Welcome to the June 27th ITRWrestling live blog, bringing you the latest news from WWE, AEW, NJPW, IMPACT Wrestling, and more!
Today’s top stories are:
WWE has uploaded a new video to its YouTube channel featuring Sheamus looking back on his greatest WWE moments!
Highlights featured include beating John Cena to win the WWE Championship in 2009, his 18-second WrestleMania victory over Daniel Bryan and his legendary Clash At The Castle 2022 match against Gunther.
What’s your favourite moment of Sheamus’ career? Let us know here and join in the conversation!
Dijak has announced he is set to leave WWE and will become a free agent imminently.
The former NXT star posted a photo of a lengthy letter to his X account earlier today, sharing the news that his WWE contract is expiring. He is set to become a free agent as of tomorrow, June 28th. Various X accounts are tagged in the photo, including those of Tony Khan, AEW, Tommy Dreamer, TNA and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
In his statement, he accused WWE of “stonewalling” him, as they never negotiated with him about a new deal, and told him at the last minute that they would not be renewing his contract. He went on to express his disappointment at how his WWE journey ended but admitted he was excited for the opportunity to prove himself.
Here’s the truth,
WWE never negotiated with me. We attempted to negotiatiate and they stonewalled us. They never made me a single offer, then they informed me they would not renew my contact at the eleventh hour.
2 months ago I was in one of the best matches in NXT history, and a top match of Wrestlemania weekend. On that day, a top executive in WWE told me I was “crushing it.” I was slated to feud for the NXT title but I got called up to RAW instead. I consistently outperformed everyone’s expectations, especially throughout 2023 and early 2024.
I never complained about anything or was difficult to work with. I tirelessly pitched ideas to anyone who would listen, as recently as the day before I was notified. I never once missed a booking, and I was injured 1 time in 7 years for 3 months.
I’m thankful, disappointed, but also excited. This has lit a fire under me to relentlessly prove myself to the world. All I ever wanted was a fair shot and now I have the opportunity to go out and take it. That’s enough talk, now it’s time to Do or Dijak.
My last day under a WWE contract is June 28, 2024. Bookings/Interviews: BookDijak@gmail.com
Get ready to Feast Your F**king Eyes.
Donovan Dijak
Despite being called up to Raw in the WWE Draft earlier this year, Dijak never made an appearance on the red brand. His only appearances since his call-up were on WWE Speed and Main Event where he suffered losses to Xavier Woods and Pete Dunne respectively.
Shinsuke Nakamura will soon be crossing over into the world of UFC!
UFC fighter Rei Tsuruya has announced that he will be accompanied by WWE’s Shinsuke Nakamura for his upcoming UFC 303 fight against Carlos Hernandez. Nakamura will be in Tsuruya’s corner throughout the fight.
This isn’t Nakamura’s first cross-promotional appearance in recent times. Back in January 2023, Nakamura made a one-time appearance in Pro Wrestling NOAH to take on The Great Muta during the latter’s retirement tour.
デビュー戦を控える鶴屋怜 @mma_rei を水垣偉弥が直撃インタビュー🎤#ガッキーインタビューシリーズ @takeya_miz
セコンドに @WWEJapan スーパースターの #中邑真輔 @ShinsukeN 👀
👊 #UFC303
📅6月30日（日）
⏰️アーリープレリム7時｜メインカード11時
📺 @UNEXT_fight & #UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/uLANHDsRFJ— UFC Japan (@ufc_jp) June 26, 2024
Booker T has hit out at AEW’s roster issues, specifically pointing to the booking of Darby Allin in recent years!
During the latest episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, the NXT announcer discussed why he believes AEW feel stale at the moment, attributing part of the problem to the company’s huge roster of stars.
Booker claimed the company had too many people on its roster to build standout stars, pointing to how Darby Allin hasn’t developed into the big name he believes he could be partly due to this.
“I think AEW’s roster is so big, they have no way to really try to find a footing as far as trying to create stories. Because they have way too much talent. Just like WCW had back in the day. Thing was WCW, like I say, was hiring talent just to corner the market.
Now is Tony Khan hiring all of these young talents just to corner the market? Perhaps, maybe. I don’t know. But if he is, he’s doing it the wrong way as well. Because why do you want to corner the market with a talent that’s not even a star yet? That makes no sense to me. That makes no sense. And then you got too many guys on the roster to build.
Look at Darby Allin. Look at Darby. I mean, over the last five years this company has been in existence. Darby Allin — I mean, he’s had a great run with Sting. I don’t want to that away from him or anything like that. But I think Sting got more of the rub that Darby Allin did. I mean, I could be wrong. I could be wrong there, but I feel that way. I don’t feel like Darby Allen has been built to the star that he could have been five years later.”
h/t to 411Mania
Following last night’s edition of AEW Dynamite, a taping took place for this Saturday’s edition of AEW Collision. Below are the spoilers of every match that took place on the taping, courtesy of Cagematch:
WWE’s Rhea Ripley and AEW’s Buddy Matthews have announced that they have tied the knot!
In a post to her Instagram, Ripley announced the news by posting a photo of her and Matthews kissing at their wedding ceremony which took place on June 23rd.
In the post’s caption, Ripley simply wrote “Til death.” The announcement attracted well wishes from various stars across the industry including Dominik Mysterio, Cathy Kelley and B-Fab.
Everyone here at Inside The Ropes congratulates Ripley and Matthews on their marriage!
Tony Khan has admitted he’s open to the possibility of Shane McMahon becoming All Elite by joining AEW!
During a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, the AEW President addressed recent rumours that Vince McMahon’s son, who has not been seen in WWE in over a year, had expressed interest in joining the company to some of its roster members.
Khan stated that while he hadn’t personally met McMahon, he would welcome him into AEW if the opportunity ever arose.
“I heard the rumor he might be interested. I’ve never met Shane, but we have a lot of mutual friends. I have a lot of respect for him as an executive and a professional wrestler. Shane is always welcome in AEW.”
Welcome back to the ITRWrestling live blog! I’ll be with you from 12pm to 6pm BST (7am – 1pm ET) covering all the biggest stories from WWE, AEW, NJPW, IMPACT, and more.
Today’s top stories are:
