Current NXT Cruiserweight Champion and Progress Tag Team Champion Jordan Devlin announced on Twitter recently that he is pulling out of Progress Chapter 103 due to elbow bursitis. He was replaced by Eddie Kingston.
Devlin, along with his tag team partner Scotty Davis were set to defend the tag titles against Anthony Henry and JD Drake but he announced that he will not be able to compete on the show as seen below:
Sorry to the @ThisIs_Progress fans and mgmt for missing #Chapter103 today. V.strenuous schedule lately and picked up a bit of elbow bursitis. It'll be fine in a week or so, I just didn't want to risk infection or aggravating it and prolonging my time out. See you guys soon. ?
As Jordan noted, he is not expected to stay out of action for very long and his removal was a precautionary measure to avoid the risk of aggravating the injury.
Big Show Reveals How Steve Austin Helped Him
Former World Champion The Big Show was the latest guest on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s WWE Network series dubbed Broken Skull Sessions and during his appearance, the Monster Sized Athlete talked about a number of things.
WWE recently posted a clip from the show on their YouTube channel in which, Big Show recalls how a WWE star taught him how to be a ‘giant’ in the ring.
The WWE star was none other than the Texas Rattle Snake himself and according to Big Show, Stone Cold taught this to him during a trip to Europe. You can check out the clip posted by WWE below:
While NXT has been moved to Live TV from the WWE Network, many people still consider it to be not in par with WWE’s other prominent shows, namely Raw and SmackDown.
Former NXT Champion Johnny Gargano was recently interviewed by TMZ Sports where he talked about a number of things and also responded to the people who still consider the show as the ‘minor leagues’.
Gargano claimed that this thinking is complete garbage and
it’s something he and the other NXT talents have worked to dispel for a very
long time:
“That’s BS, that is complete garbage and it is something that me and a lot of guys have worked to dispel for a very long time. Anyone out there that uses the words ‘main roster’ when talking about RAW and SmackDown, how about you watch the show on Wednesday nights and you’ll see the real ‘main roster.'”
Johnny continued by saying that in NXT, you see the best wrestling show and the best locker room on planet which is led by him. According to the former Champion, you are stupid if you still use words like ‘developmental’ and ‘main roster’.
Apart from this, Johnny Gargano also talked about his attack on Tommaso Ciampa during Takeover: Portland and responded to fans saying that he is a changed man after the attack. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
Rob Van Dam faced his first WWE suspension back in July 2006 and since he held both the WWE and ECW World title at the time, his suspension became a hot topic of discussion and it made many headlines.
The former ECW star recently appeared on The Steve Austin Show where he talked about things like smoking cannabis on his 21th birthday and more.
Van Dam also opened up about his suspension in 2006. He said that if he could do things differently, then he would avoid it and revealed how careless he was at the time:
“I would have slowed down that night going through Ohio with 18 grams of weed in my bag. I was speeding, dude.” recalled RVD. “I was so careless back then. I used to be so careless I didn’t even know there were speed limits.
The reason it made such big news was because I had the WWE
Championship and the ECW Championship, so there was a lot riding on me at the
moment because ECW just came back as a third brand, trying to get momentum, and
I’m the champion.”
Later in the interview, Rob Van Dam also recalled how he had asked for more time off after this suspension from Paul Heyman but the current Executive Director of Raw refused his request to talk to Mr. McMahon about it.
RVD and Sabu were stopped by the police for speeding in Ohio in July 2006 and both the stars were later arrested for possession of illegal substances.
This arrest resulted in WWE suspending the ECW star for 30 days and due to the suspension, he was forced to drop both the ECW Championship and the WWE Championship.
Former ECW personality Beulah McGillicutty recently appeared on Busted Open Radio alongside her husband Tommy Dreamer. This was the first time that McGillicutty has appeared on a live radio interview since she left ECW back in 1998.
Beulah McGillicutty vs Bill Alfonso
One of the more intriguing aspects of the conversation centered around Beulah’s match against ECW on screen manager Bill Alfonso from the 1997 event, As Good As It Gets. The match was described by former ECW owner Paul Heyman as his favourite in the history of the promotion.
The five minute contest was a bloody brawl, and had implications for beyond the ring also. Bill Alfonso had allegedly been feeding information to rival promotions, looking to get talent to sign deals with the likes of WCW. Paul Heyman admitted in ‘The Rise and Fall of ECW’ documentary that this performance from Alfonso essentially saved his career in the company. Alfonso and Beulah McGillicutty were not trained performers but they gave their all in the contest.
“Yeah, it really scared me. I thought he was gonna die” Beulah McGillicutty began, describing how Alfonso had cut an artery and nearly bled to death in the ring. Dreamer asked McGillicutty about her ‘stench’ of blood when came back through the curtain after the match, “it was worse when I stepped in the shower and the hot water hit my hair” Belulah elaborated. “Blood dried in. It was gross.”
Broken Arm
Tommy Dreamer also discussed an incident where Beulah actually broke her arm by hitting Alfonso; although it wasn’t made clear if it was during ‘this’ match. “I finished the match, though” Beulah confirmed. “I just want to say that I didn’t cry and leave the ring.”
Dreamer also described how the incident left her in a cast just before a trip to Japan. “She had a cast from her wrist, all the way up to her shoulder and it looks like a sickle clothesline thing. She had to fly from Detroit to Japan, 13 hours sitting next to the Sandman.”
A new report has backed up the claim that plans change all the time in WWE and WrestleMania 36 is no different.
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns and John Cena vs. Elias was reportedly scheduled for the show. However, they’re now being changed.
Dave Meltzer noted the news on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer noted that the potential new matches were not known.
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.
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. Elias was reportedly his opponent as of earlier this month.
Wyatt is slated to defend his title against Goldberg at WWE Super ShowDown. Meltzer speculated whether Wyatt vs. Reigns will take place at Mania as expected because Goldberg would win the title from Wyatt.
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, which is WWE’s biggest event of the year in the coming weeks.
Former World Champion Jeff Hardy was spotted backstage at this week’s episode of SmackDown from Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, according to PWinsider.
Not only that but he is also scheduled to be at next week’s
episode of the show, and the site suggests that it could be an indication that
he will become part of a Blue Brand’s roster once he returns to WWE TV.
Jeff Hardy has been out of action since April last year when
he and his brother Matt Hardy relinquished the SmackDown Tag Team
Championships.
Jeff was dealing with a leg injury at the time and it was
reported that the former Champion will stay out of action for six to nine
months after his surgery in May.
The Charismatic Enigma’s current WWE contract was originally set to expire on March 1. Though it’s likely that WWE will add time to his contract for the period he missed due to injury, to try and stop him from leaving the company.
His brother Matt, on the other hand, seems to be on his way out of the promotion. WWE has offered him a new contract but he wants creative control over his character and he is most likely to leave the company at the end of this month.
RAW Commentator Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler recently held a fan “Q&A” session on his Jerry Lawler Show podcast. One of the more intriguing queries came from a fan asking who Lawler would face in WWE today if he had the chance. Lawler’s initial response was The Miz, as he felt their chemistry from their bouts in 2011 would be easy to replicate.
“Miz would be excellent to work with,” Jerry Lawler began. Lawler then described how Bray Wyatt put it out there that he wanted a match against the ‘King of Memphis.’ “And you know, after we did the little thing a while back on Monday Night Raw (August 2019), before I was back doing commentary. I just came on for a guest appearance. Bray Wyatt came to me afterwards and he said ‘King I would love to work with you down in Memphis.'”
Jerry Lawler vs The Fiend?
It is extremely unlikely that the bout would ever happen in WWE, as Lawler suffered from a heart attack during a live episode of RAW back in 2013. The situation was critical, with Lawler reportedly being clinically dead for almost five minutes before being resuscitated. There have been numerous reports and Lawler himself has said that he cannot get physical whilst on WWE television. Jerry Lawler does however still wrestle periodically on independent cards across the United States.
Lawler made it clear that he would relish the idea of facing ‘The Fiend’ in his home territory of Memphis. “I just thought back then, what matches I could have had. Because he [Wyatt] was the perfect kind of villain that we would bring in. The big scary monster type. That’s the kind of people that I love to work with, and have matches with.”
Jerry Lawler finished by saying “I would love to have a have a match with Bray Wyatt or The Fiend either way.”
Former Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair will be returning to NXT this week to compete in her first match on the Black and Yellow brand in over 4 years.
WWE has announced that The Queen will be returning to the show to answer the challenge issued by Bianca Belair on last week’s episode of the brand.
