WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne will be making his way to Oberhausen, Germany for a match against Marius Alani this evening. The UK superstar was contacted last minute to perform at the event as Zack Sabre Jr was unfortunately unable to attend due to illness.
The full card for wXw’s historic 17th Anniversary event is now as follows:
Tag Team Match
Jay FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) vs. Monster Consulting (Avalanche & Julian Nero)
wXw Women’s Title Tournament Final Match
Martina vs. Melanie Gray
Singles Match
David Starr vs. Jurn Simmons
Singles Match
Marius Al-Ani vs. Pete Dunne
wXw World Tag Team Title Match
Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) (c) vs. The Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan)
Jim Cornette is a fairly outspoken personality in the wrestling world, his views on the ‘modern’ style of pro wrestling ala The Young Bucks have been in the news once again and as always are fairly disparaging.
In a slight change to usual proceedings Cornette has some praise for a match from this week’s NXT show. The main event for the WWE UK Championship between Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne has been garnering plaudits from fans online and now Cornette has described the two young superstars as “WAAY beyond their experience level” and that they “mix modern style/WOS style well, at their ages they will be stars for years to come.”
Did you enjoy the WWE UK Title match from this week’s NXT? How far do you think Bate & Dunne can go in the WWE? Let us know in the comments.
Both guys are WAAY beyond their experience level & mix modern style/WOS style well, at their ages they will be stars for years to come. https://t.co/fTVNIr5V2H
Irish promotion Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has announced two bouts for their ‘Homecoming’ event which takes place on February 3rd from Dublin, Ireland.
The first sees British Strong Style member and WWE UK Superstar Tyler Bate taking on Zack Sabre Jr. This will be the second time that these two men face off in 2018 following their Rev Pro ‘High Stakes’ tag team match in January.
The second will see a clash of international standouts Keith Lee and ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey. Lee has been making a huge mark on the British scene throughout 2017, his bouts in the headline slot of PROGRESS’ recent Chapter events have seen his stock rise exponentially. Mike Bailey will be looking to once again cement his name on the world stage with this bout, he has been quietly stealing shows across the UK region recently and this match is expected to be another barn burner.
New Japan Pro Wrestling is returning to the United States in just a matter of months. NJPW invades the Walter Pyramid arena in Long Beach, California on March 25th for a special one-night event, Strong Style Evolved.
The Walter Pyramid seats approximately 5,000 fans and hosted the 2-night 2017 G1 Special event that saw Kenny Omega be crowned the first-ever IWGP United States Champion.
Ticket information and match card will be announced soon at NJPW1972.com.
Here’s the official trailer for NJPW: Strong Style Evolved (3/25/2018):
Filming for WWE Studios’ latest project The Marine 6: Close Quarters wrapped this week in London. The Miz and Shawn Michaels have returned home to the United States, while Becky Lynch is back in Ireland an gearing up for her upcoming return.
Lynch and The Miz have been off WWE television during filming, with Miz dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Roman Reigns before heading to the UK. Both are expected back on television after the New Year in the lead-up to the Royal Rumble on 1/28.
The synopsis for The Marine 6 reads, “When Jake Carter (The Miz) and fellow Marine Luke Trapper (Shawn Michaels) stumble upon a kidnapped girl being held prisoner by a dangerous gang of international criminals, they find themselves in the crosshairs as they try to save the girl and bring her kidnappers to justice.”
No release date has been announced as of this writing.
Sasha Banks was recently interviewed by NBC Sports. The interview covered her feelings on the upcoming Royal Rumble, the women’s revolution/evolution, and what may come next for the women’s divisions in WWE.
Sasha Banks Interview Highlights
On what number she wants to enter at:
“I don’t know if I would want to start off first. I would have to do extra cardio to prepare and with the holiday season I’ve been eating a lot, so I don’t know if I would be ready for that … just kidding (laughs).
Honestly, I would rather get that lucky number 30 and throw everyone out that’s left. I don’t want to sweat my makeup off. I want to look good! But no, I haven’t seriously thought about it or had a chance to because I’m still kind of in that shock moment and I’ve been more thinking about what legend could be in the match or if we’ll have girls from NXT be in the match because with [the] SmackDown and Raw [rosters] we don’t have enough to get to that 30 number yet.
