Some fans believed that former WWE Champion AJ Styles would emerge as Baron Corbin’s opponent for the WWE’s house show in Madison Square Garden last night. However, that wasn’t the case. The reason for the speculation was because Styles was abruptly removed from SmackDown’s live event the same day in Chicago.
The Chicago crowd was told that Styles would not be appearing due to an illness. He was scheduled to face Daniel Bryan in a Steel Cage match for the WWE Championship. Instead, The Miz and Mustafa Ali were added to the match in Styles’ place. Fans were reportedly very into the bout, which saw Bryan retain his title when it was all said and done.
Styles is still advertised for tonight’s live event in Uniondale, New York, but if he’s still sick, that could change.
WWE Fans Leave Live Event At Intermission (Photo)
Speaking of last night’s SmackDown live event in Chicago, it turns out some fans missed the main event of the night during intermission. Many fans began to leave after Bryan defended his title over Ali and Miz.
They didn’t realize Asuka was main eventing with a title defense against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. WWE did not announce the main event ahead of time, thus the likely reason for the confusion. The following is a fan photo of the Chicago crowd leaving the arena after Bryan’s WWE Title defense:
Professional wrestling fans can’t stop raving about the rise of Becky Lynch in WWE this year. Lynch captured the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship from best-friend-turned rival Charlotte Flair at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view (PPV) this past October. She was then set for a massive showdown against RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series the following month.
Unfortunately, an injury suffered during the RAW invasion angle forced her off the card. Lynch dropped the SDL Women’s Title earlier this month. She was defeated in a Triple Threat TLC match thanks to some interference from Rousey. Given the current three-way rivalry between Rousey, Flair, and Lynch, WWE could have something massive planned for the feud.
With 2018 coming to a close, it’s hard to spot a more impressive Superstar from the year other than Lynch. She was recently named CBS’ Wrestler Of The Year after an amazing 2018. Along with her Wrestler Of The Year award, Lynch also took home two more. She was awarded Match Of The Year with her involvement in the Triple Threat TLC bout in which she lost her title.
Lynch also received Moment Of The Year for her attack on Ronda Rousey on RAW, before subsequently suffering a concussion and broken nose at the hands of Nia Jax. “The Irish Lass Kicker” recently took to Twitter to react to being named CBS’ Wrestler Of The Year for 2018:
“Start of 2018, I couldn’t even get on TV. You’re never truly down, you’re never truly out. Stand up and fight. Keep swinging even if you don’t know what you’re swinging for, or at. If you’re like me you’ll eventually slap a head that deserves it and the whole world will notice.”
World Association of Wrestling (WAW) announced earlier this year that former Premier League football (soccer) player Grant Holt would be swapping his studded boots for wrestling boots and entering the squared circle for the very first time. Holt made his singles debut against Brad O’Brien on 22nd December.
The 37 year old who previously played for the likes of Aston Villa and Norwich recently finished his career professionally for National League side Barrow. The former football star will be headlining a huge stadium show for WAW at Norwich City’s Carrow Road on June 2nd. Holt recently spoke to the BBC regarding the upcoming show, saying that “The club have been fantastic and embraced it from the first moment I walked through the door. They’ve bent over backwards to help us. I’m trying to get people who loved wrestling back in the day back involved in it. I’m hoping everyone comes to enjoy the show and comes to see me in action back at Carrow Road in a different capacity.”
If WAW are successful in filling the stadium they could be looking at a 6,000 strong house. PROGRESS held an event at Wembley earlier this year that drew 4,750 fans, so this could be the biggest event in the country for well over 30 years.
Before emerging as one of professional wrestling’s top stars, Cody Rhodes was a product of WWE. The son of WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes was signed to the company in 2006 and competed in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Eventually, he’d make his main roster debut in 2007 when he began a brief alliance with Hardcore Holly on Monday Night RAW. For the next decade, Rhodes would spend his career in WWE, learning, evolving, and growing great aspirations within the business.
