Kenny Omega is all too familiar with wrestling tournaments – the former IWGP champion has taken part in such tourneys and even was the first non-Japanese wrestler to win New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax. Since he’s in All Elite Wrestling now, many fans have wondered if we can see a similar round-robin format tournament in the promotion.
While speaking to ComicBook.com, Omega revealed that they have talked about introducing a tournament event and the company is open to it. He said that conversations regarding it have taken place and while nothing has been confirmed, everyone behind the scenes is on board with the idea.
“Every one of those tournaments, they’re rough on the body and it’s tough to figure out a schedule to do so,” Kenny Omega said. “Whether it be a round robin tournament, a league style or one night we are definitely looking into a tournament format because people, as a [myself] fan even, I love tournaments. As, a performer they’re tough to do, but I think it really tests the athletes’ mettle and it really separates the men from the boys. Yeah, I would love to do a tournament. I don’t know what we’d call it. Don’t have any ideas for a name, but all of us have been brought on board with a tournament. It’s just a matter of figuring out how.”
NJPW has a number of annually held tournaments, namely the coveted G1 Climax, World Tag League, New Japan Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, Super J-Cup, and Super Jr. Tag Tournament. It would be really interesting to see what kind of tournament AEW holds in the future.
At AEW Dynamite this week, Kenny Omega was seen defeating PAC in an incredible 30-minute Iron Man match. The two had scored one pinfall each over each other by the time was over, and the match was extended under sudden death rules. Omega was finally able to win the match by hitting a One-Winged Angel on PAC.
NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay will see a huge women’s ladder match as the event takes place during WrestleMania 36 Weekend.
Since NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will be defending her title against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36, WWE decided to have this match take place for their women’s division.
Who will participate in the match will be determined by several qualifying matches that will take place on NXT in the coming weeks. No names have been revealed yet by WWE but the matches are set to begin from next Wednesday.
NXT General Manager William Regal announced the match on the show’s episode. It was also announced that the winner of the match from TakeOver will face the winner from WrestleMania 36 – either Ripley or Flair – at a later date.
As mentioned earlier, Flair will be challenging Ripley for her NXT Women’s title. Charlotte was in action on this week’s episode of NXT. This was her first appearance on the yellow brand since 2015. She had a match with Bianca Belair in the main event. She defeated Belair and then went on to attack her leg with a steel chair, and then put her in the Figure Eight until Ripley came to the rescue.
Apart from the number on contender women’s ladder match, no other match has been officially announced for the event. NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay will take place on Saturday, April 4, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War. AEW won in total viewers. It was close in every demographic group including the +50 which AEW won as well.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 717,000 viewers, which is down from 794,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.23 rating, down from the 0.25 rating the previous week.
The episode featured Charlotte Flair returned to the NXT ring to take on Bianca Belair, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Austin Theory, Dominik Dijakovic vs. Cameron Grimes, Killian Dain vs. Bronson Reed, The Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) vs. The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake) (w/Jaxson Ryker).
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 865,000 viewers, down from the 893,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.30 rating, down from the 0.31 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured such as Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho weigh-in for their title match, The Butcher and The Blade vs. Best Friends, PAC vs. Kenny Omega, Jurassic Express vs. Santana, Ortiz and Sammy Guevara.
Killer Kross is speculated to be the wrestler WWE is teasing with the two vignettes aired during the February 26 episode of WWE NXT.
The cryptic videos show grim and apocalyptic imagery and were not posted online or acknowledged in any way by the company. The themes in the video match that of Killer Kross’ persona.
Dave Meltzer had suggested that Killer Kross could be the man behind the mysterious glitches seen on SmackDown. The imagery of clock and a letter had many fans speculate that Killer Kross and his girlfriend, Scarlett Bordeaux – who is signed to WWE as well – could be on their way to the main roster. It was also said that he would be given a “fast track” once he signs with the company, and is not expected to take the usual route of going through NXT before joining the main roster.
Killer Kross signed with WWE along with Timothy Thatcher on February 5. The company didn’t announce which brand Kross signed with, it was only reported that both the new signees have reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, to begin training.
Killer Kross has wrestled for promotions such as Lucha Underground and AAA in Mexico, as well as Impact Wrestling in 2018 where he rose to stardom. He decided to ask for his release from the company in May 2019, citing disagreement over the creative direction of his character and pay. His request was however denied by the company at the time.
