CJ Perry was a surprise name in the latest round of WWE releases. Along with Ruby Riott, Santana Garrett, Aleister Black and Braun Strowman, Lana was let go by the company last month. Speaking on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast, Perry spoke about her release, how she found out and how she felt. Here’s … Read more
Zelina Vega is back!! It was first reported mid-May that Thea Trinidad, known as Zelina Vega in WWE, was possibly returning to the company. She was released in November after breaching WWE’s policy of being on third-party platforms. Now she is back and is not only on the SmackDown brand but is in the upcoming … Read more
The stakes continue to pile high surrounding the SmackDown Women’s Championship!
On this week’s SmackDown, Bianca Belair has challenged Bayley with her SmackDown Women’s Title on the line once again to a match at the upcoming Money in the Bank event. However, since Belair defeated Bayley inside Hell in a Cell it can’t be just any ordinary match. The two will battle in an “I Quit” match.
Bayley was able to pin Belair in a Mixed Tag Team Match last week which has placed that chip firmly right back on her shoulder. The Role Model feels that the EST is not living up to the expectations of the WWE Universe and her prior win was just a fluke. Belair feels that Bayley just won’t leave her alone and move on after defeating her over and over again.
After Belair said she wanted this type of match, Bayley started laughing. Once she realized she was serious she was all for it. Bayley says she has never quit anything in her whole life. Adding to the conversation she says that if she utters “I Quit” then she might as well not only quit SmackDown, she should quit the WWE and while she’s at it, wrestling altogether. She says that if Belair says she quits though, Bayley would not be surprised in the least.
The former NXT UK Women’s Champion and current NXT talent Toni Storm is reportedly backstage at SmackDown tonight. Much like prior weeks where Scarlett and Shotzi Blackheart were used for dark matches, Storm is there this week. These matches could have implications for call-ups in the near future. The report is was put on social … Read more
Mickie James makes her long-awaited and much-anticipated return to the ring at NWA’s 73rd Anniversary event. The former six-time WWE women’s champion appeared on the recent Two Man Power Trip podcast. During the interview, James addressed her return to action and who she would like to face at NWA73. Here’s what the wrestling legend had to … Read more
The artist formerly known as Lana was a guest on the latest edition of the Talk is Jericho podcast. In the interview, Perry talked about WWE in the throes of the pandemic, 19 hour taping days and Chelsea Green’s scrapped debut. During the pandemic, WWE pre-recorded episodes of RAW and SmackDown back-to-back. Talent would spend … Read more
Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering have had a rocky road when it comes to their friendship and tag team partnership.
Ever since they lost the Knockouts Tag Team Championships almost as quickly as they won them, the two haven’t been on the same page. Last week, Jazz returned to try and mend their friendship and left the ball in the hands of Grace on how they wanted to move forward.
It appears this week she gave her answer and had Ellering’s back.
Ellering took on Tenille Dashwood in a singles match. Dashwood has been one factor that has been trying to drive a wedge between Ellering and Grace by trying to have Ellering join her and Kaleb with a K. Ellering picked up the much needed win after countering a sunset flip found Dashwood with her shoulders on the match and a count of three.
Post match, Dashwood and Kaleb went after Ellering as Jazz tried her best to help. Grace then rushed to the ring to help clear it out and embraced her tag partner. Do we think this is genuine, or is this just part of a bigger plan for Grace?
Speaking of tag teams, the Knockouts Tag Team picture is heating up.
With Slammiversary just a few weeks away, Rosemary & Havok are looking to prove their newfound tag team is the team to beat. On this week’s IMPACT, they brought this up to Scott D’Amore who said he would take their request for a Knockouts Tag Team Championship match under consideration. He didn’t have to think too hard once the champions Fire ‘N Flava tried to thwart Rosemary & Havok’s request saying that they are barely a team and never earned a championship opportunity. All of this despite Rosemary picking up a win on Kiera Hogan last week.
D’Amore has made it official that Rosemary & Havok will be taking on Kimber Lee & Susan next week. Lee faced her former ally, Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, on BTI. Purrazzo continued to dominate and much like she took out Susan last week she defeated Lee this week.
Susan and Kimber were seen backstage during IMPACT discussing having to move on from Purrazzo. Lee says there are still the Knockouts Tag Team Championships in their sights and worst-case scenario they have a backup plan. Susan questioned what the backup plan is and Lee says – Su Yung.