On potential legends in the match:
The potential of what legend can I work has me more excited than which number I’ll be in the Royal Rumble match, but I think when I get closer to the actual Royal Rumble, that’s when I’ll get more of my nerves. I don’t want to say I’m in shock because I guessed that this would happen, but it’s still so crazy to kick off 2018 knowing that the women are going to have a Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble. It’s really cool.”
“I would love to hear Trish Stratus’ music. Of course Lita, Molly Holly, Jazz, Jacqueline, man even Victoria. It would be an honor to be in the ring with any of those girls.
On what comes next for her and the women’s divisions:
“Exactly and that’s the number one thing is. I don’t just want something to be given to us just to put that little stamp like ‘Oh look the women are doing it now it’s cool.’ No.
My goal is to main event WrestleMania and if we’re going to main event it, I need it to be the greatest storyline ever. I need the fans to be invested. I just don’t want to get handed something because they’re putting a first time ever [match] for women. I want it to be a good storyline and I want the crowd to care because those are the moments that …
I feel like the reason people talk about the Brooklyn match [I had] with Bayley so much is because of the history between me and Bayley. You know that she fought from the very beginning to get the women’s championship and for me, I fought to keep that and to show people that I’m the best.
People are invested in the storylines more than just putting a name on something and bam! First time ever, you know what I mean?
WWE Superstar Charlotte Flair recently spoke with Planeta Wrestling about the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble. As the SmackDown Women’s Champion, Charlotte will not be eligible to compete in the historic match.
When asked how she feels about not being part of the Women’s Rumble, Charlotte says she’s torn. On one hand, her competitive nature gives her the urge to be part of the the match. She will get to face the winner at WrestleMania 34, so she’s excited about that.
As of this writing, WWE has not yet confirmed how many women will be part of the match. WWE currently has around 20 active female Superstars on the roster. As for which NXT Superstars Charlotte would like to see in the Women’s Rumble, she said, “I definitely am a huge fan of the Australians Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, I think they would be a great edition to the Royal Rumble match. I think Bianca Belair is an amazing, incredible athlete. I think her presence alone, when shed enter the royal rumble, would be amazing.”
She continued, “Kairi Sane is another. And I know everyone’s rumors saying Shayna Baszler is a possibility. I know she’s one. I think all of those women would be great contestants. But again, anyone in NXT would do an incredible job and id like to see anyone step up and be part of the first ever women’s Royal Rumble match.”
The 2018 Royal Rumble takes place on Sunday, January 28th from Philadelphia, PA.
Karen Jarrett posted a photo on Instagram of her and Jeff Jarrett at home, a sign that the Impact Wrestling founder has completed his substance abuse rehabilitation program.
Jarrett checked himself into rehab this fall shortly after Impact announced it had severed business ties with him. Jarrett made several public appearances “in no condition to perform” before getting help.
It was widely reported that Jarrett took advantage of WWE’s standing offer to subsidize the cost of former talent getting the help they need with substance abuse. Jarrett’s longtime friend Hermie Sadler of NASCAR fame said Thursday was a big day for Jarrett and his family, presumably the day he returned home. Sadler thanked WWE for their help, which appears to corroborate the notion that WWE paid for Jarrett’s treatment.
Today's a big day for @RealJeffJarrett and his family. Wanna say how proud I am of him and thanks to @WWE for their help. Love ya bud.
It appears Rusev & Lana are interested in entering the Mixed “Machka” Challenge as a team. Whether or not this leads to them teaming in the Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook remains to be seen, however.
With a babyface run looking likely for Rusev, a Rusev and Lana team in the MMC could be a way to fully turn both characters. On the other hand, the above video might not have been a serious announcement of their intentions to enter the Mixed Match Challenge. Rusev & Lana do have a history of announcing things on social media that WWE would rather they didn’t. The couple announced their engagement through social media in 2015 while in
Rusev & Lana do have a history of announcing things on social media that WWE would rather they didn’t. The couple announced their engagement through social media in 2015 while in storyline they were separated at the time.