His time with WWE ended in 2016 when his creative goals simply weren’t in line with what WWE had in mind for him. Instead, Rhodes ventured off to promotions such as Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), becoming one of the industry’s hottest stars outside the WWE umbrella. He has since captured a pair of World Titles for ROH and NWA, and is currently reigning as the IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
Now, Rhodes is rumored to be involved with the upstart All Elite Wrestling (AEW) promotion. Over nearly three years away from WWE, it’s amazing to see how much Cody has grown away from the company. Some believe that WWE “squandered” Cody during his time with the professional wrestling juggernaut. He recently addressed this on Twitter, and noted it’s a notion he disagrees with:
“They didn’t squander me at all. It was a great place to learn, travel, and grow-up across TV sets. Helped shape the business side of me forever. I just had different aspirations and saw a different path I wanted to take.”
They didn’t squander me at all. It was a great place to learn, travel, and grow-up across TV sets. Helped shape the business side of me forever. I just had different aspirations and saw a different path I wanted to take.
Becky Lynch lit the WWE on fire in 2018. “The Irish Lass Kicker” emerged as a huge WWE fan favorite back in August when she turned on Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam. While it might not have been what WWE was planning for, they made a star with Lynch’s post-match beatdown of Flair at “The Biggest Party Of The Summer.” Lynch went on to win the SmackDown Live Women’s Title from Flair at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view (PPV).
This set up a big match between Lynch and RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series. Unfortunately, Lynch suffered an injury that forced her to miss the card. However, she’s expected to be a big part of the plans for WrestleMania 35’s main event. Lynch recently dropped the SDL Women’s Title to Asuka at the Tables Ladders and Chairs PPV.
She and Charlotte Flair were sabotaged by Ronda Rousey, who interfered in the match by pushing both women off a ladder. This allowed Asuka to climb the ladder and grab the title for herself. The issues between Lynch, Flair, and Rousey could be leading to something big in the future. But with that being said, the Irishwoman has emerged as one of WWE’s biggest stars in 2018. Her stardom has even attracted the attention of UFC mega-star Conor McGregor.
Lynch recently took to Twitter to reflect on her amazing year, and looked ahead at what’s to come in 2019:
“2018: Even the other wrestlers couldn’t take their eyes off me. 2019: I finish this job I started.”
RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey made WWE history last night. WWE held its house show from Madison Square Garden, which featured a stacked card with great match-ups. However, in the main event of the evening, Rousey defended her title against Nia Jax. The bout was the first-ever women’s wrestling match to main event a show at Madison Square Garden.
Rousey has been a huge factor in WWE’s Women’s Evolution and has been reaching milestones in WWE since debuting back in April. Having already accomplished so much in mixed martial arts (MMA), what Rousey has been able to do in sports is nothing short of incredible.
Shortly after the show, Rousey took to Instagram to reflect on making history at MSG. Here’s what she had to say:
“Another day, another glass ceiling shattered. I’m so incredibly honored to share the ring with these amazing women in the first ever WWE women’s main event at @thegarden”
You can check out the full results from WWE’s MSG house show last night here:
John Cena def. Baron Corbin
WWE Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership Battle Royal: Apollo Crews def. Curt Hawkins, Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, Konnor, No Way Jose, Rhyno, Titus O’Neil, Viktor, and Zack Ryder
Bayley & Sasha Banks def. Alicia Fox & Dana Brooke
Ten Man Tag Team Match: Aleister Black, Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne, Ricochet & The Velveteen Dream def. Johnny Gargano, The Undisputed ERA (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) & Tommaso Ciampa (w/Bobby Fish)
Guitar On A Pole Match: Elias def. Bobby Lashley (w/Lio Rush)
Ember Moon & Natalya def. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott)
Triple Threat Match: Finn Balor def. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre
Triple Threat Match: WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable def. AOP (Akam & Rezar) (w/Drake Maverick) and The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)
Steel Cage Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dean Ambrose def. Seth Rollins
WWE RAW Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey def. Nia Jax (w/Tamina)
Don Callis, Impact Wrestling Executive Vice President, has commented on Impact moving to the Pursuit Channel next month. On the latest episode of his Killing the Town podcast, Callis put a positive spin on Impact leaving Pop TV and dropped some hints about what to expect from the promotion in 2019.