NXT UK’s newest superstar Blair Davenport has arrived. The artist is formerly known as Bea Priestley is officially in the red and black brand. A vignette aired last week showing a new mysterious figure Blair Davenport. This week it was revealed to be the former World of STARDOM Champion and AEW star, Bea Priestley. The … Read more
Kay Lee Ray announced earlier today that she is married to her longtime fiance and ICW wrestler Stevie Boy Xavier. Ray took to her social media to share wonderful photos of her wedding day. She looked radiant in her white dress and signature red hair. While her husband donned the traditional Scottish kilt. Kay Lee … Read more
Rebel (not Reba) teamed up with AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker to face the team of Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero on this week’s Dynamite. During the match, Rebel appeared to have injured herself when she went to go break up a pin that Rose had on Baker. She slid into the pin and … Read more
All the hard work that “The Pink Dream” Alex Gracia has been putting in has finally paid off! Gracia received her ticket to gold this week on Women’s Division Wednesday as Maria Kanellis Bennett presented her with this opportunity to enter the upcoming ROH Women’s Title Tournament. Gracia also took part in today’s match as … Read more
Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee, formerly known as the IIconics, were guests on the recent edition of Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette. During the interview, the topic of transitioning from NXT to WWE main roster came up. McKay was first to speak about the stark differences between NXT and the main roster. “It’s night and … Read more
With NWA making the huge announcement that they will host an all-women’s pay-per-view event on August 28, all eyes are on its women’s division and how things will build until then. On this week’s NWA Powerrr they had two women’s matches on the show. Kylie Rae took to the ring with the ring veteran Melina. … Read more
Io Shirai & Zoey Stark are officially the next opponents for The Way’s (Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell) NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. The title match will take place at The Great American Bash on July 6. Shirai & Stark won this opportunity by winning a Triple Threat on this week’s NXT that involved NXT … Read more
Mercedes Martinez took part in a Mixed Tag Team Match on tonight’s NXT alongside Jake Atlas. They teamed up to take on Martinez’s rivals of Tian Sha (Xia Li & Boa).
The match had to be stopped by the referee due to a concerning moment after Li delivered a roundhouse kick to the head of Martinez. Li went for the pin but Martinez couldn’t physically keep her shoulders down although the official was making the count. The official then realized something wasn’t right and she was checking on Martinez as Li backed away. The match was then called.
Concern quickly set in with fans in wanting to make sure that Martinez is okay. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful stated that he would look into it and has received word that Martinez was checked in the back and talent/staff were told that she has been sent to the hospital for further evaluation.
I'll work to find out Mercedes' condition. That was nasty
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 30, 2021
Mercedes Martinez was checked in the back and talent/staff were told she's headed to the hospital for further evaluation
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 30, 2021
Diva Dirt will provide any further updates to this post as the information is provided.
Speculations started swirling earlier today that Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins were set to get married. The couple has been engaged since August 2019 and just welcomed their first baby girl into the world in December. Lynch has been out of action and away from WWE since she announced she was pregnant in May 2020. … Read more
The duo formerly known as The IIconics, Jessica Mckay and Cassie Lee disclosed the emotional rollercoaster they experienced after getting released from WWE. WWE shockingly released The IIconics along with Mickie James and Chelsea Green after WrestleMania 37. Lee and McKay were guests on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette and spoke candidly about life after … Read more
Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey announced that she is expecting a baby girl. Rousey took to her YouTube channel to reveal the gender of her first child. Along with Husband Travis Browne, the parents-to-be disclosed they are having a daughter. Check out the video below; Rousey announced her pregnancy in April when she … Read more
Two big names on the indie scene, Hyan and Holidead, will both be in an AEW ring for the first time as they have matches on tonight’s Dark. First we get Hyan vs. Abadon. Hyan has recently been seen on Ring of Honor’s Women’s Division Wednesday. She also has gone toe-to-toe against Kris Statlander at … Read more
Vita VonStarr will no longer participate in the upcoming ROH Women’s Title Tournament. She didn’t play by the rules.
On the June 9 episode of Women’s Division Wednesday, VonStarr received a golden ticket into the tournament after Bateman pled her case to be in it. She recently had a match against former Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai. She came up short in that match but held her own and felt that she should still be placed in the tournament.
Board of Directors member and the mind behind the upcoming tournament, Maria Kanellis Bennett, gave in and granted her a spot. However, she gave a stipulation. As long as she can prove that she has the passion and the focus to participate in the women’s division she can. By this, if she interferes in the men’s matches again then she will be out of the tournament. She interfered.
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) June 28, 2021
In the clip below you can see where Maria stands firm in her decision to remove VonStarr from the tournament despite the anger from Victor.
