Last Week in Professional Wrestling Today: Vince McMahon's shocking retirement, Kevin Gates' AEW punch, Jericho and Kingston get bloody

This past week was really good, but also very saddening for the world of professional wrestling. I don’t want to speed passed the significance of this week. Regardless of how you feel about him now, Vince McMahon is the primary reason professional wrestling is global the way it is today. His retirement not only shakes up the wrestling scene for WWE, but is a major shift in the wrestling world in general. He created some of the greatest characters we have seen, and was one of the driving forces behind the greatest generation of wrestling in the ‘Attitude’ Era. Take a minute and think about all he did, and how the transition from Vince to his daughter Stephanie should be an interesting time. I am not going to take away from AEW this week, but now that this scandal has claimed Vince McMahon, AEW had a great week as well. Let’s start with WWE.

It’s all about the Monday Night Raw, dog…

Monday Night Raw set up a few more stories for Summerslam. Becky Lynch led off the show staking her claim to a title match. Bianca Belair took on Carmella for the title. And to no one’s surprise Belair defeated Carmella setting up a rematch that jump started the Big Time Bex express. Remember Becky surprised Becky at Summerslam and defeated Bianca Belair for her title in 26 seconds. Now we get back to where we started. Long term storytelling at it’s finest. We will see it come to fruition this coming Saturday night.

We also had the return of the Kevin Owens show. KO’s guest was none other than the original Bro, Riddle. The meteoric rise of Riddle has also caught the attention of KO. While his best friend Randy Orton is healing, Owens had the idea of keeping the tag team going with the idea of Bro-KO. I mean, it sounded good in my head, but Riddle declined because of his unfinished business with Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins. They square off at Summerslam. Can’t wait to see it honestly.

I can’t stand the guy, but his personality is one of a WWE superstar. Logan Paul showed up to confront the Miz. He came after the Miz and the running joke of Miz’s tiny balls. It’s a funny line, and gets a big pop. Miz is always going to find a way to get a reaction, and he is overly successful right now with this gimmick. Logan Paul doubled down on his match at Summerslam with the Miz. I got the Miz by the way.

Time to layeth the SmackDown…

SmackDown was not very story driven this week. It was a few good spots and they revolved around The Usos and The Street Profits. Theory came out to interrupt the Street Profits, and decided to make it even more known he is going to cash in at on Brock or Roman. This triggered the Usos to come out and defend the Tribal Chief. Theory also has beef with Madcap Moss. That’s six people fighting with each other. What better way to squash things than a six man tag match.

Before the six man tag, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre had a pretty good segment. The match is finally going to happen to settle the number one contender for after SummerSlam. It will be settled next week, essentially in a street fight, but Angela, Drew’s sword is banned from ringside. Who do you think is up next?

The six man tag match was really great, and sets up another great match between the Usos and Street Profits. Mixing in Theory and Madcap was good for everyone. It helped drive home the significance of the Money in the Bank winner and the beef with the Bloodline. All the hard hitting and high flying action, Theory tried to bail only for The Usos to break him down. Theory got the disqualification hitting Madcap with the briefcase. This triggered the Beast Incarnate to show up and drop Theory. Brock Lesnar just annihilated Theory driving the point home, regardless if he cashes in, he’s got no chance in hell to beat Roman or Brock.

AEW’s Dynamite with a ton of Rampage…

AEW had some GREAT moments this week. NXT and WWE may have missed on this opportunity for a good rivalry, Miro and Malakai Black. Two great performers and amazing characters. Now their characters have a good story to back their upcoming rivalry. Miro the Redeemer and the House of Black. LET’S GET IT!

Professional wrestling is attracting all sorts of artists nowadays. Tony Khan is not above letting them get involved in the show either. Kevin Gates was sitting ringside and was enjoying the show like a casual fan watching the celebration of Swerve in their Glory. Cue Tony Neese. In an attempt to get Gates to sign a petition. He popped off to the wrong one, and Kevin Gates laid out Neese. It was a great spot, and pretty funny honestly.

Christian Cage and Luchasaurus had a match. In typical heel fashion, Luchasaurus did all the heavy work and Cage got the pinfall to secure the victory. Once the pinfall was completed, cue Jungle Boy’s music. THAT’S RIGHT! HE’S BACK! After taking all the bashing he took while injured, Jungle Boy is healthy enough to make his return and go after Cage. Luchasaurus even made sure to not get in Jungle Boy’s way in his pursuit of Cage.

