– Below is video of The New Day gaming backstage after their win over Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable on tonight’s SmackDown. Xavier Woods says they are the franchise tag team of the industry and they will definitely be SmackDown Tag Team Champions again as it is written in the stars. Kofi Kingston goes on about how “piping hot” they are.
– The dark main event after tonight’s WWE 205 Live in Lexington, KY saw Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura defeat Dolph Ziggler and WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin in tag team action.
– Hideo Itami tweeted the following after his latest vignette aired on tonight’s WWE 205 Live. No word yet on when his main roster debut will happen.
– As noted, tonight’s WWE SmackDown saw WWE Champion AJ Styles defeat The Singh Brothers in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match, despite a pre-match attack from Jinder Mahal. WWE posted this video of the beatdown continuing during the commercial break:
– WWE has confirmed that the Fatal 4 Way on next week’s RAW will feature Drew Gulak, Tony Nese, Mustafa Ali and Cedric Alexander. As noted, the winner of that Fatal 4 Way will face Rich Swann the next week with the winner going on to face WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore the following week.
– Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley took to Twitter tonight and tweeted the following after Mojo turned on Ryder following their loss to Rowan & Harper in a rematch from last week’s loss.
– It looks like the upcoming WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view may see WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin defend against Bobby Roode. Tonight’s WWE SmackDown saw Roode issue a challenge to Corbin but Corbin turned him down. Below is video from that segment:
– Tonight’s SmackDown also saw WWE Champion AJ Styles defeat The Singh Brothers in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match, despite a pre-match attack from Jinder Mahal. Styles tweeted the following after the match and commented on his upcoming match with Jinder at WWE Clash of Champions:
Tried beating me 3 on 1… Couldn’t do it 2 on 1…. …And at #WWEClash you will NEVER beat me 1 on 1. #Phenomenal#SDLive
– Ruby Riot revealed on tonight’s SmackDown that her stable with Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan will be called The Riott Squad. The trio later defeated Naomi and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair after Natalya walked out on her partners. As seen below, Naomi was stretchered out after being double teamed by Liv and Logan.
– After months of teasing a break-up, The Hype Bros are officially no more. Tonight’s WWE SmackDown saw Rowan and Harper quickly defeat Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder in a rematch from last week. As seen in the video below, Mojo attacked Ryder after the match and laid him out.
– The dark match before tonight’s SmackDown in Lexington, KY saw Tye Dillinger defeat Mike Kanellis in singles action.
– It looks like Kalisto will be making his return to WWE 205 Live on tonight’s show after being away last week. He tweeted the following today:
Being down doesn’t make me want to leave. It makes me want to fight. The ring is home. Where I belong. I’m coming back tonight. #205Live Soy el Rey Del Aire..seguiere demonstrando mi #LuchaLuchaLucha
– As seen below, the latest RAW Fallout video with Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews once again teases Dana Brooke joining Titus Worldwide. Crews and Titus give Dana props despite her squash loss to Asuka. Dana pokes at Titus and Crews for getting taken out by Samoa Joe and says if they would have studied just a little more, maybe they could have escaped the Coquina Clutch. Titus says Dana is highly motivated and highly educated, all she needs is to be more respected and well connected. Titus says that’s where they come in. He tells her to step into the Titus Worldwide office as they leave together.
– No word yet on when The Miz will get his rematch from WWE Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns but Reigns noted on this week’s RAW that we won’t be seeing Miz for a while after he took a table powerbomb from The Shield after last week’s RAW went off the air. As noted, Miz was written off TV to film WWE Studios’ “The Marine 6” with WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels and Becky Lynch. No word yet on if Becky was written off TV as well after last week’s attack from Ruby Riot, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan on SmackDown.
– Speaking of Reigns, Michael Cole noted on this week’s show that a post-match photo posted after last week’s RAW of Reigns with the title is WWE’s most-liked Instagram photo ever. As of this writing, the photo has 587,806 likes. It’s worth noting that a photo of Paige posted last Wednesday, to generate discussion on her return, currently has 504,423 likes. Below is the photo of Reigns:
There was no dark main event after this week’s WWE RAW in Knoxville went off the air but RAW General Manager Kurt Angle did come out and cut a promo for the crowd, as seen in the video above.
The WWE Hall of Famer says he hopes everyone had a Thanksgiving and talks about what he’s thankful for – his family, his wife and kids, the men and women in the locker room that inspire him every day, for The Shield allowing him to be a part of their team at TLC, for WWE allowing him to come back and entertain the fans and last but not least, he’s very, very thankful for the WWE Universe for making him feel like he never left in the first place. Angle continued to give thanks to the crowd and ended the promo with a God bless.