The foundation for this bout was laid out during the NXT
Takeover: Portland event where Rhea Ripley had defended her title against
Belair in a one on one match.
Flair attacked Ripley right after the match and accepted her challenge for a bout at WrestleMania 36. However, her attack didn’t end there and Charlotte also rammed the EST into the steel steps before making her exit.
After this, Bianca had challenged the former Women’s Champion for a match on last week’s episode of NXT, which Charlotte accepted with the following tweet:
NXT Women calling out The Queen is apparently the trending thing to do. I would want to face the best too.
It’s interesting to note here that Triple H had indicated that Bianca Belair could continue her feud with Rhea Ripley after the latest Takeover event. The NXT Champion herself had then talked positively about the EST possibly being added to her WrestleMania bout.
Now with Charlotte Flair being announced for a match against the NXT star, the big question is if WWE is giving us hints and if the company is plotting to turn the upcoming WrestleMania match into a Triple Threat, adding Belair to the mix.
Roman Reigns’ leukemia announcement on Raw was one of the most real moments of the professional wrestling history and it was a rare incident where the Big Dog broke the kayfabe to connect with the audience.
During his recent appearance on The Bump, Reigns talked about a number of things and he also explained why he decided to come out of his storyline character for the revelation.
The former Champion first said that he had built a relationship with the people in the past few years and Roman then claimed that he just wanted to be truthful with them:
“I just didn’t want to lie. I didn’t want people to
make up stories of what I was doing or where I was going. I just wanted to be
truthful and let the world know what was going on with me.
If there was anyone who could take a shred of hope and take my story and use it as strength, or experience, then I thought that would be the best use of what was going on.” said Reigns. “I just wanted to utilize the platform I had with my fanbase and help anyone who was going through that.”
Roman Reigns also discussed how this experience has changed
his life and he explained that now he feels blessed every day. Per the former
World Champion, he feels blessed just to be able to wake up and hug his
daughter.
Apart from this, the former World Champion also talked about how his efforts of trying to spread awareness about the disease are going and more. You can check out Roman’s interview in the video below:
Before becoming the People’s Champion, the Rock was given the gimmick of Rocky Maivia which wasn’t received very well by the fans and it wasn’t very long before people started turning on his character.
However, the Great One managed to turn the situation around
and he went on to invent a character that is still remembered as one of the
greatest gimmicks of the wrestling history.
During his recent interview with Oprah, The former Champion revealed that WrestleMania 13 was the starting point of this change and he recalled how his appearance at the show was the turning point of his career:
“It was a turning point in my career and it allowed me to grow. By the time I got to Chicago, 16,000 people were chanting ‘Rocky sucks.’ I remember laying there in the ring and the referee said to me ‘Don’t listen to them.’ It was crippling for me.”
Later in the interview, The Rock explained how after this,
the WWE management realized that his gimmick was not working and they gave him
permission to just be himself:
“At that time, the powers that be thought that this wasn’t going to work, and for whatever reason, people aren’t liking you. At that moment, it was very defining, because I asked them if I could just be myself and just go out there, speak to the crowd, and just be myself – authentic… At that time Vince [McMahon] said ‘You got it.'”
The former World Champion recalled how after getting the permission he grabbed the mic the next night on Raw. The promo he then cut was the start of his transformation and it was the beginning of his run as The Rock.
Apart from this, The Rock also talked about his tough childhood, his start in Hollywood and if he knew that he would become such an overnight sensation.
Vince McMahon’s recent comments about possibly moving PPVs out of the WWE Network has sparked many rumors and people have been discussing the impact of this move.
During the media call following Takeover: Portland, Triple H was asked about these comments from the Boss and what value can NXT bring to potential streaming partners. Replying to it, the Game said that NXT has incredible value wherever it sits:
“I think there is a lot of speculation in the question
of new platforms. Vince said on an earnings call about opportunities but if you
take all of that off the board, just where it is right now NXT has incredible
value wherever it sits, whether that be USA or the WWE Network,”
Triple H continued by saying that he looks at it as an offshoot. He explained that if NXT with a dedicated roster and a two-hour show is the main trunk of the tree then there’s offshoot in NXT UK.