Lastly, the biggest match of the week, aside from our boy Claudio winning the ROH title (FINALLY!) Jericho and Kingston tore down the house in their barbwire everywhere death match. It was as over the top, and violent as you could imagine. The Jericho Appreciation Society was in a shark cage over the ring controlled by Rubi Soho. In typical Jericho fashion, there was a plan in place to get the team out of the cage. Blood spilling everywhere, Jericho needed help, and he got it in the form of an attack on Soho. This freed the JAS to attack Kingston. Kingston had backup as well in the Blackpool Combat Club who took down the JAS. As Kingston was about to put Jericho away, cue Sammy Guevara! His interference allowed Jericho to hit the Judas Effect elbow and put down the Mad King. In his last act of defiance, Kingston dropped Jericho on the bed of barbwire outside the ring.

It was an eventful week, but the main story was Vince McMahon retiring. We joked about what it would be like if he did retire, now we get to find out. If I missed anything you wanted to talk about, like AJ dropping Theory, or Orange Cassidy taking on Brodie King, drop a comment or hit me up on the social media: Twitter: @Proctorious34 or IG: Rproctor23. See you all next week!

This Week In Pro Wrestling: Ronda Rousey's really back, Brock Lesnar's intentions are known and CM Punk's out for blood

What’s up ATC fam? This week in professional wrestling was NUTS! From the mighty return of a former WWE powerhouse and a couple of current women’s champions flexing their muscles to what’s happening in the AEW with CM Punk. There’s a lot to get into with a new week of professional wrestling here.

Now Ronda Rousey is back in WWE, we’ll start with her. Rousey came in spitting fire on both shows at both champs Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. Not someone who is known for killing it in promos, but whatever work she put in was fire! She made her choice for Mania, and it’s the Opportunity, Charlotte Flair. This was supposed to happen a few years back but the wave of Becky inserted her into the match. Rousey/Flair is something to look forward to over the next two months for sure. I am sure tomorrow night Becky is going to have something to say about being ‘snubbed’ by the baddest woman on the planet. This may be another chance for Liv Morgan or Bianca Belair to take their shot at the Big Time.

Brock Lesnar made his intentions known. He wants Roman Reigns. But, where does this leave WWE Champion Bobby Lashley? Brock still has no respect for Lashley and only see’s the All Mighty as a place holder. With the Elimination Chamber coming up, the field is LOADED. To include Brock and Lashley. The endgame appears to be Title v. Title at Mania assuming Brock wins the Chamber and Roman, well, Roman was surprised to see the return of…Goldberg.

Now I have my feelings about Goldberg, but that’s not the point. Roman has a huge opportunity to look strong AF if he can make light work of WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg. I don’t know why Goldberg was able to jump to the top of the line like this, but I would be lying if I said this may be a good move for short term for the Tribal Chief. Roman stood toe to toe with Goldberg. He starred him down without a word. After the Paul Heyman promo, I am sure Roman won’t let Goldberg off easy without at least speaking his piece about the legend. The Bloodline doesn’t bow to anyone, Goldberg is no different.

Those are the top storylines for WWE, but what’s the deal with the Miz working his heelish ways over on the Mysterio family? Is this the next story for Miz and the Mysterios? I hope so, this strikes me as something that could be fun and a good way to put over a rising star in Dominick. Same can be said for RK-Bro and The Alpha Academy. The scooter race turned out to be pretty entertaining, especially with R-Truth dropping the “Bengals are going to win” line. 

The AEW craziness isn’t slowing down anytime soon

AEW did not disappoint per usual. The opening segment with Mox and Bryan Danielson was AWESOME! Danielson was spitting facts at potentially teaming with Mox. We all know Mox has a history of just killing it in stables, (The SHIELD) as well as with Eddie Kingston. There has to be more at play though because I am sure this will lead to a monster size match down the road. 

Did you see Pac start his match BLINDFOLDED?! The Bastard was dope. The whole match with House Black was incredible. Malakai Black and Brody King are working their way up the tag ranks slowly but surely. I can’t wait to see where that story goes next, or if House Black just moves on. Speaking of tag teams, what’s happening in the Inner Circle? Jericho calling a family meeting this week? He’s clearly pissed about how he’s being treated by the group he created. Is heel Jericho on his way back, if so, we know the GOAT will deliver his best performance as a hell.

