AEW, NXT set higher stakes
NXT had a higher TV rating than AEW on Wednesday, June 22, but things are about to pick up.
Over the course of the next two Wednesdays, both promotions were going to have two-show PPV-like events.
AEW蘑菇视频 event is called FyterFest, while NXT is using the Great American Bash name.
I like how both promotions are treating these next two shows as big events, and it will be interesting to see who pulls out all the punches.
More WWE COVID-19 cases
Last week, we looked at how WWE had to change its TV taping schedule due to an NXT trainee testing positive for COVID-19.
Over the course of the last week, three more WWE employees tested positive. Announcers Renee Young and Kayla Braxton, as well as agent Adam Pearce, all confirmed their results.
For Braxton, it is her second time contracting the virus.
The WWE outbreak could carry over to AEW as Young is married to AEW champion Jon Moxley. He was told by AEW to stay home the previoius week and it would not have been surprising if he did not appear Wednesday either.
Flair out for six weeks
When Nia Jax attacked Charlotte Flair on Raw to 鈥渋njure鈥� her, it was so Flair could have time off. She is having an elective surgery and will be back in six weeks, give or take.
Fox cuts Backstage
Fox announced on Monday, June 22 that it was eliminating WWE Backstage from its FS1 lineup effective immediately. This past Tuesday蘑菇视频 June 23 show was a repeat.
On This Day 鈥�
On June 28, 1998, WWE holds King of the Ring in Pittsburgh, and one of the most famous pro wrestling matches of all-time takes place when The Undertaker defeated Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match.
Going into the match, there was question about how good of a match Taker and Mankind could have.
At the time, Taker had a broken bone in his foot and Mankind was recovering from injuries of his own. However, the injuries Mankind had going into the match were nothing compared to what was about to happen.
The match started on top of the cell and Taker threw him off moments later.
WWE蘑菇视频 medical team eventually began to wheel Mankind out, but he climbed back up on the cell where Taker was waiting.
The Dead Man chokeslammed Mankind through the cage and a chair on top of the cage hit Mankind in the mouth when he landed, breaking teeth and lodging one through his lip.
The match continued and Taker won with a tombstone after the vicious bout.
Two sidebar stories about the match.
Mick Foley (Mankind) tells the story that no one knew he was going off the cage and then through it.
However, a WWF connection met some friends and me at The Souper Bowl, a sports bar a few blocks away on Fifth Ave. He informed us Foley was going off the cage and if he was alright, would go through it.
Also, while I had floor seats for the show, a good friend of mine had front row seats behind the announcer蘑菇视频 table.
As the Cell match was about to begin, Paul 鈥淏ison鈥� Brunory walked back past where I was sitting to get food since he wasn鈥檛 a Taker or Mankind fan. I jokingly asked him to trade me tickets for the match, and he did, so I sat front row for arguably the most talked about match in pro wrestling history.
If you watched the match, when they show the camera replay from up high, I am on the right, right behind Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, wearing a beige tank top.
In other big matches, Kane defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF championship and Ken Shamrock defeated The Rock to win the King of the Ring tournament.
In memory
This column is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Patty Crosby.
The story of the Hughes and Crosby families is a long one and dates back to when we lived a stone蘑菇视频 throw away from each other. A bond was formed by chance, but it continues by choice.
There wasn鈥檛 a day when we, as kids, weren鈥檛 playing with each other.
Yolanda was born first. Two years later, I came along followed by Andre five months later. Four years after, and within a week of each other, Kim 鈥淐鈥� and my twin sisters, Kim 鈥淗鈥� and Jess, were born.
Ice cream runs, Pirate games, dinner, basketball games on the hoop on our family蘑菇视频 garage, the girls hanging out, whatever it was, the Crosbys and Hughes have always been family.
When my niece Abbey was diagnosed with Hodgkin蘑菇视频 Lymphoma in 2015, Mrs. Crosby was a constant for us and Kim 鈥淐鈥� would meet Jess at Children蘑菇视频 Hospital in Pittsburgh when Abbey was getting chemo.
When my grandfathers passed away, Mrs. Crosby spent hours at the funeral homes each time with my parents. Not because she had to, but because that is what family does.
A woman who I have considered and loved like my second mother since I was a little kid, Mrs. Crosby always had a special connection with everyone blessed to know her.
Despite being from different races and cultures, our bond wasn鈥檛 based on looks. It was based on how we made each other feel, and Mrs. Crosby always made us feel like family.
I can only hope she felt that we did the same for her.
If more people in this country were like Mrs. Crosby, then we would be living in a much more harmonious place.
We have lost one of the nicest people to ever walk the Earth, but those of us who knew Mrs. Crosby can rest knowing we were lucky to have had such a special person in our lives and now have an amazing angel watching over us.
On behalf of the Hughes family, our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Crosby, Landa, Dre, Kim, Kelly, the grandkids and great-grandkids.