Kross was finally released from Impact in December last year, effectively making him a free agent. It was reported that WWE had quite some interest in signing the 34-year-old, and he reportedly had a meeting with none other than WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Triple H.
WWE continues to make changes to the card for its biggest event of the year, WrestleMania 36.
The current plan is to have John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns vs. WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg. Dave Meltzer noted the news on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio.
Wyatt vs. Reigns and Cena vs. Elias was reportedly scheduled for the show but news broke earlier this week that those matches were going to be changed but there wasn’t any word on the new opponents for these stars at the time.
At the time, Meltzer also noted that “five or six” WrestleMania matches in total have changed recently. Most of them are only on the SmackDown brand side of the card.
Fast forward to today’s WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event, Goldberg beat Wyatt to become the new Universal Champion.
WWE has already confirmed that Cena is returning to SmackDown this Friday with the belief that he’ll start his feud heading into WrestleMania on this show.
The following is an updated look at the rumored card WrestleMania:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
Universal Champion Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns
John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles
Edge vs Randy Orton
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for WrestleMania in the coming weeks.
After weeks of speculation, WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt, portraying The Fiend, vs. Goldberg took place.
As seen at Thursday’s WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Goldberg ended up going over on Wyatt. This marked Goldberg’s first match of 2020 and his second reign as Universal Champion.
This match was booked on the February 7th episode of Friday Night SmackDown in San Jose, CA at the SAP Center on FOX when Goldberg made an appearance.
He talked about never getting a rematch for when he lost the Universal Title. He then issued a challenge to Wyatt. This is when Wyatt appeared in a Firefly Funhouse segment to accept the challenge.
Goldberg worked last year’s Super ShowDown show in the country where he battled The Undertaker. The match had received a ton of criticism from fans. The start of the match was good but it quickly went downhill due to unforeseen circumstances.
Thus, almost one year later, Goldberg was looking to right the wrongs that were made and did so.
What are your thoughts on Goldberg winning the Universal Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
NWA Powerrr commentator Stu Bennett recently appeared on Busted Open Radio to discuss his move to the YouTube based brand. During the interview Bennett would give his rundown of some of the next breakout stars to come from the revitalised National Wrestling Alliance programme.
“Obviously when I turned up I wasn’t familiar with Thunder Rosa at all” Stu Bennett began. “She’s the NWA Women’s Champion so I was very new to learning curve. But the very first time I clapped eyes on her, I knew immediately this girl is gonna be box office she she’s so good and that’s an obvious one.”
Bennett would also praise the former NWA Television Champion, Ricky Starks. “I think Ricky Starks is another one. It’s very obvious he’s kind of earlier on the curve than Thunder Rosa at the moment but he’s on this build, this growth cycle. At the moment where he’s gonna go? I think he’s really going to go to that kind of A List level, eventually. But again he’s on the build.”
The former WWE Superstar was also quick to praise some of the more quirky characters in the company, including the Question Mark and current Television Champion Zicky Dice. “There’s other people who organically, just randomly get over” Bennett stated. “You never would anticipate the Question Mark thing. It’s utterly bizarre. But it just works, people love it, the storytelling is crazy, it’s ridiculous. Another guy who I wasn’t familiar with probably four or five weeks ago, is a guy called Zicky Dice. And it was like a kind of an 80’s sleazeball character, but I fell in love with him almost immediately. He’s a fantastic character and another guy you can’t take your eyes off of.”
You can check out NWA Powerrr every week via their Official YouTube channel.
You can listen to Busted Open Radio every day via SiriusXM. Or catch the Podcast version of the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or your favourite podcast host.
Co-Executive VP of IMPACT Don Callis recently appeared on Busted Open Radio. The former ECW personality discussed how the brand has grown throughout 2019; with the likes of Tessa Blanchard, Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards being given the chance to shine on the AXS Network show.
IMPACT Roster
“I look at our roster and I’ll put that up against any roster in the industry” Callis began. “Our top eight is real, real solid and you get guys like [Tommy] Dreamer on the roster who, you know…I used to call my my good buddy Kenny Omega the best bout machine. I call Tommy the Best Pop machine because He always gets the biggest pop.”
Callis would then go on to praise the IMPACT roster and talked about how the move to AXS TV has been very beneficial to the brand. IMPACT moved over to the AXS back in October, after their parent company Anthem purchased the network. This not only propelled IMPACT to a much wider audience; but it also was the catalyst to have New Japan Pro Wrestling removed from the network. Thus impeding on their own efforts to advance in the North American market.
