Bobby Roode has made his return to WWE television.
He did so on Monday’s episode of RAW from Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center on the USA Network when he answered an open challenge for the WWE Title that was issued by Drew McIntyre in the opening segment of the show.
McIntyre did a promo with Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Big Show, and Christian standing behind him about how he needed to take on someone who he hadn’t faced while champion as he considers himself a fighting champion.
The open challenge took place in the final segment of the show.
Roode had been on hiatus from WWE due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He lives in Canada and for the past several months, the borders between Canada and the United States have been closed. As a result, that had prevented him from entering the country.
Just last week it was reported that Roode was expected to make his return to Monday Night Raw in the near future.
He was last seen in action in March as he teamed up with Dolph Ziggler to compete in the Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
Former WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Bobby Roode has received a slight name change and also a new look.
WWE’s YouTube channel released a video where Roode revealed that he is now known as “Glorious” Robert Roode on the WWE RAW brand. As seen in the video, he also ditched his beard for just a mustache.
Roode talked about how he’s ready to dominate the red brand as a singles competitor while re-introducing himself. He also went after his former tag team partner Chad Gable by referring to him as 150 pounds of dead weight.
While in TNA Wrestling where he found a ton of success including a few reigns as World Heavyweight Champion and Tag Team Champion, Roode also went with Robert as well as Bobby for his first name as an in-ring performer.
As part of the Superstar Shakeup last week that impacted both brands – Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live – the tag team was split up. Gable went to SmackDown Live.
As of this writing, Roode was last seen on WWE’s flagship show just last week when he and Gable lost to The Usos, which marked their first appearance on the red brand in several years, during a tag team match.
WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Bobby Roode had the chance to reunite with an old friend. Former TNA and WWE star Monty Brown was backstage at the WWE live event on Sunday night in Saginaw, MI at the Dow Event Center.
At the show, Roode and Gable beat The Revival to retain the RAW Tag Team Championship. Roode shared the photo on his official Twitter account, saying that Brown was “Truly one of nicest guys I have ever had the pleasure of working with in this business.”
Monty Brown was in TNA from 2002 through 2006. He later joined WWECW as Marcus Cor Von from 2006 – 2007. During his time with TNA, Brown won the first-ever ‘Monsters Ball’ match at Victory Road in 2004 by defeating Raven and Abyss. Although he never won a title under the TNA banner, he came close to winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was their top title at the time, on several occasions.
WWE Saginaw, MI Results
EC3 defeated Dean Ambrose.
Bayley, Dana Brooke and Natalya defeated Alicia Fox, Mickie James and Nikki Cross. – Six-Woman Tag Team Match
Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush defeated Finn Balor in a two-on-one handicap match to retain
The Ascension def. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins.
RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defeated Nia Jax w/ Tamina to retain
RAW Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defeated The Revival to retain
Drew McIntyre defeated Elias.
Braun Strowman defeated Baron Corbin – Saginaw Street Fight.
One-half of the Authors of Pain, Akam, is said to be dealing with a leg injury that will keep him on the shelf for a couple of months. The 25-year-old hasn’t wrestled since a house show on January 6th.
“Akam of the Authors of Pain is hurt,” Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio. “I don’t know the nature of the injury but it’s a leg injury, he’s going to be out for a couple of months, I understand.”
Meltzer would continue to say he’s still looking for confirmation and details, however.
The Authors of Pain
The booking of the WWE’s tag team divisions has been a topic of conversation as of late. The Raw tag team championships changed hands 10 times in 2018 and have been involved in storylines involving people urinating on themselves.
The Authors of Pain won the Raw tag-team championships on the November 5th, 2018 episode of Raw from Manchester. They defeated Seth Rollins in a 2-on-1 handicap match for the belts as Dean Ambrose did not participate. The AOP then defended the titles successfully against the team of Chad Gable and Bobby Roode 3 weeks later. On December 10th, 2018, the AOP lost the belts to Roode and Gable. They lost a 3-on-2 handicap match where their manager, Drake Maverick, was pinned.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, one-half of the current Raw tag team champions, Bobby Roode, disclosed what his Wrestlemania 35 dream match would be.