“This week we announced our move from Pop TV, which was a great partner for us,” Callis said. “A lot of fans thought, ‘wow, you guys should be on a different network with a different demographic,’ so we announced we’re moving to Pursuit, which is an exciting thing for me. When you talk about how you deal with your content as a company because our parent company, Anthem, owns not only the Fight Network and Game TV, they also own a significant stake in Pursuit, so it’s a great strategic move for us.”
With a new television home comes yet another adjustment to Impact’s approach to producing content. The Pursuit Channel caters to an audience that is interested in hunting, fishing and the outdoors. With that backdrop, Callis says the product will be “sexier” and edgier.
“I think people are gonna love to see a sexier, edgier, maybe a little more hardcore Impact Wrestling. I’m really really pumped about that, so I’m pretty excited.”
The parties behind the All Elite Wrestling upstart promotion have reportedly turned down an offer to purchase Impact Wrestling, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “It is not a secret that there were forces attempting to sell Impact to AEW a few months ago,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “But that proposal was turned down.”
We’ve reached out to Impact Wrestling for their comment on the matter.
Impact Moving to Pursuit Channel
Impact Wrestling recently announced they will be moving to the Pursuit channel in 2019. Anthem owns a minority stake in the channel as well. The promotion will debut on their new channel on Friday, January 11th, 2019 at 10 PM. Once WWE Smackdown moves to Fox Sports in October, Impact’s new timeslot would air right after it.
One possible outcome of the switch to the Pursuit channel is the potential for edgier content. This was addressed in a recent company press release.
“With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement,” an Impact press release reads. “We look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
The latest on the current plans for the top match at WrestleMania 35 has surfaced online. According to Dave Meltzer, he reported in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey is slated to take on Becky Lynch.
This is the plan as of this week and a decision regarding if it will serve as the main event won’t likely be decided until the show gets closer. There’s always a chance that this will be turned into a Triple Threat match to include Charlotte Flair.
Also, the original plan was not for Rousey to be in the main event but rather was saved for Roman Reigns who was going to get the headliner role on the show but that changed when he got his leukemia diagnosis. The belief is that his opponent at Mania would have been Dean Ambrose. Also, having Ambrose turn heel would have probably been on Reigns and not Seth Rollins.
The opponent for Rousey at this show has gone through some changes over the last few months. At one point, Natalya was supposed to face Rousey at Mania but that got scrapped once Jim Neidhart died and Vince didn’t want to turn Natalya heel on Rousey any time soon.
Then it was switched to Flair vs. Rousey for the RAW Women’s Championship as the headliner but those plans changed once Lynch got mega over with the fans.
Moving along, WWE had to nix plans for Lynch to face Rousey at this year’s Survivor Series pay-per-view event in Los Angeles, California once Lynch suffered a broken nose and concussion during the RAW invasion angle. Instead, Rousey faced Flair at the show. Thus, the reason they want Rousey vs. Lynch at Mania.
WrestleMania 35 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 7, 2019, in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network.
A new match has been added to the first-ever WWE NXT UK TakeOver special. NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will be defending her title against Toni Storm at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. WWE made the match announcement during this week’s episode of the television show.
NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool goes down on Saturday, January 12 at the Empress Ballroom and will air on their streaming service, the WWE Network. In the headliner, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne will defend his title against Joe Coffey.
WWE has also announced that they’ll be holding post-TakeOver TV tapings at the Empress Ballroom on Sunday, January 13, 2019. WWE will likely be announcing more matches in the coming weeks. Here’s the updated card:
WWE NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool Card
NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne vs. Joe Coffey
NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm
Vacant NXT UK Tag Team Title Match: Zack Gibson and James Drake vs. Moustache Mountain
Eddie Dennis vs. Dave Mastiff – No DQ Match
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Is this the right opponent for Ripley at this show? Sound off in the comment section.
UK independent promotion Fight Club: Pro will be heading to Japan in January for their Project Tokyo event. The company announced earlier this year that they would be debuting in Korakuen Hall. The show takes place on January 7th with a huge card of international stars.
205 Live Superstar Akira Tozawa had previously been announced for the event. Fight Club: Pro is owned by NXT UK Superstar Trent Seven. Seven was originally confirmed for this card but was recently pulled. Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne were also pulled from the event.
Tozawa’s opponents for the show have now been named. The team of Kid Lykos and Chris Brookes (CCK) will be taking on Tozawa and Japanese legend Meiko Satomura.
There had been speculation that FCP was part of the ‘greenlit’ promotions for NXT UK talent. The cancellation of British Strong Style’s involvement seemed to change this but with Tozawa on board as a potential ‘make good’ for the Japanese fans who really knows at this point. NXT UK will be holding a taping within 7 days of this event, that is why British Strong Style were reportedly pulled.
?PROJECT TOKYO?
Capping off our first event in Japan we have two very special matches.
WWE held a post-Christmas live event on Wednesday night in New York, NY at the Madison Square Garden. These are always special shows as it’s considered a bigger house show due to the history of the arena and the decades that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has called it home.
This show featured some big matches including WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey retaining the title over Nia Jax in the main event, WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose defeating Seth Rollins in a steel cage, and appearances by McMahon and John Cena. For a full recap of Cena’s return, click here.
Apollo Crews defeated Curt Hawkins, Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, Konnor, No Way Jose, Rhyno, Titus O’Neil, Viktor, and Zack Ryder – WWE Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership Battle Royal
Bayley & Sasha Banks defeated Alicia Fox & Dana Brooke
Aleister Black, Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne, Ricochet & The Velveteen Dream defeated Johnny Gargano, The Undisputed ERA(Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) & Tommaso Ciampa (w/Bobby Fish) – Ten Man Tag Team Match
Elias defeated Bobby Lashley (w/Lio Rush) – Guitar On A Pole Match
Ember Moon & Natalya defeated The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott)
Finn Balor defeated Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre – Triple Threat Match
WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable defeated AOP (Akam & Rezar) (w/Drake Maverick) and The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) – Triple Threat Match
WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins – Steel Cage Match
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defeated Nia Jax (w/Tamina)
Mandy Rose could be in line for a push soon. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is set on trying to make the former fitness model a star.
“Vince is also very high right now on the idea of making Rose a star,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “Basically, it’s the similar mindset they earlier with Lana, with the big introduction, before she faded into becoming another woman on the roster and then was put back with Rusev.”
Mandy Rose on Smackdown
27-year-old Mandy Rose was called up to the main roster on November 20th, 2017. In the 13 months since, she’s been featured in Absolution and then furthered her alliance with Sonya Deville after Paige’s retirement.
A budding rivalry between Mandy Rose and Naomi is currently brewing on Smackdown as well. A match between the two was scheduled and then scrapped earlier this month, however.
Rose played it off as though she couldn’t make the match due to a photoshoot:
The real truth is that I was too busy to wait around and had a photoshoot, something @NaomiWWE doesn’t know anything about. You should be glad bc I was going to embarrass you tonight SIS! #Priorities ? #SDLivepic.twitter.com/abPbXIc5M7
“The real truth is that I was too busy to wait around and had a photoshoot, something @NaomiWWE doesn’t know anything about. You should be glad bc I was going to embarrass you tonight SIS!”
The angle between the two took another turn this week:
While nothing is official, it is looking more likely that Christopher Daniels is finishing up with Ring of Honor. The 48-year-old has been booking independent dates in 2019, likely meaning he has no intention of signing a new ROH contract.
His status was addressed in the recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Christopher Daniels has taken a number of independent dates, which means he’s not planning on signing a new contract (with ROH) any time soon,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “He’s also not being advertised for the January dates.”
The report continues to suggest Daniels could work in ROH as a producer (as he has been doing) and still work independent dates as a wrestler.
Christopher Daniels in 2019
Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Kazarian gained momentum in 2018 as members of SCU. The trio has appeared on numerous episodes of Being the Elite as well.
Daniels won the ROH World Championship in 2017. He spoke to Sportskeeda about the accomplishment.
“I’m just glad that I finally had that opportunity to win the big one. I feel like it was a good period of time in my career, and I think people look back at that and just the overall art of my career to finally get it 25 years in was an accomplishment that I’m very proud of and something that I’ll always look back on fondly with.”
If you want to see Christopher Daniels in a non-wrestling role, you can do so at Universal Studios Hollywood. For the past few years, Daniels has played the lead villain at the park’s Waterworld exhibit. Joey Ryan posted the following sneak peak of his show:
Over the course of the interview, he discussed the odd couple pairing with Carmella, and how it came to be.
R-Truth And Carmella Dance Break
Before the pair went on to win the Mixed Match Challenge, R-Truth was treading water.
“The writers didn’t know what to do with me or where to put me,” he explained.
“Once they put me and Carmella together, it was like, now I have something to do,” Truth said.
“Not only do I have something to do, it’s double the entertainment.”
“That’s the business. You’re just waiting for that bone to be thrown to you,” Truth said.
“When opportunity knocks, you have to be ready.
Carmella’s Face Turn
Truth says that when he and Carmella were paired, there were no concrete plans for either to turn. Rather, the audience ended up making both of them babyfaces.
“She was a bad guy. She was a heel. Just by her going out there with me, it turned her, and people took to it.”
As for the pairing of characters, Truth admits that he had reservations as to how the audience might respond to his character being aligned with the Princess Of Staten Island.
“In society today, for them to take to me and her like that, it was great,” he said.
Truth also discusses selling drugs as a youth, his “four or five” trips to jail, how he survived being incarcerated, and his path to the WWE, all on Chasing Glory.
With The Elite set to hit free agency and start their own promotion, all manner of wrestling pundits are chiming in with their predictions as to the success of a potential WWE competitor.
Jim Cornette appeared on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho to give his take on the state of the wrestling business, and what the future may hold for The Elite.
“Six months ago, I would have said wrestling sucks, for reasons including the things people send me,” Cornette said. “But Vince just got two billion dollars for a TV deal. That’s gonna be the biggest thing.”
Cornette went on to explain what FOX’s large investment in WWE Smackdown means for the wrestling business as a whole.
“People are looking at All In, and what The Bucks and Cody have done, the resurgence of New Japan, and this and that. Vince’s deal is going to be the most important thing,” Cornette said.
“Because now, people with platforms are interested in wrestling again. There’s a lot of money in wrestling again.”
A WWE Competitor
Cornette believes that the time is perfect for a WWE competitor to hit it big.
“For 20 years, WWE has trained the people that the McMahons that run the company are the evil empire, they keep our favorite wrestlers under their thumbs, they threaten them with their livelihood,” Cornette said.
Cornette believes that the storyline portrayal of the WWE promoters as heels may have consciously, or subconsciously, contributed to the mainstream breakthrough of The Elite.
“So now 20 years later, these guys are starting to get hot… [With All In] they’ve hit on the brilliant idea that the boys are going to run their own show… And for once, the wrestlers get the money,” Cornette said.
Cornette’s full comments on Cody and The Young Bucks can be heard in context below.
When referencing this transcript, please credit SEScoops.com. This transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Out of all the stars who have reinvented themselves and reached new heights by developing their character this year, Becky Lynch has to be on the top of the list.
Not only did Becky fuelled a fire in herself but became a character hot enough that she is now possibly the strongest candidate to main event the WrestleMania 35 event.
So it was no surprise that CBS Sports chose the former SmackDown Women’s Champion as their wrestler of the year, saying that no one has shaken up the professional wrestling world like ‘The Man’:
“In a year filled with stunning developments, no one shook up the world of professional wrestling more than Becky Lynch, who has turned both WWE and the business as a whole on its head over the last six months by not only winning the hearts and minds of fans across the globe but doing so while standing out as “The Man” in an industry historically dominated by men.”
Lynch also responded to this accolade via her Twitter account, recalling how she couldn’t even get on TV at the start of 2018 and claimed that you’re never truly down:
WWE had originally announced Becky Lynch vs. Asuka for Royal Rumble but the company has backed out from that bout since then and currently, there is no word yet on what they are planning for her now.
wXw has announced the next name for 2019’s 16 Carat Gold tournament. The company has confirmed that NXT Superstar Axel Dieter Jr/Marcel Barthel will be making his way home to Germany. The former wXw and PROGRESS star will be in Oberhausen March 8th-10th to take part in the prestigious event. Other names confirmed for the tournament include Deisuke Sekimoto, Chris Brookes, Jurn Simmons, FENIX and Pentagon Jr.
Dieter Jr recently appeared as part of the company’s Anniversary event. The NXT Superstar took part in a six-man tag team match alongside Ringkampf members Timothy Thatcher and WALTER. The team faced NXT UK Superstars Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate.
wXw’s 16 Carat Gold tournament is currently regarded as one of the most prestigious in European wrestling. Several top WWE/NXT stars have appeared in and won the event. These include Aleister Black, Sami Zayn and Kassius Ohno. WALTER and Zack Sabre Jr are also synonymous with the event.
The 2017 and 2018 iterations of the tournament are widely regarded as two of the greatest in European wrestling history, you can check them out now on wXw’s on demand service, it certainly matches up to the annual New Japan G1 and PROGRESS Super Strong 16 tournaments on quality.
It’s no secret now that the Young Bucks are involved with the new All Elite Wrestling Promotion and with the new year approaching fast, the official announcement for it should be coming soon as well.
With all the signs pointing towards the rise of this promotion, various people related to wrestling world have been giving their opinion on this move, and now Eric Bischoff has joined this list as well.
Bischoff who himself is quite familiar with running a wrestling promotion talked about AEW during the latest episode of his After 83 Weeks podcast.
Eric first discussed the success of All In event which will probably be remembered as the show which started all this and said that what’s really cool about it is that they did it without television.
He then explained how as someone who has grown up in the wrestling industry and someone who couldn’t imagine being involved in the wrestling industry without a solid TV platform underneath you, the success of the show was mind-boggling.
When asked if he has any advice for the Young Bucks over the new promotion, Eric Bischoff said that they are in a zone right now and this zone doesn’t come easily.
Revealing his advice for the duo, the former WCW Official said that they should be smart, go slow and shouldn’t let it get to their head. Finally, he said that the brothers should always surround themselves with people they absolutely trust
Apart from this, Bischoff also hoped that he would get an invitation to watch shows of AEW and more. You can check out the full episode of his podcast here.
We knew that it was going to happen and it was only a Live Event appearance. However due to the caliber of the star he is, John Cena’s return to the WWE ring at the Madison Square Garden show, still left the wrestling world buzzing for the night.
Cena was advertised for the show in advance, but the company hadn’t revealed what he will be doing at the event. Turns out they actually had a small but great storyline planned to celebrate the Cenation Leader’s return to the ring.
Baron Corbin was expected to face Braun Strowman at the mega live event, but he was declared the winner of the match when Strowman failed to show up for the bout. That was until Mr. McMahon showed up.
The Boss not only reverted the decision but he also introduced the former General Manager Elect to his new opponent for the night- a man who has more MSG moments than Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, and Stone Cold combined:
And adding another moment to his collection, the 16 Time World Champion got back up after taking a lot of offense from Corbin, and while the Lone Wolf was trash talking the local crowd, John Cena took over the control and pinned him with his lightning fist maneuver:
Cena then went on to thank the crowd for letting him be part of the night and left the ring. Now it’d be interesting to see what the company has in store for him when he returns to WWE TV next week.
