Original WWE Payback Plans Changed
According to Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, plans for the recent WWE Raw Women’s Championship match at WWE Payback changed multiple times leading into the pay-per-view. Originally, plans called for Bayley to retain the title in San Jose, her hometown crowd, but officials changed their minds the morning of the show.
They went back and forth throughout the day, with the final decision obviously being for Alexa Bliss to defeat Bayley for the championships, becoming the first woman to win both the Raw and Smackdown Live women’s titles. The California crowd had almost no reaction to the title change, with some minor booing after Bliss defeated the hometown babyface clean in a rather lackluster finish. The decision ultimately killed the momentum of the show, which was immediately followed by the House of Horrors segment that was actively booed and mocked by the live crowd.
Cody Rhodes Announced for DEFY Wrestling
After defeating David Finlay at this week’s NJPW Wrestling Dontaku event, former WWE star Cody Rhodes has announced that he will headline the upcoming DEFY Wrestling event on June 29th in Tacoma, Washington. Rhodes will be taking on Penta El 0M in their second ever singles match together, as the two wrestled for All Pro Wrestling back in February.
The promotion will also be running a second show the following night, June 30th, in Seattle with Pentagon and Fenix headlining against Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. For more information, check out defywrestling.com.