In a move done to fund his “Alpha Entertainment” venture, Vince McMahon has sold approximately 3.34 million shares of WWE. The total value of the shares is listed at $100 million.
Details of the sale were released to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing noted the reason for the sale as “primarily to fund a separate entity from the Company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, which Mr. McMahon established to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.”
Alpha Entertainment and Football
News of the sale has fuelled further speculation that Vince could be re-starting the XFL.
Alpha Entertainment filed for 5 trademarks on December 16th related to a potential professional football league, most utilizing the name “XFL”. There was a trademark filed for “URFL”, however, so the name XFL is not a given just yet.
Big E recently took part in an interview with entertainment website, the Wrap, and spoke about New Day potentially turning heel. During the interview, Big E admits he thought that’s where the team was headed not long ago.
Big E Interview Highlights
On New Day Turning Heel:
“After we dropped the titles to Sheamus and Cesaro about a year ago, I really thought that’s where we were headed,” stated Big E. “I think there was a lot of feeling that we were stale, and we kind of felt that way as well.”
“We were getting a smattering of boos — sometimes more than a smattering,”
On New Day Turning Heel in the Future:
“I really don’t know if being heel is gonna be in the cards anytime soon,” E said. “I feel like we have a lot left to offer in terms of different varieties or different incarnations of The New Day”
He did leave the door open for a potential heel run, however, adding “You never know in 6 months how people are gonna feel,”.
Kurt Angle recently appeared on CBS Sports’ podcast, “In This Corner”, and spoke about his current storyline with Jason Jordan. Angle also discussed how Vince McMahon felt fans would feel about the angle.
Kurt Angle Interview Highlights
On Jason Jordan’s ability:
“I knew Jason had the ability to do it. I didn’t know if he would have the ability to carry the storyline,” Angle said. “I knew what he could do in the ring. I wasn’t concerned about the fans saying, ‘Oh man, this guy is actually pretty damn good.’ We already knew that, and we were hoping that his character was [on the same level].”
On how Vince though fans would react:
“You know what’s crazy? Everything that the fans have gone through the last three or four months, most of the fans can’t stand him,” Angle said. “A lot of the fans are saying, ‘He’s getting the wrong kind of heat because we really don’t like him for real.’
“Everything that has occurred up until now, Vince [McMahon] already knew how they were going to react, so this has been working. As many fans will say ‘it’s not working’ and ‘get rid of him’ or ‘I’m not buying it,’ now that the storyline has started to span out and developing further, it was a good fit. Jason is doing a great job, and he has carried the storyline very well. We will see where it goes from here but it should be pretty intriguing.”
On where the angle is going:
“It’s going to be a pretty cool storyline, and I think a lot of fans are going to say, ‘You know what? This kid deserves to be in the main event level.’
“[Jordan] is developing every single week. He’s getting better and better, and his promos and pre-tapes are getting better and better. His in-ring ability — I said this before and I will say it again — he has got to be in the top three or the top five in-ring performers from an athletic standpoint right now today. A lot of people would disagree with me but continue to watch him and see what he can do and you will see what I’m talking about here in the future.”
According to an Instagram post by Kalisto’s wife on Thursday night, her WWE star husband received stitches and underwent an MRI following an unspecified assault. She also speculates that Kalisto may have suffered a fracture from the attack.
It appears that she’s talking about Kalisto being struck in the face by a water bottle that a fan hurled on this week’s episode of 205 Live from Newark, New Jersey as she enclosed a photo of her husband showing a busted lip.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc_OhmojG8Q/
The water bottle incident occurred as Kalisto was laying outside of the ring to sell a beatdown from Gentleman Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick (teaming with Gran Metalik against Kendrick and Gallagher, the match got ruled a disqualification after Kendrick attacked Kalisto while Gallagher was the legal man).
The incident got caught on camera and shows a water bottle bouncing off the floor and nailing Kalisto in the mouth.
According to this tweet by WWE’s Talent Parking Coordinator, the fan who hurled the bottle got caught.
WWE Hall Of Famer Bret Hart has announced that he is now 100 percent cancer-free. “The Hitman” noted that after one year of undergoing surgery for prostate cancer he is now back in the gym. Although it was a tough battle for the Canadian professional wrestling legend, he benefited from detecting the illness early, per a report from Blooms Magazine.
