News & Notes: PROGRESS NYC, Karen-Strowman, Slater, Shield Reunion

Another Match With WWE Talent Announced for PROGRESS’ NYC Event

As previously reported, PROGRESS announced two matches for their upcoming August 12th event in New York City will feature WWE talent. The first was announced to be a WWE United Kingdom Championship match with Pete Dunn facing off against Jack Gallagher. The other was announced to be a PROGRESS Tag Team Championship match with WWE UK stars Trent Seven and Tyler Bate going against Travis Banks and TK Cooper.

Progress announced earlier today another match involving WWE talent will also occur at their upcoming NYC event. This match was announced to be a women’s tag team match involving recently signed WWE star Dakota Kai teaming with Dahlia Black going against Jinny and Deonna Purrazzo.


Karen Jarrett Addresses Incident With Braun Strowman

During a conference call with the media earlier today, Karen Jarrett made an official statement regarding the incident involving her and Braun Strowman at a Nashville bar after the July 17th episode of RAW.

Karen Jarrett downplayed the seriousness of the incident and claimed it was just two people having some fun that was completely taken out of context.

“Oh my goodness, I can clear the air. It was a silly incident where you have two people in the wrestling business playing their characters, being silly and it got blown way out of proportion.” …

“And the fact that the two of us are still in the news and it’s still being talked about, that’s a question that you took the time to ask I think is hysterical, to be honest with you. It’s silliness. It’s the wrestling business, we had fun with it and somebody took it and turned it into something more than it was.”

A report from PWInsider about the incident stated the argument between Jarrett and Strowman was simply just a loud argument between two drunk people and was not as wacky as the Wrestling Observer had reported from their sources.


Health Slater to Launch a New Wrestling School Next Week

Health Slater is reported to be opening a wrestling school called Face 2 Face Wrestling School on August 9th in Atlanta, Georgia. The lead trainers for the school were announced to be Mr. Hughes, Teddy Long, and Ron Simmons. Jazz, Kiera Hogan, and Odinson were announced as the assistant trainers.

The facility will feature two wrestling rings, a media room, a promo room, and a full time coach dedicated to strength, conditioning, and nutrition. The school will also feature 4K live action cameras to help students improve their match and wrestling moves skills.


WWE Not Interested in a Shield Reunion Any Time Soon

During Monday’s episode of Bring It To The Table, JBL implied the WWE is uninterested in the idea of a Shield reunion happening within the near future. JBL stated its due to the company still sees Reigns as the person to carry the company and sell tickets for the future. He doesn’t think this would be possible with a Shield reunion since the group’s original run was not the main attraction for ticket sales and would only hurt plans to make Reigns into a mega star.

JBL also mentioned the idea of Reigns being the person everyone wants to buy tickets to boo which he believes helps both ticket and merchandise sales in Reigns’ favor.