Vince McMahon On Possibly Moving WWE PPVs Out Of WWE Network
Mr. McMahon had teased the possibility of potentially moving the WWE PPVs to a different streaming service during the 2019 Q4 earnings call. He explained that there is no better time for this because all the majors are ‘clamoring for our content’:
“Right now there’s no more better time to exercise the
selling of our rights to all the majors who, quite frankly, all the majors are
really clamoring for our content. So that could be a significant increase,
obviously, in terms of revenue.”
Reports since then have revealed that WWE is in negotiations with ESPN for a potential deal to sell the rights of their PPV. They are said to be looking for a deal similar to what UFC has with the company. You can check out a detailed report on the matter here.
One of the top Japanese women’s wrestlers Sareee has finally confirmed her signing with WWE after months of rumors about her move to the United States.
The former Diana Champion took on her Twitter and announced
the news via a tweet in Japanese. Below is the rough translation of the female
star’s post:
“I decided to think about doing professional wrestling abroad outside of Japan. And WWE joining has been decided. I am relieved to be able to properly report to everyone. Spreading Japanese women’s professional wrestling, Aiming for the top of WWE, Aim for the pinnacle of women’s professional wrestling. I will fight over my life. #wwe #Sareee”
The reports of Sareee signing with WWE first came out last year but neither WWE nor the Japanese star herself had commented on the matter back then.
The foundation for her move to the US was laid out last year in summer when WWE went to Japan for a tour and Triple H spent the time scouting talents.
The Game was reportedly impressed with Sareee’s performance and the two had numerous meetings at the time. Triple H had told media that he has heard Sareee was the future of women’s wrestling
Sareee made her wrestling debut at the young age of 15 back
in 2011 and she will be reporting to the WWE Performance Center next month
Shinsuke Nakamura got banged up in his latest match.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown in Glendale, AZ at the Gila River Arena on FOX, WWE booked a Symphony of Destruction Match, which featured guitars, drums, a piano, and other instruments around the ring in order for stars to use as weapons during the match.
The contest saw Nakamura and Cesaro take on Intercontinental Champion Braun Strowman and Elias with the babyfaces going over.
The finish was Strowman standing on the announce table and hitting his powerslam finisher to Nakamura on the piano, picking up the pinfall victory.
Fans picked up online that Nakamura’s head caught the end of the piano and was bleeding as a result. After the match, WWE’s medical team checked on Nakamura but no update on his status was given on the show or WWE’s website.
After the show, Nakamura posted photos of WWE’s medical team taking care of the wound. He wrote the following in the caption:
“Don’t worry. I’m a tough. But, the piano was toughest. [Braun Strowman] and I couldn’t beat it.”
WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg did a recent interview where he spoke about Matt Riddle.
He did so on the Total Slam podcast about the NXT star, which he has some history with. Throughout the years, Riddle has been critical of the legendary pro wrestler even before Riddle got to NXT.
Goldberg made his feelings known but didn’t rip Riddle as some people may think.
“Riddle is like a booger stuck in your nose; he is annoying and won’t go away. He has no influence on Goldberg’s life. Period. End of story. It’s the wrestling business and sometimes when you’re out in public you may run into a former foe and you can never know how the situation will turn out. It is what it is, and we don’t see eye to eye.”
It turns out that they ran into each other while backstage at SummerSlam last year. Riddle actually talked about it on the SummerSlam Watch Along Livestream and WWE has released footage of it since then.
Most notably, Riddle was critical of Goldberg’s performance against The Undertaker in a singles match at the WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2019.
All Elite Wrestling crowned their second ever Women’s Champion on the February 12th episode of Dynamite. Nyla Rose defeated Riho to capture the Championship and cement her place in the AEW history books. Not only is Nyla Rose the second ever Women’s Champion in the company but she is the first ever Transgender Women’s Champion for a major promotion in North America.
Men’s AEW Champion Chris Jericho brought Nyla Rose onto his Talk Is Jericho podcast this week. ‘Le Champion’ discussed with Rose about being trans and how she felt about training in pro wrestling. This whilst presenting as a male.
“All Of The Above” – Nyla Rose
Jericho asked Rose if she started training as a man, women or transgender. “All of the above, all of the above” Nyla Rose replied. “I was there male presenting, I was there in boy mode. I was playing a part. The biggest part I’ve ever played in my life; I was playing that part, I was trying to get over and can convince everybody of something that wasn’t true.”
