Braun Strowman clearly has his eyes set on the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Speaking with Dallas News, Strowman spoke about competing against the current champion, Shinsuke Nakamura. He also shared what it would mean to win the championship.
“Talking about Shinsuke Nakamura, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to work with him here in his stint with WWE,” Strowman said. “I’ve been pretty impressed so far. … It’s been a different change of pace being in the ring and mixing it up with Shinsuke. And I think what the outcomes have been these past couple outings that we’ve had, I’ve without a doubt earned myself a title opportunity for that Intercontinental Championship.”
He continued, “We’re going to see what the powers that be will have [to say] — you never know, the last SmackDown leading into the Royal Rumble here coming up in Dallas, if they’ll give me that opportunity to take on Shinsuke for the title before we go into the Royal Rumble.”
Braun Strowman As Intercontinental Champion
Strowman believes that holding the title would be an “absolute honor.”
He noted how several legendary Superstars have held the title. To him, they all added prestige to the belt, and that it would be a “great fit” for him.
Many have used the championship as a means to leverage themselves into the main event picture for WWE’s top belts. For Strowman, he thinks holding the strap would be “an awesome way to get my foot in the door on carrying a singles title and showing the world where I belong.”
Braun Strowman joins 30 other men this Sunday for the Royal Rumble matchup. The event takes place at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts has divulged what he finds problematic in modern pro wrestling promos. When asked for his thoughts on All Elite Wrestling’s style and quality of promos, the WWE Hall of Famer, unsurprisingly, didn’t hold back.
“It’s better than what we have been getting. I’m excited a little bit about it but there’s just a few things I can’t stand. One of those is the invisible wall during these talk fests,” Roberts told the WINCLY podcast. “If you’re really thinking about all of that with a guy that’s in the ring with you – I guess guys are stuck between an invisible wall and you can’t get to the guy.”
He continued, “I guess that’s the business now and in my day you wouldn’t have two guys in the ring with mics. It just wouldn’t happen. If it was the real world, are you gonna sit and talk about this BS or are you gonna whoop his ass?”
Jake Roberts’ Coaching Plans
Known for his intense promos, Jake Roberts has expressed an active interest in helping to teach and cultivate a new generation his skills. He highlighted how he has previously helped guide talents such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Diamond Dallas Page and The Road Warriors in the past, noting: “I taught them well evidently and then to get kudos from Undertaker on his thing with Steve Austin was cool.”
Roberts also noted how wrestlers and industry professionals within the business should “all pull together” in an aligned effort to “make the product better.”
Daniel Bryan has revealed that it was his idea to shave his beard during his feud with the “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. Bryan divulged the story during an interview with MySanAntonio.com. He opened up about why he pitched the idea, admitting he wanted to prolong his rivalry with Wyatt.
“Actually, it was my idea,” Bryan said. “And my idea was not the hair, it was just the beard. I had kind of pitched this to them as this idea of, ‘OK, how do we extend this story with Bray Wyatt,’ which is what they wanted to do, because he’s already defeated me cleanly, right? How do we do that? One of the things to me was that he’s changed people’s character so much when he’s faced them. And by him ripping out or cutting my beard, it would be this idea that he’s stripping me of part of my identity.”
He continued, “That was my kind of pitch to them. What actually happened? They said, ‘Well, yeah, then he can cut your hair, too!’ And I was like, ‘No, I don’t really want that. I don’t want my hair to be cut.’ I kind of wanted my hair to be longer. Just wrestling wise, I like that.”
Daniel Bryan’s Hair Cut
Bryan broke down what happened after he was dragged under the ring to have his head shaved. According to Bryan, there were two barbers under the ring, ready to shave off his long hair.
“So, they pulled me under the ring, they’ve got two barbers there who are in charge of like, getting my beard off and getting hair off so there can be this appearance of him ripping out my hair and all that kind of stuff. And we have a minute and a half of TV time left on the live show. And there’s also a producer down there, who’s saying, ‘We need more hair, we need more hair, we need more hair!’ And it’s completely dark under there. We were all so crammed in this little area because there’s also like real stuff under the ring that needs to be under the ring.”
“It’s just all in this crammed little area and these guys are cutting my hair and cutting my beard really quick and they’re supposed to just to cut X amount of hair off, which wasn’t as much as they ended up doing,” Bryan explained. “But the one guy on one side did a great job. They actually both did a great job considering the circumstances. But one guy just went a little too tight and a little too high. And then, after the show, they did their best … they tried after the show for like 45 minutes to make it like not just a shaved head. But that was the best we could do under the circumstances.”
Telling Brie Bella
Bryan then recalled having to break the news to Brie Bella. According to him, his wife “hates shaved heads.” After trying to soften the revelation with a few text messages, he eventually FaceTimed her to show her the result of the angle.