For the “Glorious” One, he would love to face off against the team of The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson).
“I would love to have that opportunity to walk down that aisle at WrestleMania in a match for the Raw tag team championships,” he admitted.
“In recent weeks we’ve had some really good matches against The Revival. I’d hate to give them another reason to make them think they’re better than they are, but they are a tremendous tag team. With the chemistry that we have together, with the right circumstances at WrestleMania I think we could blow the doors off that place.”
But it doesn’t stop there. If Roode got his way, he and his partner, Chad Gable, would be able to wrestle this match under a specific stipulation — though he’s undecided as to which he would prefer.
“A two-out-of-three falls match or a tag team, iron man match,” he said. “That would be amazing.”
With Wrestlemania 35 taking place on April 7th, WWE still has time to be able to build a feud between the two teams that could see them settle things in a final confrontation on “grandest stage of them all.”
Is this a feud you’d like to see? Out of the two Roode mentioned, what would you prefer to see — two out of three falls, or an iron man tag team match?
This past Monday, WWE CEO Vince McMahon was in Florida for RAW. During his visit, “The Chairman Of The Board” stopped by Orlando’s WWE Performance Center alongside Triple H, per PWInsider. Such an appearance is likely a rarity for McMahon, who hasn’t been seen at the PC much before.
One-half of the WWE Monday Night RAW Tag Team Champions, Bobby Roode, was recently interviewed by The Mirror in the UK. Roode opened up about WWE stars competing for television time, and how fortunate he has been to have been involved in storylines on both SmackDown Live and RAW:
“It’s one of those things, everyone wants that opportunity to show what they can do,” Roode said. “But there are so many hours of television… I have been very fortunate to be at the forefront of that and be in storylines on Raw and Smackdown now.
“So it is competitive, but I think everybody has an understanding of how it works and how things are going – you have to be patient and stay positive. If you aren’t on TV one week, hopefully the next week you’ll have that opportunity to go out there, whether it be a five minute match or a backstage promo.
“You just have to make the best of every opportunity you get and hope something sticks.”
The Royal Rumble matchup is a great opportunity for WWE to shake up the landscape of their product — just look at the immediate impact and reaction that greeted AJ Styles upon arriving during the 2016 Rumble event.
With 30 spots available, every year speculation runs wild as to who could be making a return or, potentially, a debut.
Speaking with Planeta Wrestling, current Raw tag team champion, Bobby Roode, named the one person he would love to debut as a surprise entrant this year: Kenny Omega.
“Right now it seems like the stars in the business — the people I’m familiar with — are definitely in the WWE or quite possibly one of the 30 guys that are already in the match,” Roode said. “But if you’re looking for an outside guy, I don’t know, it’s gotta be Kenny Omega then. He’s a fellow Canadian and a guy that, I think, has a lot of talent and would be a huge addition to this company. But who knows? We’ll see what happens.”
“I Need Time Away, And Not Just From New Japan”
It was only recently announced that Omega intends to take time off from New Japan Pro Wrestling. This came after Kenny lost his IWGP Heavyweight championship in an epic encounter against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
During the post-Wrestle Kingdom press conference, Kenny Omega stated:
“There is no real place for me to fit, so it’s best for me not to be in (NJPW). I can’t be there working under Tanahashi. I don’t think he’s surpassed me, don’t think he’s better. If we can, I want to face him again. But I need time away, and not just from New Japan.”
Do you agree with Bobby? Would you love to see Omega debut for WWE during the Rumble event?
It has just been announced that next week’s episode of Monday Night RAW will now feature a stipulation match for the RAW Tag Team Championships. Chad Gable and Bobby Roode will now be defending their straps against The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) in a Lumberjack match. Also, Elias will meet Baron Corbin in a singles match on the card as well:
The first Monday Night RAW of 2019 already includes the return of WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan. “The Hulkster” will be honoring the recently departed “Mean” Gene Okerlund, who passed away in Florida earlier this week. John Cena is also expected to be making his return to RAW. Cena has been doing a lot of work for his film career as of late. He spent several months in China filming his upcoming “Project X” movie with Jackie Chan. Cena also has been promoting his new “Bumblebee” movie quite a bit as well.