This tournament is meant to be about the BEST in the sport of professional wrestling and without rules there is no true winner. My decision is Righteous. This is Ring of Honor. This is Women’s Wrestling. @VVonstarr @TheHorrorKingVM #therightgeous#ROHWD@ringofhonorpic.twitter.com/w72LkwvtqU
— MariaKanellisBennett (@MariaLKanellis) June 29, 2021
With VonStarr being removed, and as long as the punishment is kept, this opens up another spot for the tournament which is still not finalized. The participants are as follows:
Angelina Love (first round bye)
Allysin Kay
Rok-C
Willow
Trish Adora
Miranda Alize
Mazzerati
Mandy Leon
Nicole Savoy
Max the Impaler
Alex Gracia has had a Women’s Division Wednesday match recently against Willow in which she came up short. Despite these matches not being qualifiers anyway, Gracia made it a point to get the attention of Maria to get another shot to prove herself. Maria responded in person. Gracia will be getting another chance in the future which may mean she may impress Maria enough to earn a ticket to gold.
Who else do you think will round out the tournament for the new ROH Women’s World Championship? A date for the start of the tournament has not been provided at this time.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for all your news on ROH as they rebuild their women’s division and look to crown a new champion.
On this week’s RAW, Nikki Cross continues with her new gimmick she started last week and has coined that she is “Almost a Superhero.” Claiming that her name could end up being Nikki A.S.H as a result, commentary went back and forth between calling her both names throughout her match against Shayna Baszler.
Prior to their match, Baszler was seen backstage by herself with a deck of cards. Nia Jax and Reginald approached her making sure she was focused heading into her match with Cross. After they walked off-screen, Alexa Bliss was seen lurking in the background. Last week, Bliss and Cross qualified for the upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match after they defeated Jax and Baszler. Cross pinned Baszler so The Queen of Spades was looking for some revenge against her and further had plans to take care of Bliss.
Bliss came out during the Cross vs. Baszler match and although she interacted with Jax and Reginald, the match continued. Baszler was distracted by the happenings on the outside, however, Cross wasn’t able to get the pin right away. After a clothesline took down Cross, she regained momentum by locking Baszler’s arm and placing her in a cradle for the victory.
Moving on to a rematch from last week, Doudrop and Eva Marie took on Naomi and Asuka. Last week, Naomi and Asuka got the win after the Eva-Lution has already started to have cracks in its mission. After Eva gave the pet name of Doudrop to Piper Niven, the “protege” wasn’t too happy. She stepped off the apron instead of accepting the tag which allowed Naomi to pin Eva. Naomi and Asuka qualified for the upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match as a result.
This week, we saw distrust again between the new members of RAW but this time Eva Marie jumped down from the ring apron and refused to tag in to help her partner. This time, however, Doudrop was able to maintain focus and she won the match after hitting a crossbody off the ropes on Asuka. Although this was a tag team match, Eva took the mic from the ring announcer and said that the winner of the match was just herself. This left Doudrop fuming in the ring as the segment ended.
The third and final women’s match of the night was the advertised six-woman tag team match. RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley teamed up with Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke to face Charlotte Flair and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Tamina and Natalya.
For the first half of the match, Flair/Tamina/Natalya isolated Brooke in their corner keeping her away from her team. Once she was finally able to tag out the match broke down with each woman being highlighted and Brooke/Rose showing some solid tag teamwork. In the end, the two legal women would be Rose and Flair.
Flair delivered the big boot to get the win for her team. She wasn’t able to celebrate for long as Ripley re-entered the ring and chop blocked the left knee of Flair. Flair tried to go right after her but she had already rolled out of the ring. She taunted her on the outside to end the segment.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Join the discussion in the comment section below.
The numerous rounds of releases from WWE since after WrestleMania in April have left numerous spots open on the main roster. Even prior to the releases WWE had been stuck in a rematch loop which has left the product stale in recent months. So with live crowds coming back in two weeks, where does that … Read more
WWE’s Hell in a Cell took place at a different time of the year than normal. The event, which normally takes place in October, took place on June 20 and fans witnessed the fourth time the women stepped inside the structure. A match that many didn’t think would see the Hell in a Cell structure … Read more
Revolution Pro Wrestling announced that they have vacated the Undisputed Women’s Championship. The British promotion issued an official statement revealing they made the decision because of NXT UK offering tryouts to Jamie Hayter and Skye Smitson. Here’s what the statement said; “Shortly after it was announced Jamie Hayter and Skye Smitson would compete in one … Read more
Charlotte Flair is one of WWE’s most decorated superstars. She is a Grand Slam champion, 13 time women’s champion and regular main eventer. Flair was at the forefront of the WWE’s ‘Women’s Evolution’ that revolutionalised the promotion’s women’s division. The focus on the division saw her, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Becky Lynch become regular headliners … Read more
It was made official on Saturday’s special night episode of Dynamite that the AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker will defend her title against Nyla Rose on Night Two of Fyter Fest. Rose has been the number one contender at the top of the women’s rankings for the past few weeks. As tensions brew between … Read more
