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Rhea Ripley Issues Strong Statement Against Summer Slam After Loss
Rhea Ripley lost her chance to become the new Women's World Champion against Naomi and IYO SKY in a triple threat match. She almost got her hands on the gold when she delivered an Avalanche Riptide to IYO SKY and pinned her down. The referee counted two and that's when Naomi rolled Rhea up from behind and got the cover to retain her title. Ripley was left shocked and disappointed after coming so close. Even Michael Cole, the commentator, deemed that she was "snakebit". After the match, Ripley took out her frustration on X. "I think I hate SummerSlam…" She posted. She also reposted her reaction after the loss, with a side-by-side comparison to the Joker. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch Both Take Home Titles In the other women’s matchup, Becky Lynch successfully defended her Intercontinental Championship against Lyra Valkyria. She came close to losing the title when Bayley, intending to punch Lynch, accidentally struck Valkyria instead—allowing Lynch to cover her and comfortably retain the belt. On Saturday, Lynch’s husband, Seth Rollins, won the World Heavyweight Championship after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract in a surprise return from a knee injury. He took the title from an exhausted and helpless CM Punk. Seth Rollins and CM Punk's Reactions After the Match After the match, both stars took shots at each other, kicking off a future rivalry. Rollins borrowed Punk’s line and put his own spin on it, then posted a highlight from the match on Instagram with the caption “Summer of Rollins.” Punk, meanwhile, shared a photo of Paul Heyman hugging Rollins alongside an image of the viral Coldplay kiss-cam couple—billionaire astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his partner—and captioned it, “Not baby girl coded. All ham sandwiches.”
Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love Just Put the 'Aaron Rodgers Is a Bad Teammate' Narrative to Bed Once and For All
The story is very familiar to Green Bay Packers fans: when the team decided to select Aaron Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, their incumbent quarterback, Brett Favre, was not happy. And he let everyone know about it, including his successor. For his part, Rodgers kept his head down and picked up whatever he could from watching the eventual Hall of Famer play the quarterback position. Fast forward 15 years to 2020, and Rodgers found himself in the same position as Favre: feeling like he was on top of his game, but seeing Green Bay take his eventual successor in the NFL Draft. That, of course, was Jordan Love, the current Packers starting quarterback. Green Bay Packers Quarterback Jordan Love, Once Again, Describe How Well Aaron Rodgers Treated Him Over the past several years, there has been a narrative pushed by many members of the national media that Rodgers is a bad teammate. Some of these claims started to pop up during his final years with the Packers, but they gained steam and notoriety while he was with the New York Jets. The only problem with these claims is that they hardly ever came from players that actually were teammates with Rodgers. And, for his part, Love has always praised his predecessor for how welcoming he was despite the narrative surrounding them immediately following the 2020 NFL Draft. In his recent post on the Players Tribune, Love once again praised Rodgers for what he did for him as a mentor and teammate: “I don’t think it really set in for me until I started doing interviews, and every question was basically, ‘What about Aaron?’ “In my mind, I was like, ‘What do you mean? He’s one of the best to ever do it. I’m about to learn everything I can from this dude.’ “But before me and Aaron could even talk, the narrative was rolling. And it’s so crazy to me, because from the jump, Aaron was great with me. He laid out how he was in my same situation, and that he wanted to make sure there was no hostility. I told him I just wanted to learn and soak it all in. “I mean, I’d been a QB2 for a lot of my life. For me, it was nothing new. It was perfect, actually. Think about it: you’re coming into this league at 21 years old. It’s a different world. I’m not even talking about just football. You have to be able to command a room and know how to talk to different guys, how to motivate them — what to say, what not to say. I got to watch Aaron and how he handled those situations, and that was invaluable.” Love went on to describe how he learned from watching his legendary predecessor, how he picked up on when defenses were making substitutions too late, how he built chemistry with Davante, how he “manipulated” defenses instead of just “playing” against them. He also said that the biggest thing he learned from Rodgers was that the most important thing in the NFL, in games, in practices, in everything, is to be consistent. And when it came time for Love to take over as the Packers starting quarterback, he knew what was expected. So did his mother, he told him, “Big shoes to fill. You going to be alright? You gotta play good, or they’ll get another quarterback.” Fortunately, for Love and the Packers, he has been as good as they could have hoped and continues to get better. And Rodgers’ mentoring and welcoming demeanor played a big role in that.