Arguably, since Don Callis and Scott D’Amore took over the brand back in 2018 there has been an uplift in the quality of IMPACT’s programming. The show has been critically acclaimed for its ability to build newer stars, such as Trey Miguel and Ace Austin.
“We have a lot of great talent, men and women who work their work, their tails off. And they’re there to to get the product over.” Callis then finished by saying that “obviously being on AXS is great for us, because we’re able to reach a much wider audience”
You can listen to Busted Open Radio every day via SiriusXM. Or catch the Podcast version of the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or your favourite podcast host.
Brock Lesnar will remain the WWE Champion as he successfully retained the belt in his latest title defense.
He did so when he beat rising WWE star Ricochet in a championship match at the WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event. This was a squash match to the fullest as Ricochet never connected with a move.
WWE set up this contest when they booked a #1 contender’s match on the February 3rd episode of RAW in Salt Lake City, UT at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on the USA Network. This Triple Threat contest saw Ricochet, Seth Rollins, and Bobby Lashley battle it out.
As seen in the match, Ricochet ended up winning and becoming the new #1 contender for the top title on RAW.
As a result, he earned the opportunity to challenge “The Beast” for the WWE Title at WWE’s latest event.
WWE has already confirmed that Lesnar will defend the title against Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36 on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium.
What are your thoughts on Brock Lesnar retaining the WWE Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WCW President Eric Bischoff recently revealed some intriguing facts regarding the former Turner franchise and lawsuits that were levied against them.
Eric Bischoff was discussing a lawsuit that was presented by Paul Heyman, as ECW talent Sabu was the subject of a contract dispute back in the year 2000. In terms of Heyman’s ‘tactics’ at that time; Bischoff said that “Heyman was a part of WCW during a period of time when all you had to do to get a checkout of Turner Broadcasting was whisper the words, ‘I think I’m going to sue you.'”
Eric Bischoff also mentioned how Turner operated back then in terms of settlements to lawsuits. “If that came with a settlement, you know, anywhere below $999,999, you get a check. WCW was very inclined to settle anything that was or wasn’t merit-less. It was just easier to make it go away than it was to, you know, defend it in court. So I don’t blame him [Heyman]. You know, I might have done the same thing.”
Sabu had previously worked with WCW back in 1995. The former hardcore star would never appear for World Championship Wrestling before their demise in 2001; possibly due to the contract dispute from ECW. During that time Sabu would work for the XPW promotion; winning their World Heavyweight Championship whilst being managed by former Danzig bassist Josh Lazie.
You can listen to the 83 Weeks podcast with Eric Bischoff via iTunes. Stitcher. Or you favourite podcast host every Monday at 6am EST.
NXT’s March 4 episode will feature two steel cage matches on the same night.
On this week’s NXT, The Velveteen Dream said that he wants the steel cage left up so he can make Roderick Strong experience how it feels. He urged NXT General Manager William Regal to book a steel cage match between them. Strong accepted Dream’s challenge and sent the message that he is going to end him.
It was announced in the episode that Velveteen Dream and Roderick Strong will face off each other inside of a steel cage on next week’s episode. This would be the second steel cage match after the already confirmed bout between Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai.
Velveteen Dream and Strong rivalry resumed after Dream’s return to NXT three weeks ago. Dream insulted Strong’s family and faced him in last week’s main event. He was able to defeat Strong, however, he was attacked by Undisputed Era shortly after the match.
The steel cage match between Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai was made official from the fallout of their street fight that took place at NXT TakeOver: Portland. The match had ended with Raquel Gonzales interfering in the match and helping Kai win.
It will be interesting to see how NXT’s ratings will fare against AEW Dynamite. Dynamite will also see the debut of Lance Archer, so there’s something to look forward to on both programs.
The New Day won’t be staying on top of the SmackDown Tag Team Division as John Morrison and The Miz dethroned them.
At Thursday’s WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium on the WWE Network, Morrison and The Miz beat The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) to win the titles.
Starting last month, Miz and Morrison began feuding with The New Day (Big E and Kingston). Morrison would defeat Kingston and Big E on the January 17th and January 24th episodes of SmackDown.
Eventually, on the January 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison and Miz defeated Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) in a fatal four-way tag team match. With this win, they earned a championship match at Super ShowDown.
Time will tell whether WWE continues this feud or goes into a different direction heading into the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event next month.
What are your thoughts on John Morrison and The Miz winning the Smackdown Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
As expected, The Undertaker made an appearance at WWE’s latest pay-per-view event, Super ShowDown.
