Select Portions: Smackdown News, Janai Kai, More
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Fightful will be dropping interviews with Jade Cargill and Nic Nemeth this week ahead of TNA Emergence and Bash In Berlin. We have a number of interviews ahead of BLP's Wrestler Combine and will be on the scene too.
Fightful is scheduled to interview Maven this week. Let us know if you have any questions.
WWE Director of Character Development Rob Fee was in the background of the Carmelo Hayes/Andrade segment.
GCW internally is touting a number of "major" surprises tonight
As one would expect, Andrade and Carmelo Hayes have received high marks for their storytelling in the ring, and getting the audience invested in their feud.
Next week's WWE Smackdown will be taped delayed by a number of hours as it takes place in Beriln.
Smackdown Producers
Waller Effect with Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens: Michael Hayes & Bobby Roode
LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar: Shane Helms
Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill & Naomi vs. Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn & Blair Davenport: Petey Williams
Bloodline vs. Street Profits: Jamie Noble
KO-dy Rhodes vs. A-Town Down Under: Michael Hayes & Bobby Roode
Dark Match: Kairi Sane vs. Liv Morgan: Nick Aldis
Dark Match: Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre: Nick Aldis
WWE Speed: Lyra Valkyria vs. IYO SKY: Nick Aldis
WWE Speed: Andrade vs. Pete Dunne: Nick Aldis
Janai Kai
Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp spoke to Janai Kai after signing with MLW.
Janai told Fightful that the deal got done about a month ago, and that she values the trust that MLW put in her to hold their championship while technically a free agent. She said that while she was backstage at AEW, she'd started contract talks with MLW around that time and still maintains a positive relationship with AEW.
She was very surprised she was added to Contra Unit and was pumped that Minoru Suzuki was added to it, which she said was kept very quiet. We also spoke about her extensive striking training across TKD, muay thai and kickboxing. She's also teaching boxing now.
We discussed her unique look, which she said she's considered making changes to. However, she feels very identifiable as a result, and thinks that even if most people don't know much about her, they can identify her by her silhouette.
The full interview will be at this link: https://youtu.be/FywNDR1aGx4?feature=shared