– Kairi Sane vs. Peyton Royce will also air on this week’s WWE NXT episode, as revealed in the promo below. As noted, this week’s episode will also feature Trent Seven & Tyler Bate vs. Mark Andrews & WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne plus highlights from Adam Cole vs. then-NXT Champion Drew McIntyre with WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. All three of these matches took place at the NXT live event in San Antonio, which was just one night before Drew lost the title to Andrade “Cien” Almas at the “Takeover: WarGames” event. New NXT matches will be taped at Wednesday’s TV tapings from Full Sail University and we will have live spoilers.
– RAW General Manager Kurt Angle announced on tonight’s show that WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore will defend his title in 4 weeks against an opponent to be determined by two Fatal 4 Way matches and a singles match. The first Fatal 4 Way took place tonight and saw Rich Swann defeat Akira Tozawa, Ariya Daivari and Noam Dar. The next Fatal 4 Way will take place next Monday but WWE has not confirmed the participants. The winner of that Fatal 4 Way will face Swann the next week and the winner of that match will become the new #1 contender for a match with Enzo the next week.
– Matt Hardy’s losing streak continued on tonight’s RAW with a loss to Bray Wyatt but it looks like they are moving forward with the WWE debut of his “Broken” gimmick. As seen below, Hardy snapped with a “delete!” chant after the match and later commented on Twitter about his “dormant condishtion” being “woken” up:
– Below is a promo for this week’s WWE SmackDown episode, featuring WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. The Singh Brothers in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match plus Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton:
– WWE taped the following matches tonight in Knoxville, TN for this week’s Main Event episode:
* Apollo Crews vs. Curt Hawkins
* Kalisto and Gran Metalik vs. Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick
– Paige revealed on tonight’s RAW that “Absolution” is the name for her new group with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. RAW was supposed to feature Absolution vs. Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Bayley but the match never happened as Bayley and Mickie were taken out backstage. Absolution faced off with Sasha in the ring and triple teamed her after offering her the chance to pledge allegiance to the group. Below is video from tonight’s segment:
It looks like @SashaBanksWWE would rather try and fight than pledge allegiance to @RealPaigeWWE… #RAWpic.twitter.com/weFYElCssf
Seth Rollins announced on tonight’s WWE RAW that he and Dean Ambrose are invoking their rematch clause for a title shot from RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar. Rollins & Ambrose vs. Cesaro & Sheamus will take place on next week’s RAW from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Tonight’s RAW saw Rollins defeat Cesaro in singles action. Ambrose was absent as he’s on his honeymoon in Hawaii with Renee Young, who will likely be missing this week’s SmackDown as well. Sheamus was also absent tonight as he’s on his “annual sabbatical” back in Ireland. Both will be back next week.
On this week’s episode of 205 Live, WWE confirmed that NXT competitor Hideo Itami is getting ‘called up’ to the main roster and will be joining the Cruiserweight division soon.
Itami’s NXT run has been plagued by injuries. He’s lost a handful of singles matches since returning to the ring back in March of this year. His last big match came at NXT “Takeover: Brooklyn III” in August, a loss to Aleister Black.
Hideo Itami commented on the news of him joining 205 live. He tweeted, “Show Me RESPECT.” You can check out the Hideo Itami 205 Live “coming soon” promo here:
Former WWE Superstar Kamala (James Harris) had been on life support after undergoing emergency surgery this past weekend in Oxford, Mississippi. Kamala’s stepdaughter Juanita James noted that he was showing signs of improvement the morning after surgery. She then noted this afternoon that the WWE Legend is “doing much better” and “off the ventilator.” Kamala is still not talking but he’s alert, according to James.
WWE’s website covered Kamala’s condition with the following announcement:
WWE Legend Kamala undergoes emergency surgery
WWE.com has learned that WWE Legend Kamala (James Harris) is currently on life support after undergoing emergency surgery this past weekend.
His stepdaughter, Juanita James, provided his fans with an update on Facebook, saying:
“Please [pray] for my stepfather aka “Kamala” James Harris. [He] had emergency surgery this morning around 3 a.m. They didn’t think he would make it out of surgery, but God. He’s on life support. His buddy Koko B. Ware is here.”
WWE.com will continue to monitor this story and will provide more updates as they become available.
– The tension between The Hype Bros is back, as seen in this new SmackDown Fallout video from tonight. Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder argued backstage after their loss to Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, who returned as The Bludgeon Brothers.