Rose would then discussed the difficulty of presenting as male to her fellow trainees but then ‘becoming’ Nyla Rose in her own time. “But in my own time outside of training for wrestling, I was Nyla Rose. Just in my bedroom and my own life. The first time I went out fully dressed was to take the trash out. And you would have thought I run like a marathon or like went to the Grammys or something that is such an accomplishment to have, you know. Just walk, you know, eight feet.”
Training
Jericho asked Rose how her colleagues perceived her at the time. “They [the other performers] were just very confused about me” Rose replied. “They thought I was just very flamboyant you know? I come in singing show tunes. Very feminine qualities, but looking like this macho playboy type big woman.”
Embraced
Rose would conclude by saying how embraced she was by the pro wrestling community when she opted to transition. “I have to do this, I have to make the change. I wasn’t sure if there was a place for me in pro wrestling. But pro wrestling was like one of the first places that absolutely embraced me and took me in, it’s like, ‘hey guys like I need to tell you something,’ I just very sheepishly approached it .So I can’t work your show because I wear a bra now because I’m starting to develop breasts.’ They thought I was ribbing them at first, but when they [were] kind of like, ‘is this real? Like is this a rib?’ and I was like no this is legit I’m trans and I’m going to be living as a woman from here on out and they were just like ‘alright.’
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently commented on tonight’s huge boxing heavyweight contest between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. There has been speculation since Fury’s WWE appearance in Saudi Arabia as to whether he would be returning to the squared circle. Tonight’s bout will most likely be a huge determining factor as to whether or not the ‘Gypsy King’ returns to WWE soon.
Booker is currently on location at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Booker will covering the fight, and he revealed his pick for the mega showdown on the Hall of Fame podcast.
Can Deontay Wilder Adjust His ‘Game?’
Booker T first talked about how Wilder is being expected to ‘adapt’ to Fury, according to a number of leading pundits. “Deontay Wilder, can he go out and adjust his game?” Booker began. “That’s the question I think more than anything. What I don’t know if that’s fair or not? Putting the onus on the champion to go out there and change his game.”
Booker also referenced the fact that in the pair’s first first Wilder scored two knockdowns on the ‘Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury. “He’s [Wilder] the only one that, was in that [first] fight that got two big knockdowns on his opponent. You know Fury didn’t knock him down. Wilder vs Anthony Joshua, that’s what everybody wants to see. I do feel like in this fight that Deontay Wilder will stake his claim to be the Heavyweight Champion of the world. Nobody wants to see boring Tyson Fury go out there and fight Joshua.”
The former King of The Ring confirmed that he believed Wilder would win in around 7-8 rounds. Fury himself has said that he intends on knocking out Wilder within two rounds, and Booker T responded to this by saying “for him to go and knock out Wilder in two rounds? He would probably of had to be doing something that is probably not legal; as far as the USADA side and whatnot.”
Manabu Nakanishi’s final match was an eight man tag team match, and the main event of the show. His partners were Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, fellow members of a four-man group known as the Third Generation. All four men debuted and peaked at roughly the same time, and have been colleagues throughout their careers. Their opponents were Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, and Hirooki Goto. The match was 18 minutes and 3 seconds long, and ended when Tanahashi pinned Nakanishi with the High Fly Flow.
Following the match, the retirement ceremony took place. Nakanishi’s former mentors and partners, Seiji Sakaguchi, Hiroshi Hase, Riki Choshu, and Tatsumi Fujinami were in attendance, and made short speeches about their relationships with Nakanishi. Finally, there was a ten-bell salute, as well as Nakanishi giving his last speech to the crowd.
Manabu Nakanishi made his professional wrestling debut in 1992 in NJPW, following an amateur wrestling career that included participation in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Following a stint as a young lion, he spent several years in World Championship Wrestling under the alias Kurasawa. He has been an active wrestler in NJPW since 1996, and has held accolades including three IWGP Tag Team Championship reigns, a single G1 Climax victory in 1999, and an IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign in 2009.
WWE SmackDown aired live from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona tonight. Goldberg appeared on the show to hype up his match against The Fiend at Super ShowDown.