He shared how Brie became very quiet, and he could “see the anger.” Thankfully, this took place over Thanksgiving. He explained how it allowed him the opportunity to come home and spend time with family where she “couldn’t be too outwardly mad.”
Daniel Bryan will face off against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt this Sunday at WWE Royal Rumble. They clash in a Strap Match for the WWE Universal Championship.
WWE RAW Superstar Drew McIntyre has opened up about his recent on-screen character changes. In an interview with Corey Graves for the After The Bell podcast, McIntyre acknowledged how he has been showing the real Drew Galloway in recent performances.
“I am psychotic when it comes to that and my drive. I didn’t necessarily love the ‘Scottish Psychopath’ name because I wasn’t necessarily doing psychotic on television,” McIntyre confessed. “But the real Drew Galloway is psychotic in his drive. This is what I always wanted to do, and I did let that huge opportunity slip away. And I don’t regret it; like I say, all the ups and downs have led me to the man I am today and the position that I’m in. To be ready for every opportunity that’s given to me.”
“Show Them The Real Drew McIntyre”
Reflecting on his character evolution, McIntyre spoke about how he has been actively “eliminating complacency” over the past few months. He addressed how his character motivation was muddled and confused. Now, however, he has been given the green light to showcase the “real Drew Galloway.”
“[…] suddenly I was just talking about eating carcasses for a brief period, and then I was buddies with a bunch of guys, which wasn’t the real Drew. And over the past couple of months, I’ve been given the okay to ‘Hey, show them the real Drew Galloway. Show them the real Drew McIntyre. You’ve noticed things have started to change. I heard you in one of your rants about, ‘Let people be themselves.’ What you’re seeing right now on television? That’s Drew Galloway; that’s Drew McIntyre.’”
McIntyre previously shared his Royal Rumble ambitions in a WWE backstage exclusive. He explained how not one World Champion has ever given him an opportunity during his entire WWE career. Because of this, he is committed to earning his chance by winning the Royal Rumble match.
Cain Velasquez has shared how he was initially turned down by WWE when he first expressed an interest in pro wrestling. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion detailed his experience in an interview with Cultaholic. He also discussed what first sparked his interest in switching over to the squared circle.
When he first became interested in jumping to wrestling, Velasquez attended WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 with several other UFC stars, including Daniel Cormier. That show helped to reignite his interest in pro wrestling, noting how he was a fan of the product when he was a kid. He had so much fun watching “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey defeat Ruby Riott, he asked himself “‘Why not? Can I do that?’”
Cain Velasquez’s WWE Pursuit
Velasquez would pursue this interest, eventually debuting for AAA under a mask. Before this, he and his agent reached out to WWE as, “this is obviously where the best guys are, this is the top.” He revealed how Triple H and Vince McMahon were not “going to give me a shot right away,” which eventually led him to lucha libre and AAA.
“I said, ‘Okay, let’s do something else.’ I’ve always loved lucha. Lucha was my first love of wrestling. I watched that as — that was my first time watching any kind of pro wrestling. So I said, ‘Why don’t we do a lucha match?’ Me and my wife, my manager — my wife was super into it. She was like, ‘Why don’t you do a lucha match?’ I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it’…I wanted to wear the mask. I wanted to do traditional lucha moves just to pay homage to the people who have done it in the past and they just look f**king cool to do.”
Cain Velasquez recently expressed his interest in participating in WWE’s upcoming Royal Rumble match to earn a championship opportunity. At the time of writing, Velasquez has yet to be inserted into the match.
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw saw Matt Hardy
taking another singles loss and after the show, he made another cryptic tweet,
teasing his departure from the company.
The Broken One lost to Erick Rowan in a match during the show and started trending on Twitter afterward. In response, he made the following tweet, indicating that his appearances on WWE TV are limited:
WOW! Thanks for all the love & support from around the world.
I’m trending #17 worldwide because of my @WWE slump & string of #RAW TV losses.
Matt Hardy’s contract is set to expire soon and reports suggest that the hurdle in him re-signing with the company is not his pay. You can check out a detailed report on it here.
Sylvain Grenier Comments On WWE Return
It was recently revealed that the former tag team champion Sylvain Grenier, who worked for WWE from 2001 to 2007 has returned to the company and he will be working as a producer backstage.
Grenier apparently started his stint with the company during last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw. He was present for this week’s episode of the show as well and was interviewed backstage after the event.
In the interview the former WWE wrestler discussed things like his return, Buddy Murphy’s potential and possibly wrestling again. You can check out his comments in the video below:
Latest developments indicate that former WCW Hardcore
Champion and TNA star Shannon Moore could be returning to WWE soon.
