WWE News: Kurt Angle reveals the real reason for his retirement

 

What's the story?

This week on WWE RAW, Kurt Angle announced that his match at WrestleMania would be his very last in the wrestling business. His opponent for WrestleMania has not been announced yet.
He also opened up about his reasons for retiring in a recently released WWE interview. I thank Ewrestlingnews.com for the quote.

In case you didn't know...

Kurt Angle first earned his stripes at the Olympics, winning a gold medal with a broken neck. And then he would transition to the world of sports entertainment, becoming a truly celebrated star.
Angle retired in his hometown after what was a great WWE career. In the past episode of RAW, he took on Apollo Crews in a winning effort. This was a rare win for Angle who's been on a bit of a losing streak of late.

The heart of the matter

Kurt Angle opened up about why he is retiring from the ring. Not surprisingly, it is because of his advanced age:

It was really tough for me to come to that decision. It actually has been nipping at me for the past year. I’m 50 years old. I know I’m not the same as I used to be. I’m slower in the ring, I can still get the job done, but if I can’t perform at the Kurt Angle of 2006, I don’t want to perform at all. 

Kurt Angle has been a thorough perfectionist in the ring. He did not want to perform at a lesser level and hence the retirement:

You finally know when you’re time’s come and you got to make a decision and I’ve decided I that want to keep my legacy intact and I think that retiring is the best decision for me.

Also

WWE News: Jinder Mahal faced off against Randy Orton after SmackDown went off air

Jinder Mahal had a grand celebration on SmackDown after becoming the WWE Champion

Jinder Mahal reportedly faced off against Randy Orton in a dark match after SmackDown went off the air. The match ended with the former champion winning via disqualification, owing to interference from the Singh Brothers.
The aforementioned dark match is said to have transpired after the 205 Live tapings that take place after SmackDown Live. Most fans who attended this week’s SmackDown tapings at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio stayed back for the 205 Live tapings, following which Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal squared off in a singles match.
Mahal shocked the world this past Sunday by dethroning Randy Orton and becoming the new WWE champion, with a bit of assistance from the Singh Brothers. The Maharaja appeared at the aforementioned live broadcast of SmackDown with an extravagant Punjabi celebration.

Nevertheless, Randy Orton, despite being in the arena this Tuesday night didn’t feature on the TV broadcast.
The fans present at the Huntington Center got to witness, what many are calling, an epic encounter between reigning WWE champion Jinder Mahal and former champ Randy Orton. The match, however, would not have a definitive result, so to speak, as Orton would hit an RKO on Mahal only for the Singh Brothers to then intervene and attack the Viper.
The referee called off the match awarding Orton the victory by way of DQ.
Fans can watch a few exchanges from the matchup below:
SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Randy Orton will face Jinder Mahal for the latter’s WWE championship at the upcoming SmackDown brand-exclusive PPV event Money In The Bank that will take place in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri on June 18^th.
Jinder Mahal’s sudden push by WWE management has come as a surprise to both fans and pundits in the professional wrestling community and is one of the hottest topics of debate right now. Mahal was nothing more than a jobber a few weeks back and now holds the company’s most prestigious belt; hence, it’ll be interesting to see how WWE books him from this point moving forward.

Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley for the RAW Women's Championship: WWE Payback 2017 winner, video highlights and analysis

Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley

Bayley entered with her RAW Women’s Championship and was prepared to defend it against Bliss. Bayley had the crowd support as this was her hometown, while Bliss got some heat.
Bliss started with the mind games as Bayley made her attempt to dominate. Bayley dominated the match at the start, despite Alexa’s antics. Bliss rolled out of the ring and continued her tricks, but Bayley slammed her with heavy knees before she could get in.
Bayley continued to dominate by smashing Bliss’ face against the turnbuckle until the challenger countered. Bliss then began her domination by delivering multiple shots to the Champion. Bliss seemed desperate for the win and tried everything, even standing on and pulling Bayley’s hair.

