It looks like reports suggesting Matt Hardy is done inside the ring might have been premature. Following a run with Bray Wyatt as the RAW Tag Team Champions, Matt began a hiatus from WWE TV. He instead began working backstage in various roles, including working as an agent and producing matches. While Hardy is preparing for the next chapter of his career in the business, he hasn’t completely shut the door on competing.
Recently, Hardy responded to a Tweet presenting a fun fact about his career and Mr. Perfect’s. The Tweet suggested that Mr. Perfect’s last match in WWE was actually against Matt Hardy. In turn, Matt’s last match in the ring involved Perfect’s son, Curtis Axel. Hardy responded to the Tweet, saying he hasn’t wrestled his last match in WWE quite yet.
He attached some photos of his young sons, suggesting the history of Hardys facing Hennigs inside the ring will continue on further:
“My last @WWE match hasn’t happened yet, so this particular cycle shall be #BROKEN.. But I’m sure the DELIGHTFUL cycle of Hardys & Hennigs doing battle shall continue in the future.”
My last @WWE match hasn’t happened yet, so this particular cycle shall be #BROKEN.. But I’m sure the DELIGHTFUL cycle of Hardys & Hennigs doing battle shall continue in the future. pic.twitter.com/GY0ou5nLU2
It appears that a rumor started to make the rounds today indicating that Seth Rollins’ Curb Stomp finisher was once again banned by WWE. The move had previously been banned before but was reinstated in 2017. A writer at WrestlingNewsSource took to Twitter and reported that someone confirmed to him the move had, in fact, been banned by WWE once again.
However, Rollins responded to the Tweet and flat out denied it:
Speculation about the move’s status begun after Rollins failed to nail Dolph Ziggler with it a few times on Monday Night RAW last night. However, Rollins eventually hit Ziggler with the Falcon Arrow for the win. Per Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live, the reason Rollins won with the Falcon Arrow and not the Curb Stomp is because WWE really wants to get the move over.
Alvarez noted Rollins does the move in nearly every match and people go crazy for it, but it never wins him bouts. Now, the fact that the move can actually finish matches will make it a hotter near-fall. So, it looks like – for now – the Curb Stomp is safe and will continue to be used by “The Architect.”
How do you feel about WWE attempting to get the Falcon Arrow over?
Last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW went down from The Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconson. The show continued the build to next month’s Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV). PWInsider has provided several interesting backstage notes regarding the show. First, it turns out Vince McMahon was backstage at the show and oversaw all creative aspects of the program.
It was also noted that Dean Ambrose’s promo was pre-taped, and he was not in Milwaukee with the rest of the roster last night. As for Braun Strowman’s promo, that angle was also pre-taped last week for this week’s show. However, Strowman is legitimately in Birmingham, Alabama for surgery. If he hasn’t already, he’s set to go under the knife to repair some bone spurs in his elbow.
It was also mentioned that several WWE personnel were happy with The Fiserv Forum and how easy it was to load into the stadium and utilize the facility. The report also revealed that the woman who asked Bayley and Sasha Banks how they would change the women’s division was planted in the crowd before the segment.
Finally, as we’ve noted, Ring Of Honor star Silas Young was in attendance for RAW. His deal with ROH is set to expire soon, and he’s rumored to be WWE bound.
What did you think about last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW?
Prior to his time in WWE, Samoa Joe had two famous finishing moves in his arsenal. Those being the Coquina Clutch, and the Muscle Buster. When Joe was signed to WWE and competed in NXT, he oftentimes used the Muscle Buster, however, that all changed after he ended Tyson Kidd’s career with the move. The incident occurred during an NXT live event in June of 2015.
Now, the Muscle Buster is a rarity on WWE TV given the extent of how badly it injured Kidd. Joe has instead used the Coquina Clutch as his primary finisher. Recently, Joe spoke to City Pages and was asked about the Muscle Buster and if WWE fans can ever expect to see it again. Joe said that the move is something he chooses to pull out of his arsenal when he chooses to do so.
