Former WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has his next appearance with the company booked as PWinsider.com is reporting that he is in Ft. Hood, Texas today to take part in WWE’s Tribute to the Troops festivities.
WWE will be taping the special and airing it on Thursday, December 20th on the USA Network.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if he’ll appear on the broadcast. If he does then it will make his first appearance on WWE programming since he, unfortunately, announced that he was taking time off from active in-ring competition and drop the Universal Title in order to deal with a recurrence of leukemia.
What Happened After RAW Went Off The Air
Elias vs. General Manager-Elect Baron Corbin turned into a six-man match as the dark main event after WWE got done airing this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Houston, TX at the Toyota Center on the USA Network. The match ended with Elias, Finn Balor and Dolph Ziggler beat Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley. Dean Ambrose vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins was originally advertised. However, it did not happen.
Various people from across the world have come to the support of Roman Reigns after he announced that he will be stepping away from WWE to battle with leukemia.
The support has not only come from people. As we noted before, various arenas from the world also shared messages wishing Reigns and now Staples Center has taken it to another level.
Before this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE announced that Staples Center has decided to donate $10,000 to Children’s Health of Dallas.
The company released a press release and announced that they are making the donation on behalf of the former Universal Champion at his request:
“The STAPLES Center in Los Angeles has made a generous donation of $10,000 in Roman Reigns’ name to Children’s Health Dallas at The Big Dog’s request. The venue, which is hosting the third of four consecutive nights of WWE action with tonight’s Raw, showed its appreciation for WWE by making the donation to the charity of Reigns’ choice.”
Stephanie McMahon commented on this from her twitter account with the following tweet, saying that she was honored to accept the check on behalf of Roman Reigns:
Speaking with alarabyia.net, the current WWE Intercontinental Champion, Seth Rollins, shared his thoughts on his Shield brethren, Roman Reigns, and his unfortunate battle with his returning leukemia.
‘The Architect’ admitted that it “threw everything up in the air” and that it’s “hard to go a day without thinking about him and how he’s doing and hoping he’s doing alright. I’m fighting the urge to check in on him like a brother every two hours, but he’s a strong dude, and I know that he’s in a good place mentally as well as physically.”
He did shine some light on Reigns’ current health, however, saying that “He’s in good health for the most part. I think he’s going to be able to fight this thing pretty strong. We’re just getting through it while we can.”
“Obviously it’s going to be easier as time goes on,” Rollins reflected, “but certainly, the last couple weeks have been, and last week especially, have been a rollercoaster of emotions. Lots of ups and downs.”
Roman Reigns was sadly rediagnosed with lekaemia. This forced him to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship on RAW a few weeks ago, where he publicly addressed his health issues to a shocked WWE Universe.
Roman Reigns was backstage at this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw from Charlotte, NC, after relinquishing the Universal Championship on last week’s episode of the show, according to WrestlingInc.
Though it appears that there were no plans of including him into the show as the site reports that the former Champion had left the arena almost an hour before the episode went on air.
No word yet on if Reigns was just visiting or if he was there to shoot some material but both are possible and we’ll keep you posted if any more details related to his visit comes to light.
Superstars React To Evolution
Despite not having much hype, Sunday’s Evolution PPV was highly praised by the fans online and some even called it the best WWE PPV of 2018.
On this week’s episode of Raw, Charly Caruso interviewed stars from the Brand backstage and asked their opinion on the company’s first ever all women PPV.
After the show, WWE posted the video of it from their official YouTube account. Below is the video of various WWE Superstars like Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, the Riott Squad and more reacting to the Evolution PPV and praising the performance of the female stars:
Ronda Rousey successfully retained the WWE RAW Women’s Title once she beat Nikki Bella at Sunday’s (October 28, 2018) WWE Evolution pay-per-view event in Long Island, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on the WWE Network. This served as the headliner of the first-ever WWE all-women’s event.
After the match, Rousey had a nice message to Roman Reigns. She said, “Keep fighting, Roman. All the women are behind you. You’ve got this. Beat leukemia again. We love you.”