He did so in the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match that saw Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, R-Truth, and Rey Mysterio compete. Once The OC took out Mysterio backstage, we saw footage of Taker lay out Karl Anderson and Gallows before heading out to the ring.
He attacked Styles by hitting a chokeslam then pinned him to not only win the match but to kick off his next feud under the WWE banner.
This was expected as not only was Taker reported to be traveling with the crew to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this week but WWE also tweeted out a photo of him out of character in the country on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Dave Meltzer was able to confirm that The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles is currently scheduled for the WrestleMania card. The news was first reported by WrestleZone.
It’s also been reported by Pwinsider that The Undertaker is currently scheduled to make an appearance at the March 9 episode of RAW. from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
This appearance is slated to further the feud with Styles heading into the biggest event of the year for the company.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
NXT’s March 11 episode is set to air on USA Network live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
The episode which will air two weeks later was announced on this week’s NXT episode at Full Sail University. Triple H appeared on the episode and announced that the episode from WWE Performance Center will be a Fan Appreciation Event. Full Sail wouldn’t be able to host the NXT episode on March 11 because WWE will be hosting the Hall of Fame event from March 8 to 13.
Free tickets were made available for the show and they sold out quickly. The event was sold out as soon as the tickets went live on sale, according to Lords of Pain.
In February 2019, a WWE Halftime Heat match took place at the WWE Performance Center. The team of Ricochet, The Velveteen Dream and Aleister Black defeated Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano.
No matches have been announced for the March 11 episode yet, but a women’s number one contender ladder match will be held at TakeOver: Tampa to determine who will become the number one contender to Rhea Ripley or Charlotte Flair’s NXT Women’s Championship.
Cody Rhodes was a guest this week on the official AEW podcast, AEW Unrestricted. During the conversation, Cody spoke about the first time he met Tony Khan, liking both Star Wars and Star Trek, his best wrestling trainers, the AEW creative process and more.
“The first time I feel like I really met (Tony Khan), because we had passed each other a few times, I’d even seen him backstage at WWE, but the first time I think I really met him was when I went to a Jags game and I watched the game from the owner’s box and he came up in the middle of the game to talk to us and I got to see how he kind of runs the infrastructure he’s responsible for there, and I was so impressed,” Cody said.
He also noted that Robert Gibson was one of his two best wrestling trainers. The other trainer was an acting coach he had in Los Angeles. Cody had hoped to become an actor during a period when he thought he was too small to be a wrestler. He noted that much of what he learned in the acting class he felt was applicable to pro-wrestling. Cody would continue to say that Dusty brought this acting coach into NXT as well.
Cody On AEW’s Creative Process
“The creative process is what we promised people,” Cody said. “It really is different flavors and a different variety.”
“Matt, Nick, Kenny, myself and Tony, the best parallel I can think of is like a band. Everybody plays a different instrument, everybody thinks they’re the lead singer too but if somebody brings a song, you do everything you can… it may not be from your heart and soul but you want to see their process on it, you want to support their process.”
He continued to talk about how the Young Bucks are very fourth-wall poking, Kenny loves Japanese style wrestling and Cody loves old southern wrestling. Cody also said that Tony seems to like everything.
Cody also spoke about his love of both Star Wars and Star Trek. Aubrey Edwards pointed out that some feel it’s not okay to like both.
“Star Wars is for everybody, Star Trek is for smart people,” Cody said. “It’s a completely different show and the fact that they were ever compared is so bizarre because one is Camelot and King Arthur and vast legendary fiction and then the other one is the concept of this utopia that happens.”
Cody also found a way to compare Mick Foley to Captain Picard during this part of the conversation.
Goldberg will face Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship in Saudi Arabia today at Super ShowDown. He spoke to SI.com recently about what he hopes to achieve with his performance on today’s show.
“I need to erase my last performance here, first and foremost,” said Goldberg, speaking from Saudi Arabia in reference to his match against Undertaker last fall. “I knocked myself out 30 seconds into the match, and I performed like a school child. That’s one of the reasons I’m back, and this is my opportunity to do it.”
Goldberg continued to say that he still wants to wrestle but his internal athletic clock is ticking.
“My internal clock is ticking, and I don’t know when it’s going to stop in terms of my ability to put these boots on and continue to do what I used to do. And when I’m posed with a challenge, I’m a defensive lineman, I don’t turn it down.”
Goldberg On Still Wanting To Wrestle
He would also talk about having a responsibility to his fans to be the same athlete he used to be.