Bayley tried her best to counter but failed as Bliss continued to control the match. Bliss kicked Bayley out of the ring and attempted to humiliate the Champ in front of her home crowd. However, this time Bayley countered after Alexa attempted to gloat and the took the upper hand.
Bayley began unloading on Alexa Bliss and went to the top rope as she managed to connect with an elbow, but yet again Bliss countered, only for Bayley to counter Bliss’s top rope move. Yet again Bliss covered the champion only for her to kick out.
The match was a continuous trade of blows, but Bayley, however, seemed to be in the driver's seat with an ‘Elbow Drop From The Top Rope’. Bliss seemed down for the count but a push into the turnbuckle saw Bliss take full advantage as a prone Bayley took a ‘DDT’ to lose her championship. Making Alexa Bliss the new RAW Women’s Champion.
She is the only woman to hold both the RAW and SmackDown Women’s titles. Respect ‘Little Miss Bliss’.

WWE Rumors: Women’s Division Superstar might be making a RAW comeback

Summer Rae to make a WWE comeback?

What’s the story?

As reported by wrestlinginc.com, Superstar Summer Rae might be making a RAW comeback tonight. This speculation is based on the fact that Summer (real name Danielle Moinet), tweeted saying that she is in Sacramento, California at the moment – the same city where tonight’s episode of RAW is scheduled to take place.

In case you didn’t know

Moinet signed with WWE in November of 2011 as a member of the developmental promotion Florida Championship Wrestling, as a manager and ring announcer. After FCW disbanded, she joined NXT as a ring announcer in 2012 and by 2013 she was performing in-ring under the name Summer Rae.
Summer arrived to the main roster in April of 2013 and faced Superstars like Natalya, Layla, Paige and Alicia Fox. She had her last appearance on WWE programming on 14th August 2016 and since then had been on hiatus due to undisclosed injuries.

The heart of the matter

According to Summer Rae’s twitter posts, she will be in the same city where tonight’s instalment of RAW is scheduled to take place. Summer has been off of WWE programming since mid-2016 and is hopefully fit again to appear as a full-time member of the RAW roster.

She had been drafted to RAW during the Superstar Shake-up but her injuries kept her from appearing on television or for live events.

What’s next?

It has been a while since we’ve seen Summer Rae on WWE and it will be interesting to see what WWE creative has planned for her in terms of rivalries and story angles.

Writer’s take

I am looking forward to seeing Summer Rae back in action if she does show up for tonight’s RAW and I think it will be a good surprise for the WWE Universe who have indeed had their share of WWE comebacks recently.

WWE News: Alexa Bliss custom plates added to RAW Women's title

Five Feet of Fury now has her own customised title belt.

What’s the story?

New WWE RAW Women’s champion Alexa Bliss has got her custom plates added to the RAW title belt.

In case you didn’t know...

Alexa Bliss (Alexis Kaufman) has won numerous world titles since her NXT debut back in 2013. The 25-year old is a former 2-time SmackDown Women’s champion, and most recently won the RAW Women’s title as well after defeating Bayley at WWE Payback.

The heart of the matter:

The WWE has posted a video on its official website displaying Bliss’ custom plates being fitted on her newly won belt.

Alexa Bliss created history this Sunday night in San Jose, California by emerging victorious in the championship matchup, making her the first Superstar to win both the SmackDown and RAW Women’s titles.

What’s next?

Having followed up on her promise to beat Bayley in the latter’s hometown, fans can expect the duo’s heated rivalry to continue on Monday Night RAW in the days to come.

Author’s take:

Five Feet of Fury truly put on one hell of a performance at Payback and has now ascended to the throne of the WWE’s red brand.
Now I know she’s a heel and technically, we’re supposed to boo her, but when you have someone as charismatic and feisty as Li’l Miss Bliss you can’t help but smile when she rules the ring like a Legit Boss (no offence Sasha Banks!).