Reigns revealed on last week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Providence, RI at the Dunkin Donuts Center that he’s been living with leukemia for 11 years, and unfortunately it’s back. Due to this, he is forced to relinquish the WWE Universal Title as he said that needs to focus on his family and his health.
Since then, several WWE stars have reacted to the news as well as showed their support of the former WWE Universal Champion.
He was originally supposed to make his next title defense against Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar at the upcoming Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on November 2nd, 2018 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Saud University Stadium and will air on the WWE Network.
Obviously, that won’t happen as it will now be Lesnar vs. Strowman battling it out for the vacant title at this show. Reigns is already advertised for an appearance in 2019, which you can see here.
– In the opening moments of Raw, Roman Reigns announced that he has been living with leukemia for 11 years and the disease’s return would force him to relinquish the Universal Championship and take a leave of absence from WWE. Reigns’ sabbatical from WWE apparently won’t prevent him from making appearances across the United States as ACE Comic Con announced today that he will appear at one of their events next year.
Reigns, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, and Lilian Garcia are among the celebrity guests scheduled to appear at ACE Comic Con Arizona on Friday, January 11, 2019, in Glendale, Arizona at Gila River Arena. Fans will have the opportunity to meet all four as they will be signing autographs and doing photo-ops. Garcia will also moderate Q&A panels with Reigns, Bliss, and Flair.
– You can add Vickie Guerrero to the list names who will be at WWE Evolution tomorrow night. The former WWE star revealed on Twitter that she will be there to work with the women who are performing on the show.
Roman Reigns recently relinquished his WWE Universal Championship due to his ongoing second battle with Leukemia. WWE COO recently appeared on the Elvin Duran Show and discussed Roman’s decision to make his condition public and the reasons why his first battle with the disease was not made public.
Triple H stated that “Very few people knew about [his first battle]. He and I had spoken about it and this was something that he didn’t want to put out there until he had reached a certain point in his career because he didn’t want people to feel like he was being pitied or given things for a certain reason.” The Game elaborated further and claimed that “He wanted to be able to come out at the end and say, ‘Look, I’ve dealt with this the whole time. You can do anything. This is not an end sentence.‘“
Triple H also spoke about RAW on Monday and what he and Roman discussed during the show, stating that “As we talked about on Monday, [I told him] ‘Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.’ The rest of the stuff happens and it didn’t work out the way he thought it would. It’s back and now’s the time to spread that message.”
Credit to the Elvis Duran Show and h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
During a newsworthy discussion on the Conversations With Maria Menounos podcast, Sasha Banks spoke candidly about Roman Reigns’ announcement that he is once again battling leukemia. The Boss had high praise for Reigns and admitted the news
“He’s very special. I’m still shaken by that news,” Banks said. “Everyone found out in front of the whole world. No one backstage knew.” She continued. “He is the strongest, most amazing man I’ve ever met. He’s just taught me so much since I’ve been on Raw.”
Sasha also echoed the sentiment expressed universally across the wrestling world this week. “I pray for him. I know he’s going to get through this because he is so strong. To know that he’s been battling this and didn’t tell a soul… He is legit. He is a leader. Everyone looks up to him. There’s no bad word that anybody could say about him, because he is the hardest working person I have ever met, and I wish him all the best.”
In addition to her interview on Conversations, Banks will also appear as a guest on Friday’s episode of the syndicated talk show The Real.
What do you think of Sasha Banks’ comments on Roman Reigns?
On this week’s edition of The Jim Ross Report, JR revealed that he will be undergoing surgery Thursday to remove skin cancer.
“I’m getting a little cancer surgery on Thursday. I’m having some more skin cancer removed from my shoulder. There’s just a little of it left, but you want to get all of it,” Ross said.
Although he will be going under the knife, Ross won’t be easing up on his scheduled appearances.
“That night I’m going to be working with Sean Grande on the Celtics Radio Network. Then I fly to Fort Lauderdale on Friday [for the Chris Jericho Cruise],” Ross continued.