He seems to be suggesting it’s more of a rare special move than one he’d prefer to use regularly:
“The Muscle Buster is something I use at my pleasure when I choose to,” said Joe. “Trust me, when the opportunity arises and the conditions are right, you never know what I’ll pull out. Maybe I’m not ready to pull it out of my arsenal yet.”
What do you think about Joe’s comments regarding the muscle buster?
Cody Rhodes and Joey Styles didn’t let their respective injuries affect their ability to entertain the World Series Wrestling crowd in Sydney, Australia over the weekend. Cody is currently dealing with a torn meniscus in his knee. He’s rehabbing it at the moment, but will still compete against Jay Lethal for the Ring Of Honor World Title on December 14th. He will also still compete at Wrestle Kingdom 13 this January, before getting surgery later that month.
As for Ryan, he’s dealing with a torn left pectoral muscle that will require surgery. Despite not being able to compete inside the ring for World Series Wrestling, both Ryan and Cody held meet and greets. They also worked together in several segments over the weekend. On Friday, Cody defended his IWGP United States Title against Ryan in a staring contest. However, Brandi Rhodes distracted Ryan and cost him the match.
Then, on Saturday, Cody successfully defended the IWGP US Title against Ryan in a rock, paper, scissors match. Finally, yesterday, Cody again defended the US Title against Ryan in a thumb war. Ryan tried everything he could to best “The American Nightmare,” including shoving a lollipop in Rhodes’ mouth. In the end, Rhodes was victorious and retained the strap. Check out the video here:
At WWE Starrcade over the weekend, Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins emerged victorious in his Cage match against Dean Ambrose. After the match, “The Architect” took to Twitter to celebrate, by dubbing himself “The Man, The Champ” of WWE. Of course, Rollins did this knowing it’d upset SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. The pair have bickered back and forth before about who is really “The Man” of WWE.
In his Tweet, Rollins took a jab at Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, and Daniel Bryan for not being a part of the show. He then declared himself “The Man, The Champ” of WWE:
“Away game? Hostile environment? No Brock? No Bryan? No Ronda? No Becky? ….no problem. THE Man, THE Champ. The hardest working MFer in this business just wrecked Cincinnati.”
Away game? Hostile environment? No Brock? No Bryan? No Ronda? No Becky? ….no problem. THE Man, THE Champ. The hardest working MFer in this business just wrecked Cincinnati. #ALLHEART#Starrcade
Lynch, who has been on top of her Twitter game as of late, of course, had to respond. She also took a shot at Lesnar, Rousey, and Bryan for not being on the show. “The Irish Lass Kicker” reminded everyone she wasn’t competing due to her broken nose and concussion, before asking what everyone else’s excuse was:
“I have a concussion and a broken face, what’s everyone else’s excuse?”
WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels recently came out of retirement to return to the squared circle. Michaels teamed up with Triple H to reform D-Generation X at WWE Crown Jewel to defeat The Brothers of Destruction, Kane and The Undertaker. However, after the match, it seems as though Michaels’ return to the ring was only a one-time thing.
He will likely revert back to helping young WWE talent at the WWE Performance Center and help produce matches for NXT. As it turns out, Michaels actually helps do a bit more behind the scenes in NXT. Speaking on the “E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness” podcast recently, Michaels revealed that he actually helps write NXT television as well. Here’s what “HBK” had to say about his duties with the brand:
“To [Triple H] and I, clearly, [NXT] is his baby, but I mean, I’m all in. Yeah, they’ve got me hook, line, and sinker. And it’s funny because he kind of hired me like, ‘just stick your big toe in and see how you like it. Just do a couple of times a week.’
“And then, of course, whatever it is, two years later, I’m full scale helping to write TVs and doing it all!” Michaels said. “I’m so far in, there’s no way I’m getting out and I have no desire to get out because it’s a blast. It really is.”
What do you think about Michaels helping write NXT TV?
It looks like the famed sneaker and clothing brand, Adidas, has taken issue with Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment logo. McMahon created Alpha Entertainment to front his XFL relaunch project. The XFL will officially kickoff in 2020. McMahon’s first attempt at the XFL failed in the early 2000s. Now, it appears that he wants to give it a second go.