– Next week’s WWE SmackDown in Lexington, Kentucky will feature Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens plus The Singh Brothers vs. WWE Champion AJ Styles in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. Next Tuesday’s show will also see the return of The Fashion Files with Breezango.
– As noted, WWE NXT Superstars Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan made their main roster debuts on tonight’s SmackDown by destroying Naomi and Becky Lynch backstage. They later interfered in the SmackDown Women’s Title match between Natalya and champion Charlotte Flair, as seen below. The segment ended with the three taking out Natalya and Flair, then standing tall.
– Above is the new WWE Shop Black Friday/Christmas ad with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos. Below is the WWE Shop ad that premiered on last night’s RAW with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
– The dark match before tonight’s WWE SmackDown tapings in Houston saw WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews defeat Tyler Bate and Trent Seven in a battle of WWE UK Superstars.
– Erick Rowan and Luke Harper returned to WWE TV on tonight’s SmackDown as The Bludgeon Brothers. They easily defeated The Hype Bros, Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley. Below are photos and videos from the match:
Jinder Mahal confirmed on tonight’s WWE SmackDown that he will get his rematch from WWE Champion AJ Styles at the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
Clash of Champions takes place on December 17th from the TD Garden in Boston.
Below are photos and video from tonight’s segment, which ended with AJ taking out The Singh Brothers after they sneak attacked him:
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown saw the main roster debuts of Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan from WWE NXT.
The debuts happened during a backstage segment that saw Naomi getting her makeup done. Ruby appeared first and introduced her two friends to Naomi, Liv and Sarah. They then triple teamed Naomi and beat her down. Becky Lynch tried to make the save for Naomi but she was also destroyed and left laying.
This was similar to the angle done on last night’s RAW, which saw Paige return to TV by bringing Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose up from NXT. They took out Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James and RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss.
– Below is video of new WWE Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns talking to Mike Rome after the big win over The Miz on last night’s RAW. Reigns says he feels good about the win and was informed by Dean Ambrose that he’s now a Grand Slam Champion. Reigns says it’s no secret that he’s had a rough few months, he’s missed some time but this goes to show that if you’re passionate about something and you’re persistent about it, you can make it happen if you believe in it, no matter what gets in your way. Reigns thanks all of his supporters and says he wouldn’t have these opportunities if it weren’t for his team. Reigns indicates that he will be issuing Open Challenges soon.
– The Bella Twins turn 34 years old today while former WCW star Jerry Flynn turns 58, WWE Hall of Famer Afa The Wild Samoan turns 75 and ECW Original Shane Douglas turns 54.
– Below is a promo for this week’s WWE NXT with the fallout from “Takeover: WarGames” and Johnny Gargano vs. WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne:
– Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa has been announced for this week’s WWE 205 live episode. Gulak talks about the match in this post-RAW Fallout video, noting that WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore isn’t happy with The Zo Train losing on RAW.
– As noted, Paige returned to WWE TV on this week’s RAW and brought WWE NXT Superstars Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville with her to attack others in the women’s division, including RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. Paige tweeted the following on her return:
– New WWE Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns is now a Grand Slam Champion after his win over The Miz in the main event of this week’s RAW. Reigns is the 17th Grand Slam Champion in company history. WWE Hall of Famer Booker T welcomed Reigns to the club with this tweet:
– Below is video of Samoa Joe talking to Mike Rome after his win over Finn Balor on this week’s WWE RAW from Houston. Joe says he does not feel better after the win because something keeps going around in his head – why do they all choose to live in ignorance, why will they not learn? Joe says it’s very simple – he will strike down with righteous vengeance if you trespass on him. He will torture you, beat you and punish you, and when you are at the apex of your pain threshold, he will grant you the mercy of putting you to sleep. Joe says Balor learned that he will always get his comeuppance and anyone else will suffer the same fate.
– No word yet on why Kalisto did not appear on this week’s RAW in the cruiserweight segment that saw Mustafa Ali, Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander and Akira Tozawa face off with WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore, Drew Gulak, Tony Nese, Noam Dar and Ariya Daivari, but Kalisto did do media appearances with Bayley on Monday morning. Kalisto lost a title match to Enzo on Sunday’s Survivor Series Kickoff pre-show.
– Matt Hardy’s feud with Elias continued on RAW as the two brawled around the ring, just one night after Hardy lost to Elias on the Survivor Series pre-show. Matt tweeted the following on Elias after the show:
– Tonight’s WWE RAW saw Asuka keep her undefeated streak going with a win over Dana Brooke. Below is post-show video of Asuka talking to Mike Rome. The Empress of Tomorrow thanks Dana for keeping her undefeated.