Jim Ross On Roman Reigns
Ross also discussed the biggest news item of the week, Roman Reigns revealing his leukemia diagnosis on Raw on Monday.
“Sometimes in our lives in wrestling, when we think we’ve seen everything, something comes along once or twice in a career, maybe once in a lifetime, that can’t be replicated,” Ross said of Reigns’s promo.
“The fact that WWE allowed Roman to come to the ring and make this announcement in his own words, and I assure you, that was in his own words, I think is very admirable,” said Ross.
“When a guy can walk out there without a script and speak from his heart about something so serious… It’s a badass piece of business, man.”
“We can only hope and pray that he gets well. And I think that he will.”
JR also interviewed ROH’s Jeff Cobb and denied our report about his involvement in a startup wrestling promotion involving Chris Jericho, Barry Bloom, Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks. Stay tuned.
When referencing this transcript, please credit SEScoops.com. This transcript has been edited for clarity.
It has been a tough week in the wrestling world. Roman Reigns’ announcement on Monday that he is battling Leukemia has made an impact on the pro-wrestling community across the globe. Earlier today, Reigns’ cousin, Samu Anoa’i, revealed on Facebook that he is suffering from stage 4 liver cancer.
Samu Anoa’i Facebook Post Revealing Battle With Liver Cancer
“I want to take a minute to address the situation with myself and that of my family. I recently have posted I am selling shirts “Anoa’i Strong.” These shirts have been for sale for many years and in light of the current situation that has struck myself and my family, I have decided to change the shirts to various colors for cancer.
My cousins news has struck the world and we are all devastated at this time. What many of you may or may not know is I am also dealing with stage 4 liver cancer and am currently waiting for God’s grace to help me get a transplant.
I am an elder member of my family and in no way am I or my family attempting to profit from any serious sickness. Instead, I want to use our name in order to help doctors and researchers find ways to cure this evil sickness.
I do not endorse or will I ever endorse profit on the misfortune of others or myself or that of my family.
I want all of my friends, family and fans to know we will always remain “Anoa’i Strong.” and these shirts will remain for sale and we will be speaking with various cancer organizations on how we can help.
Until you can stand in the shoes we stand in you will never know the pain and the struggle we endure daily.
Respectfully
Samu Anoa’i”
Samu Anoa’i and Roman Reigns
Headshrinker Samu is a former WWE Tag Team Champion along with Rikishi Fatu. His father is Afa Anoa’i, one-half of the original Wild Samoans Tag-Team. The other half of the Wild Samoans, Sika, is Roman Reigns’ father. Samu is 22 years older than Reigns, however.
Samu still actively competes. He teams with his son, Lance Anoa’i in MLW and also participated in the promotion’s Battle Riot event held earlier this year.
In 1999, Samu’s father Afa set up a charity titled “The Usos Foundation”, which raises money to keep kids away from gangs and violence. Uso is the Samoan word for a sibling of the same gender. So sisters can call each other Uso as well.
The ending of Monday Night Raw left fans in a state of shock for many different reasons.
With Dean Ambrose turning on his Shield brother, Seth Rollins, after winning the tag team titles from Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler, the attack left viewers emotionally conflicted.
This is because the man that completes their trio, Roman Reigns, had only just revealed his unfortunate battle with leukemia earlier that night. During his heartfelt promo, Reigns would also relinquish the WWE Universal Championship.
Turns out that Ambrose’s actions weren’t originally planned to take place this past Monday. Original plans had his assault scheduled in November circa Survivor Series.
Dirty Deeds
According to the Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez, Dean “wasn’t even supposed to turn heel last night.”
Apparently, “the actual plan was that he was going to turn around Survivor Series and they [the WWE] moved it up and they specifically did it to capitalize on the emotions of a guy who’s home to fight for his life.”
He also speculated that a huge one-on-one match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins would be scheduled for Wrestlemania 35 on April 7th, 2019.