This isn’t Bret’s first run-in with health issues, as the 59-year-old suffered a stroke back in 2002 that left him partially paralyzed. Fortunately Hart was able to make a full recovery.
“You know, it’s so critical for me to stress … that it’s just a blood test,” Hart said as he urged men to get screened for prostate cancer. You gotta go in and get a blood test. If you’re a man over 40, you need to go in.
“You don’t want to be like my brother, Smith, who’s a guy that didn’t worry about it and it’s too late now. If you’ve got prostate cancer, if you don’t catch it early, you could die from it. And if you catch it early, you can live a pretty normal life. I would say I’m pretty close to normal.”
It’s good to be Randy Orton. After spending nearly 17 years with the WWE as one of its top stars, the 13-time World Champion is set to work a much lighter schedule come 2018 as opposed to being a full-time talent. “The Viper” is only bing advertised for a handful of shows in January, but is not being advertised for any between February 6th and April 9th. Despite this, he is still expected to compete at WrestleMania 34 on April 8th.
The 37-year-old also isn’t being advertised for the WWE’s annual WrestleMania Revenge tour of Europe in May. Per a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, people close to Orton say that he’s very happy with his life right now; as WWE gives him a lot of time off, compared to what other Superstars get, but is still being kept towards the top of the card and makes several million dollars a year.
– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore recently appeared on EBRO In The Morning with Peter Rosenberg on HOT 97. During the appearance he did two minutes of rapping, which you can check out here:
– On Xavier Woods’ YouTube channel, UpUpDownDown, SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and Natalya battle it out in a game of Madden 18 for EA Holiday Week. Flair plays as the Atlanta Falcons while Natalya uses the New England Patriots. Check it out here:
Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Sasha Banks was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. “The Legit Boss” talked about realizing she was over in NXT, not being happy with her performance at Survivor Series last month, the Women’s Revolution, feeling like she belonged in Japan during WWE’s overseas tour, and so much more. Here are the highlights:
Not being able to go back and watch her previous matches, and not being happy with her 2017 Survivor Series performance:
“If I go back, which is so hard for me to do sometimes because I’m my biggest critic, like I cringe, argh. Recently, I watched back Survivor Series and I hated everything I did because I don’t know if I didn’t believe what I was doing or if I was unsure. Do know what I mean? Because, sometimes, your time gets cut and you’re like, ‘okay, how do I communicate to this person what I want to do? Will they know if I say this?’ I hate that. I hate that. I hate watching myself back.”
When she realized she was over:
“I did notice a difference when I was wrestling… I had a match against Emma and they were chanting ‘ratchet’ and I thought they were saying ‘rat s–t’ and it was really the first chant I ever got at NXT because before that I got nothing.”
“The following month they kept chanting and chanting and I’m like, ‘this is cool! This is wrestling! Yay!'”
The Women’s Revolution:
“It’s very hard,” Banks said. “It was much harder when we were doing both RAW and SmackDown. I feel like now that the brands split, you kind of know who has the spot right now and I recently learned that you’re not always going to be number one, and especially with the women’s division. We’re so small. It’s going to cycle and you’re going to have the opportunity to be number one again and go back down. It’s legit like a ferris wheel. And it’s not even a matter of like who is going to be number one.
“It’s who’s the champion right now? And right now, it’s Alexa Bliss, she’s number one. And whoever she’s in a storyline with, that’s how it is. That’s all they really right for, is that championship match. Hopefully we get some tag team championships coming up so we have more of a story right now. But with Paige and the new girls right now, it’s not as much about the championship and I’m very interested to know where we’re going next. I have no idea.”
Feeling like she belonged in Japan:
“I only did one tour and it was amazing. Yeah, it was everything that I hoped for. I love the culture. I love the food. And even the fans, I think it was only one night where they were kind of quiet, just watching. But other than that, they were like [western crowds]. They didn’t really mess with me because I’ve watched it so many times. I’ve heard just the quietness of the [clapping], ‘yay!’ But I enjoyed it. I was like, ‘I kind of feel like I belong here!'”
