In the past, WWE Champion Daniel Bryan has made it known that he’s a big fan of the product and stars that come from 205 Live, which is the all cruiserweight show under the WWE banner.
It all started when he did color commentating for the Cruiserweight Classic on the WWE Network before WWE decided to bring back the cruiserweight division and launch 205 Live.
In fact, Mustafa Ali has stated that Bryan was a big supporter of his and partly a reason why WWE officials decided to move him from 205 Live to SmackDown Live.
Bryan, who is slated to make his next title defense at the Elimination Chamber PPV event, talked about how he would like to take part in a special match against 205 Live superstar Gran Metalik while doing a recent interview with Yahoo Sports.
“I want to wrestle the best guys on the planet,” said Bryan. “Some of those best guys are on ‘205 Live.’ We have Gran Metalik here and he’s one of the best luchadors in the world and he’s on that show. Man, would I love to wrestle that guy in a mask vs. hair match. That’s sometimes where my passion gets ahead of me.”
Daniel Bryan has unveiled a new WWE Championship belt.
On Tuesday’s edition of SmackDown Live, Bryan came out with Erick Rowan to gloat about his successful title defense against AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble. Bryan said the WWE Championship belt is a symbol of excellence, but it is also a symbol of excess.
He called the WWE title gaudy and said it’s made from cheap labor and bound to the skin of a cow whose life was taken from her. Bryan named that cow Daisy. Daisy had the ability to feel immense joy and also the ability to feel insufferable pain. Daisy gave her life for a symbol that he stands against. Bryan dumped the WWE Championship belt in the trash.
When he became WWE Champion, Bryan vowed to change the world. To do so, he said we need new symbols. He then revealed a new title belt made from from 100% sustainable organic hemp and the oak from a tree that fell naturally. Bryan declared the hemp WWE Championship the new symbol of excellence.
After Bryan unveiled the new championship AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Mustafa Ali, Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton hit the ring, they began brawling until Triple H was shown on the big screen. Triple H announced that Daniel Bryan will defend the WWE Championship against against all 5 men inside the Elimination Chamber. WWE’s upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view takes place Sunday, February 17th.
Last night (Sun. January 28, 2019) Seth Rollins won the 2019 Royal Rumble match. With the victory, “The Architect” earned the right to challenge a World Champion of his choosing at WrestleMania 35. He had the choice of either WWE Champion Daniel Bryan of SmackDown Live, or Universal Champion Brock Lesnar of Monday Night RAW.
Rollins opened up tonight’s Monday Night RAW discussing his victory. He said he has a difficult decision on his hands, and will take his time to decide. However, Triple H came out to interrupt. Although he was happy for Rollins and his dream coming true, he said the WWE needed Rollins’ decision by tonight. In the closing segment of RAW, things became very clear.
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out to the ring, refusing to wait on Rollins. In the middle of Heyman’s promo, Rollins came out to interrupt. He starred down Lesnar before attacking “The Beast.” However, Lesnar regained the upper hand and hit Rollins with six F5s as the show went off-air:
No official announcement was made on the program about Rollins challenging Lesnar at WrestleMania. However, the WWE website confirmed after the program that their match is now official. Rollins will challenge Lesnar at WrestleMania 35 for the Universal Championship.
WrestleMania 35 goes down from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 7, 2019.
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE Title in his latest defense. He beat AJ Styles the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in Phoenix, Arizona.
This was their third broadcasted championship match and many fans online considered it one of their best matches to date. The finish saw a returning Erick Rowan walk down to the ring where he would choke slam Styles after the referee got knocked down and allowed Bryan to pin the former champion to earn the victory. Rowan had been out of action since last year.
Bryan won the title on November 13, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri, on an episode of SmackDown Live by defeating AJ Styles, which marked his fourth reign as champion.
Their second match came last month once Bryan beat Styles to retain the strap at the WWE TLC pay-per-view event in San Jose, California.
This was likely there blow off match and now, both stars will be going in their separate ways to move onto different feuds. That shall be interesting to see heading into the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event next month at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
What are your thoughts on Bryan retaining the title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Daniel Bryan’s recent heel turn has reinvigorated his WWE return. The WWE Champion recently spoke to the State of Combat podcast about his recent change of character.