“I believe 100% that the WrestleMania main event is Seth Rollins challenging Dean Ambrose for the WWE Title,” he said. “Now how you get there, I have no idea.”
What do you think? Would you like to see this match main event Wrestlemania 35? Were you conflicted at all at what transpired? How would you like to see them book their feud going forward?
With Roman Reigns revealing the sad news that he is unfortunately once again battling leukaemia, the wrestling world has since come together in support for the WWE’s Big Dog.
With news so crushing and personal, it’s astounding there was no leak prior to Reigns’ promo as he kicked off Raw. His promo would stun the crowd into a respectful silence as he opened up on live TV to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship.
“None Of That Was A Put-On”
According to Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez, not many backstage personnel were made aware of the promo’s true purpose.
He said, “[…] a very small amount of people knew beforehand, probably between 6 and 8 of the top executives. So when the show opens and the announcers are all happy talking about Roman Reigns defending the title at Crown Jewel — none of that was a put-on.”
“None of them had any idea what was going on until he went out there and did his speech and he has since gone home and that’s the story,” Alvarez said, before concluding with, “I guess we’ll just have to find out how well he does with treatment — the second battle, it’s worrisome.”
Roman Reigns has released a statement thanking fans, family, and everyone else who has reached out to him. Reigns announced to everyone watching Monday Night Raw live or on television that he is battling Leukemia. He will be taking time away to focus on his health.
Today, Reigns released the following statement on Twitter:
Thank you to everyone who’s reached out…I can’t put into words what it means to me.
Your energy and positivity motivate me to get better quickly to get back in the ring, but for now I’m going to spend time with my family and focus on health.
“Thank you to everyone who’s reached out…I can’t put into words what it means to me. Your energy and positivity motivate me to get better quickly to get back in the ring, but for now I’m going to spend time with my family and focus on health. Thank you – Joe/Roman”
Roman Reigns’ Announcement On Monday Night Raw
The first segment of Monday Night Raw last night was one of the most impactful to ever occur on the show. Paul Heyman addressed the courage it must have taken for someone facing what Reigns is facing to go out in front of a live audience and give an inspirational speech.
“It is humbling to be amongst the members of that locker room tonight and to have been in the presence of such courage and such greatness,” Heyman said in regards to Roman Reigns speech from earlier in the evening.
Both Braun Strowman and Vince McMahon took to social media to share their heartfelt thoughts about the current situation that former WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns is going through.
Reigns revealed on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Providence, RI at the Dunkin Donuts Center that he’s been living with leukemia for 11 years, and unfortunately it’s back. Due to this, he is forced to relinquish the WWE Universal Title as he said that needs to focus on his family and his health.
It’s no secret that the WWE Chairman has been a big supporter of Reigns and has tried to make him the face of the WWE since splitting up The Shield. The official Twitter account of McMahon wrote the following about Reigns:
“A warrior, through and through. @WWERomanReigns, your entire #WWE family stands with you. #ThankYouRoman.”
Over the last few years, Reigns and Strowman have had their fair share of battles inside of a WWE ring. They have headlined live events, episodes of RAW and pay-per-view shows. Strowman posted a heartfelt message on his Instagram account about Reigns, which you can see here:
“I’ve been in many wars with this man. He’s been my biggest rival on tv!!!! But behind the scenes he’s one of my closest friends!!!! He’s is one of the toughest men I’ve ever met and I have no doubt he’ll kick leukemia’s ass and and be back to battling with me soon and I can’t wait. You and your family are in my prayers. Love you Big UCE!!!!! #FUCancer.”
Last night on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns addressed thousands of people inside the arena and millions at home to say he is battling a serious illness. He mentioned he has been battling Leukemia for 11 years and it has recently returned.
WWE does not seem to have publicized Reigns’ previous health struggles but an article from 2015 featuring one of Reigns’ college football teammates, Calvin Johnson, indicates Reigns may have had to cut his NFL career short due to battles with a serious illness.