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is also set to make an appearance. Alexa Bliss will be debuting her “Moment of Bliss” talk show. She’ll have RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey on as her first guest.
What do you think about the current lineup for RAW next week?
Chad Gable and Bobby Roode are the new WWE RAW Tag Team Champions. As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in San Diego, CA at the Valley View Casino Center on the USA Network, the first match of the night was a 3-on-2 handicap match that saw Gable and Roode beat Authors of Pain and Drake Maverick to win the titles. The finish saw Roode roll up Maverick for the win.
Authors of Pain won the titles back on the November 5th episode of Raw when they beat Seth Rollins in a handicap match after he was forced to defend the titles alone by Acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin.
This marks the first reign as RAW Tag Team Champions for Gable and Roode as they are the 71st champions in the history of the title that dates back to 2002 under the WWE Tag Team Titles.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when AOP will get their rematch for the titles but it could come as soon as the TLC pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, December 16th, 2018 in San Jose, California at the SAP Center. What are your thoughts on this title change? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE has announced who will be replacing Kevin Owens in the second season of Mixed Match Challenge that airs on Facebook after SmackDown Live goes off the air on the USA Network.
Former WWE United States Champion Bobby Roode will replace the former Universal Champion and team up with Natalya. They will take on Mickie James and Bobby Lashley on next Tuesday’s episode.
If you recall, Natalya & Owens lost to Ember Moon & Braun Strowman during the first episode of the second season of the show. The reason for the change is due to Owens being out of action after suffering a knee injury and getting surgery.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the extent of Owens’ knee injury is unknown at this time. He’s currently scheduled for minor surgery, but they will not know the full extent of the damage until they go in and operate. The internal fear is that he could be out for 8 months, which would project his return timeframe to be anytime from February to June of 2019. An interesting state has surfaced online about the second season of Mixed Match Challenge, which is the fact that this marks the third time that a wrestler has had to be replaced in thus far this season. Moon replaced Alexa Bliss in the tournament, and James replaced Sasha Banks.
Ten co-ed teams will participate in a round-robin style tournament to determine the winners. The finals of the tournament will take place at the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view on Sunday, December 16th, 2018 in San Jose, California at the SAP Center and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets.
Bobby Roode has reflected on his decision to depart from TNA and join WWE. The former WWE United States Champion recently made an appearance on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia to talk about various topics including why he left TNA where he had made a name for himself.
TNA
He noted that he was reaching 40 years old and thought to himself, he doesn’t think he can go out there and wrestle then wait 6-8 weeks and then have him work 8 days in a row, twice a day in a studio of 200 people and really be able to give it his all.
“For me, just the passion was starting to go away and in my mind I was thinking like, ‘If I don’t want to leave my house and I don’t want to do what I’ve loved to do for the last 17 years, then I really have to rethink what I want to do here.’”
NXT
This is when he spoke with Triple H about potentially signing with the WWE and being a member of the NXT roster. He recalled having a conversation with “The Game” where he pitched him a coaching job at the WWE Performance Center.
This is when Roode told him that he didn’t want to be a coach at the stage of his career at the time. Instead, he felt like he had a lot left in the tank and would want a chance in NXT.
“‘Okay cool. We’ll give you an opportunity. We’ll give a shot and see where it goes.’ So they flew me down to WrestleMania 32, went down there, met Hunter face to face. Kind of met everybody, met the crew, and I just immediately felt at home. I know what I said, ‘I don’t like change.’ but I walked in there and everybody was really cool.”