Change of Character
Bryan said “You have to understand that this was a day-of decision. Me being the bad guy was a day-of decision.” Bryan elaborated further, stating that “I had kind of been thinking about [turning heel] because I had been doing stuff with the Miz and I started to realize, hey, the tide is turning on this role, the whole thing of me being a good guy. And eventually, people are going to get tired of me in the same way people began booing John Cena and all that kind of stuff.”
In quite a damning assessment, Bryan also stated that “The tide is going to turn on this. Eventually, I’m just going to be another good guy shoved down people’s throats to a chorus of boos. That’s the last thing I wanted to happen.”
Babyfaces in WWE
Bryan also made some interesting comments regarding babyfaces in the WWE and how they’re booked. “I think 100 percent there is a place for it, but it has to be presented in the right way,” Bryan claimed. “A good guy, a ‘white-meat babyface’ as you’re talking about — can’t be presented as a loser or a dork or somebody who, any time an authority figure [threatens to fire them], they hang their head.”
Again Bryan elaborated further, saying “No. If you want a good character that people like, and he has something that he believes in … [they would respond]. ‘Fire me, fine, but guess what, I’m great at what I do, I can go get a good job somewhere else.’Presenting those kind of characters, it’s still a white-meat babyface character in that sort of sense. But you have to present it properly. I don’t think it’s impossible, I just think a lot of times we just don’t present it in the best way possible.”
Daniel Bryan says he undergoes a serious of tests after every single match in order to remain medically cleared for competition. Among those tests, he’s required to correctly answer a math equation.
Bryan spoke with ESPN this week to promote Sunday’s WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view from Phoenix, Arizona. During the discussion, Bryan revealed what the process by which WWE routinely checks him for concussions.
After each match, WWE doctors first check his eyes. Then, Bryan takes part in a series of balance tests. Lastly, Bryan is given a mathematical equation to solve. It’s nothing too extensive, but complicated enough to gauge his cognition. Given Bryan has suffered 10 documented concussions throughout his career, it’s a fair process to continue to allow him to wrestle:
“The big concern with concussions is that, this has happened to me in the past, you don’t know you had a concussion and your instinct as an athlete is to say, ‘Hey, I’m fine,'” Bryan said. “What we do now ensures that doesn’t happen.”
Bryan’s Road To The Royal Rumble
Due to his history with concussions in professional wrestling, the WWE must be very careful with current champion Daniel Bryan. Bryan was sidelined for over a year, with the initial belief that he’d never wrestle for WWE again.
Doctors told Bryan that he should hang up his professional wrestling boots for good. However, after seeking several second opinions around the country, the door for Bryan to get back in the ring opened again.
205 Live star Ariya Daivari is campaigning for Hideo Itami to become WWE’s new Cruiserweight Champion. Itami will face Buddy Murphy, Akira Tozawa and Kalisto in a Fatal 4 Way match for the Cruiserweight title this Sunday at the Royal Rumble.
Daivari tweeted a video of WWE Champion Daniel Bryan describing just how dangerous Hideo Itami is. Nearly 13 years after they battled each other in Ring of Honor, Bryan says he is still feeling the effects of Itami’s brutality.
“Hideo Itami. Is Hideo Itami dangerous? Well, I can’t hear out of my left ear,” Bryan stated. “You see, Hideo Itami and I were fighting in Ring of Honor in 2006, and we got into a battle of strikes, a battle that I lost. A battle that ruptured my ear drum, and shortly thereafter, not only could I not hear out of my left ear, I can’t even go under water.”
Bryan continued, “So, is Hideo Itami dangerous? Yes, he’s dangerous, and if I ever see Hideo Itami on SmackDown, he’s going to get all that’s coming to him.”
205 Live’s Mustafa Ali recently moved up to Smackdown Live, which could pave the way for more cruiserweight talent on the main roster. Itami’s WWE run has been plagued by injuries thus far, so it remains to be seen if we’ll ever get a chance to relive his rivalry with Daniel Bryan.