Johnson and Reigns played together at Georgia Tech in 2006. The article references Reigns having gone undrafted but getting a chance to play with the Vikings. The article then references a serious illness Reigns was dealing with cut his NFL dream short.
“As a free agent, Anoa’i got a shot with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars, but a serious illness forced him to take some time off,” the article reads. “After spending a season in the CFL, it was clear the NFL dream wasn’t going to happen.”
Roman Reigns’ Health Concerns
This was around 07-08 which matches up with the 11-years-ago timeline Roman referenced last night on Raw. Reigns’ final year in football was 2008 with the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos. The Edmonton football team is the rival of the Rock’s former CFL team, the Calgary Stampeders.
The SmackDown 1000th episode saw Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles teaming up to face the team of Usos, a match which Bryan and Styles lost.
Now WWE has announced that these two will be competing together once again and face the Usos in a SmackDown 1000 rematch at tonight’s episode of the Blue Branded Show.
As noted before, this is not the only thing announced for the show as a Miz TV segment featuring Rey Mysterio and a match between Rusev and Aiden English has been made official as well.
WWE’s Official Statement On Roman Reigns
In one of the most shocking opening segments in the history of Raw, Roman Reigns announced that he will have to relinquish the Universal Championship due to his battle with Leukemia.
After the announcement, WWE released the following official statement from their site, revealing that Roman has made his battle public in an effort to raise awareness:
“Tonight on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns (aka Joe Anoa’i) announced that he is relinquishing the WWE Universal Championship and taking a leave of absence from WWE as he once again fights leukemia, which had been in remission since late 2008. Reigns is taking his battle with leukemia public in an effort to raise awareness and funds for research in order to advance cures for the disease.”
This week’s episode of Raw started and ended with awe as we saw some of the biggest wrestling stories of the year unfolding during the show.
The opening segment saw Roman Reigns delivering an emotional speech and revealing that he will have to relinquish the Universal Championship due to the return of leukemia.
The segment ended with Roman leaving the title in the ring and heading backstage with his Shield brothers. WWE posted this behind the scenes video of the now former Universal Champion greeting with other WWE superstars backstage after the revelation:
On the other hand, the ending of Raw saw Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins defeating the team of Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler to win the Raw Tag Team Championships.
However, this duo didn’t celebrate for long. Ambrose turned on his Shield-brother moments after the bout ended and left Rollins laying at the ringside after a vicious post-match attack.
After the show went off air, WWE posted the following video of Seth from their YouTube account in which he can be seen recovering from this shock and making his way back to the bakcstage area:
What did you think about the events that took place on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Roman Reigns missed this weekend’s Live Events and his absence worked as a fuel for the rumor mill. It didn’t take long for people to start speculating about the reason behind it.
However, nobody was expecting the reason that was revealed on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw as Reigns announced that he has been diagnosed with leukemia.
The Big Dog revealed that he has been fighting with the disease from past 11 years and due to the return of it, he will have to relinquish the Universal Championship.
Soon after this segment, the wrestling world united and various people related to the business showed their support for the now former Universal Champion on various social media platforms.
Below are some of the top reactions to the announcement from the wrestling world:
‘Courage – strength in the face of pain or grief.’ You have given us your everything including a courageously vulnerable moment. We, your WWE family, give you all of our love and support. #ThankYouRoman#NeverGiveUp
Sending so much love to @WWERomanReigns and his family. You’re one of the strongest dudes I know and I can’t wait to see you back inside that ring. ?? #thankyouRoman
An amazing human being, an incredible performer & a man I’m proud to be friends with. My thoughts & prayers are with you & your family. Get well soon, champ! #ThankYouRomanhttps://t.co/jL1Q5dVvzs
@WWERomanReigns’ success was something I aspired for myself since he was an all-conference DT at Georgia Tech over a decade ago. I think of how much he’s achieved but far more importantly, I think of his family & loved ones. All the love and strength in beating this, Big Uce.