SmackDown Results 2/21
The Usos & New Day def. Robert Roode, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, and John Morrison
Braun Strowman & Elias def. Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro
The Bella Twins are heading to the WWE Hall of Fame
Daniel Bryan def. Heath Slater
Naomi def. Carmella to earn a title shot at Super ShowDown
Goldberg speared The Fiend
Here are 5 takeaways from the show:
The Usos & New Day Picked Up A Win
The Usos & New Day battled Roode, Ziggler, The Miz, and John Morrison in a 8-man tag match to begin the show. Before the match, Jimmy and Jey brought up Miz and Morrison disrespecting them last week and invited them to a superkick party tonight. New Day came to the ring and complimented The Usos and referred to them as future Hall of Famers. New Day added that they have had one more tag title reign which makes them better than The Usos. Jimmy and Jey stated that they want to challenge for the titles once again after New Day takes care of Miz and Morrison.
The Miz and Morrison then interrupted and vowed to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at Super ShowDown. Dolph Ziggler and Robert made their way to the ring as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
Match Recap: Roode, Ziggler, Morrison, and Miz controlled the match early and isolated Kofi in the corner. Roode and Ziggler hit a Spinebuster/Zig Zag combo on Jimmy but Jey broke up the cover. Roode hit the Glorious DDT but turned around into a Superkick from Jey for the pinfall victory.
Opinion: The only thing interesting that happened during this awful promo and meaningless match was the mysterious glitch that occurred. As you can see below, there was some static and a blue envelop that appeared during the match.
Match Recap: Braun chased Sami around the ring and Shinsuke capitalized by hitting Strowman with a guitar as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Nakamura connected with a kick that knocked Elias off the apron and through a table. Nakamura and Cesaro then Suplexed Strowman onto a bass.
Shinsuke went for a knee strike but missed and flew into a gong. Elias connected with an Elbow Drop off the top rope that sent Cesaro through a table. Strowman then planted Nakamura with a Powerslam off the announce table and onto a piano for the pinfall victory.
The Bella Twins Are Heading To The WWE Hall Of Fame
Photo: WWE.com
The Bella Twins were guests on A Moment of Bliss tonight on SmackDown. Bliss listed off Batista, NWO, and announced that Nikki and Brie Bella are joining the WWE Hall of Fame.
They said it was great to be here tonight in their hometown and are grateful to be joining the WWE HOF. Daniel Bryan brought their daughter, Birdie, and handed her to Brie Bella. Bryan then battled Heath Slater once again as Drew Gulak was on commentary. Earlier in the show, Gulak approached Bryan backstage and told him he saw some holes in his game. Slater overheard and said he wanted another match tonight. Bryan suggested that Drew give Heath some pointers on how to defeat him.
Slater controlled the match early and made his way to the top rope. Gulak pleaded with Slater to climb down but Heath ignored him and went for a Splash. Bryan got out of the way and hit several Yes Kicks. Bryan followed it up with the Running Knee for quick win.
Naomi faced Carmella tonight on SmackDown. The winner of the match will go on to face Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Super ShowDown. Bayley was ringside for the match.
Match Recap: Naomi controlled the match early until Bayley hopped on the apron. Carmella capitalized with a Hurricanrana for a near fall. Bayley continued to try and distract Naomi until the referee threw her out. Carmella locked in the Code of Silence but Naomi battled through the pain and reached the ropes to break the hold.
Naomi hit the Rear View but somehow Carmella was able to kick out at two. Naomi followed it up with a Blockbuster and then a Moonsault for the pinfall victory. Naomi will battle Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WWE Super Show Down on Thursday.
Goldberg made his way to the ring in the final segment of this week’s SmackDown. The crowd chanted his name as Goldberg said it was good to be back. Goldberg vowed to win the Universal Championship at Super ShowDown and was quickly interrupted by an episode of Firefly Fun House.
Wyatt introduced Goldberg to all the puppets on the show and told Bill that he wouldn’t be walking away with the Universal Championship. Bray added that there is someone that is dying to meet Goldberg and the lights went out. When they came back on, The Fiend was in the ring but Goldberg was ready.
Goldberg leveled The Fiend with a Spear and set up in the corner of the ring for another one. The lights once again went out and The Fiend disappeared from the ring. SmackDown went of the air with Goldberg standing tall in the ring with his music playing.
Opinion: I thought the majority of this week’s episode of SmackDown was completely forgettable. The storyline between Otis and Mandy Rose progressed a bit tonight. Tucker confronted Mandy and Rose had no idea about the text sent to Otis saying that she was going to be late.
