Professional wrestling is a constantly changing world, and with the sheer amount of content to watch every week, lots of announcements and changes are going to be made every day. Today’s news includes Mauro Ranallo returning to WWE, a former WWE star winning the Ring of Honor World Championship, and more.
Mauro Ranallo is Back in WWE
Last year, Mauro Ranallo joined WWE’s commentary staff to become the voice of the Cruiserweight Classic and SmackDown Live. Unfortunately, some behind the scenes issues (rumored to do with JBL) led to Ranallo leaving his role on SmackDown. After getting some gigs commentating for boxing and Bellator MMA, Ranallo has announced his return to WWE. Instead of returning to the main roster, however, Ranallo has replaced Tom Phillips as the play-by-play commentator for NXT, and he is starting his new job next week.
Cody Rhodes Wins Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship
This weekend, Ring of Honor hosted their yearly Best in the World Pay-Per-View event. While the card had plenty of big matches on it, the biggest match of the night was also the biggest match in Cody Rhodes’ independent wrestling career. After joining the Bullet Club a few months ago, the American Nightmare worked his way to a Ring of Honor World Championship match against wrestling veteran Christopher Daniels. Rhodes would go on to win the title, making it the first major championship he has won in any promotion.
Along with congratulating Rhodes on his victory, Daniel Bryan decided to have a bit of fun on Twitter. Bryan held the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship for 462 days, and he said that if Rhodes surpasses that length, he “may have to come after” him on September 28 next year. Bryan’s history of concussions has prevented him from ever being cleared by the WWE medical staff, and he has hinted numerous times at wrestling for other companies after his WWE contract expires in 2018, regardless of the negative health implications.
Rusev Returns at SmackDown House Show
In the Superstar Shake-up, Rusev and Lana were both drafted to SmackDown Live. Lana started getting promo videos for her transformation, and recently she debuted in the SmackDown Women’s Title picture. Rusev, on the other hand, has been completely off of television for a few months. That all might change soon, though, because the Bulgarian Brute returned to in-ring action at a SmackDown Live Event this weekend in Vancouver.
Pete Dunne to Defend UK Championship At ICW
WWE’s involvement in United Kingdom-based wrestling has been very unusual over the course of this year. Tyler Bate was crowned the WWE United Kingdom Champion in January, and he would occasionally wrestle for WWE alongside his usual schedule in promotions like Progress (Bate’s actions in Progress were actually acknowledged on NXT). While the weekly UK Championship show is still in the works, Pete Dunne is given the first opportunity to defend the WWE United Kingdom Championship outside of a WWE ring.
Insane Championship Wrestling, a promotion based in Scotland, is hosting Shug’s House Party 4, their big (and oddly named) event on July 29. A few months ago, it was announced that the Scottish Supernova, Noam Dar, would be making a special one-time return to the promotion, and Pete Dunne’s involvement improves the relationship between ICW and WWE. Dunne’s opponent is currently unknown, but ICW’s Fight Club event on July 9 will determine the new #1 Contender.
GLOW Releases on Netflix
If you haven’t been on the internet for a few days, you might not have heard of GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling). Based on a real women’s wrestling promotion from the 1980s, Netflix has created a fictional show where 12 Hollywood actresses out of work attempt to find stardom by learning how to wrestle. Led by Alison Brie, GLOW has received critical acclaim, most notably a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The entire first season is available for streaming on Netflix.
Since GLOW is all about wrestling, it is inevitable that some professional wrestlers are going to make cameos. Chavo Guerrero, who helped the actresses train so they could perform their own stunts, has a gym named after him. Other cameos include Lucha Underground Champion Johnny Mundo, Carlito, Tyrus (formerly known as Brodus Clay), Alex Riley, Joey Ryan, former Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels, and Frankie Kazarian.