As the XFL prepares for kickoff, it looks like McMahon is facing issues regarding Alpha Entertainment’s logo. Adidas has reached out to the United States Patent & Trademark Office and asked for more time to oppose the logo McMahon registered for the company.
Adidas feels as though the logo infringes upon their brand. The company has been given a March 6, 2019 deadline to file an opposition or another extension before doing so.
Earlier this year McMahon held a press conference on Alpha Entertainment’s YouTube channel, announcing the XFL relaunch. McMahon’s goal is to make the XFL “football reimagined” from the NFL’s product. This could mean anything from shortening the game, changing of the rules to make it more physical, or anything else. No news has surfaced in regards to team names and where they might be located, but expect more on that in the coming months.
Do you think McMahon will be forced to make changes to his Alpha Entertainment logo?
The retirement rumors regarding Alexa Bliss don’t seem to be going anywhere. After dealing with too many concussions, Bliss has been sidelined from WWE competition in recent weeks. As a result, “Little Miss Bliss” has been forced to miss events like Evolution and Survivor Series. It remains unclear when Bliss could make her return to in-ring action.
PWInsider has reported that there is some concern regarding her status as an in-ring talent. It was also reported that Bliss could serve as the replacement for Baron Corbin for the RAW General Manager role. Corbin’s stint might be coming to an end, as his GM role will be on the line against Braun Strowman at the Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV).
In the wake of Bliss’ injury woes, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating about her future. There have been plenty of rumors going around indicating that Bliss will be retiring from in-ring competition. Of course, it’s way too soon to make such a determination. Bliss recently reacted to these rumors on Instagram.
Bliss denied the rumors, and even promised to return to the ring soon, saying “sure sure… I’ll be back in the ring soon. Thank you tho.”
What do you think about Bliss denying recent retirement rumors?
WWE is putting a lot of thought into what they have planned for SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 35. This year’s “Show Of Shows” goes down from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 7, 2019. Initially, the plan was for McMahon to feud with Daniel Bryan heading into the pay-per-view (PPV).
However, WWE’s plans changed once Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles for the WWE Championship recently. WWE has been teasing a Shane McMahon heel turn in recent weeks, which was supposed to play into his feud with Bryan. McMahon won the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, which was an unfavorable decision to say the least. Also, McMahon can’t be happy SmackDown Live didn’t pick up a single win over RAW at Survivor Series.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Dave Meltzer reports that a big part of McMahon’s character change will have to do with his World Cup win and SDL’s failure at Survivor Series. His character change is expected to really vamp up in the first quarter of 2019 before a big WrestleMania 35 match is set up. It remains unclear what exactly that match will be.
However, McMahon and The Miz might have set up an interesting angle last week. Miz asked McMahon to be his Tag Team partner, before losing a match to a pair of local jobbers without even tagging McMahon into the match. It will be interesting to see how McMahon’s road to WrestleMania plays out.
What do you think WWE should do with McMahon for WrestleMania 35?
Last night WWE held its Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV) event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The card featured several big match-ups between Monday Night RAW and Smackdown Live’s champions.
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar faced WWE Champion Daniel Bryan, Charlotte Flair of SDL faced RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, and the traditional RAW vs. SDL Elimination Tag Team matches also took place. RAW emerged victorious on the night with a 6-0 clean sweep over SDL. It wasn’t only a big night in the ring, however, as some notable stars were backstage for the show as well.
UFC Hall Of Famer Tito Ortiz and his family were backstage at Survivor Series. Also, WWE Hall Of Famers Mark Henry, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Rikishi, and Ric Flair were at the show. And former WWE stars Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, Darren Young, Candice Michelle, and former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia were all backstage.
