open challenge at the beginning of last week's Raw. He followed that up by jumping "The Visionary" on NXT after Rollins' defense against Bron Breakker.

Seth Rollins on His World Heavyweight Championship Reign

Even though he just won the title at the start of the month, Rollins has already successfully defended his new world title eight times on WWE TV, in dark matches and live events. It stands in stark contrast to Roman Reigns' run as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, as "The Tribal Chief" has only defended his title five times since the start of the year. That comparison is something Rollins happily welcomes.

"Immediately people are going to compare whatever my title reign is gonna be to what his title reign is gonna be, my stories to his stories, my character to his character, my promo to his promo and it's inevitable," Rollins said in a recent interview with The New York Post. "It's awesome. Great, I love it. Let's talk about it. It's only gonna make things more exciting. It's only gonna polarize people more. It's only gonna give people stronger opinions. Let's go. I love it. Whatever you got to say, you think about, I'm excited to hear it. I'm excited that we are both in great positions in the prime of our careers. Two different titles. Two different approaches."

WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Card

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
• Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul (Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus (Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

The Undertaker and Mick Foley's iconic Hell in a Cell match from WWE's King of the Ring 1998 pay-per-view officially turns 25 years old this week. To commemorate the anniversary, WWE had "The Deadman" and "Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy" sit down together and rewatch the bout. The match famously saw Undertaker toss Foley off the roof of the Cell, only for Foley to get back up and start fighting again and wind up getting chokeslammed through the cell roof (in an unplanned moment). Miraculously, Foley would be back in the ring for the main event to interfere in the First Blood Match between Kane and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the WWF Championship.

You can check out the full 28-minute video below! The Undertaker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2022 after having his last match at WrestleMania 36 against AJ Styles. Foley, a three-time WWE Champion and a fellow WWE Hall of Fame inductee, wrapped up his in-ring career in 2012 with a surprise appearance in that year's Royal Rumble match. Is Undertaker vs. Foley your favorite Hell in a Cell match? Tell us in the comments!

"The Phenom" officially announced his retirement in 2020 at the end of his The Last Ride documentary series, which Foley took part in as an interviewee. The series centered around Undertaker struggling with the idea of retirement and finding a proper "send-off" match to wrap up his career. In an interview with ComicBook at the time, Foley discussed why retirement in the pro wrestling business is so difficult.

"I think because success is subjective in our business," Foley said. "It's not like you can gauge it based on a batting average. In baseball, if a guy can't get around on the fastball, his career is done. Whereas, in sports entertainment, you are often at your peak years after your physical peak ends. In that you understand more about crowd psychology, you connect more with the fans, and you find ways to have better matches even though your prime physical years are over. I think there's a fine line between self-confidence and delusion. I think some of us, myself included, when we get older tiptoe over that line and still believe we have that one last match left in us."

The bad blood between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega reached a boiling point at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. After being defeated by his longtime rival in their first proper singles match this past January at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, Ospreay sought vengeance in Toronto this past Sunday. After 39 minutes and some brief interference from Don Callis, Ospreay was able to put Omega away and recapture the IWGP United States Championship. Ospreay victory took just about every trick up the Aerial Assassin's sleeve, as Omega kicked out of Stormbreaker, the One-Winged Angel and even a screwdriver stab to the head.

Ospreay's tactics, both underhand and otherwise, were all executed with the sole purpose of getting the win. Taking to social media on Monday morning, Ospreay paid respect to Omega, praising him as a generational talent.

"Kenny Omega is once in a lifetime. There will never be anyone that will be able to master the craft the way he has," Ospreay wrote. "Overcoming him was legitimately the most challenging and yet rewarding task of my life. While everyone can say they're 'all elite,' you can say you're above elite."

There is some concern over Omega's health following the match. Late in the contest, Omega took a Tiger Driver 91, landing hard on his head and neck. Omega was able to finish the bout without showing any noticeable affects of the spot. ComicBook.com's Liam Crowley asked AEW President Tony Khan for a health update on Omega at the post-show press conference but Khan was unable to provide a comment at the time.

Ospreay and Omega now sit at one apiece in singles matches against each other in 2023. While there is no word on plans for a third match to complete the trilogy, fan speculation has already run wild on the threequel going down inside Wembley Stadium for AEW ALL IN: London this August.

"The energy was spectacular. It's the best drug in the world. You can't take anything that would get that type of high," Ospreay said of the Scotiabank Arena's atmosphere compared to the clap crowds he had been used to in Japan. "It's an incredible feeling. When me and Kenny done did that first match, the vocal side of Japan just only came back. I kind of think that threw me a little bit, but this time I kind of was like, expecting [it]. I never want to be egotistical about it by saying I'm expecting a reaction, but I knew what we created in the Tokyo Dome was special. To try and not only live up to that match but try and top it, I feel like we've done that today. I feel completely amazed by it."

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Omega's health.

Longtime Bryan Danielson fans ate good at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. Not only did Danielson finally get the chance to lock up with all-time dream opponent Kazuchika Okada but he also hit the ring to "The Final Countdown" by Europe, the first time that he had utilized that iconic track for his entrance music in well over a decade. "The Final Countdown" was Danielson's anthem during his Ring of Honor days in the 2000s, as he would famously walk into the Hammerstein Ballroom showered in strobe lights as Joey Tempest asked if things would ever be the same again.

"I didn't even ask for it, to be honest. (AEW President) Tony [Khan] came up with the idea," Danielson revealed at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door press conference. "I thought it was really cool. I was a little bit angry right before I went out there, and then I heard Final Countdown play. It literally put a smile on my face. I legitimately don't think I've heard that song since I last came out to it in Ring of Honor."

Danielson using "The Final Countdown" in AEW has been a long time coming as he and Khan had first chatted about it back in Summer 2021. Plans to use it back then fell through because of the price tag. As Khan noted at the press conference, that cost was still high.

"It's a very expensive song, Final Countdown. I had been working on it for awhile, leading into the pay-per-view, because I believed it would be a great moment and would give the match something special," Khan added. "I was excited for Final Countdown, but it was also the kind of thing that I was only able to get on a one show contract. It was a very expensive one-night thing and it was as expensive as a wrestler's contract, but it was worth it, and I thought it added to the show. It was not inexpensive at all. It was very expensive."

While Danielson using the track permanently seems unlikely, Khan did tease that Danielson could be leaving ground at least once more.

"As for future performances, I have to be able to get a good deal. That was for tonight. Would I be able to get it one more time? I think so," Khan teased.

Danielson suffered a fractured forearm at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.