⚛ The Atomic Drop - WWE Evolution headlines blockbuster weekend 👩🦰
All the news on both Evolution and Saturday Night's Main Event, plus the latest additions to the AEW All In card
👋 Hello, and welcome to The Atomic Drop, your new home for everything in the world of professional wrestling. Formerly known as the Piledriver wrestling newsletter, this is a fresh take on everything in and out of the ring.
If you would like to receive a new edition of the newsletter when it is sent out each week, then please subscribe. It would be much appreciated and I’d love to have you as part of our community. The best part: it’s free!
Continue below for the top stories, British bits, results, opinion, and so much more.
📰 Top stories
🤼♀️ WWE Evolution is taking place on Sunday, and the all-women’s show features a stacked match card. Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus, Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair are all involved, and you can read more in this piece by Ben Kerin of WrestlingNewsSource.
🌟 WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event is the first event this weekend, with Goldberg facing Gunther in his retirement match. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, LA Knight and Drew McIntyre will also be there, and Jeremy Thomas of 411Mania has the latest.
🃏 AEW All In Texas is on Saturday, and there have been new additions to the line-up in recent days. The event is headlined by Jon Moxley vs ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, and Andrew Kelly of Cultaholic has put this together with everything you need to know.
🤡 AAA star Psycho Clown is reportedly getting closer to a move to WWE after his impressive performance at Worlds Collide.. The third-generation wrestler could be set to be featured heavily on TV, and Andrew Pollard of WhatCulture has this to say.
📝 Rumours are swirling about the contract status of AJ Styles within WWE, with The Phenomenal One thought to be nearing the end of his deal. It is unclear exactly where the two parties stand, but Matt Black of WrestleZone has detailed what we do know.
British bits you might have missed
🏏 Cricket legend Freddie Flintoff has revealed he once turned down ‘obscene money’ to join WWE. The plan was reportedly for him to take on The Undertaker, as Cameron Winstanley of The Daily Star has written.
⚔ Drew McIntyre has made his return to WWE, interrupting a segment with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, and eating an RKO as a result. He will now face Orton at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Cain A. Knight of Cageside Seats reports.
👋 Joe Hendry has hit back at Nic Nemeth, after the former WWE star criticised him for losing the TNA World Championship to NXT’s Trick Williams. Read this story by Nishant Jayaram of WrestlingInc to see what Hendry had to say.
🔔 WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event and Evolution 2025 preview
Saturday Night’s Main Event
Gunther vs Goldberg for the World Heavyweight Championship.
LA Knight vs Seth Rollins amid their heated rivalry.
Randy Orton vs Drew McIntyre in a star-studded contest.
Evolution
Jacy Jayne vs Jordynne Grace for the NXT Women’s Championship.
Iyo Sky vs Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship.
Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez vs Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair vs Asuka and Kairi Sane vs Sol Ruca and Zaria for the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
A Battle Royal for a women’s world title match at the Clash in Paris event.
Tiffany Stratton vs Trish Stratus for the WWE Women’s Championship.
Jade Cargill vs Naomi in a No Holds Barred match.
Becky Lynch vs Lyra Valkyria vs Bayley for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.
⭐ Superstar spotlight: Jordynne Grace
Jordynne Grace has been a sensation since she debuted in NXT, but it was before her switch to WWE, and during her reign as TNA Knockouts World Champion, that she began her ascent. She had fantastic feuds with the likes of Trinity and Mickie James, and this set her up brilliantly for the bright lights of WWE.
Having already made multiple appearances in Royal Rumble matches, and hugely impressed during these battles, Grace debuted in NXT, and started to pursue the NXT Women’s title. She narrowly lost out to Roxanne Perez, Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer, but this didn’t stop The Juggernaut from moving forward.
Now, after taking part in a mini-tournament to determine the number one contender for Jacy Jayne’s championship, Jordynne will once again challenge for the title at Evolution. I strongly believe that, on the biggest stage of her career so far, she will finally pick up her first gold under the WWE umbrella.
📅 Wrestling recap: WWE Unforgiven 2003
With Goldberg set to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship against Gunther for the final time this weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event, I’ve taken a look back at the last time he won that title. WWE Unforgiven 2003 was a very memorable event, and it featured other matches that are worth another watch.
The Dudley Boyz won the World Tag Team Titles in a Table Elimination match, and Randy Orton faced Shawn Michaels in a match billed as ‘Legend vs Legend Killer’. Kane and Shane McMahon went to war in a Last Man Standing match, and Christian, Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam had a great Intercontinental Championship contest.
In the main event, Goldberg took on World Heavyweight Champion Triple H in a Title vs Career match, and it would be The Icon who came out on top, lifting championship gold once again. Watching this show got me thinking about what it would be like for Goldberg to be champion one more time, so let’s see what happens on Saturday.
📺 You can watch Unforgiven 2003 on Netflix, the new home of WWE’s archives.
👀 Must-see matches of the week
Andrade and Rey Fenix vs Fraxiom - WWE SmackDown July 4
Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso vs Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo - WWE SmackDown July 4
Konosuke Takeshita and The Young Bucks vs Bandido and Paragon - AEW Dynamite July 2
Mercedes Mone vs Mina Shirakawa for the AEW TBS Championship - AEW Dynamite July 2
Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi - AEW Dynamite July 2
🗓 What’s on this week?
Wednesday 9 July - AEW Dynamite
Thursday 10 July - AEW Collision and TNA Impact
Friday 11 July - WWE SmackDown
Saturday 12 July - WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, AEW All In Texas and NXT Great American Bash
Sunday 13 July - WWE Evolution
Monday 14 July - WWE Raw
Tuesday 15 July - WWE NXT
Would you like to be a part of The Atomic Drop? Get in touch by filling in this form, and I’ll make sure your ideas are heard.
Send me your reviews and tell me what content you would like to see in this newsletter.
This newsletter is a work in progress, and with your help, I can make The Atomic Drop exactly what you want it to be.
Thanks for reading and have a great week.
Owen Younger - Editor of The Atomic Drop.