“This is still a passion of mine,” said Goldberg, whose gratitude and appreciation for pro wrestling continues to reach heights he never imagined. “I also have a responsibility to my fans, who still believe in me to go out there and be the same machine I used to be, so I’m going to go out there and do it.”
Goldberg also spoke about experiencing the culture in Saudi Arabia. He told a story about another time he was in the country for a car show and meeting people from the country.
“I was here in November for a car show, and I was able to stay for a much longer stretch and experience the people from a different perspective. I met a little boy and girl, and that meeting brought me to tears. They were two beautiful, innocent children, no different from children anywhere else in the world. Experiencing it for myself, the people I’ve met here are gracious and kind.”
The final betting odds for all of the matches that will take place at the WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place today (February 27, 2020) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium has been finalized as only 10 matches have been announced.
Make sure to join us tonight for match recaps and our 6 takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE.
Odds for the three late additions to the card are not available – Humberto Carrillo vs. Angel Garza, Mansoor vs. Dolph Ziggler, and The Viking Raiders vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson.
WWE Super ShowDown Betting Odds
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar -2000 (1/20) vs. Ricochet +700 (7/1)
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt -300 (1/3) vs. Goldberg +200 (2/1)
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day +150 (3/2) vs. John Morrison & The Miz -200 (1/2)
Roman Reigns -500 (1/5) vs. Baron Corbin +300 (3/1) – Steel Cage Match
Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match: Andrade 5/1, Bobby Lashley 7/1, Erick Rowan 10/1, AJ Styles 4/9, R-Truth 7/1, Rey Mysterio N/A
WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy -400 (1/4) vs. The Street Profits +250 (5/2)
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley -260 (5/13) vs. Naomi +175 (7/4)
Kenny Omega’s signing with All Elite Wrestling got the wrestling world buzzing and many expected him to stay on the top of the new wrestling promotion just like he was in New Japan Pro Wrestling. That, however, doesn’t seem to be the case as Omega has been on a downward spiral in AEW. He lost to Chris Jericho at Double or Nothing, then went on to lose major bouts with the likes of PAC and Jon Moxley. Not all is bad for Omega though, as he did win the AEW World Tag Team Championship with Adam Page at Chris Jericho’s cruise last month. Fans are still critical of Omega’s run so far as they assumed he would be on the top of the company.
Omega was recently asked about his opinion on the criticism he’s been receiving regarding his stint in AEW.
“It’s funny because I feel like when people … I could compare it to when your favorite player perhaps gets traded to another team,” Omega told Sporting News. “When your favorite player gets traded to another team, and he’s initially not the top scorer or leading in assists or playing the way that he used to play like he did for the home team, your team, it’s easy to criticize them and say that you made a big mistake, and that you’ll never be the same guy again and that it’s all downhill.”
Omega added that just because he’s not putting on matches that last 45-60 minutes doesn’t mean that he’s not the same guy. Omega believes not everything is about him, he’s trying to help a company run a weekly live show.
“This isn’t about tooting my own horn, but it’s like I’m now helping run a company that has live television every Wednesday. I’m part of a very successful tag team with “Hangman” Adam Page, a guy that I have a lot of chemistry with, and I’m existing within a division of guys that are amongst the top of all the tag teams on all of the planet and showing that it takes more than just having a good long singles match to be called the best in the world.”
Omega continued and added that he believes he is at its creative peak. He believes that having the same kind of match over and over doesn’t make someone the best wrestler in the world, they have to have layers to them and do different things.
At AEW Dynamite this week, Kenny Omega was seen defeating PAC in an incredible 30-minute Iron Man match. The two had scored one pinfall each over each other by the time was over, and the match was extended under sudden death rules. Omega was finally able to win the match by hitting a One-Winged Angel on PAC.
Jon Moxley has a chance to win the AEW World Championship on Saturday at Revolution from Chris Jericho. Moxley recently commented to Sportskeeda that winning the AEW title would be a better feeling than when he won the WWE Championship in 2016.
“This, I feel, will be a far greater feeling,” Moxley said. “You know this is me, on my own, doing things my way. Totally different situation. Not even a comparable situation – as good as a night as that was.”
Under the name Dean Ambrose, he won the WWE title at Money in the Bank 2016. He first won the MITB briefcase and then cashed it in later that night on Seth Rollins who had just defeated Roman Reigns for the belt.
“Chris Jericho is arguably hotter than he’s ever been, and that’s really saying something considering Chris Jericho’s career. I think he’s not just trying to be good every week he’s trying to be the greatest of all time. And like I said I’ve been running through competition; killing dudes – You’re getting the best version of Chris Jericho and the best version of Jon Moxley at the same time and something’s gotta give, somebody’s gotta go down,” Moxley said.
The full interview with Jon Moxley can be read here.
The card for today’s (Thursday, February 27, 2020) WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event has been finalized.
The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the Mohammed Abdou Arena that will air on the WWE Network but it will most likely be Goldberg vs. Universal Champion Bray Wyatt.
Also on tap for this show is WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Ricochet.
As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 11 a.m. ET. Here is the final card for the show:
Final WWE Super ShowDown Card
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Ricochet
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Goldberg
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. John Morrison & The Miz
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin – Steel Cage Match
Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match: Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio
WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy vs. The Street Profits
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Naomi
Humberto Carrillo vs. Angel Garza
Mansoor vs. Dolph Ziggler
The Viking Raiders vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson – Pre-Show Match
Ric Flair was at NXT this week to watch Charlotte Flair in the main event of the show and he made an appearance for the live audience before the episode went on air.
The 16-time world champion came out right before the show
went on air and he interacted with the Godfather of the Black And Yellow brand
Triple H during his appearance.
Flair first said that the guys at NXT work really hard and Ric Flair then also teased a knee drop on his jacket but ultimately decided against it. You can check out some photos and a video of Flair’s appearance below.
Charlotte Flair defeated Bianca Belair in the main event of this week’s episode of NXT but she didn’t stop there and the Queen attacked Belair with a chair after the match was over.
Flair was interviewed backstage after the show. When asked
why she attacked the NXT star after winning the bout, Charlotte simply replied
with ‘because I can’.
The former Women’s Champion then explained her actions saying that when she was in NXT she had more respect for the performers on Raw and SmackDown. You can check out her interview in the video below:
The Undertaker has been in news recently due to reports of him traveling to Saudi Arabia despite not officially being announced for the show.
Videos of the Dead Man arriving in the country had surfaced
online yesterday and now WWE has also confirmed the former World Champion’s
presence.
The company confirmed Undertaker’s sighting via a post on their official website. They mentioned how he has not been announced for the show so far but teased a Super Showdown appearance for him as well.
The Last Outlaw is scheduled to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania this year and speculation is that he can set up his match with the Phenomenal One during the event on Thursday night.
Though it’s also possible that the company holds off the
start of their rivalry for some more time and Taker makes an appearance as a
special attraction on the show.
Undertaker and some other major names are currently advertised for an appearance on the March 9 episode of Raw which will be the post Elimination Chamber episode of the show.
So if he doesn’t set up a match with Styles on the PPV from
the Middle Eastern country, then this upcoming Raw seems to be the next best
spot to kick off the feud.
While Trish Stratus has not been announced for WrestleMania so far, a new tweet from her has sparked rumors of a major WrestleMania feud for the former Women’s Champion.
Stratus, who debuted on WWE Television in March 2000, recently posted a short clip from her Twitter in celebration of “20 Years of Stratusfaction.”
What’s interesting to note here is that towards the ending, the video features a graphic of the WWE Hall Of Famer having a confrontation with none other than ‘The Boss’ Sasha Banks from the 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble match:
This tweet has sparked rumors of a potential rivalry between the two and with WrestleMania being around the corner, people have started speculating if WWE can be planning a match between Stratus and Banks at the Shows Of Shows.
Sasha Banks is currently out of action with an ankle injury
and there is no word yet on how long she will stay on the shelf or what the
company is planning for her return.
WrestleMania is currently expected to feature 6 women’s matches. Since matches for all other horsewomen have already been account for, it would make sense for Banks to be involved in a big match against someone like Trish Stratus for the show.
The video also shows the date of Thursday, March 19. WWE has
a rare live event scheduled from Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Alabama on the
day and it would now be interesting to see if Trish Stratus makes an appearance
on the show.
AEW Dynamite aired live from the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Kansas City, MO. It was the final episode of Dynamite before AEW Revolution this Saturday night.
AEW Dynamite Results (2/26)
Kenny Omega def. Pac in an Iron Man match
Jurassic Express def. Inner Circle
Best Friends def. Butcher & Blade
Hikaru Shida def. Shanna, Big Swole, Yuka Sakazaki
Here are 4 takeaways from this week’s Dynamite:
Kenny Omega Defeated Pac In A Great Iron Man Match
Pac squared off with Kenny Omega in a 30-minute Iron Man match to begin the show. The Young Bucks accompanied Omega to the ring.