Roode also talked about wrestling a match in WWE in 1998, having kids while being a WWE star and much more. You can listen to the full episode here:
WWE posted a video on their official Twitter page from their live event in North Charleston, South Carolina. In the video, Bobby Roode & Kevin Owens brawl outside the ring. “The Glorious One” wound up defeating Owens when it was all said and done.
Owens is currently feuding with Braun Strowman on Monday Night RAW. He will face “The Monster Among Men” at SummerSlam on August 19th. Should “KO” emerge victorious, he will win Strowman’s Money In The Bank (MITB) briefcase.
Roode is also involved in a feud of his own on RAW. He has been butting heads with Mojo Rawley lately. They will square off on tonight’s show from Jacksonville, Florida.
Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair Fire Back At The IIconics
Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, The IIconics, recently mocked Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair on Twitter. The pair pretended to act like Flair and Lynch, even mimicking their “tea time” gesture.
They also said that Lynch only won her matches on SmackDown Live while Flair was away nursing her injuries. The IIconics also took issue with Flair getting thrown in the SummerSlam SmackDown Live Women’s Title match for doing “absolutely nothing”:
Lynch and Flair offered a video response of their own. They noted that The IIconics haven’t defeated anyone of merit during their run on SmackDown Live. Flair and Lynch ended off by saying “isn’t that iconic?” Here’s the video:
Now that the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode is in WWE, there are a number of dream matches people want to see him in.
However, during a recent interview with 710 KEEL, the former NXT Champion revealed his own dream match, saying that he would have loved to face a late WWE Superstar.
According to Bobby, he has studied hours and hours of the footage featuring ‘Mr. Perfect’ Curt Hennig and if there was a dream match he could do, he would have loved to face the former WWE and WCW Star:
“If there was a dream match I could do, it would definitely be in a match against Curt Hennig, I think growing watching him, I have hours and hours and hours of footage of ‘Mr. Perfect’ Curt Hennig and just studied his stuff for years.”
Bobby Roode wrestled for TNA for well over a decade and joined the company during its early days in 2004. He left the company in early 2016 and was brought to NXT in the same year in April.
Hennig made his wrestling debut as the ‘Cool’ Curt Hennig’ back in 1980 and acquired the nickname ‘Mr. Perfect’ during his second run with WWE back in 1988.
Hennig was found dead in a hotel room in Florida on February 2003. He was 43 years old when he passed away and after an investigation, acute cocaine intoxication was determined to be the cause of his death.
Former WWE United States Champion Bobby Roode had some interesting news to share.
During a recent conversation with Allen Balint of KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas for an interview for Pro Wrestling Sheet to promote this week’s WWE Raw TV event, Roode stated that the sports entertainment company is looking to build a bigger Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. “From what I hear, it’s [Performance Center] going to continue to grow. I heard that they’re looking to build a new facility — a larger facility,” Roode noted. Roode also gave his take on the future of the WWE regarding its talent that is being created in the current system and NXT brand.
He gave some praise to one NXT star for being a success story from Orlando that was made at the Performance Center and that’s The Velveteen Dream.
“Dream is one guy that I think had a huge upside,” Roode said. “He has a ton of athletic ability and just gets it. He’s very in tune with his character — which is huge — especially on the main roster.”
What are your thoughts on WWE’s plans for a new Performance Center? Sound off in the comment section below.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently took to his podcast, The Ross Report, to offer his thoughts on what’s going on in the word of professional wrestling today. On the subject of this past Monday’s episode of RAW, Ross discussed two stars who he thinks have potential to be main event heels in the company.
Good Ole’ JR named former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley and former NXT Champion Bobby Roode as the two stars with the biggest heel potentials:
“Their persona makes me think heel first. And so sometimes when the average Joe, like me or you, look at somebody and we think “villain” it’s hard to get us to change our opinion of that personality, but I think in the long run, there’s money in Bobby Lashley and Bobby Roode both as main event-level heels in WWE.”
You can listen to Ross on The Ross Report by clicking this link here.
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw saw Kevin Owens pulling double duty. He first wrestled in an Intercontinental Championship match against Seth Rollins in a losing effort.