Watch Daniel Bryan talk about how dangerous Hideo Itami can be:
Something pretty interesting happened at yesterday’s (Sun. January 20, 2019) WWE live event from Omaha, Nebraska. WWE Champion Daniel Bryan faced off against AJ Styles inside the squared circle. At one point in the match, the middle rope in the ring broke. Styles stopped the match, got out of the ring, and got on the mic. He used the opportunity to poke fun at Bryan choosing not to eat meat:
“Hold on now, it looks like I’ve had too many delicious Omaha steaks!” Styles said. “But Daniel, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would ya? That’s alright, I don’t need this middle rope to kick your ass.”
Styles and Bryan have been feuding for the past several weeks on SmackDown Live. Bryan is set to defend his WWE Championship against “The Phenomenal One” at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) this weekend (Sun. January 27, 2019). The event will go down from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Check out the card for the PPV below:
WWE Universal Championship: (C) Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor
WWE Championship: (C) Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles
30-Man Royal Rumble Match: R-Truth, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, John Cena, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Apollo Crews, Elias, Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods, Jeff Hardy, Bobby Lashley, Kalisto, TBA
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match: Carmella, Naomi, Zelina Vega, Natalya, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Ember Moon, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Alicia Fox, Mickie James, TBA
WWE RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Asuka vs. Becky Lynch
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) The Bar vs. Shane McMahon & The Miz
Fatal Four-Way Match For The WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Buddy Murphy vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami
WWE United States Championship: (C) Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
If you’ve been watching SmackDown Live over the past few weeks, you’ll know that “The Planet’s Champion” Daniel Bryan has been on a tear recently about mass consumerism. AJ Styles held his rebuttal on this past week’s episode, encouraging people to spend their money how they deemed fit, and to eat whatever they wanted. Including hot dogs.
Bryan took issue with this and responded to the issue. He called out both AJ Styles and WWE in his efforts to highlight why people shouldn’t eat hot dogs.
He posted a video that demonstrates how hot dogs are actually made before encouraging people to turn vegan.
“Shame on both @AJStylesOrg and @Wwe for encouraging people to eat hotdogs. Pigs are smarter are smarter than dogs, yet you would all be up in arms if they did this to your pets. @peta2″
Seemingly remembering that WWE also has a younger fanbase, he tweeted a more kid-friendly follow-up. In this, Winnie The Pooh and Piglet have a frank discussion over the moral dilemma of killing pigs. Their conversation states that it is inhumane to kill pigs.
“If the previous video isn’t suitable for your children, show them this and then explain how hotdogs are made.”
Although taking a hardcore edge to his agenda, this probably isn’t too far from how Daniel Bryan truly feels. Interestingly, this gimmick harkens back to CM Punk and his straight-edge society, where WWE also cannibalized their Superstar’s real-life beliefs into the character itself.
Tonight’s episodes of Smackdown and 205 Live will emanate from the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL. The Cruiserweight division will return to the WWE Network on Tuesday nights at 10 PM tonight.
Smackdown 1/15 Preview
Rey Mysterio vs Andrade “Cien” Almas
Excluding non-televised events, these two have met twice before. Almas pinned Mysterio in a tag match last week. Mysterio defeated Almas, however, on the November 6, 2018, edition of Smackdown from Manchester.
These two have a chance to steal the show as they go one-on-one again tonight.
Carmella vs Sonya Deville
Says the chick who got eliminated by her “day one” at #WWEEvolution. ?
Why don’t you put your hair up and square up with me this Tuesday on #SDLive? Unless you’re gonna be too embarrassed when you lose to the chick with the dance breaks.. ? https://t.co/sDEaUR7Qej
Deville is upset that Carmella was given a spot in the triple threat match to declare a new #1 contender for the Smackdown women’s title last week. These two then went back and forth on Twitter in the days leading up to tonight’s show.
How Vicious is the New Daniel Bryan?
Daniel Bryan has promised to show AJ Styles just how vicious he can be when they clash at the Rumble. He might decide to give him a sneak preview tonight, however. Bryan might also decide to bring up some environmentally destructive things the live audience does on a regular basis.
Asuka vs Becky Lynch Segment
Becky Lynch won a triple threat match last week to earn the right to challenge for the smack down women’s championship at the Royal Rumble this year. New champion, Asuka, is not about to back down, however. With two weeks left until the Rumble, Lynch, and Asuka will be in the same building tonight.