Match Recap: Omega sent Pac over the top rope and flipped onto him as the crowd went insane. Back in the ring, Omega went for a Moonsault but Pac got out of the way. Kenny bounced back up and planted Pac with a Dragon Suplex. Pac went for a Moonsault off the apron but Omega caught him. Pac somehow then countered into a DDT and both men fell to the floor outside the ring. Omega and Pac battled on the top rope and Pac connected with an Avalanche Brainbuster as the crowd chanted “holy sh*t!”.
Pac hit Omega with a Cutter and went for the cover but Kenny was able to kick out at two. Omega connected with the V-Trigger and followed it up with a Tiger Driver 98 for another near fall. Kenny hit another snap Dragon Suplex and followed it up with a V-Trigger but Pac kicked out again as the crowd chanted “this is awesome!”. Pac then hit Omega in the face with a chair for a DQ and Omega picked up the first point. Pac immediately hit the Black Arrow for a pinfall and the match was tied 1-1.
Omega and Pac battled on the ring apron and Pac hit Kenny with a Falcon Arrow to the floor outside the ring. Pac went for a Dropkick and hit the referee. Pac grabbed a table and put Omega on top of it. Pac then hit Omega with a Shooting Star off the top rope and through the table. Back in the ring, Pac went for Black Arrow but Omega got his knees up.
Kenny hit two V-Triggers in a row and followed it up with a Uranage for a two count. Omega went for the One Winged Angel but Pac countered into a reverse Hurricanrana. Pac then locked in the Brutalizer in the middle of the ring with a little under three minutes remaining in the match. Omega fought through the pain and reached the bottom rope to break the hold and the 30-minutes expired. After the match, Pac punched the referee in the face before Justin Roberts announced that the match will continue under sudden death rules. Omega then quickly won after hitting the One Winged Angel.
After the match, Pac attacked Orange Cassidy on the entrance ramp. It was later announced that Pac and Cassidy will battle at AEW Revolution.
Opinion: Omega and Pac delivered an outstanding match tonight that was PPV worthy. There was only one commercial break throughout the entire 30+ minute match.
Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy, Marko Stunt) faced Inner Circle (Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz) tonight on Dynamite.
Match Recap: Inner Circle controlled the match early and sent Stunt flying on top of Jungle Boy outside the ring. Back in the ring, Santana & Ortiz beat the hell out of Stunt. Luchasaurus tagged in and launched Sammy across the ring. Luchasaurus Chokeslammed Ortiz and followed it up with a Standing Moonsault. Jurassic Express then hit three Superkicks to Sammy in the corner.
Luchasaurus went for the cover but Santana broke it up at two. Sammy was going to use a weapon but Darby Allin ripped it away. Jungle Boy capitalized on the distraction with a Hurricanrana for the pinfall victory.
Yuka Sakazaki, Big Swole, Shanna, Hikaru Shida battled in a 4-way match tonight on Dynamite.
Match Recap: Shanna hit Shida with an Arm Drag to start things off. Shanna hit Swole and Shida with a double Hurricanrana and went for a cover but Yuka broke it up. Yuka hit Shida with a Hurricanrana and turned around into a shoulder tackle from Big Swole. Shanna hit Swole with a Superkick as Dynamite went a break.
When Dynamite returned, Shida planted Swole with a Backbreaker. Yuka hit Swole with a Splash and went for the cover but Shida broke it up. Shida then leveled Swole with a Running Knee to the face for the pinfall victory.
Jericho and Moxley had a weigh in tonight for their AEW Championship match this Saturday night at Revolution. Moxley got a great reaction as he made his way through the crowd and to the ring. Jericho was accompanied to the ring by Inner Circle as the crowd sang along to Judas.
Jericho ripped the microphone away from Tony Schiavone and called Gary Michael Capetta a weird little man. Moxley hopped on the scale and weighed in a 234 lbs. Chris got on the scale but hopped off to take off his sunglasses. Jericho hopped off again to remove his bandana. Jericho told the crowd to “shut their ass”. The crowd responded by doing the Tomahawk chop and Jericho called Mahomes (Chiefs QB) a piece of sh*t.