His real name is Joe & he’s a stand up guy! Inside the ring one of the best I’ve battled with. Outside the ring one of the most genuine people I have ever met & learned from. See you soon good brother #ThankYouRoman ( ..and he smells great)
At this point, there is no news on a timetable for Roman’s return or how serious his condition is, but we’ll keep you posted as more details come to light.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the man behind the character and his family. All of us at SEScoops sincerely hope that Roman Reigns will return as soon as possible to take back his rightful spot in the WWE roster.
Roman Reigns had some heartbreaking news to share with the WWE Universe on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Providence, RI at the Dunkin Donuts Center on the USA Network. He revealed that he’s been living with leukemia for 11 years, and unfortunately it’s back. As a result, he is forced to relinquish the WWE Universal Title as he said that needs to focus on his family and his health.
However, he made it known that this is “no means a retirement speech.” He ended the segment by promising to fight leukemia and come back home to the WWE. He would lay the WWE Universal Title in the ring then walked up to the stage where did the Shield hand signature with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
Reigns was supposed to defend the Universal Title against Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match at WWE Crown Jewel on November 2nd, 2018 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Saud University Stadium on the WWE Network. Obviously, WWE will have to make changes to this match. The title is now vacant and as of this writing, WWE has yet to comment on this upcoming title match between Lesnar and Strowman.
WWE issued the following statement:
“Tonight on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns (aka Joe Anoa’i) announced that he is relinquishing the WWE Universal Championship and taking a leave of absence from WWE as he once again fights leukemia, which had been in remission since late 2008. Reigns is taking his battle with leukemia public in an effort to raise awareness and funds for research in order to advance cures for the disease.”
As we’ve noted, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns missed this past weekend’s WWE live events. Reigns missed Friday’s show in Bangor, Maine at the Cross Insurance Center as well as Saturday’s Supershow in Hartford, Connecticut at the XL Center. He also missed Sunday’s WWE live event in Boston, Massachusetts from the TD Garden. As of this writing, “The Big Dog” is still set to appear on tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW.
In the midst of speculation regarding Reigns’ health, PWInsider has provided a reassuring update. It’s reported that Reigns was seen working out inside the ring earlier today ahead of RAW inside the Providence Civic Center. “The Big Dog” was said to have looked good and did not show any signs of an injury.
Reigns missing this past weekend’s live events could be as simple as him having those nights off. He is still slated to defend his Universal Title in a Triple Threat match against Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel.
What do you think about the rumors going around that Reigns is injured?
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Alexa Bliss, and Rey Mysterio were all absent from the WWE live event on Sunday night in Boston, MA at the TD Garden.
It should be noted that Reigns missed not only this show but Friday’s show in Bangor, ME at the Cross Insurance Center as well as Saturday’s Supershow in Hartford, CT at the XL Center. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on why he missed these events despite being advertised. He’s expected to appear on Monday’s episode of RAW in Providence, Rhode Island.
Dean Ambrose and WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins picked up a DQ win over RAW Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre at Friday’s RAW live event.
Bliss and Mysterio missed Sunday’s event as well after working the night before in Hartford where Bliss teamed up with Mickie James to lose to Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax in a tag team match while Mysterio teamed with Jeff Hardy to beat Randy Orton and Andrade “Cien” Almas.
WWE Boston House Show Results
– Jeff Hardy defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas. Randy Orton attacked Hardy after the match by connected with an RKO. – Finn Balor defeated Bobby Lashley via DQ after Lio Rush interfered. – Elias, Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal & The Revival defeated No Way Jose, Chad Gable, Tyler Breeze & The B Team. – Rusev defeated Aiden English with the Accolade. – Charlotte Flair defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch via DQ when the IIconics interfered. After the match, Carmella and Asuka made the save for Charlotte. – Charlotte Flair, Asuka & Carmella defeated Becky Lynch & the IIconics. – Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defeated RAW Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre via DQ. Rollins was going for a Curb-Stomp and Ziggler hit low blow him for the DQ. – Sasha Banks, Bayley & Dana Brooke defeated Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Alicia Fox. – SmackDown Tag Team Champions Sheamus & Cesaro defeated The New Day – RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey & Nia Jax defeated Mickie James & Tamina Snuka. – WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Daniel Bryan & Shinsuke Nakamura in a triple threat match.