Check out some photos of the stars at the event here below:
I promised my boy @ATelagaarta that I’d personally bring him to a wrestling show myself so that night was last night @STAPLESCenter@wwe ‘s #SurvivorSeries. It was an absolute pleasure sitting with you watching my colleagues roll up the sleeves and go to work. ?? ya homie pic.twitter.com/kA5tHZ5ycs
On last week’s episode of SmackDown Live, it looked as though WWE laid the feud between SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair to bed. Instead, the feud will likely continue after recent social media action from both women. Lynch was initially scheduled to face Ronda Rousey at last night’s Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV).
However, Lynch suffered a broken nose on Monday Night Raw during a brawl segment and was not fit to compete. On SDL, the decision was made to replace Lynch with Flair. In a segment, Lynch hand-selected Flair to serve as her replacement against Rousey, before hugging. After that, many believed the feud between the former best friends was over.
At Survivor Series, Flair lost her match to Rousey after getting herself disqualified. Flair attacked Rousey with a kendo stick, before crushing her neck with a steel chair. “The Queen” then took to Twitter and made some adjustments to her Twitter bio. It looks like Flair is now dubbing herself as “The Baddest Bitch on the Planet.”:
Lynch responded by making a change to her Twitter bio, seemingly taking a shot at Flair for her own bio change:
Do you think Lynch and Flair’s feud should continue?
16-time WWE World Champion John Cena has returned to Beijing, China to continue filming his upcoming movie, “Project X.” Cena posts on China’s “Weibo” social media platform regularly. He usually posts small clips documenting his day. However, in recent videos, it was noticed that Cena had an apparent tattoo on his right forearm.
Throughout several clips, the entirety of the tattoo can’t be fully made out, however, the word “Ghost” can clearly be seen spelled out. Check out the clips here:
It’s possible Cena’s tattoo is simply a fake for the film. Cena has had to make a lot of changes to his appearance for the project. He has lost a significant amount of weight and grew out his hair a bit. Cena has been on a hiatus from WWE for the past several months as a result.
During his time away, he has continued to film “Project X,” as well as having released a children’s book, “Elbow Grease.” Cena also has several film projects lined up after he finishes up his “Project X” obligations. Cena plans on wrestling at WrestleMania this April, however, he likely won’t return until it’s time to build up the match.
SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Becky Lynch has been WWE’s hottest star in recent weeks. Her skyrocket to stardom begun at SummerSlam when she turned heel on Charlotte Flair. Since, Lynch has begun calling herself “The Man” on WWE TV. “The Irish Lasskicker” even got into a Twitter back-and-forth with Seth Rollins over who was really “The Man” of WWE.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley has been very impressed with Lynch as of late, going as far to compare her to Stone Cold Steve Austin, in regards to coming up with a memorable catchphrase. Foley said that Lynch’s innovation of “The Man” reminds him of Austin’s “3:16” gimmick:
“To me, it’s like an Austin 3:16 moment, but Becky Lynch is #TheMan,” Foley said. “She came up with the catchphrase. She didn’t use the hashtag, but I told her that she has to use it everywhere she goes, you are now ‘The Man.'”
Foley also said that Lynch calling herself “The Man” throws gender “on its head.” He believes that even men themselves will be okay with acknowledging Lynch is, in fact, “The Man” in WWE:
“It throws gender on its head, and women will be more than happy to say that Becky Lynch is The Man. I think men will gladly say that she is The Man,” Foley said. “It is a bigger statement. It somehow makes perfect sense. I am on board. I believe wholeheartedly that she is The Man.”
What do you think about Foley’s comments regarding Lynch?
Listen to Foley’s comments on the “Not Sam Wrestling” podcast here.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) announced yesterday that World Champion Jay Lethal will defend his title against Cody at “Final Battle” next month (Fri. December 14, 2018). The show will go down from The Manhattan Center in New York.
Cody took to Twitter to respond to the news. He confirmed this will be his last match with ROH before heading into free agency next year. Cody’s contract with ROH will expire soon, making him a free agent in 2019. There has been a ton of speculation as to where the now-former Bullet Club member might end up.
In regards to his match with Lethal, Cody said it’s only fitting that he face Lethal in his last match with ROH, as Lethal was his first match with the promotion two years ago. “The American Nightmare” then vowed to take the ROH World Title into free agency with him:
“Jay was the first match I had in ROH two years ago. He will be my last. And I will take the World Championship into free agency.”
Jay was the first match I had in ROH two years ago. He will be my last. And I will take the World Championship into free agency. ? https://t.co/6qlrg6d8vZ
CM Punk seems to have moved on from his professional wrestling career. After walking out on WWE back in January of 2014, Punk has become deeply embedded in the mixed martial arts (MMA) world. Punk has now fought twice for the UFC, with a third potential bout still up in the air. He is also set to make his MMA commentary debut for the Cage Fury Fighting Championships promotion.
Aside from MMA, Punk is also doing more acting and writing comic books. He spoke to The Associated Press recently to promote his commentary gig with CFFC. During the interview, Punk was asked about professional wrestling. He was asked about fans still chanting his name during WWE shows, almost five years since his departure. Here’s what he had to say:
“You stop it and five years later people still talk about you? Fans still chant your name? That’s powerful to me.”
Punk’s potential return to the squared circle has been speculated since the day he left. It’s unlikely he returns anytime soon, however, Punk now seems reluctant to answer any questions in regards to a return to wrestling. He said people get mad at him whenever he talks about it:
“I don’t pay attention. People seem to get upset when I say that.”
What do you make of Punk’s comments regarding still being in high demand amongst WWE crowds?
Posted November 16th, 2018 in WWE, News. Tagged: CM Punk.
Matt Hardy has had a tremendous career in the professional wrestling industry. Having competed since 1992 when he started the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) with his brother Jeff, the pair quickly began working the indy scene. He signed a full-time contract with WWE in 1998. Over his years with the company Hardy has won the ECW, Cruiserweight, United States, European, and Hardcore Championships.
He is also a 10-time Tag Team Champion in WWE, eight of those coming alongside his brother. Following his most recent run with WWE, Hardy has decided to retire from in-ring competition for the time being. He has been working various roles backstage with WWE in preparation for the next chapter of his career in the business.
Feeling Accepted
Recently, Hardy appeared on an episode of fellow Attitude Era star, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman’s podcast, “X-Pac 12360.” During their conversation, Hardy was asked when he finally began to feel accepted in WWE. Matt said that feeling didn’t come until he and Jeff were paired up with WWE Hall Of Famer Michael Hayes in 1999:
“I would probably say the very first time I felt that we were kind of accepted or like part of the machine was when we first got an opportunity to be with Michael Hayes and were repackaged and we won the tag titles.
“Even though obviously we weren’t the best representation of the best tag-team in the world, but it was like the titles would help us at that juncture. Around that point and then working Bradshaw and Farooq. After being with them for a month and them kicking the hell out of us night in and night out and then kind of half-ass earning their respect.
“I felt that was kind of the turning point. And then once we had the tag-team ladder match with Edge and Christian and it was like, ‘wow these guys did something special.’ We definitely felt like we belonged and were part of the family of the WWE locker room at that point.”
Recently, former SmackDown Live Tag Team Champion Luke Harper was spotted backstage wearing a cast on his left hand. Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Harper is currently recovering from a wrist surgery. Harper recently underwent surgery since WWE wasn’t doing much with him due to his partner, Erick Rowan, being sidelined.
Rowan suffered a torn right bicep during “The Bludgeon Brother’s” SmackDown Live Tag Team Title defense against The New Day at SummerSlam. However, the following Tuesday, due to Rowan’s injury, The Bludgeon Brothers dropped the titles to The New Day on SmackDown Live. It was unfortunate timing given Harper and Rowan were receiving a nice push as a monster tag team.
As it turns out, there have been pitches made to have Harper return in a reunion with Bray Wyatt. That would be fitting given WWE hasn’t done anything with Wyatt after Matt Hardy’s in-ring retirement from WWE. Perhaps the pair will get back into the mix in time for a WrestleMania 35 program.
Still A Tag Team
Recently, Rowan spoke on “E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness” to talk about his WWE career. At one point, Harper and Rowan were to be split up. However, they were then thrust into The Bludgeon Brothers, and things worked out:
“Years ago, me and Rowan were told we’re done. We’re done being a team, we’ve done everything we can, and we’re here for five years later in a whole new thing and we’re tag team champions, so I can’t complain.”
What do you think WWE will do with Harper upon his return?
There have been a lot of stories going around in regards to talent being upset about unsafe working. Of course, this is fronted by Nia Jax injuring Becky Lynch on Monday Night RAW earlier this week. Jax punched Lynch in the face during the invasion angle on RAW, breaking the SmackDown Live Women’s Champion’s nose. As a result, she has been pulled from her match with Ronda Rousey Sunday at Survivor Series.
It’s being reported that Jax has some heat backstage for the incident. However, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that more talents are seemingly upset by WWE’s preferential treatment of Brock Lesnar. The Universal Champion was also a part of RAW this week. He came out and attacked Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers. During the angle, Lesnar hit some devastating german suplexes on Sunil Singh.
Singh landed awkwardly on his neck, but thankfully it seems like he wasn’t injured. Meltzer reports that more talents seem to be upset that Lesnar is basically “bulletproof” against WWE brass. While Jax’s injuring of Lynch was the most reckless act of the night, Lesnar’s could’ve been just as – if not more – harmful.
What do you think about WWE’s preferential treatment of Lesnar?
Nia Jax has received a lot of heat, both backstage and from fans, for what transpired Monday. Jax injured SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Becky Lynch during a brawl segment on RAW. Jax hit Lynch with a hard punch that broke the Irishwoman’s nose, forcing her off this weekend’s Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV).
Lynch was initially scheduled to face RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey due to the Champion vs. Champion format of the PPV. With Lynch now off the card due to injury, Charlotte Flair will face Rousey at Survivor Series instead. Jax has been taking a lot of heat online from fans since she injured Lynch.
Jax posted an advertisement for a meet-and-greet she’ll be holding on Friday. In the comments, however, fans are trashing the former RAW Women’s Champion for injuring Lynch:
Earlier this morning, Jax took to Twitter to address the situation. She posted a photo of her cut and bruised fist with the caption, “Hey…we don’t deliver mail, things happen. Is anyone gonna ask me about how my fist feels?”
The controversy surrounding Jax injuring Lynch has sparked tons of discussions online. Even former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ryback recently unloaded on F4WOnline’s Bryan Alvarez for critiquing Jax. It will be interesting to see how the situation plays out moving forward.
This has been a huge week for professional wrestling, as we approach Survivor Series from Los Angeles this weekend. The week started off with a tremendous women’s locker room brawl to hype this weekend’s pay-per-view (PPV) on Monday Night RAW. Unfortunately, that braw resulted in the injury of Becky Lynch, who is now off the Survivor Series card, canceling the event’s most highly-anticipated match.
The SmackDown Live Women’s Champion kicked off the segment by attacking RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey backstage. She then came to the ring to lead an attack on the RAW Women’s locker room, alongside her fellow SmackDown Live stars. However, during the brawl, Nia Jax hit Lynch with a hard shot that broke ner nose. Lynch continued on with the segment despite bleeding all over herself.
It was soon determined that the injury was significant enough to pull Lynch from her match with Rousey on Sunday. Now, Rousey will face Charlotte Flair, who was hand-selected by Lynch as her replacement, instead. With one of the most anticipated matches of the year being called off due to injury, Jax has apparently taken some heat backstage for the incident.
Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, who initially broke the story of Lynch’s injury, has provided some insight. Initially, there wasn’t any heat towards Jacks for busting Lynch open. However, after the severity of the injury was determined, that quickly changed:
Nia is careless is the attitude backstage right now
Last night’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live certainly brought a ton of surprises. After Becky Lynch’s injury, Charlotte Flair will now face Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series this weekend. Also, we have a new WWE Champion, and a new opponent for Brock Lesnar on Sunday. AJ Styles opened up SmackDown Live last night to cut a promo about his match with Lesnar.