The former WWE star was booked for shows of indie wrestling promotion Canadian Wrestling Elite or CWE this weekend. However, he has now been pulled from the company’s shows from January 24 to January 26.
What’s interesting to note here is that while announcing the news of this change on their official Facebook page, the promotion mentioned that he is being pulled due to “an unexpected WWE obligation.”
Another post on the page mentions a similar thing and it
notes that Moore has a “contractual obligation to WWE that will now
require his presence” this week.
Shannon Moore made his wrestling debut in April 1995 and he
first made his name in the wrestling world with his tenure in WCW from 1999 to
2001.
After the closing of the company, Shannon joined WWE where
he stayed till 2005. He returned to the promotion for another run from 2006 to 2008.
Since his departure, he has also worked for companies like TNA, AWA and more.
He worked as a guest coach in WWE Performance center in November last year and the belief is that he could be returning to the company as a producer or a coach.
This week’s episode of WWE RAW aired live from Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. It was the final RAW before the Royal Rumble PPV this weekend.
WWE RAW Results (1/20)
Andrade retained the US Title over Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match
Aleister Black defeated a jobber
The OC attacked Randy Orton & Drew McIntyre during their match
Becky Lynch defeated Kairi Sane
Buddy Murphy & Seth Rollins defeated The Viking Raiders to capture the RAW Tag Team Championships
Erick Rowan defeated Matt Hardy
Lana & Lashley defeated Liv Morgan & Rusev
Here are 6 takeaways from the show:
Andrade Retained The US Championship
Andrade defended his United States Championship against Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match tonight on RAW. Zelina Vega accompanied Andrade to the ring.
Match Recap: Mysterio connected with a Hurricanrana off the second rope that sent Andrade crashing on top of a ladder. Andrade’s neck landed directly on the steel ladder. Rey followed it up with a Senton off the ring post and onto Andrade outside the ring. Andrade battled back and Suplexed Rey onto a ladder. Rey and Andrade battled on the ladder and Mysterio went for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb but it was botched and both superstars fell on the ladder.
Mysterio hit 619 and tried to grab the belt but Andrade pulled the ladder from underneath him. Rey went for a Hurricanrana but it was botched and Mysterio fell on his head. Mysterio climbed back up but Zelina Vega interfered and distracted Rey. Andrade then planted Mysterio with the Hammerlock DDT through the a ladder. Andrade then climbed the ladder and grabbed the title to win the match.
After the match, Zelina Vega took off some padding off and exposed the concrete floor. Humberto Carrillo then made the save and attacked Andrade.
Opinion: I give Andrade and Mysterio an A+ for effort but this match was tough to watch. Rey landed hard when he went for the Hurricanrana and didn’t look right when he got up. The spot with Andrade landing on his neck also looked painful as hell. I was hoping the person in the Mysterio mask was Dominick and it didn’t seem like anyone cared when it was revealed to be Humberto.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar came down to the ring with Paul Heyman tonight on RAW. Heyman claimed that WWE Universe was taking Brock Lesnar for granted.
Paul once again guaranteed that Brock Lesnar will win the Royal Rumble this Sunday and the crowd booed. Paul scolded the crowd and said that there is no one in WWE or anywhere else that is worthy of stepping in the ring with Lesnar. Ricochet interrupted and said that he wasn’t afraid of Lesnar.
Heyman told Ricochet to take his ass back to the locker room before he gets hurt. Ricochet stated that he wasn’t afraid and got into the ring with Brock. Ricochet challenged Lesnar to a fight and Brock cracked up. Lesnar started to leave the ring and Ricochet suggested that Brock was scared. Lesnar booted Ricochet in the balls and said “not scared” before exiting the ring.
Randy Orton squared off with Drew McIntyre tonight on RAW.
Match Recap: McIntyre dominated the match early but Orton battled back with a DDT while Drew was caught in the ropes. Orton went for the RKO but McIntyre blocked it and connected with the Glasgow Kiss. McIntyre went for the Claymore but Randy countered into a Powerslam.
The OC rushed the ring and attacked McIntyre. Orton brought a chair into the ring and beat Gallows and Anderson down as AJ Styles retreated. After the match, Orton dropped the chair and told McIntyre he is a tough son of a bitch before planting him with the RKO.
McIntyre grabbed a microphone and referred to Orton as “Randal Keith Orton”. Drew said that RKO was on him because he should have hit Orton with the Claymore Kick. McIntyre vowed to kick Orton’s head off in the Royal Rumble Match and then go on to main event WrestleMania.