The BIGGEST story in wrestling right now is MJF and CM Punk. It finally came to one of its peaks as I am sure this isn’t over yet. MJF did what I was only guessing would happen, pinning CM Punk. It wasn’t clean as we saw Wardlow hand off the ring. I really was not sure how Punk was going to let this match play out and the momentum of a truly rising star in MJF. He put him over. Punk was able to put over MJF and still hold his mystique about him. From the false ending to the eventual punch with the ring, the match delivered. Those two told an amazing story, and we all know Punk is not going to let MJF off that easy. The next match has to be some sort of stipulation. The direction of this one can go so many ways. I can’t wait to see it unfold. 

So much happened this week and I didn’t want to bore you with some of the other side stories. If I missed anything and you want to continue the conversation more, leave a comment or hit me up on the social media. Twitter: @Zero2Hero or IG: Rproctor23. Should be a dope week as we hit the Road to Wrestlemania!

Introducing... 'This Week in Pro Wrestling' - Brock Lesnar's collision course, Roman Reigns' last laugh, RK-Bro's stiff competition and more

I’m going to be trying something new this time with a preview into the top storylines in the world of professional wrestling. Let’s first take a look into what’s going on this week in the WWE.

Brock Lesnar’s collission course might be set

The main storyline is Brock Lesnar on a potential collision course with the Head of the Table Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania. Before we get there though, Brock Lesnar takes on the All Mighty Bobby Lashley at the Royal Rumble. This is a match Lashley has been chasing his entire career, both in MMA and in the WWE, now he finally gets his chance. Even I’ll admit, this is a match worthy of main eventing Mania, but to kick off the road to Mania, should be an interesting one. The only issue, we are not reaping the benefits of a MVP/Paul Heyman promo to build the match. WE DESERVE IT!

Roman Reigns set to have the last laugh?

Roman Reigns ended Smackdown being laughed at by Seth Freakin’ Rollins. Does this mean Adam Pearce picked Rollins for Roman at the Royal Rumble? The A show, Smackdown has been carrying the company this past year, and I believe we can trust where they are going with this particular challenger for the Universal Championship. The fans win if it is indeed the Visionary is next to challenge the Head of the Table. 

RK-Bro’s championship run is getting intense

How are RK-Bro going to respond defending their titles against the Alpha Academy? Are we seeing the demise of the loveable odd-couple? HEY RAAANDY, please don’t ruin this for us by turning on our bro, Riddle. Did you not see what he was able to do with MSK last week against Imperium on NXT. Just give us a few more months of RK-Bro before you do what you do as the Viper.

Everyone loves a Becky

Lastly for WWE, who is up next for Big Time Becks a.k.a. Becky Lynch? Does Liv Morgan get a third shot in a row? Or the EST of WWE in Bianca Belair. Doudrop may be the surprise to get such a big opportunity. I just don’t know if she has the star power of the other two just yet. If you want my opinion, I think Belair gets the W tonight to drive her story from Summerslam and the loss to Becky. We all love Liv as the feel good story, but Belair has to be the favorite going into the triple threat tonight.

But, what about what is going on currently in AEW?

Holy sh*t, the Bryan Danielson/Adam Page match was incredible. With Kenny Omega still sidelined, who steps up to go after the Hang man next? Page showed he could hang with two of the best performers in the world and have the clout to come out still as champ. Consider me super impressed, now where do we go from there.

The MAIN story currently is sitting with Maxwell Jacob Friedman, MJF and the nostalgic CM Punk. The promos have been nothing but nuclear these last few weeks, with MJF getting the best of CM Punk. MJF is proving to be the top heel in all of professional wrestling if you hear some of his interviews outside AEW like on Busted Open Radio. He is very much the heel we deserve. He is the type of heel that generates such heat, it’s like Roddy Piper. He throws bombs on the mic. When will Punk get his hands on MJF? Punk has to go through Wardlow this week.

The Undisputed Era has reunited under a new banner in AEW. I must say, it’s pretty dope to see as they KILLED it over on NXT. Adam Cole is just, great. I know I wanted to see him take on AJ Styles before he left but hey, just be happy we got to see some great matches during that amazing run in NXT. The feud brewing with the Young Bucks and Omega should be entertaining as hell to see. And when he gets back, we could see Omega/Cole (BABAY). Fingers crossed. 

Let’s see how this week pans out. If you want to hit me up with your thoughts for this week in pro wrestling or have thoughts you want to share with me, hit me up on twitter: Zero2Hero or on IG: Rproctor23.