205 Live 1/15 Preview
Buddy Murphy Open Challenge (non-title)
Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy plans to hold an Open Challenge tonight. His title won’t be on the line, however. Who will answer Murphy’s call?
Murphy will also have to worry about his upcoming title match at the Rumble against Akira Tozawa, Kalisto, and Hideo Itami.
WWE’s first pay-per-view event of the new year, Royal Rumble, is always a big event as it will kick off the road to WrestleMania. This year is no different but will be on a much bigger stage as the company is holding it on Sunday, January 27, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona at Chase Field on the WWE Network.
With such a stadium, there might be some different production things that the company will need to figure out and could lead to some changes. Perhaps WWE stars coming out for their entrances through the dugouts? WWE Champion Daniel Bryan seems to think so.
ABC 15 in Arizona released a video where they spoke with various WWE stars such as Bryan, Bryan, Bobby Roode, Baron Corbin, and Mojo Rawley in order to promote this show.
“It’s an incredible stadium, and we were actually just talking about what the metamorphosis would look like. Right now the thought is that we come out of the dugout.” Bryan continued by stating that WWE has never had a Royal Rumble at a baseball stadium before and that he’s super psyched about it. “I’ve never come out of a dugout to go to a wrestling show before, so I think it should be exciting.”
Bryan is slated to make his next title defense against AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
Not content with only being referred to as the ‘New’ Daniel Bryan, the WWE Champion has now christened himself with an additional moniker: The Planet’s Champion.
At this past Friday’s WWE Live Event from Baltimore, Maryland, Daniel Bryan faced off against John Cena in a Steel Cage match.
Prior to that, however, Bryan cut a promo where he proclaimed that he was not the champion of the people. He was the champion of the planet.
“You people used to revere the old Daniel Bryan,” he said. “You used to love the old Daniel Bryan but the old Daniel Bryan is dead. Shut up! I did not give you permission to say ‘Yes!’”
“I am not here to please you people,” he stated. “I am no longer The People’s Champion, I am The Planet’s Champion. I’m out here to defend the planet from you idiots, every single night, and I don’t care if it’s AJ Styles, I don’t care if it’s John Cena. Tonight, I am going to prove why I am The Planet’s Champion.”
John Cena ended up replacing AJ Styles in this matchup against The Planet’s Champion after AJ fell ill with the flu. This illness has forced the Phenomenal One to stay at home this week. As of now, there is no word or indication as to when Styles will return to in-ring competition.
John Cena wrestled WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan, last night at a WWE house show in Unionville. Cena replaced a sick AJ Styles, who is said to be suffering from some type of cold or flu bug.
The following Twitter user posted some videos of the steel cage match between Bryan and Cena.
Here are the results from last night’s house show in Unionville:
Mustafa Ali defeated The Miz
R-Truth and Carmella defeated Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega
Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Shelton Benjamin defeated The Colons and Aiden English
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated “Sanity” Eric Young and Killian Dain
Rey Mysterio defeated Randy Orton
Smackdown Tag Team Championships
Sheamus and Cesaro defeated The Usos and “New Day” Kofi Kingston and Big E
Jeff Hardy defeated Samoa Joe
WWE Championship Steel Cage
Daniel Bryan (c) defeated John Cena
John Cena To Miss 2019 Royal Rumble
John Cena may be back but he’s not going to be participating on WWE programming much. We reported yesterday that Cena’s upcoming schedule does not include the Royal Rumble:
12/26: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
12/27: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
12/28: Royals Farms Arena, Baltimore, MD
12/29: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
12/30: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
1/4: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, GA
1/5: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, FL
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan recently appeared in WWE’s YouTube series entitled WWE: Day Of. The filming took place the day of the TLC PPV and Bryan was discussing his opponent in AJ Styles amongst other topics.
Towards the end of the interview Bryan started talking about his return to in-ring competition and how he is seemingly returning to his former glory. Bryan stated that “It’s interesting, there was a period when I was on the independent scene. Probably about 2007/2008 where I literally felt like there was not a better wrestler than me on the planet. And, there were guys who were better at certain things. Sure, but overall there was nobody better on the planet. And now I’m getting back to that point.”
