Welcome back to another edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro wrestling blog to the ODPH podcast & #607TWS on Twitch every Thursday. As we’re heading into summer, business has been picking up for a lot of organizations. Every promotion has been making some waves. Let’s recap a bit & see where things are heading into summer.
Photo credit: All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling is fresh off their big “Double Or Nothing” event. As previously discussed, the event had great action but a few endings knocked the final grade down to B-. However, THIS match between Hikaru Shida & Britt Baker was epic. They gave AEW a standout match of the night on this card. It’s also time for Baker to run with the championship. Shida has had a great run, but Baker has worked her way up the card (esp. after a MOTY candidate with Thunder Rosa) that now is the right time. I can’t wait to see Baker vs. Rosa again & the eventual rematch with Shida. Very promising future for the women’s division.
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
The other standout moment of the night: AEW signing Mark Henry. Per their press release: Henry will serve as a mentor, coach & analyst for AEW Rampage on Friday, August 13th (10PM EST on TNT). HUGE win for AEW. Henry knows the business & can really help a young roster (Looking at you WARDLOW) become the best they can be. If he can guide them on ending matches better, this might be the biggest addition to a company this year.
The Friday Night Dynamite fallout show had another debut in the form of Andrade El Idolo (FKA Andrade Almas in WWE). This would have been a bigger splash at Double or Nothing, but another solid addition to the AEW roster. Maybe we’ll some more hype for AAA’s match with Kenny Omega this summer.
On the WWE side, it’s more condensing of the roster with more releases heading into Summer. Braun Stroman, Buddy Murphy, Ruby Riott, Alister Black, Santana Garrett & Lana were the latest group released since the post Wrestlemania releases (The latter are all freed up to sign elsewhere July 19th. Stroman’s group should be able to sign elsewhere around Sept. 1st). The sky isn’t falling. WWE isn’t prepping for a sale. Timing is a bit odd, but if the plan is to go back on the road, imo, I can see why they’re tightening up the rosters. It sucks for this group cause they’re super talented. If Ruby never gets a run with the WWE world title, it will be a travesty. Fully expecting this squad to make noise when they are done with their 90 day no complete clauses.
Just throwing this out there….. don’t be super shocked to see a lot of this group at AEW All Out in Sept.
Early predictions:
Braun Stroman, Lana, -AEW
Ruby Riott - AEW/Impact
Black/Murphy/Garrett - TBD
WWE also announced SummerSlam is going to be held Saturday, August 21st in Las Vegas. The shows have been either Roman Reigns good or everything else is just…there (looking at yo Monday Night Raw). NXT is clicking on all cylinders & is must watch programming. More about that on Twitch this week.
Taking a quick lap around the indies: MLW is having their open draft along with making some big signings in Davey richards, Aramis, Alex Kane & King Muertes in recent weeks. Don’t sleep on this company for the summer. Their new season starts on July 10th in Philadelphia.
GCW has been putting on solid cards that are must watch on Fite TV. It’s not just death matches. It’s some of the best wrestling you can watch on the planet. Maybe press creds for 607 Podcasts are in the future? Gotta put that karma out there
Last but not least, Xcite Wrestling has been having their seminars over the summer. Great demonstrations in the Battle of NY. There was a lot of great talent from the Buffalo, NY area on the show that left great impressions on the crowd observing. Hopefully, we’ll see them back sooner than later.maybe Also heard a rumor that August is going to be the most Xciting month thus far in 2021? Stay Tuned…
That’s all for now. Hit me up on Twitter & let me know what you’re looking forward to the most from your favorite promotions. Thanks for reading.