– There was no dark main event after tonight’s RAW in Houston but The Miz did get put through a table by new WWE Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
– As noted, tonight’s RAW also saw Paige make her return. She brought WWE NXT Superstars Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose with her and they beat down Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James and later RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. Mandy and Sonya tweeted the following on their main roster debuts:
Roman Reigns defeated The Miz in the main event of Monday’s RAW from Houston to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
This is Reigns’ first run with the WWE Intercontinental Title. Miz won the title back at the June 4th Extreme Rules pay-per-view with a win over Dean Ambrose.
The reason for The Miz dropping the IC title is that he’ll be taking time off soon to film another movie. No word yet on what movie he’ll be filming, but Miz has starred in the past 3 installments of WWE Studios’ The Marine franchise, so that’s certainly a possibility.
After Monday’s RAW went off the air, WWE filmed an angle that saw The Shield triple powerbomb Miz through the announcer’s table. This was done to write him off television for the foreseeable future.
The Miz is not expected back on television until after his new movie projects finishes shooting. During his time away from WWE, he’ll also be able to spend time with his pregnant wife, Maryse.
Paige made her long-awaited WWE return on tonight’s RAW from Houston, interrupting a Fatal 4 Way to crown a new #1 contender to RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. The match featured Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James and Alicia Fox but there was no finish.
Paige declared that she was back but she was not alone. She then walked to the ring as WWE NXT Superstars Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville hit the ring to attack the other female Superstars as Paige watched their main roster debuts. Paige joined in and took out Bayley with a RamPaige. Paige stood tall with Sonya and Mandy to end the segment.
Paige later was interviewed by Renee Young but Bliss interrupted her and said Paige doesn’t have to explain herself as the others got what they deserved. Bliss gave Mandy and Sonya props before dismissing Renee. Paige introduced Mandy and Sonya to Bliss before they triple teamed the champion and destroyed her backstage, leaving her laying.
– WWE taped the following matches tonight in Houston to air on this week’s Main Event episode:
* Gran Metalik vs. Brian Kendrick
* Apollo Crews vs. Curt Hawkins
– WWE continued teasing Triple H vs. Braun Strowman and Triple H vs. Kurt Angle in the opening segment of tonight’s RAW from Houston. You can see photos & video from the segment below:
Paul Heyman had some strong praise for WWE Champion AJ Styles after AJ’s loss to WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at last night’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. (Video below)
Heyman says he’s shocked at the loss because he’s been a fan of AJ before you were supposed to be a fan of AJ. Heyman says AJ is more phenomenal than he’s supposed to be, and if you”re not a fan of AJ then you shouldn’t be watching WWE. Heyman says AJ is what WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels were to their generations, but he’s updated it and evolved their styles to truly be the single most phenomenal in-ring performer Heyman has ever had the honor and pleasure of watching up-close. Heyman says he’s been doing this his entire life but no one has done anything in the ring that compared to what he saw at Survivor Series.
Heyman says he has nothing but respect and admiration for AJ, which is why he thanked God when the match was made against Lesnar because it’s one thing to eat through an entire division but it’s another thing to step into the ring with AJ and show the world that you can conquer those hopes, those dreams, that intensity, that underdog.
Heyman says yes, Rocky lost at the end of the movie but he won the respect of the woman he loved. And AJ Styles continues to earn our respect every time he performs. Heyman says AJ just didn’t just perform, he fought and took the fight to The Beast like very few have. Heyman goes on and praises Lesnar as the reigning, defending, undisputed, #1 champion – then, now and forever.
Above is video of Stephanie McMahon entering the ring to check on Triple H after WWE Survivor Series went off the air. For those who missed it, Triple H and Braun Strowman won the men’s 5-on-5 Traditional Elimination Match for Team RAW but the pay-per-view ended with Braun destroying The Game.
Below is a fan clip of Triple H walking into the set as he and Stephanie left to go to the backstage area:
– Below is video of the Team SmackDown women’s team arguing backstage after their loss to Team RAW at WWE Survivor Series. As noted, Asuka was the Sole Survivor for Team RAW in the 5-on-5 Traditional Elimination Match.
– Regarding the battle for brand supremacy at Survivor Series, Team RAW ended up winning 4-3 – the men’s team won, the women’s team won, The Shield defeated The New Day and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defeated WWE Champion AJ Styles. Blue brand wins saw WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin defeat WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeat RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defeat RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss.
– WWE posted this video to thank fans for watching the WWE Network this year: