The wrestling world is gearing up for its next major weekend, Labor Day weekend - with both AEW and WWE having big live events that weekend with All Out and Clash at the Castle, respectively. Until then, both companies are looking to position themselves as strongly as possible going into September.
Today, we'll look at the next potential big re-signing by WWE, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt.
Will Bray Wyatt Return to WWE?
Ever since Paul "Triple H" Levesque took over creative in WWE, we have seen a slew of former WWE superstars return, including Karrion Kross & Scarlett, Dexter Lumis, Dakota Kai and potentially Sasha Banks and Naomi. Could Bray Wyatt be the next big return?
It felt like WWE never "got" the Bray Wyatt updated character, "The Fiend." Maybe Vince McMahon just didn't get it with the character. According to Fightful Select, McMahon and Wyatt were constantly at odds, likely the reason for Wyatt's release in 2021, which was explains as a cost cutting measure at the time. Wyatt was unafriad to criticize the creative direction (or lack thereof) for his character, and in turn McMahon defensively shouted derogatory things about Wyatt's physique.
Wyatt's last on-screen appearance was during WrestleMania 37, after a long feud with Randy Orton. One person involved in the storyline told Fighful "no one at any point among the journey had a fing clue as to what the f was supposed to happen," with no resolution to the story settled upon, before the angle was ultimately dropped due to Wyatt's release.
Triple H and Stephanie are said to have no issues with Wyatt and want to work with a "clean slate." There are those backstage in WWE with "renewed optimism," according to Fightful that a deal will eventually be worked out, although nothing is currently locked in for Wyatt. There are people involved backstage pitching for his return.
Two wrestlers you will likely see back on your screens soon are Top Dolla and Ashonte Adonis of Hit Row. The two are expected to appear on WWE Smackdown tonight. No return is planned for B-Fab. Of course, Swerve is currently signed to AEW, so he will not be returning with the group. Bryan Alvarez suggested that Tyler Breeze may also be returning. Santos Escobar is expected to be called up from WWE NXT, and speculation is running rampant that we may soon see Johnny Gargano and Candace LaRae on WWE TV.
We'll keep you posted as more returns get announced.
Weekend Wrestling Preview
Smackdown is tonight at 8pm on Fox. Who will we see debut? Here are the officially announced matches and segments:
- Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
- WWE Women's Tag Team title first-round match: Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah vs. Shotzi & Xia Li
- Liv Morgan-Shayna Baszler contract signing
Here's what to expect on AEW Rampage tonight at 10pm on TNT.
- AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship: Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo (c) vs. Dante Martin & Skye Blue
- Orange Cassidy vs. Ari Daivari
- Danhausen & Erick Redbeard vs. Gunn Club
- Parker Boudreaux vs. Sonny Kiss
- Bryan Danielson in-ring promo
- FTW Champion Hook will be there
- Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland to talk
If you don't want to wait, you can read spoilers here.
I am totally behind on the New Japan G1 climax, but there will be two big shows this weekend, here is a preview of night 16.
Snoop Dogg Gifted One-of-A-Kind WWE Belt
Snoop Dogg helped WWE kick off their WrestleMania 39 ticket on-sale yesterday in Los Angeles, at SoFi Stadium, and it was an entire scene. The Doggfather gifted WWE Raw Women's Champion Bianca BelAir and Becky Lynch each a Death Row Records necklace, and WWE returned the favor by gifting Snoop a custom designed WWE title. It looks awesome. Here are some photos and videos highlighting the fun:
Don’t forget, every Monday, at 7pm eastern, hosts Alicia Atout, Colin Young, and Jordan Olds will be talking about this entire insane week of on the Knotfest Youtube page.
You can always follow me @robinjection on Instagram and Twitter and @Squaredcirclpit.