The former Universal Champion then went on to replace Jinder Mahal in the announced Triple Threat main event of the show which saw Kevin winning the bout and qualifying for the Money In The Bank.
However, Owens’ night didn’t end there as he wrestled one more match after this. He teamed up with Sami Zayn & Elias to face the team of Bobby Lashley, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins in a dark main event.
The tag match was won by the faces to send the crowd home happy. It’s worth mentioning here that Rollins, Lashley, and Elias also pulled double duty during the night as they had wrestled matches earlier in the show.
Bobby Roode On Qualifying For Money In The Bank
This week’s episode of Raw saw Bobby Roode, Alexa Bliss and Kevin Owens qualifying for their respective Money In The Bank matches after winning separate bouts during the event.
After the show, WWE posted a Raw fallout video featuring Bobby Roode where the former NXT Champion talked about his victory and the upcoming Ladder match.
Roode said that being the WWE Champion has been his dream since he was 8 years old and the title is the reason why he is here. The video can be seen below:
The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos is now official for WrestleMania 34, as announced on tonight’s SmackDown episode.
Tonight’s show also saw a change made to the WWE United States Title Triple Threat at WrestleMania. Rusev has been added to the match to make it a Fatal 4 Way.
WrestleMania 34 takes place on April 8th from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Below is the updated confirmed WrestleMania card:
Confirmed Matches:
WWE Universal Title Match
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Title Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles
Triple Threat for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz
Fatal 4 Way for the WWE United States Title
Rusev vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton
RAW Women’s Title Match
Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
RAW Tag Team Title Match
Braun Strowman and a partner vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
Triple Threat for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles
The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Usos
Finals of the WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament
Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Zayn and Owens will get their jobs back if they win, they will remain fired if they lose.
First-Ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
Sasha Banks, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Natalya, TBA
Fifth Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, Baron Corbin, Tye Dillinger, Mojo Rawley, Matt Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, TBA
– It looks like WrestleMania 34’s card will feature two Triple Threat matches for WWE titles. We’ve already seen that Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle has announced The Miz will be defending his Intercontinental Title in one against Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer reports that SmackDown Live will have a Triple Threat Title match of their own.
United States Champion Randy Orton is expected to defend his strap against both Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal in New Orleans. Roode announced his intentions to use his rematch clause at WrestleMania against Orton, after losing the strap this past weekend at Fastlane to “The Viper.” Mahal recently picked up a singles win over Bobby Roode, however, so it’s possible he’s added to the match on SmackDown Live next week.
– As for the finals of the 205 Live Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, Meltzer reports the plan has always been for Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali to take place in the finals. After Alexander already solidified his place in the finals, Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak will take place on next week’s 205 Live to determine Alexander’s opponent. It was also added that Alexander vs. Ali was the idea for the finals once the idea was developed to have the match take place at WrestleMania.
Randy Orton defeated Bobby Roode to become the new WWE United States Champion at tonight’s Fastlane pay-per-view.
This actually Orton’s first United States Title reign. Roode has been champion since January 16th after defeating Jinder Mahal in tournament finals for the vacant title.
Orton is now the 10th Grand Slam champion in WWE under the current format. He joins Big Show, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Edge, Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero.
Below are photos and videos from tonight’s big title change:
– Currently there are only four matches confirmed for WWE NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, as of the last NXT TV taping. One thing that has yet to be confirmed is whether or not Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa would be happening at the event as well. Gargano recently lost a match against NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas, and was forced to leave NXT as a result.
WWE accidentally posted a lineup of matches scheduled for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, which included a yet-to-be-announced Unsanctioned Match between Gargano and Ciampa. The post was quickly taken down, but not before some screenshots could be grabbed:
– WWE is currently teasing a romance storyline between SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and United States Champion Bobby Roode. The two are currently paired up together on the Mixed Match Challenge as “The Robe Warriors.” WWE posted an article teasing the romance angle between the two. Here’s an excerpt:
Charlotte Flair’s tweet leads to speculation of romance with Bobby Roode
“Later that night, The Queen tagged Roode in a tweet that included lyrics from Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy is Mine,” leaving many in the WWE Universe wondering if romance could be brewing between the two.