WWE News: Carmella opens up on why she wasn't called up with Enzo and Cass

Carmella speaks on why she was separated from her team.

What’s the story?

During an appearance on Lillian Garica’s Making Their Way To The Ring podcast, Carmella said that she wasn’t called up with Enzo & Cass because Triple H felt that she had the potential to make it as a singles Superstar.
In case you didn’t know...

Carmella (real name- Leah Van Dale) debuted in the WWE’s NXT brand back in 2013 as the on-screen manager of WWE Superstars Enzo Amore and Big Cass.
However, following the tag-team duo’s main-roster debut on Monday Night RAW last year, the ‘Princess of Staten Island’ was assigned to SmackDown Live, where she made her main-card debut in July of 2016.

The heart of the matter

Carmella featured on a recent edition of Lillian Garcia’s podcast, Making Their Way To The Ring, where the 29-year old former cheerleader addressed the case of her being separated from the tag-team and, in particular, her real-life boyfriend William Morrissey (Cass). Here are a few excerpts from her statements-

“When Hunter (Triple H) told me he said the reason why you’re not going with them is because you have the ability to make it on your own, you’re not just a hype girl for Cass and Enzo you’re not, I see more in you, you have more potential and you’re gonna be fine on your own.” 

She added that Cass being a night owl is in direct contrast with her habit of going to bed early. However, she also confessed that’d she’d be lying if she said that it wouldn’t be nice if the two of them were to work on the same brand.

“Like when I get home on Wednesdays when he picks me up from the airport it’s just so nice like we have our few days together and we’ve gotten really good at like texting and like figuring out like what works best for us when he’s on the road and um when I’m on the road, so it’s bittersweet you know, it’s like either way there’s gonna be an issue but we’ve really worked our way to like figuring out what works best.” 

Also read: 5 up-and-coming WWE NXT Superstars to keep an eye out for

What’s next?

Carmella is presently signed to SmackDown and is part of a heel stable alongside her sidekick James Ellsworth, Natalya and Tamina.

Author’s take

For those of you who didn’t follow Enzo and Cass during their NXT days, you ought to know that Carmella was a perfect match with the tag-team before their split in 2016.
Regardless, I’ll have to agree with Triple H’s assessment here, in the sense that Carmella truly has that ‘It’ factor and doesn’t need to be a mere hype girl for Enzo and Cass. After all, she is ‘Fabulous’.

WWE SmackDown Live Results May 2nd 2017, Latest SmackDown Live winners and video highlights

Shane McMahon finally returned the title to its rightful owner

A clip was shown of Jinder Mahal having a photo shoot with the WWE Championship. Shane McMahon then interrupted and said that titles were earned. Jinder vowed to become champion. Shane took the title and said he would return it to its rightful owner, Randy Orton. He announced that Jinder would be facing Sami Zayn later in the night

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Chris Jericho gets more than what he asked for on his arrival to SmackDown Live

Chris Jericho was confronted by his old friend-turned-foe

Shane McMahon introduced Chris Jericho to SmackDown Live. Shane said that he was thrilled to have him on the blue brand. He announced that he would be defending the US Title against Kevin Owens later in the night. AJ Styles then made his way out.

AJ Styles acknowledged the patchy history with Chris Jericho. He said that he didn’t forget the past that easily, and nothing would please him more than to take the US Title from him at Backlash. Chris Jericho said that he was the new face of America.
He teased putting AJ on the list for not thinking he would retain against Kevin Owens, and as he was about to do it, Kevin Owens came out. The crowd definitely wasn’t behind Owens. He said that the trio of AJ, Shane, and Y2J talking was the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen. He vowed to take back the United States Championship from him.
He told AJ that it wasn’t about him and told him to get out of  “his ring”. As he was about to take a shot at Shane, AJ ran out and started a brawl with Owens. Referees and Shane McMahon cut in between to stop the fight.