Paul Heyman came out to interrupt Styles, instigating a match between Styles and Bryan later on that night. With the WWE Title on the line, Bryan turned heel and hit Styles with a low blow after the referee was knocked down. He then hit a flying knee for the WWE Title victory. The title change was obviously a huge surprise to fans.
Now, Bryan will face Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series this weekend due to the Champion vs. Champion format of the show. After SmackDown Live, however, Styles didn’t work his scheduled Mixed Match Challenge match on Facebook Watch. He was set to team up with Charlotte Flair against The Miz and Asuka.
Instead, Styles was replaced by Jeff Hardy, who teamed with Flair to defeat Miz and Asuka. There’s no news as to why Styles missed his MMC match, however, it’s likely in regards to the storyline after losing the WWE Title.
What do you think about Styles not working the MMC after losing the WWE Title?
Alexa Bliss has still not been clearedto return to physical activity for WWE. Recently, it was announced that Bliss has suffered from several concussions over a short period of time. WWE officials want to be careful with her return. As a result, Bliss missed matches at Evolution and will not compete at Survivor Series.
However, she has stayed involved in storylines in non-physical roles. Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that WWE will hold Bliss out as long as necessary to ensure her safety. The company will keep Bliss in the mix, however, as they have been, in non-physical roles. Johnson also addressed the rumors regarding Bliss possibly retiring from in-ring competition.
Johnson said that hasn’t been confirmed to him by anybody. He did confirm, however, that there is “legitimate concern” that Bliss won’t be back in a physical role with WWE anytime soon. Johnson did say that all of that could change with one medical appointment, but much like Daniel Bryan’s past situation, she could be out-of-action for a significant amount of time.
He ended by saying there’s no definitive direction one way or the other on the situation. We’ll keep you updated on the matter as we learn more…
How long do you think Bliss will be held out of in-ring competition?
Finn Balor was added to Team RAW on last night’s go-home episode before Survivor Series this weekend. Now Balor joins Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Dolph Ziggler on Team RAW. Initially, WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle was penciled in for Balor’s spot on Team RAW, per PWInsider.
However, Angle was instead destroyed by McIntyre on last week’s episode of RAW. Mike Johnson of PWInsider Audio reports that Angle was, in fact, planned to be on Team RAW instead of Balor. Johnson noted that “for whatever reason,” WWE decided to write Angle off storylines for now. After Angle was destroyed by McIntyre on TV, announcers noted the possibility of Angle’s in-ring career being over.
There are currently no indications that is the case and could stricly be storyline-based. Recent reports suggested that Angle was training hard for his return to the squared circle. When that return might take place, however, remains to be seen. “The Olympic Hero” has yet to have a big singles match at WrestleMania since returning to the company in 2017.
Perhaps this year he’ll get the big match-up he and fans have been waiting to see.
What do you think of Team RAW as it currently stands?
The Bella Twins just suggested a match that will certainly get a reaction from professional wrestling fans. Nikki and Brie walked the red carpet for the “People’s Choice Awards,” and did an interview with E!’s Giuliana Rancic. The twins were asked about several professional wrestling topics, including working WWE Evolution with Ronda Rousey, their next match, and more.
In regards to their next match, The Bella Twins were asked who they’d like to share the ring with. They offered a very interesting response. Nikki threw out the suggestion of facing mega-celebrity sisters, The Kardashians:
“I honestly think what would be really good is the Kardashians! Sisters versus sisters!” Nikki said.
Brie Bella followed up and agreed with her sister, saying “I think that would be a good match.” The Kardashians have several reality TV shows on E! Network and are arguably the most famous celebrities on the planet. The Bella Twins are featured on a few of E!’s reality shows as well. Those being “Total Divas” and “Total Bellas.”
There’s definitely a bit of a working relationship between the two sides should they want to open up discussions for something like a WWE match. It remains to be seen if anything becomes of The Bellas comments. Check out The Bellas’ interview with E!, in which they challenge The Kardashians to a match, below:
Do you think this is something WWE would actually pursue?