Bryan also discussed how AJ Styles was possibly the ‘best’ when he was out injured. Bryan stated “when I was out I looked at AJ Styles. I looked at AJ Styles and thought ‘he might be the best wrestler on the planet.’ I don’t feel like that anymore. I don’t feel like AJ Styles can touch me.” Bryan also made some rather interesting comments on the independent scene and Japan in particular, saying that “I don’t feel like all the people who get hype on the internet, over in Japan or anywhere else on the independents…I don’t feel like they can touch me. There’s nobody who is better than the New Daniel Bryan.”
Footage of an incident involving Mustafa Ali and WWE Champion Daniel Bryan has surfaced online. During this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Fresno, CA at the Save Mart Center, Bryan and Andrade Almas battled AJ Styles and Ali in a tag team match that ended up serving as the main event.
The finish of the match saw Ali pick up the win for his team once he hit his finisher, 054, off the top rope. When coming down, Ali wasn’t centered and landed on Bryan’s head with his knee. Ali immediately apologized for the incident to Bryan then pinned him.
It should be noted that Bryan is okay as he worked the TV taping after this episode for next week’s show, which is great news as Bryan does have a history of suffering concussions, which put him on the sidelines for two years as he wasn’t medically cleared by WWE doctors. You can see the slow-motion footage of the incident here:
This marked the second match between Ali and Bryan as last week on SmackDown Live, the WWE Champion issued an open challenge which was accepted by Ali. In the end, Bryan got his hand raised in the match that was well received by fans.
Tonight’s episode of Smackdown will emanate from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Smackdown is under new management as well. Last night on Raw, the McMahon family announced they will be taking control of both Raw and Smackdown.
Smackdown General Manager, Paige, reacted to the news:
On Sunday, Asuka climbed the ladder and grabbed the Smackdown Women’s Championship title. Tonight on Smackdown, the era of Asuka begins. Will there be someone from the Smackdown women’s division who wants to end her title reign quickly, however? We could find out more about what is in store for Asuka and her title reign as we head towards the Royal Rumble tonight.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair Respond To Ronda Rousey’s Actions On Sunday
Ronda Rousey cost both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair the Smackdown Women’s title on Sunday. While it’s not yet clear what will be in store for that two former friends as WWE heads into the Royal Rumble, tonight both will respond to Rousey’s actions from Sunday.
Will Daniel Bryan Introduce A New Strap For The WWE Championship?
Daniel Bryan promised that if he could defeat AJ styles at TLC on Sunday that he would replace the strap on the WWE championship. According to Bryan, he wants to introduce a new sustainable strap. Bryan evidently realized on Sunday the strap for the title is made of leather and leather comes from cows which create methane and contribute to global warming when mass-bred through factory farming.
Will Bryan follow through on his promise? If so, what will the strap be made out of? Will he mistakenly refer to it as a belt? We could find out the answers to these questions tonight on Smackdown.
Who Will Be Next For The Bar?
The Bar defeated arguably two of the best teams in WWE history on Sunday. In a triple threat match, they defeated both New Day and the Usos. Just like that, new title contenders will need to be determined in the Smackdown tag team division. We could find out tonight what is next in store for Sheamus and Cesaro tonight.
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE Title in his latest defense. He beat AJ Styles at Sunday’s (December 16th, 2018) WWE TLC pay-per-view event in San Jose, California at the SAP Center on the WWE Network.
Bryan won the title on November 13, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri, on an episode of SmackDown Live by defeating AJ Styles, which marked his fourth reign as champion. There have been 50 different official champions overall and 11 vacancies in the history of the title.
Bryan’s first reign as WWE Champion came back when he beat Randy Orton at the 2013 SummerSlam PPV event only to lose the title the same night and win it back the following month at Night of Champions. Prior to his current reign, his last reign stated when he won the title when he beat Randy Orton and Batista at WrestleMania 30 in 2014.
Time will tell whether WWE continues this feud or goes into a different direction heading into the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on Sunday, January 27, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona at Chase Field.
What are your thoughts on Bryan retaining the title in this match? Was it the right call by the WWE? Sound off in the comment section.