Wanting to be a producer:
“Sometimes I’m like, ‘I just want to retire and be a producer’. I really love creating matches, but then I see what they go through and I’m like, ‘I do not want to do that! I do not want to be yelled at or the stress of it all, but I really, really enjoy helping putting matches together. But I think Bayley wants to be a trainer. She’s so good and patient, like, really good at explaining stuff and I like explaining what I think makes moments, so maybe we’d be a good team like that. But that’s a goal maybe. Or maybe I’ll just retire and sit on the couch the rest of my life and do nothing! Is that bad?”
How much longer she plans on wrestling:
“I don’t want to put a number on it. It’s whenever God tells me to, but, at the same time, I don’t want to be one of those people who went past their time, which scares me because I love this so much. But I don’t know. I’ve done a lot at 25 [years of age] and I wonder how much more I could do, so I don’t know. I’ll leave it in God’s hands.”
You can listen to Banks’ interview on The Steve Austin Show by clicking this link here.
– WWE is now advertising WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and John Cena for RAW’s 25th Anniversary special next month at both the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom. They join previously advertised names such as Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Kevin Nash.
– Recently released WWE star James Ellsworth took to Twitter to share a hilarious story about meeting a fan in traffic. The woman got out of her car in the middle of traffic and went up to Ellsworth’s car to take a picture with him. Ellsworth said he thought he was getting robbed at first:
A lady stopped her car in the middle of traffic at a red-light to come get a selfie with me who was a car over, I thought I was being robbed
– WWE Studios & Seven Buck Production’s “Fighting With My Family” director Stephen Merchant took to Instagram to announce that the film has finally wrapped up production:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc7b_FXlGjw/
– WWE Superstar Braun Strowman stared in a short parody on WWE’s YouTube channel of the famed christmas movie, “Elf,” which stars Will Ferrell. The parody is actually pretty hilarious and worth a watch. You can check it out here:
Earlier this month, former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann was arrested after an incident that occurred with his wife, Vannarah Riggs (aka Su Yung), following a FEST wrestling event where Swann’s girlfriend was performing. Swann was reportedly critiquing his wife’s match when things got heated, causing Riggs to flee the vehicle while it was still in motion.
Swann reportedly forced her back into the car against her will via headlock. It appears as thought Swann and his wife has since reconciled after the debacle, as Riggs posted the following on her Facebook page:
“I can not wait to see my husband tomorrow! After such an awesome weekend of wrestling debuting in two different promotions across America nothing would be better than to see his face.”
Because it seems that they’ve put the incident behind them, there’s speculation that Riggs won’t be pressing charges against Swann. Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline speculated that because of these recent developments, there’s a slight bit of hope for Swann’s WWE career after all – but don’t bank on it:
“If no charges are filed legally, WWE may bring him back, but I don’t know if that would be a certainty. In theory, no charges should mean the slate is clean and he should return, but given the time we’re living in, they could simply decide not to use him.”
This past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live left a lot of WWE fans scratching their heads as it pertains to the status of United States Champion Dolph Ziggler. After capturing the strap at Clash Of Champions this past Sunday night, Ziggler took to SmackDown Live to ‘celebrate’ his title win with the WWE Universe, but ended up seemingly quitting WWE and relinquishing the title.
Per a report from PWInsider, it seems like WWE is really investing in this storyline as Ziggler will not be appearing on upcoming episodes of SmackDown Live, however, he will still be working live events. The belief is that Ziggler was written off TV to sell the storyline but is expected to be back soon. There are no updates as to what this means for the United States Title.
WWE’s choice of storyline comes at a rather interesting time, as talk of Ziggler possibly leaving the company has ramped up lately with his contract set to expire soon. There has been talk that the former World Champion could be headed to Japan or elsewhere since he’s been underutilized by WWE the past few years.
Former WWE World Champion Batista recently stated during an interview on WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ podcast, The Ross Report, that he’d be open to returning to WWE for one last run. Per a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, “The Animal” is actually serious about returning to the company for one final lengthy run (six months to a year) as a full-time competitor.
Batista does have the option to work a schedule similar to that of Goldberg or Brock Lesnar, however, the belief is that he prefers something more along the lines of what Chris Jericho usually does. A key issue with a return for Batista, however, would be if he is offered another role in a Hollywood film during his time under contract with WWE.