Bianca Belair Earned A Shot At The NXT Women’s Championship
Io Shirai, Mia Yim, Lacey Evans, and Bianca Belair competed in a Fatal 4-Way match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. Io and Mia teamed up and hit Bianca Belair with a series of chops as Lacey Evans rolled out of the ring.
Mia Yim connected with a Suicide Dive onto Belair outside the ring. Shirai followed it up with a ridiculous Crossbody onto Belair on the entrance ramp. Yim and Shirai teamed up on Lacey Evans in the ring and beat her down in the corner. Yim accidentally booted Io in the face and sent her tumbling out of the ring.
Evans connected with a slingshot Elbow Drop on Shirai for a two count. Lacey then hit Io and Mia with a Bronco Buster in the corner. Belair got back into the ring and lifted Io up in the Torture Rack. Evans broke it up and started trash talking with Bianca.
Lacey and Belair teamed up for a bit to beat down Io and Mia. Shirai connected with a Dropkick on Evans and turned around into a Spear from Belair. Io followed it up with a Double Stomp and then a 619. Shirai climbed to the top rope and hit Belair with a Dropkick but Evans broke up the cover.
Yim hit Evans with a couple of chops but Lacey responded with the Woman’s Right. Lacey went for the cover but Io broke up the cover at two. Shirai hit Evans with a Moonsault but Belair broke it up with the hair whip. Bianca sent Io out of the ring and planted Evans with the Belair Driver for the pinfall victory. Belair will face Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix.
Ciampa Suggested That Gargano Should Get A Shot At The NXT North American Championship
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa
Tommaso Ciampa cut a backstage promo about what happened last week on NXT. Ciampa claimed that Johnny Gargano followed his lead and it resulted in him pinning Aleister Black last week. Tommaso suggested that Johnny should get an opportunity at the NXT North American Championship.
Ciampa said that he knows Johnny is listening and that this was what they always talked about. Tommaso stated that NXT TakeOver: Phoenix should end with Ciampa as the NXT Champion and Gargano the NXT North American Championship. Tommaso added that it would be two kids taking over the world and the possibilities would be endless.
Undisputed Era Retained The NXT Tag Team Championships
Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) defended the NXT Tag Team Championships against Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) in the main event of this week’s NXT.
Knight and Strong started off the match. Knight took Strong down to the canvas and rolled him up for a two count. Strong battled to his feet and O’Reilly tagged himself in. Kyle booted Knight in the leg a few times and shoved him to the corner.
Strong tagged in as Knight leveled both of them with a Clothesline and tagged in Dozovic. Otis splatted Strong with a Splash in the corner and then punched O’Reilly off the apron. Dozovic launched Strong across the ring and then followed it up with a massive Body Slam.
Tucker Knight tagged back in and hit Roderick with a Splash for a two count. Heavy Machinery planted Undisputed Era with dueling overhead Belly to Belly Suplexes and then isolated O’Reilly in the ring. Kyle quickly retreated out of the ring and Tucker chased him around.
Strong snuck up behind Knight on the apron and planted him with a painful looking Belly to Back Suplex that sent the two Superstars crashing to the floor outside the ring. Back in the ring, O’Reilly hit Knight with a knee to the face and Roderick tagged back in.
Strong hit Knight with a series of chops in the corner of the ring and then beat him down to the canvas. Strong wrapped Knight’s left knee around the rope and tagged O’Reilly in. Kyle connected with a Dragon Screw to Knight’s left knee and then went for the cover but Tucker powered out at two.
Roderick tagged back in and connected with an Olympic Slam but once again Knight kicked out at two. Knight finally was able to battle back with a Clothesline and then tagged in Dozovic. Otis came into the ring and beat the hell out of O’Reilly and Strong.
Otis hit Strong with an Elbow Drop and tagged Knight back in. Dozovic catapulted O’Reilly into Knight and then Tucker slammed him down for a two count. Knight climbed up to the top rope and went for a Moonsault but O’Reilly got out of the way.
Dozovic and Strong tagged in and traded shots in the middle of the ring. Otis got the better of the exchange with a massive Clothesline for a near fall. Otis then made his way up to the top rope but Strong hit him with an Enziguri to the face.