Tonight, WWE Champion Daniel Bryan will be competing inside the ring on SmackDown Live. This will be Bryan’s final match before he defends his title against AJ Styles at the Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV). The show goes down this weekend form the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
Before Bryan has to worry about “The Phenomenal One,” however, he’ll step into the ring against Mustafa Ali. WWE made the match-up official on their Twitter account earlier today. It was noted that it’s the first-ever time Bryan and Ali will be squaring off inside the squared circle:
The New Daniel Bryan may not have wrestled during last night’s SmackDown Live, but he did get the opportunity to lace up his boots once the show had concluded.
Facing off against The Miz — who had not only wrestled in the SmackDown main event against AJ Styles, but also for the Mixed Match Challenge — Daniel Bryan was prepared to clash with his longtime rival for that night’s dark match in an interesting role reversal.
Before they locked up, however, Daniel Bryan grabbed a microphone and singled out a young fan in the audience. Having seen the fan was holding a sign about their birthday, Daniel Bryan took the opportunity to relish his developing heel persona.
“It’s your birthday,” he said, curtly. “Congratulations, you’re stupid.”
“And your parents should be very proud because on your birthday it got recognized that you’re stupid,” Bryan continued before turning on the crowd for chanting ‘Happy Birthday.’
Daniel turned heel a few weeks ago on SmackDown, embracing the moniker of ‘The New’ Daniel Bryan. This heel turn led him to victory, defeating AJ Styles for the WWE Championship after a low blow followed up with a running knee.
He will defend the WWE title against Styles in a rematch at WWE’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs event on December 16th.
Daniel Bryan wasn’t on Smackdown last night. Former WWE Champion AJ Styles remarked that perhaps Bryan has been watching Raw and was hoping to have a schedule which more closely resembles that of the Universal Champion’s. Styles also mentioned that Bryan was not on the WWE live event schedule this weekend either.
Bryan responded to Styles’ comments earlier today on Twitter:
“The old Daniel Bryan wrestled 227 matches in a calendar year, much more than AJ has ever done in his career. Shortly thereafter he needed neck surgery. The New Daniel Bryan is above that sort of masochism.”
Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles at TLC
Styles mentioned on Smackdown last night that he was not medically cleared to compete at Survivor Series or on Smackdown last week due to injuries suffered during Bryan’s post-match attack. Not long after losing the WWE Championship, however, Styles posted the following to Twitter:
The thing about being a real Champion, a reigning, DEFENDING champion is that any day someone can beat you. But holding the title is more than just wins and losses, it’s about who you are as a man. Daniel showed us that last night. And the receipt is coming. #SDLivepic.twitter.com/m99WvL1JpJ
“The thing about being a real Champion, a reigning, DEFENDING champion is that any day someone can beat you. But holding the title is more than just wins and losses, it’s about who you are as a man. Daniel showed us that last night. And the receipt is coming. #SDLive”
AJ Styles vs Daniel Bryan Head-To-Head Stats
Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles have met in single’s action 8 times, 3 in WWE, 3 in ROH, 1 in PWG, and once for IWA Mid-South. Outside of WWE, Styles leads the series 3-2. In WWE, they are tied at 1-1-1.
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 Champion Daniel Bryan appears to be taking time off. The Champion was not advertised for today’s Starrcade live event in Cincinnati, OH. Bryan is also not advertised for this Sunday’s live show Madison, WI.
As a further note Bryan isn’t being advertised for next weekend’s Smackdown Live house show events. The shows are taking place in Arlington, TX and Calgary, Canada. Bryan is still scheduled to appear at Tuesday’s SmackDown Television taping in Minneapolis, MN.
Opinion: There’s no reported injury concerns for Bryan and he may well just be taking some needed time off. WWE does like their top Champion to appear at the house shows to boost ticket sales and AJ Styles as a prime example of this over the past year. Bryan’s concussion history is well documented and a reduced house show schedule for him going forward may be perfect…although whether he will be taking time off of the house show loop going forward isn’t confirmed. Bryan is also acclimatising to his new ‘heel’ gimmick on the Blue brand. WWE may be looking to help further establish his new persona by keeping him off of certain shows and no longer being a champion ‘for the people.’ Again, this is not confirmed and just speculation at this point.
There was an interesting dark match after Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown Live went off the air on the USA Network in Los Angeles, CA at the Staples Center. WWE Champion Daniel Bryan defend the WWE Title against The Miz.