The film company and Batista would have to include WWE in negotiations because the company owns your contract when you’re signed. This could make getting a deal done between Batista and WWE difficult.
Posted December 21st, 2017 in News, WWE. Tagged: Batista.
RAW General Manager Daniel Bryan appeared on Ebro In The Morning on New York’s Hot 97 this week and spoke with Ebro & Peter Rosenberg about his desire to wrestle again, concussions and much more in this nearly one-hour interview. The appearance was to promote Tuesday’s SmackDown Live from Newark, NJ.
For those following the saga of Bryan wanting to return to the ring, he’s made his desires clear to WWE, they’ve refused to clear him for action. So where do things stand?
“We are still at, ‘No, you’re not wrestling’ part of that conversation,” Bryan said. “But, I have presented them with my case, which is a lot of testing and all that type of stuff which shows, ‘Hey, I’m fine’ and so it’s interesting. It’s an interesting situation. But it’s also caused a rift between me and the commissioner Shane McMahon, because there’s all this stuff going on. We work together really well, but we also have some beef.”
Ebro said that often makes for a great situation and compared it to a husband and wife who might not get along great but are still awesome parents to their children. Bryan joked that it would be better if you were great parents and a great married couple.
Ebro, a casual fan, asked Bryan specifically why WWE says he can’t wrestle. Bryan replied, “Oh, so I’ve had too many concussions.” They all acknowledged the seriousness of concussions and how it’s having a ripple effect on all sports, from players to parents being more cautious about what they let their children participate in.
Bryan continued, “I think there’s a lot of miseducation surrounding concussions. That’s one of the things I’ve actually been working with people at the concussion institute in Phoenix where I live, and he’s talked to me about going to talk to kids. For example, if you’re a high school football player, and you get a concussion, and you’re like, ‘Oh no, I’m in line for a scholarship, if I tell someone, they might take me out of the game next week.'”
Bryan continued by saying that concussions are not a death sentence. It’s not anything like that and concussion research is still in its early stages. If players get a concussion, it’s important to tell your coach and not play again until your brain is healed. Once you’re healed, you can still play at a high level and it will have minimal longterm impact.
He’s been looked at by many of the country’s leading concussion experts who tell him that he’s fine to wrestle.
Ebro asked why must he wrestle? He’s still involved in the wrestling business. Bryan said he loves wrestling, but he doesn’t love all of it. He loves the physicality of being in the ring and now his job involves the parts of wrestling he doesn’t like (ie. travel).
When asked if he’s addicted to wrestling and the action, Bryan gave an interesting response. At first, addressing the ‘physicality’ aspect, he said “no,” – he does other physical things like jiujitsu and kickboxing which give him some fulfillment there. He then admitted he is addicted to wrestling mentally and acknowledged it’s a borderline obsession for him.
Bryan talked about Tom Brady. He’s suffered multiple concussions, he’s financially set, why does he keep playing?
As for where his wife Brie weighs in, Bryan said she’s fully supportive, she’s been there when he’s gotten the green light from doctors and she’s behind him 100%.
This writeup covers the first 10 minutes or so from the interview – there’s much, much more to it – which you can check out below in its entirety:
It appears that former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal has been working through an injury for the past three months. “The Modern Day Maharaja” revealed in a recent video by athleanx.com that he tore his right shoulder labrum back in September. Mahal claimed he has been doing his own rehab for the injury and has been working through it inside of the ring:
Mahal has had a tremendous year in WWE since returning back in July of 2016. With a new physique, the Singh Brothers by his side, and a WWE Title reign under his belt, the Indo-Canadian has solidified himself as one of the top heels on SmackDown Live. He is currently embroiled in a feud with WWE Champion AJ Styles, who defeated Mahal for the strap last month during a SmackDown Live taping in the UK.
Unfortunately for Mahal he was unable to recapture the WWE Title this past Sunday at Clash Of Champions, losing to “The Phenomenal One” yet again in one-on-one competition. With WrestleMania approaching quickly, it should be interesting to see if Mahal remains in the WWE Title picture.
