CM Punk and Randy Orton surprisingly announced for upcoming WWE shows
Randy Orton and CM Punk have surprisingly been announced for upcoming WWE shows later this year. Punk is currently involved in a rivalry with Drew McIntyre on RAW, and Orton is set to challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at Bash in Berlin on August 31.
NXT has signed a new deal with The CW Network and will be moving to its new home on October 1. The debut episode will air live from Allstate Arena in Chicago and will feature an appearance by CM Punk. The following week's episode of WWE NXT will air on October 8 from St. Louis and Randy Orton will be on the show.
CM Punk made his return to the ring this past Saturday night at WWE SummerSlam but came up short against Drew McIntyre. Gunther defeated Randy Orton in controversial fashion in the finals of the King of the Ring Tournament in May to earn a title shot at SummerSlam. He defeated Damian Priest to become champion at the premium live event this past Saturday night.
Former WWE writer criticizes the promotion for booking Gunther vs. Randy Orton
Wrestling veteran Vince Russo criticized the promotion's decision to book Gunther versus Randy Orton at Bash in Berlin later this month.
Speaking on this week's episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW show, Russo claimed the company would never take off of The Ring General in Germany. He also noted that fans were getting excited despite already knowing the result of the match.
"Those are very simple questions. We don't even ask them anymore. 'Oh my God, Randy Orton is gonna wrestle Gunther!' And they're gonna take the title off Gunther after three weeks, yeah, you think? Yeah, sit through the match between Randy Orton and Gunther so you can watch the unpredictable finish because we don't know what Triple H is gonna do. Oh my God, we have no idea who's gonna go over in that match," Russo said. [From 26:05 onwards]
You can check out the video below:
CM Punk and Drew McIntyre are rumored to battle once again at WWE Bad Blood in October. It will be interesting to see if the promotion has any more surprises planned for NXT when the brand makes the switch to The CW Network.