Fans in attendance noted that Miz worked as a babyface and Bryan as a heel. After the match, the Miz cut a promo thanking the crowd. Bryan is slated to make his first title defense against AJ Styles at TLC.
Ok, this Miz vs Bryan dark match was so surreal. They just did a complete role reversal with Miz stealing all of Bryan’s moves actually having a tremendous payoff. I hope that match ends up getting released online or on a DVD.
— ♦️💚♣️💜 "The Ace of Sin City" Screwball 🔩⚾️ (@ScrewballSq) November 21, 2018
The hometown boy (by the way of (all places) Ohio) was cheered so hard. Not even Rey was cheered that hard, and this was @mikethemiz being cheered in a dark match. Thanks for this, best GM ever, @RealPaigeWWE! #SDLivepic.twitter.com/ATlkA2BIHT
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch recently shared a photo on her official Instagram account of herself getting concussion treatment. She suffered a concussion and broken nose when being punched by Nia Jax on last week’s episode of Monday Night RAW during the invasion angle.
As a result, she was pulled from her champion vs. champion match against Ronda Rousey at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event in Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center on the WWE Network. She posted the photo with the following caption, “This is me right now trying to get out of doctor jail so I can remind some people exactly who I am.”
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE TLC PPV. As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Los Angeles, CA at the Staples Center on the USA Network, it was revealed that Daniel Bryan would make his first title defense as WWE Champion against AJ Styles at TLC. As of this writing, WWE has yet to announce a stipulation for this match.
WWE presents the TLC pay-per-view event on Sunday, December 16th, 2018 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship is expected to headline TLC. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE TLC Card
WWE Title Champion Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles
WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
TLC Match: Baron Corbin vs. Braun Strowman – If Strowman wins, he’ll for the Universal Title at the Royal Rumble & Corbin loses all authority or if Corbin wins then he’s the permanent RAW GM.
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax
Mixed Match Challenge Finals
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
For the 4th night in a row, WWE is back inside Staples Center tonight. Smackdown should be interesting tonight considering how poorly the brand did against the Raw brand at Survivor Series (minus the tag match).
Smackdown 11/20 Preview
WWE is not advertising a segment featuring Shane McMahon yet for tonight. The Smackdown Commissioner did put out the following Tweet after the PPV on Sunday, however, indicating there will be changes made to his brand starting on tonight’s show.
This wasn’t the night I had in mind for Team Blue. Tomorrow is a new day, but something is going to have to change come Tuesday. #SurvivorSeries
Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey won’t be on the show tonight but they’ll likely be watching this segment closely. Flair will likely explain her vicious assault of Rousey at Survivor Series tonight. Did Charlotte do what she did because she realized she couldn’t beat Rousey? To soften her up for Becky? Or has Flair’s recent frustrations from losing her title caused the old Charlotte Flair to surface? We’ll come closer to finding out answers to these questions tonight.
Daniel Bryan’s Explanation
Daniel Bryan has still refused to answer questions regarding his sudden change in temperament. Bryan uncharacteristically hit AJ low during their WWE Championship match last week and used the advantage to get the pin and win the title. Tonight, Bryan will explain to the WWE Universe why he did what he did. Styles will likely be watching this segment closely if he doesn’t decide to join in.
Thanksgiving Feast Fight
New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, & Xavier Woods) vs the Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) & the Big Show
6-man action with a Thanksgiving gimmick theme to it will take place on Smackdown tonight. The Bar and the New Day will be on opposing sides of the first-ever Thanksgiving Feast Fight.
It might be an interesting time to be in the Smackdown tag-team division. After seeing his match was not included in the official Raw vs Smackdown score from Sunday, Xavier Woods was not pleased.
He also made sure to correct those who were saying Raw won 6-0.
The Usos were the sole survivors of the tag match at Survivor Series. It’ll be interesting to see if they are thrown in the tag title picture after also having defeated New Day in the build-up to the PPV.
Can Shinsuke Nakamura Bounce Back After Losing To Seth Rollins?
Nakamura lost to Seth Rollins at Survivor Series. WWE is advertising that the United States Champion is interested in bouncing back from his PPV loss tonight on Smackdown.
