WRESTLEZONE RECAP

–Your Sunday Paper For Pro Wrestling News–

July 5, 2015

-WWE celebrated the 4th of July this year with one crew in Canada, and the other in Japan, where an Irishman beat a Canadian in Tokyo. That’s right, Finn Balor is your new reigning, defending NXT Champion after his stand-out match with Kevin Owens, who now moves onto WWE Battleground to fight John Cena, sans NXT gold. That may be a very real sign of KO’s impending full-time move to the main roster, as rumor has it he’s in line to be the next foreign heel to hold the U.S. Championship. 

-It was a very busy week for everyone overseas, not only for WWE running multiple live events in a small window, but for New Japan Pro Wrestling gearing up for their annual Dominion PPV (keep reading for details on that). Kevin Owens still managed to find time to reunite with the Young Bucks, William Regal hung out with an all-time great Japanese legend, and Hideo Itami is officially a “Funaki Guy”. Chris Jericho was also with the WWE crew, wrestling a series of great matches that have been met with nothing but praise from all the live reports that have been sent in. 

-It seems almost an odd time to run a live tribute to the ‘American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes, after already putting together a few WWE Network packages and paying their respects for the last several weeks, but WWE is doing just that following Monday Night RAW in Chicago, IL this week. ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair is being flown in, and the WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends will be present for some kind of live tribute to Dusty immediately after RAW goes off the air. 

–WWE 2K16 will have its cover unveiled during WWE RAW this week. Since the series was taken over by 2K Sports, the company has featured only major names, mainstream marketable names including John Cena and The Rock. It will be interesting to see where they go with it. 

-The next NXT Takeover live special will be the biggest yet, as the WWE Network exclusive show leaves Full Sail University and heads to Brooklyn, NY for the very first time. Takeover will air live just one night before WWE SummerSlam, and two nights before RAW, all taking place in the same building. 

–Rolling Stone magazine named Kevin Owens the 2015 WWE Superstar of the Year (So Far). 

–The current status of Dolph Ziggler is… not clear. Sources from WWE were saying they locked him into another multi-year deal, while other outlets (and Dolph himself) then said he got the contract but hadn’t signed it yet. More than likely Ziggler will end up staying with WWE, as his options are limited in wrestling without going to Japan. He has expressed an interest in exploring other avenues of entertainment – much like Chris Jericho focusing on his music, TV, podcasts, books, etc. – but says he wants to ultimately stay in WWE, but it all comes down to both sides coming together on an agreement that works.