Sonya Deville also seemed to insist that Ziggler was a better option for her anyways and Mandy later accepted a ride from Ziggler as Otis watched them leave the arena. Other than that, the only other thing that caught my attention the entire night was the blue envelope thing that popped up twice during tonight’s show. It happened during New Day’s match and when Mandy left with Ziggler.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Super ShowDown PPV and it involves women.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, WWE booked a match between Carmella and Naomi with the winner being crowned the new #1 contender for the SmackDown Women’s Title.
As seen on the show, Naomi ended up winning the contest and now she’ll challenge Bayley for the strap at this PPV event. This comes after a few weeks of building up to it.
First up was two weeks ago on an episode of SmackDown where a Fatal Four-Way match was booked. Carmella ended up winning the contest.
Last week, she lost to Bayley for the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship. After the match, Naomi ran out to make the save for Carmella. Thus, it set up this latest #1 contender match.
WWE presents the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event on Thursday, February 27, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the Mohammed Abdou Arena that will air on the WWE Network.
Updated 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, Rusev
WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy vs. The Street Profits
Fans have been wondering where things stand with Cain Velasquez since the last time they saw him on WWE programming.
Velasquez successfully had his knee scoped recently and is feeling completely healthy, according to a recent report by Wrestling Inc.
Per the report, he was seen at WWE’s training facility, WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, to get more reps in the ring while awaiting his next match. He’s set to be there for the next two weeks.
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion did an interview withSunSport last month where he stated that he would work the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. At this same time, there were reports about this as well.
However, he didn’t work the show. Cain getting his knee scoped could be a reason why. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when he’ll work his next match under the WWE banner.
Velasquez lost his debut match under the WWE banner when he faced WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel.
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion most recently worked a tag team match in Mexico at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico for a house show back in November.
WWE could land a new streaming deal with ESPN if things go well in negotiations.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the talks would be in regards to WWE content airing on the ESPN+ service. WWE saw what the UFC did with ESPN and now is looking to get a similar deal, per the report.
This potential deal if reached would see WWE sell their rights to air pay-per-views on ESPN+ in order to get more money than what they earn through the WWE Network.
This potential deal to air PPV events on ESPN+ could also potentially bring more mainstream exposure to WWE’s big events and their biggest Superstars. The UFC has been heavily covered on ESPN networks since inking their deal.
WWE Partnership With ESPN
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on how far the talks with ESPN are. The report did note that it looks like the deal has not been agreed on as of this week.
Earlier this month, there were rumors that WWE was possibly talking to Amazon about selling content rights to them but have since been dismissed. ESPN isn’t the only player that WWE has been talking with as they had talks with other potential partners.
These partners include DAZN and NBC’s Peacock service. The belief is that the Peacock service will launch later this year and some think this would be the best bet for WWE.
TV industry sources recently told Meltzer that Peacock would look at WWE to be its key initial programming to draw subscribers from the launch moving forward. Thus, it would be very similar to how ESPN+ did with UFC.
Since the subscription numbers for the WWE Network continue to decrease, WWE would be able to get significantly guaranteed money for their big-money events, instead of relying on their own service for revenue.
The card for WrestleMania 36 is starting to take shape but this year’s show will not feature one future WWE Hall of Famer.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Triple H is not scheduled for the show. If he doesn’t work then it will be the first time since WrestleMania 23 that Triple H has not wrestled at the event.
As previously reported, Ronda Rousey and WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg are currently not scheduled for WrestleMania 36. It was also noted that there are plans for six different women’s matches to be featured on the card.
Female matches on the card include Shayna Baszler vs. RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, Naomi vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, the 3rd annual WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, a tag team match with WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane, and another match to be named.
The 7th annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is also set to take place this year. There’s also no word on what Sheamus and Daniel Bryan will be doing. The belief is that there will be a blow-off to the feud with Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins.