However, The Riott Squad were none too pleased with Roode’s meddling, and they used social media to send a warning to the United States Champion about what would happen if he stuck his nose in their business again.
Will The Glorious One’s robes be losing their luster anytime soon? Is romance in the future for he and Charlotte Flair? Tune in to SmackDown LIVE on Tuesdays at 8/7 C and find out!”
The Riott Squad are evidently not impressed that Bobby Roode interrupted their segment with Charlotte Flair last night. Things were looking as though they were about to get physical with the 3 Riott Squad members alone in the ring with the Smackdown Women’s Champion but Bobby Roode’s music hit and the situation de-escalated quickly. Roode and Charlotte are also tag-team partners in the Mixed-Match Challenge tournament.
Roode was coming out to work the commentary booth for the match between Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton but the Riott Squad did not take kindly to the interruption. Liv Morgan, in particular, has promised that if it happens again she will rip all the sequins off his robe.
Charlotte Flair will defend her Smackdown Women’s Championship against Ruby Riott on Sunday. It is also worth noting that Asuka has yet to declare which champion she will face at WrestleMania, so this match could have WrestleMania implications.
The 27-year-old Riott has been on the main roster since November. She started her pro-career in 2010 and eventually signed with WWE in 2016.
The New Day defeated Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin on tonight’s WWE SmackDown to become the new #1 contenders to SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos.
The New Day will get their title shot at the March 11th WWE Fastlane pay-per-view from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.
Randy Orton vs. WWE United States Champion Bobby Roode has also been announced for Fastlane, as has Ruby Riott vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
Below is the updated Fastlane card:
Fatal 5 Way for the WWE Title
Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Baron Corbin vs. AJ Styles
WWE United States Title Match
Randy Orton vs. Bobby Roode
SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The New Day vs. The Usos
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Ruby Riott vs. Charlotte Flair
Next week’s WWE SmackDown in Kansas City will feature Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens to crown a new #1 contender to the WWE Title. The winner will go on to face WWE Champion AJ Styles in the main event of the March 11th WWE Fastlane pay-per-view from Columbus, Ohio, which will be the final pay-per-view before WrestleMania 34.
Sami vs. Owens was made after SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan acknowledged the referee made a bad call in AJ’s 2-on-1 Handicap Match win over Sami and Owens at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday.
Next Tuesday’s SmackDown will also feature WWE United States Champion Bobby Roode defending his title against Rusev. Rusev earned the title shot by winning a Fatal 4 Way over Kofi Kingston, Jinder Mahal and Zack Ryder on tonight’s SmackDown.
– WWE uploaded a video of Mixed Match Challenge partners Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair backstage at the Royal Rumble last night. Two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair joined them, and “The Nature Boy” and Charlotte tried to teach Roode how to properly “Woo!” Charlotte and Roode are looking forward to a week six match-up against Nia Jax and Apollo Crews in the Mixed Match Challenge:
– WWE.com has listed its top five best moments from the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. Here’s what they listed:
5. The return of women from WWE’s illustrious past
– On last night’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) pre-show United States Champion Bobby Roode held an Open Challenge for his title. Mojo Rawley ended up answering the challenge, but PWInsider is reporting that wasn’t WWE’s initial plans.
Apparently Dolph Ziggler was originally supposed to answer the challenge from Roode, however, WWE decided to have him enter the Royal Rumble match at number 30 instead. He’s also expected to appear at SmackDown Live tomorrow night.
– During the Women’s Royal Rumble match last night Nikki Bella eliminated her twin sister Brie Bella before going down to the final two with Asuka. Bella was eventually eliminated by Asuka and “The Empress Of Tomorrow” became the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble winner.
Per a report from Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline, Nikki eliminated Brie as a part of a storyline for Total Bellas. The Bella Twins’ brother, JJ, was also backstage at the show along with the filming crew.