RAW Women’s Champion came down to the ring to a great reaction from the crowd. Lynch claimed Asuka did her a favor by spraying mist in her eyes because she now sees things clearly. Becky boasted about making history at WrestleMania and joked that Asuka went on YouTube to make soup. Lynch then battled Kairi Sane as Asuka was ringside.
Match Recap: Becky controlled the match early as Asuka sat on the top of the ring post. Lynch connected with a Leg Drop off the middle rope for a near fall. Lynch leveled Asuka with a punch to the face that sent her tumbling to the floor outside the ring. Becky then locked in the Dis-Arm-Her for the submission victory.
After the match, Asuka attacked Becky and trapped her in the Asuka Lock in the middle of the ring. Asuka followed it up with a kick to the face before exiting the ring. Becky will defend the RAW Women’s Championship against Asuka this Sunday at Royal Rumble.
Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy Are The New RAW Tag Team Champions
Seth Rollins, AOP, and Buddy Murphy came down to the ring to begin tonight’s show. Rollins thanked the crowd as they booed and claimed that without them there would be no Monday Night Messiah.
Seth introduced Buddy Murphy as the newest disciple of the Monday Night Messiah and gave him a hug. Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe interrupted and challenged them to a fight. Rollins accepted because they thought they had the numbers advantage but the Viking Raiders joined Owens and Samoa Joe. Joe, Owens, and the Viking Raiders beat Rollins, AOP, and Murphy down and sent them on the retreat to end the segment. Rollins and Murphy challenged Viking Raiders to a match for the RAW Tag Team Championships during a backstage interview.
Match Recap: AOP, Kevin Owens, and Samoa Joe were ringside for the match. Owens & Joe battled AOP through the crowd as RAW went to a break. Back from the break, Ivar tagged in and leveled Murphy and Rollins. They went for the Viking Experience but Seth broke it up. Erik and Ivar connected with Suicide Dives and then rolled Buddy Murphy into the ring. They connected with Viking Experience this time but Rollins broke up the cover. Rollins shoved Ivar off the top rope and to the floor outside the ring. Rollins hit Erik with the Stomp on the apron and then Buddy pinned him. Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy are the new RAW Tag Team Champions.
Opinion: This would have made a lot more sense to if AOP were in this match and won the titles because Seth Rollins interfered. Akam and Rezar are an actual tag team and not just thrown together like Rollins and Murphy. I guess AOP are just bodyguards now.
Bobby Lashley & Lana faced Rusev & Liv Morgan in a tag match to close this week’s show. Before the match, Lana claimed that Rusev Day is canceled and the crowd immediately responded with a “Rusev Day!” chant. Lana claimed that they were the love story of the millennium and called the crowd disrespectful.
Match Recap: Liv Morgan beat Lana down in the corner to start off the match. Lana battled back with a Suplex for a near fall. Morgan and Lana fell to the canvas after both connecting with a Clothesline. Rusev and Lashley tagged in and Rusev hit a Samoan Drop. Lana hit Rusev with a cheap shot and Lashley capitalized with a slam. Liv broke up the cover and then threw Lana out of the ring. Liv hit Lashley with an Enziguri and Rusev geared up for the Machka Kick but Lana grabbed his leg. Lashley then hit a Spear for the pinfall victory.
Opinion: Tonight was an awful RAW go-home show for the Royal Rumble PPV. I enjoyed the match between Andrade and Rey Mysterio but it was a botchfest. The rest of the show was boring and just a terrible way to go into the PPV for the RAW brand. The main event was a complete joke and not worth anyone’s time.
The Viking Raiders didn’t stay on top of the tag team division on WWE RAW for long as their reign as champions is over while it’s now the time for Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy.
Rollins and Murphy beat Ivar and Erik to win the WWE RAW Tag Team Titles on Monday’s episode of RAW in Wichita, KS at the Intrust Bank Arena on the USA Network. This marks the first time that they have held the titles together.
The Viking Raiders had won the RAW Tag Team Titles back on the October 14th episode of RAW when they beat Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in Denver, Colorado at the Pepsi Center.
Murphy’s alliance with Rollins started last week when Murphy helped AOP (Akam & Rezar) & Rollins defeat Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe & The Big Show in a fist fight that served as the headliners.
WWE set up this championship match earlier in the night during the opening segment where the former champions aligned themselves with Joe and Owens while exchanging words with the heels to further their storyline.
What are your thoughts on Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy winning the WWE RAW Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Cain Velasquez gave his take about the possibility of former UFC Lightweight and Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor competing in the squared circle under the WWE banner.
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion is someone who would know about making the transition from MMA to WWE.
“I think he’d be well suited because of his promos,” Velasquez told BT Sport. “That’s probably the hardest part and he nails that. And he’s just a great athlete so he can definitely do it, yeah!”
Last year, McGregor was teasing about going to the company with many people thinking it was a negotiation tactic on his part for his next fight in the UFC.
McGregor just beat former title contender Donald Cerrone by TKO in the headliner of the UFC 246 pay-per-view event on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In his final UFC bout, Velasquez lost to former title contender Francis Ngannou by first-round KO. The two fighters met in a heavyweight bout at the UFC on ESPN 1 event from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona on February 17, 2019.
Velasquez found his passion with pro wrestling once he started training and made his in-ring debut last year under the AAA banner.
John Cena’s latest film, “Dolittle,” was released this past weekend and the results of earnings from the box office for the opening slate have surfaced online.
The film was estimated of pulling in $$57 million worldwide with a budget of about $175 million. According to Box Office Mojo, the film did $30,000,000 domestically and $27,300,000 internationally.
Rotten Tomatoes has the film on its Tomatometer of 18 percent and an Audience Score of 76 percent. It should be noted that the movie did go up against the opening of Bad Boys For Life that did $106 million worldwide.
Cena plays an upbeat polar bear in the film, which also stars Robert Downey Jr, Jessie Buckley, Harry Collett, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer, Kumail Nanjiani, Emma, Thompson, Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen, and Oscar winner Jim Broadbent.
You can watch the official trailer here:
New WWE Trademarks
WWE has once again filed new trademarks. The company did so on Tuesday, January 14 for the following names: Trish Stratus, Epico, Ever-Rise, Chase Parker, Matt Martel.
For those who may not know, WWE is rebranding the former 3.0 team of Martel and Parker, as Ever-Rise. They previously used the ring names Shane Matthews and Scott Parker.
Finn Balor got people talking after an interesting response to one WWE star on social media.
The former WWE NXT Champion posted a random photo on Twitter which got Curt Hawkins to respond by noting how much he missed him. Balor then replied with, “Se3 y0u Sunday.”
Because Balor replaced the second “e” in “See” with a 3 and the “o” in “you” with a 0, this made fans think that he was teasing a potential entry into the Men’s Royal Rumble Match at the #30 spot. You can see his tweets here:
WWE presents the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on Sunday, January 26, 2020 Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park and airs on the WWE Network.
It should be noted that WWE has yet to confirm whether NXT will have any involvement in the Men’s and/or Women’s Royal Rumble matches.
What is known is the fact that Balor will be working a WWE show on Royal Rumble weekend.
Balor will battle Ilja Dragunov in a singles match at the Worlds Collide show that goes down on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Time will tell whether he appears at the Royal Rumble.
Braun Strowman is excited about a potential showdown against WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt.
Strowman recently did an interview with DallasNews.com where he spoke about a wide range of topics including a potential match against Wyatt.
This was where he was asked about Wyatt’s transformation into The Fiend. Strowman noted how it’s been a pretty awesome process to watch Bray and what he’s been able to accomplish.
He stated that he loves Bray and The Fiend thing is getting a little out of control. Thus, he wouldn’t mind having a shot at him one of these days and seeing what can happen,
“You never know,” Strowman said of a potential match. “There’s a lot of backstory and history between us being that Bray Wyatt is pretty much the sole reason that ‘The Monster Among Men’ is what he is today, bringing him in with the Wyatt family, and him being my mentor, my sensei.
Sometimes the student has to one day show the sensei who the boss is. Whenever he’s ready to step into the squared circle with me, I’m more than willing and ready.”
Strowman was introduced to fans on the main roster when he was added to The Wyatt Family that included Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan years ago.
With the two stars being on the same brand – Friday Night SmackDown – it’s possible that their paths will cross one day.
Perhaps, it could happen sooner rather than later as Strowman will compete in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match when WWE presents the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event this Sunday with the winner being able to challenge for the top title on their brand at WrestleMania 36.
Matt Hardy has been active on YouTube over the last few months. He had been posting a series of “Free the Delete” videos but over the last week, his YouTube channel has begun to express the idea that Hardy is in some type of limbo.
Hardy released the following video recently:
“I’m Matt Hardy and I’m in limbo,” he begins the video with. “I was once broken, then woken, now I’m not quite sure what I am.”
Hardy continues to speculate that maybe he is supposed to be “Jokin” Matt Hardy after he fails to impress his children with his Dad jokes.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Hardy is expected to leave WWE in March when his contract is up in the spring. Also according to the report, Hardy has been speculated to be the leader of the Dark Order in AEW.
“Matt Hardy is expected to leave WWE in March,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
“Hardy is the leading speculated name for the leader of the Dark Order since they just started teasing a leader and Hardy just started putting out the videos,” Meltzer continued.
AEW Dynamite is headed to a new city as All Elite Wrestling has announced the host venue for an upcoming episode of the weekly television show.
The promotion announced on Monday that AEW Dynamite is heading to Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena on March 18th. Tickets for both shows go on sale this Friday at AEWTix.com.
The arena has a max capacity of 13,000 approximately people, which is in line with the other arenas that AEW is airing their television show from.
“#AEWDynamite is coming to the Blue Cross Arena when All Elite Wrestling makes its Empire State debut on Wed, March 18th! Tickets go on sale THIS FRIDAY, January 24th at Noon Eastern Time. For tickets visit http://AEWTIX.com.”
AEW Dynamite Schedule
Starting next week, it’s expected that All Elite Wrestling will begin announcing venues for the month of April. The following is an updated look at the AEW Dynamite touring schedule through the end of March 2020:
January 22: taped from Jericho cruise
January 29: Cleveland, OH
February 5: Huntsville, AL
February 12: Austin, TX
February 19: Atlanta, GA
February 26: Kansas City, MO
March 4: Denver, CO
March 11: Salt Lake City, UT
March 18: Rochester, NY
Last week, it was announced that AEW Dynamite has been extended through 2023 by the media company to remain on the air every week on TNT.
Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair are widely considered to be two of the best professional wrestlers of all time. Arn Anderson was recently asked the question of who he feels is the better wrestler between the two.
“That’s impossible to say because they’re different. They are each incredible in their own right,” Anderson said on an episode of his podcast with Conrad Thompson. “Shawn Michaels is to me the consummate babyface. Talk about a guy that does have babyface skills, nobody sells better, nobody can tell a story better in the ring, his ability to make it a comeback that you believe in.”
Anderson would then continue to say that while HBK was the consummate babyface, Ric Flair was the consummate heel.
“Ric – consummate heel,” Anderson continued. “Even though he gets cheered, Ric is still a heel, Ric will always be a heel. He’s just one of those guys you love to hate.”
In terms of who is better between the two, however, Anderson said there is no way to tell.
“There is no way to say one is better than the other,” Anderson concluded.
Anderson’s comments can be heard in the player below:
The second-ever Chris Jericho Rock N Rager at Sea is currently taking place. In addition to other festivities planned for the cruise, there will also be several AEW wrestling matches held aboard the boat tonight.
Jericho took to social media recently to announce the following matches will take place today on the cruise:
Jericho recently spoke to SI.com and spoke about what he believes he would be doing if he was still in WWE.
“If I was still in the WWE, I would still have to be doing ‘The List’ and it would feel so old,” said Jericho. “I love all the great stuff I did in the past, but to go out there and say ‘Raw is Jericho’ or ‘I’m the Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla’ would really feel like a rock and roll band that tours that never puts on a new record and tours every summer.”
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle spoke to The Sun where he talked about a wide range of topics including who he would put on his Mt. Rushmore of Wrestling.
Just like with who is the GOAT (greatest of all-time) in wrestling, it’s an opinionated take as most people have a different list.
Kurt Angle Names Wrestling Mount Rushmore
At first, Angle named WWE Champion Brock Lesnar as someone he would put on the list but then changed his mind because he feels like this topic brings a discussion about the overall entertainment. He pointed out that someone on this list would wow fans with the way that they present their characters.
Angle would then name the likes of WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair.
“A guy like Shawn Michaels would be on the Mount Rushmore, Ric Flair would be on Mount Rushmore. I don’t see Brock as an overall athlete that would be up there. But don’t get me wrong, what he does in the ring, no-one does better.”
Angle added how the final two names he would put on the list are Steve Austin and The Rock. He also wouldn’t put himself on the list because that’s just not who he is.
Wrestlers such as John Cena and Batista are currently enjoying post-wrestling acting careers. Hollywood hasn’t always been so accepting of wrestlers, however. According to comments Cena made to Cinema Blend recently, he believes the Rock’s foray into acting changed all that.
“It definitely has changed, and I think that rests on the already broad shoulders of Dwayne Johnson,” Cena said regarding Hollywood’s attitude to wrestlers. “He just made it acceptable to be something other than your wrestling persona. If you look at the correlation of wrestlers or WWE personalities in movies, they essentially played extensions of their WWE personality. I think Dwayne was one of the first ones to break that mold, and do it on such a grand scale that he couldn’t be ignored.”
John Cena On Wrestling and Hollywood
Cena would continue to talk about the similarities between pro wrestling and other forms of entertainment.
“What we do in WWE is we tell stories – we just tell most of it through a physical nature of a narrative. And it is over the top, and a very Shakespearean form, but it is storytelling. I just think we have a lot of talented individuals that could be good in other avenues. It’s just by being on every week without a break, perception is reality. ‘I know this person for being this person and this person alone.’ It’s very much like your favorite [television show], like Seinfeld.”
Cena’s film career is set to have a big year in 2020. He will play a role in each of the next installments of the Fast and Furious and Suicide Squad films.
The full interview with Cena from Cinema Blend can be found here.
WWE is getting closer to the Royal Rumble and fans are expecting some surprises in both Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble matches.
Pwinsider.com reports that former WWE Champion Kane is slated to be at this Sunday’s Royal Rumble PPV. Although Kane has not been announced for the Rumble match, the site speculated that Kane set up his appearance at the show during his most recent return on WWE television.
Royal Rumble: Former WWE Champion Expected
Kane appeared on Friday Night SmackDown this week on FOX in Greensboro, NC at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex where he brought up the history between Kane and The Fiend. This led to The Fiend coming out from out of the ring and Daniel Bryan took out The Fiend.
The promo was largely putting over that he maintains the record for the most eliminations in Rumble match history.
There are 9 open spots for the contest. WWE is expected to announce more stars for this contest this week. The following names have been announced thus far:
Brock Lesnar in the #1 spot, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles, Erick Rowan, King Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Otis, Tucker, Elias, Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy, Rusev, Bobby Lashley, R-Truth, Braun Strowman, WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro.
WWE presents the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on Sunday, January 26, 2020 Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park and airs on the WWE Network.
Major League Wrestling presented the finals of the Opera Cup tournament on an episode of Fusion that aired this weekend on BeIN Sports and YouTube. The middleweight title was also on the line and Savio Vega and Gino Medina faced each other in a New York street fight.
Quick Results MLW Fusion 1/18/20:
Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed w/Injustice (c) defeated El Lindaman
New York Street Fight: Gino Medina defeated Savio Vega
Opera Cup Finals: Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Brian Pillman Jr.
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
The main event this week on Fusion was the finals in the Opera Cup tournament. It would be the first time in 70 years the trophy would be awarded to a wrestler for winning a single-elimination tournament, the last victory being Smith’s grandfather, Stu Hart.
Before the match, Smith cut a promo about how he was surprised but pleased that Pillman had made it to the finals. He said that Pillman works hard but in the ring that night, it would be strictly business. Pillman expressed similar sentiment in an interview with Alicia Atout earlier in the evening.
Pillman would give Smith everything he had but ultimately it was the more experienced veteran who would take the victory. Smith made Pillman tap out to the crossface for the win.
It was also announced during the broadcast that the Opera Cup will be an annual tournament in MLW.
Last week, Gino Medina decided to reject offers from both Konnan and Selina de la Renta in favor of aligning with the Dynasty. After Medina attacked Konnan last week, Savio Vega challenged Medina to a New York street fight this week.
Vega seemed to have everything going for him near the end of the match. After a contest that involved multiple weapons being used, Vega hit a spinning leg lariat and looked to have the match won. That’s when the other members of the Dynasty appeared on the stage and provided a distraction. Medina then hit a low blow, followed by his finisher for the win.
This week’s episode of Fusion kicked off with a middleweight title contest. Injustice’s Myron Reed would face OWE’s El Lindaman with the strap on the line. Lindaman came out strong but he also had to contend with the other members of Injustice, Kotto Brazil and Jordan Oliver, on the outside.
Before the match, Reed cut a promo about how he hears people are comparing him to Cassius Clay. Reed says he’s more like Muhammad Ali, however, because he breaks the mold. He’d pick up the win with a 450 splash and retain his title.
Injustice attacked Brian Pillman Jr. last week before his Opera Cup tournament match. This week, Pillman cut a promo on Injustice and MLW officials would ensure that all 3 members of the group were kicked out of the building before the finals of the tournament could begin.
Barbed Wire Match Next Week
This Saturday for @MLW in Dallas, starting off my decade with a nice, easy, No Rope Barbed Wire match against @ManceWarner. Should be a laugh? pic.twitter.com/Jl8v3gCGDF
The rivalry between Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc gets taken to a whole new level next week. We’ve seen this rivalry continue for months in the most brutal and vicious style matches. Next week, however, the ring ropes will be replaced with barbed wire as the match between Warner and Havoc taped from Dallas on January 11th, 2020 will air.
Next week’s Fusion will be the first to air from the recent tapings in Texas.
With Zero Hour from Dallas in the books, MLW has now begun advertising the big matches for Fightland from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Here is what is confirmed for the event scheduled for February 1st, 2020 thus far:
World Heavyweight Championship: Jacob Fatu (c) vs CIMA
Killer Kross vs Tom Lawlor
National Openweight Title: Alex Hammerstone (c) vs T-Hawk
WWE is less than a week away from their latest pay-per-view event, Royal Rumble, and the build for this show is underway, which starts on Raw
Thus, it’s time to look ahead starting with tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW on the USA Network, which has a loaded show as the company previously announced several matches for the episode.
WWE has yet to announce the main event of this show. The top match advertised thus far is Andrade defending U.S. Title against Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match.
WWE will also be creating new programs and building on the hype for existing feuds that will take place heading into the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. WWE still needs to announce more matches for this event as well as competitors for both the Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble matches.
WWE RAW Preview
WWE holds this show in Wichita, KS at the Intrust Bank Arena. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
Andrade to defend U.S. Title against Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar returns to RAW
Rusev & Liv Morgan to battle Bobby Lashley & Lana in Mixed Tag Team Match
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for RAW.
Join us here later tonight for WWE RAW Live Results and our post-show RAW Takeaways feature.
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry recently commented on Conor McGregor and his return to the UFC this weekend. McGregor defeated David Cerrone in stunning fashion in the first 40 seconds of the first round.
During the most recent episode of Busted Open Radio, Henry was discussing the idea of face and heels in modern wrestling. Henry used the comparison to MMA, saying that McGregor likes to ‘play the heel’ when promoting his fights. When Henry’s co-host Jonathan Hood brought up McGregor’s more reserved approach to this weekend’s fight the ‘World’s Strongest Man’ had some explosive comments about the former two division UFC Champion.
Conor McGregor – On Quality Control?
“Conor McGregor is on quality control” Henry began. “He’s got people around him going ‘Hey, don’t go out there and be and make a spectacle of yourself.’ Don’t bring that Conor McGregor machismo to the stage because you will be judged.” McGregor has recently had issues with the law, following alleged sexual assault and alleged assault at a bar in Dublin, Ireland in April 2019.
Henry then made an interesting comparison between McGregor and WWE Superstars The Usos. Jimmy Uso has had issues with drink driving over the past couple of years, and Henry appeared to be comparing the ‘re-branding’ of the tag team on television to McGregor’s. “Conor McGregor is just like The Usos right now. They’ve had trouble. They’ve done things that they’re not proud of. Speaking for themselves. I don’t know if Conor gives a damn, I think that he’s more worried about his business failing; and people getting off the Conor McGregor bandwagon.”
“The brand is suffering”
Henry elaborated further, saying that “the optics say Conor McGregor is in quality control. he’s like ‘we got to fix this.’ The brand is suffering. The price on [McGregor’s Proper No 12 brand] the liquor is down. The UFC realises that, ‘well let’s get something out of him before it’s completely gone.’ That’s what’s going on guys, and I want to see how this is going to play out. Because of the business implications, not because I care about what goes on with Conor McGregor.”
Henry then went into the comments that McGregor made back in 2016, where he took to Twitter to write “I didn’t mean no disrespect to the @wwe fans. What I meant to say was that I’d slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sunday’s.”
I didn't mean no disrespect to the @wwe fans. What I meant to say was that I'd slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sunday's.
“He’s not been a wrestling fan,” Henry said. “He said things that was completely out of line, specially as it relates to him coming into the locker room and slapping everybody because, I’m gonna tell you what. At that time, I was actually in the locker room. I welcome any 140 pounds or less guy on the planet to come and slap my face. I will tear your skin off. AND I will hang your skin in my closet. There’s 50 guys in that WWE locker room that will hand him his ass. Just so y’all know. So don’t think for one second that a 140 pound dude is going to go in there and survive against Braun Strowman. I would say that that Chad Gable would rake him over the coals. Chad Gable will have him screaming for his mommy.”
Jazzy Gabert is no longer with the NXT UK brand in WWE. She posted to Twitter recently that she is now a free agent. Gabert had signed with the NXT UK brand in January of 2019. She made her in-ring debut at the April 20th, 2019 tapings from Glasgow, Scotland.
“I will press the RESET button!! I will be OFFLINE for a short while! Need a change! Will change! Body, mind and soul needs a break!! 10 days of fasting, including keeping off from social media, is the first step,” Gabert wrote on Instagram. “Second one, which I look most forward too is changing my look! And i change my profession… one came to an end and one is rising like a Phoenix. Watch out for it! Thank you for being on this journey.”
Jazzy Gabert in NXT UK
Gabert had a total of 6 matches for the NXT UK brand and had a 4-2 record. She only wrestled one single’s match, however, a loss to Piper Niven in October. She teamed with Jinny successfully three times and picked up another win in a 2-on-1 handicap match. Gabert lost to Piper Niven in a single’s match and then she and Jinny lost to Rhea Ripley and Piper Niven in her final NXT UK match.