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. Here is the updated confirmed card:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
RAW Commentator Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler recently commented on RAW Superstar Matt Hardy and his contract status with WWE. Matt Hardy has been actively enticing fans on Twitter regarding his WWE status; posting images like the one you can see below indicating that he may be looking to go to AEW:
Lawler indicated that he does not believe that Hardy is going to be resigning with WWE. Referring to a recent tweet that Matt Hardy posted with a cryptic nod to AEW, ‘The King’ had this to say; “It [the tweet] started out as ‘Against Every Warning, I showed up at RAW.’ And the first three words ‘against every warning, were all capitalised. So, if you really look, if you really looked at the tweet. The first three words started with AEW.”
Against Every Warning, with serious head/neck injuries, I showed up on #RAW to face & fight RKO.
I was brutally beaten & suffered multiple injuries. But I’m alive. I’m not sure what’s next. If this was my @WWE goodbye, I didn’t get what I deserved-But maybe I got what I needed. pic.twitter.com/Bzh1Ot4fcU
Lawler then reiterated that he doesn’t believe that Hardy will re-sign with WWE. “I doubt if he’s gonna sign back with with WWE. And, you know, I think he’s trying to let everybody know that he may be going to AEW but I’m…I don’t know. I don’t know for sure. There’s probably still negotiations going on between those two [Hardy and WWE].” Whilst Lawler did not confirm if he knew how the contract negotiations were developing, he did seem to indicate that Matt Hardy is unlikely to re-sign with the company in the near future.
Lawler finished by saying that he does not want Matt Hardy to leave the company, stating “I can’t imagine that WWE would want to lose Matt Hardy to AEW at this point. But you know some of those guys [at WWE] are buddies with some of the guys that are that are over there [at AEW] and that’s just the way things work.”
Do you think that Matt Hardy will end up in AEW? Let us know in the comments
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio Bully Ray had some comments regarding Cody Rhodes’ Moonsault from this Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
Rhodes was taking on Wardlow in a Steel Cage match when he hit a Moonsault from the top of the structure to a standing Wardlow to get the pinfall. The move looked spectacular, and whilst Bully agrees that the moment was ‘epic’ he felt that a moment of such magnitude should’ve been saved for the climax of Cody’s feud against MJF. Following the broadcast of Dynamite, Cody would speak to the crowd about the history of the Rhodes’ family in Atlanta. Cody was extremely emotional and this added to Bully’s thoughts that Rhodes decided to ‘create the moment’ more for himself than the story at large.
“Selfish is good in wrestling” – Bully Ray
“Doing that moonsault last night was selfish, I’m bet on balls right” Bully Ray began on Busted Open. “Because selfish, much like the word politicking in the wrestling business has a negative connotation. But it doesn’t have to. Selfish is good in wrestling, because sometimes you need to be selfish and selfish sometimes is patting yourself on your back and doing something for yourself that you want in your scrapbook for history.”
Bully then discussed the context of the night, with AEW filming in Atlanta, Georgia. “Atlanta, Dusty’s [Rhodes] town, now Cody’s town.” Ray also described how he felt Cody’s mindset may have been going into the match/spot. “‘I may never get to stand on top of a steel cage in Atlanta for the rest of my career. I don’t know what’s going to go down. So if this is my one and only chance to stand on top of that cage in a town with so much wrestling history; in a town that my family’s name is synonymous with? I’m doing it for myself.”
Ray would also compare the moment to his appearance at the Royal Rumble in Madison Square Garden. “In 2000? That’s exactly what I did in Madison Square Garden, when I stood on top of Madison Square Garden. I did that for myself because I wanted that memory to live forever. So if I never got a chance to do that again. I did it. So, if it comes to Cody selfishness, I’d be the first one to say, Good job, man.”
Victoria Crawford, better known to wrestling fans as Alicia Fox, is celebrating 6-months of recovery. The former Divas Champion took to social media to comment on her accomplishment.
Fox’s status as an active wrestler in WWE is unclear. Her profile was moved to WWE.com’s alumni section in October last year but no formal announcement of her retirement has been made.
Last November, Fox posted the following to her Instagram account and spoke about being 2-months sober at the time.
Arn Anderson’s firing from WWE last year is said to have been related to Fox as well. Anderson is said to have been released for allowing Fox to work while intoxicated.
Fox has had a lengthy run in WWE, first signing with the company in 2006. She made her main roster debut in 2008. She is a former Divas and OVW Champion. From 2006 until 2019, Fox wrestled in 1012 matches with WWE, Ohio Valley Wrestling, or Florida Championship Wrestling. Her overall record is 330W-680-2D.