Cowboys former first-round pick forced to leave practice due to injury
Injuries have been a prevailing theme for the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. They’re still without Trevon Diggs, Shavon Revel Jr., and Josh Butler, which has thinned out the secondary. On offense, they’ve had better luck but still lost starting left tackle Tyler Guyton for several weeks. Now another projected starter had to leave practice on Monday. 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith had to visit the medical tent, then headed to the locker room following the examination from the team’s medical staff. Smith is entering his third season in the league, and can ill-afford to miss time. He’s been struggling to hold down a starting spot and enters the preseason in danger of losing his job. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 337 pounds, Smith was brought in to be a run-stuffing nose tackle. Through two years, he’s been unable to find his footing, recording 54 tackles and two sacks. It’s not fair to place all of the blame on Smith, however. He’s been asked to perform different roles under three different defensive coordinators. Dan Quinn had him playing as an attacking 3-tech in 2023 while Mike Zimmer placed him in a more traditional 1-tech role. Smith performed better under Zimmer, but is asked to do more attacking under new coordinator Matt Eberflus, which has put his struggles front and center once again. Should he miss extensive time with this injury, it could be devastating to his chances of keeping the starting job.
Milwaukee Brewers: Nestor Cortes Gone, Standout Rookie 3B Has Emerged as Gem from Would-Be Lose-Lose Trade
Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes was the centerpiece of the Milwaukee Brewers‘ return haul from trading co-closer Devin Williams to the Yankees last December. Eight months later, Cortes is a member of the Padres, logging all of two starts in Milwaukee before injuries sapped his season. Over in New York, Williams lost his closer’s job, got it back, and has had one good month en route to a 5.04 ERA. Without the other part of Milwaukee’s incoming package, then minor-league third baseman Caleb Durbin, the trade would look at this juncture like a lose-lose scenario. Thanks to Durbin, it’s been anything but for the Brewers. Caleb Durbin is Milwaukee Brewers’ diamond in the rough Durbin didn’t make the spring training cut. Instead, the Brewers went with fellow rookie Oliver Dunn as the team’s starting third baseman. Durbin went down to Triple-A Nashville. Dunn didn’t last. After he struggled through the first three weeks of the season, he and Durbin switched places and the latter hasn’t squandered his shot. Following a slow start, he’s turned up the heat at the dish while playing outstanding defense. He’s had an OPS around .800 for over two months now and has his season slashline up to .263/.344/.372. His 2.2 WAR in 86 games played is tied for 10th among all third basemen, making him one of the position’s more valuable players. The Brewers saw plenty of promise in Durbin when they traded for him, coming off a strong season with New York’s Triple-A affiliate. Even though he didn’t, he was a decent candidate to make the team out of spring. The team likely didn’t see a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate, which he is. By WAR, he and Braves catcher Drake Baldwin have contributed the same value to their teams, more than any other NL rookies. Cortes, on the other hand, was supposed to be a consistent cog in the rotation. Last year for the Yankees, he made 30 starts and recorded a 3.77 ERA. Instead, he’s still making his way back from injury ahead of start number three this season. In San Diego. Of course, Milwaukee did turn him into outfielder Brandon Lockridge, who will provide depth while Jackson Chourio is hurt. To dump Cortes’ salary, however, they had to attach a prospect, infielder Jorge Quintana. Neither Cortes nor Williams has been what the receiving team hoped. Both will be free agents this offseason. Only the Yankees, however, are at risk of walking away empty-handed. With years of team control remaining, the Brewers have in Durbin what looks to be their third baseman of both the present and future. The trade didn’t deliver according to expectations, but it’s hard to be too upset with the results.
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