Moxley headbutted Jericho the canvas and busted Chris open. Inner Circle then beat Moxley down in the corner of the ring. Dustin Rhodes rushed the ring and Clotheslined Hager out of the ring. Hager and Rhodes battled through the crowd and to the concourse area. Hager threw Dustin into the Dippin Dots cart as Darby Allin rushed to the ring. Sammy hit Darby with a knee to the face and then bashed him over the head with his skateboard. Moxley and Jericho traded some shots and Jon went for the Paradigm Shift but Ortiz hit him with a low blow. Jericho hit Moxley with the Judas Effect and then a Paradigm Shift on top of the scale.
Opinion: Dynamite was awesome once again this week and the final segment was fun as hell. It sure looked like Jericho has a busted nose as a result of the headbutt from Moxley. There are so many matches that I am looking forward to at AEW Revolution. However, I wish AEW had hyped up the match between Nyla Rose and Kris Statlander for the Women’s Championship during tonight’s show. AEW aired a great video package for the Cody vs. MJF match at Revolution and there was also an interview segment to hype the Tag Team Championship match that you can see below.
The February 26, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
The show was headlined by Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair in a singles match.
WWE NXT Results (2/26/20)
Cameron Grimes def. Dominik Dijakovic
Xia Li def. Mia Yim
Tommaso Ciampa def. Austin Theory
Killian Dain def. Bronson Reed
Charlotte Flair def. Bianca Belair
Here are the 4 takeaways from this week’s show:
Finn Balor Cuts Done It Promo
Finn Balor in NXT
Finn Balor came out to the ring to discuss his future plans following his win over Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: Portland.
He talked about how he builds brands and has done it in Mexico and Japan and he holds lots of titles. He said that everybody is trying to get big before WrestleMania season and that people want to get a rub off of him. He brings up names such as Matt Riddle and Gargano.
This led to members of Imperium coming out and cutting a promo about one thing that he hasn’t done is travel to NXT UK. They say that WALTER, who isn’t there, would like to send his regards.
A brawl broke out with Balor being left laying. It appears that WWE is setting up Balor vs. WALTER for the NXT UK Title at TakeOver: Tampa.
A late addition to this show came in the way of Dominik Dijakovic vs. Cameron Grimes in a singles match. WWE announced the contest on Wednesday morning.
It was a nice back and forth affair with both guys having their moments. Clearly, WWE officials are behind Domik and thus the reason that many people thought he would go over in this contest. That isn’t the case as Damien Priest attacked Dijakovic with a club that played into the finish. Grimes won the match.
The belief was that WWE is keeping him in a feud with NXT North American Champion Keith Lee unless that changes. They’ve had some good matches both in WWE NXT and outside including in PWG.
Grimes continues to be a talent that is lost with a gimmick not working despite being a good worker. Perhaps WWE will repackage him one day but it appears with the push of him on television, he’ll be in this role for the time being.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Austin Theory was booked and as expected, the former NXT Champion went over.
While the outcome of the match was predictable, it wasn’t a bad thing as it gets Ciampa a win coming off his loss to NXT Champion Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: Portland two weeks ago.
Post-match, Gargano attacked Ciampa and threw him on the TakeOver: Tampa logo. This would signal whee things are going.
This contest was set up last week when Ciampa interrupted Theory’s match in order to cut a promo about Johnny Gargano costing him the NXT Title by turning heel while attacking him.
Theory tried to attack him but Ciampa knocked him down. Ciampa ended the promo then went on an assault of Theory.
That segment and this match was a nice shine for Theory, who is a former EVOLVE Champion. Some think that he has a ton of potential in NXT and someone to keep an eye out for. Whether that happens remains to be seen but for him to be in the ring and in a competitive match with someone like Ciampa is only a positive.
Charlotte Flair took on Bianca Belair in a singles match on this show in what was the most promoted thing on the episode.
This marked Flair’s first match under the NXT banner in four years. WWE announced the match over the weekend and did it for two reasons. First is due to it helping the ratings as they continue to face and get beat by AEW Dynamite over on TNT.
Also, this was a way to help build Flair’s feud with NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley heading into WrestleMania 36 in April.
A few weeks ago, WWE did a segment where Ripley and Belair laid out Flair. Thus, the reasoning behind the match booking between Flair and Belair. Thus, this was a match that many fans thought could happen and WWE obliged that hope.
The match saw Flair go over an rightfully so as WWE needs to keep Flair strong heading into Mania. Post-match, Flair attacked Belair until Ripley ran down to make the save and Flair backed down.
What will be interesting about this match is the outcome as one could think that Flair isn’t going to be a normal player in the NXT world.