Strong joined Otis on the top rope and went for a Superplex but Dozovic blocked it. O’Reilly joined in and they planted Otis with a Superplex for a two count. O’Reilly tagged in and hit Knight off the apron with a boot to the face.
O’Reilly and Strong hit Dozovic with a couple of knees to the head for another two count. Strong tagged in and teamed up with O’reily to hir the High-Low on Otis for the pinfall victory.
RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey took to her official Instagram account where she praised Natalya after their title match on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw in Sacramento, CA at the Golden 1 Center. This served as the Christmas Eve edition of RAW. Some backstage news about this match has surfaced online which you can read here. Rousey wrote the following:
“@natbynature this Christmas I am so thankful and so lucky to have you as a friend, mentor, and contender. Thank you for guiding me through every step of this journey. You trained me and helped me improve to challenge yourself even more. To push the women’s division even farther. You bring out the best in everyone, because you aspire to be the best of the best. You live for the challenge, and that’s why you’re a real champion.”
Mustafa Ali gave his take on Andrade “Cien” Almas after he beat him in a singles match on Tuesday’s SmackDown Live. This was the latest match for the former 205 Live star on the blue branded show under the WWE banner.
Ali wrote, “As if you didn’t already know, @AndradeCienWWE is a beast. #SDLive”
A new title match has been announced for WWE NXT’s next special, NXT TakeOver: Phoenix.
As seen on this week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network, which was taped on Wednesday, November 28, 2018, from Winter Park, FL at Full Sail University, Bianca BelAir defeated Io Shirai, Mia Yim, Lacey Evans in a Fatal 4-Way Match in order to become the new #1 contender for the strap.
Now, BelAir will challenge NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler for the title at TakeOver: Phoenix, which marks only the second match announced for this show.
The NXT TakeOver: Phoenix event takes place on Saturday, January 26, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona at the Talking Stick Resort Arena and will air on the WWE Network. NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. WWE will be adding more matches to this card in the coming weeks for the first special for the yellow brand in 2019. Here is the updated card:
WWE NXT TakeOver: Phoenix Card
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca BelAir
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? What other matches do you expect WWE to announce for this show? Sound off in the comment section.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Royal Rumble PPV. During this week’s episode of 205 Live, General Manager Drake Maverick revealed that Buddy Murphy would defend his Cruiserweight Title against three other Superstars in a Fatal 4-Way Match at this show. Those competitors will come from qualifying matches that will take place over the coming weeks.
Kalisto vs. Lio Rush, as well as Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa, will take place on next week’s episode of 205 Live while Hideo Itami vs. Cedric Alexander will go down on the January 9th episode. The winners of these matches will move onto the Royal Rumble.
WWE presents the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on Sunday, January 27, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona at Chase Field that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Royal Rumble Card
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman
30-Man Royal Rumble Match:
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match:
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Becky Lynch
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy vs. TBA – Fatal 4-Way Match
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
John Cena has reacted to EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory calling him out by issuing a recent challenge to the former WWE Champion to a match. It all started when Theory talked about his future with the EVOLVE during a recent video that was published this week.
Theory was quoted by stating, “Until the day I walk into TakeOver. John Cena, I heard you’re trying to pass the torch. Well, you know how to get in contact with me.”
This led to Cena reacting when he posted this photo with no caption on his official Instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br2y8yAlSA2/
Just earlier this month, while promoting the Bumblebee movie, which is set in 1987 and is a prequel to the events of the Transformers film franchise, Cena talked about his actions with Instagram.
This is where he posts seemingly random images with no captions that include Stone Cold posts. Cena noted that he came up with the idea that Friday should be ‘Stone Cold Friday’ but there will be no photos of Austin’s face but something else.
It’s already been announced that Theory would take on WWE NXT star Johnny Gargano at EVOLVE 119. As of this writing, his opponent at EVOLVE 120 has yet to be revealed.
Posted December 26th, 2018 in News. Tagged: John Cena.