The WWE is slated to make a return to world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, in New York City on Wednesday, December 26th, 2018 for a live event. This event was originally advertised to feature the superstars from the blue brand, SmackDown Live. However, the company has made some changes to the card.
The first advertisements for the show had AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz. With the change made from a SmackDown show to a RAW event, new matches have been booked. The line-up now features:
(Steel Cage Match) Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Mickie James
RAW Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, Elias, Jinder Mahal, Alexa Bliss, and Bayley are also advertised for this show. The WWE will be announcing more matches for this live event in the coming months.
For decades, WWE considered MSG their home arena and only the company held events at this arena. However, that all changed once ROH and NJPW teamed up to hold an event there during WrestleMania 34 weekend.
A Twitter user @Dnick235 is claiming on his official Twitter account that while attending, this week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw in Denver, CO at the Pepsi Center, security confiscated his “Roman Sucks” sign at the show. He noted in his tweet that they told him that “he” doesn’t like the sign, which the fan assumed it was a reference to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Corey Graves is the latest wrestling personality to come to the defense of Brie Bella. It’s well known by now that Brie appear to knock out Liv Morgan after landing two accidental kicks to the face during their six-woman tag team match that saw The Bella Twins and Natalya take on Morgan, Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan on this week’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW in Denver, CO. Graves tweeted out the following:
— All's J in Worthington and Farnsworth. aka R! (@jworth) September 26, 2018
“Accurately so. Especially in this day and age full of “experts.” Accidents happen. I had my career ended because of them, and I harbor no ill will. It’s not ballet. Screw everyone that thinks they know/can do better. I wish all of the “smart” fans were actually smart.” He would continue by writing:
Accurately so. Especially in this day and age full of “experts.” Accidents happen. I had my career ended because of them, and I harbor no ill will. It’s not ballet. Screw everyone that thinks they know/can do better.
Ryan, you’re my friend. But, I will gladly die on the hill that the business that made you and I fans, has changed. My outlook has changed. It doesn’t mean you’re wrong. Just that the “it wasn’t as good as Kobashi in 97” mindset doesn’t work anymore. https://t.co/edR6hGf0pS
I’m not taking anybody to task. I’m just saying that if the fans who “know” our business actually knew our business, they would understand. The grind. The schedule. If they truly knew, they wouldn’t be so quick to throw stones. https://t.co/76vEMBiYQb
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns is ready to go for his next title defense as he meets Braun Strowman at the WWE Hell In a Cell pay-per-view where WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley will be the special referee for their HIAC match that will likely end up as the main event. He sent out the following to hype the show:
“Since #SummerSlam, I’ve taken the Universal Title around the world. Big cities, small towns, and every place in between. But tonight, it’s going to Hell…and I’m coming out with it. #HIAC.”
Since #SummerSlam, I’ve taken the Universal Title around the world. Big cities, small towns, and every place in between. But tonight, it’s going to Hell…and I’m coming out with it. #HIAC
John Cena commented about social media giving everyone a voice in a recent tweet. The former WWE Champion made his return to in-ring competition for the WWE at the live event in Shanghai, China at the Mercedes Benz Arena on Saturday, Sept. 1 where he teamed with Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley to beat Baron Corbin, Elias, and Jinder Mahal. He has not been seen on WWE programming since wrestling Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April. He sent out the following:
“The great thing about social connection is it gives us all a voice. It also allows us to easily see those that squander that gift by choosing to use that voice for negativity.”
The great thing about social connection is it gives us all a voice. It also allows us to easily see those that squander that gift by choosing to use that voice for negativity.
On Monday’s RAW, tensions between The Shield and Braun Strowman’s new faction continued to grow. Strowman has now aligned himself with RAW Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. He has now evened the odds against Roman Reigns and The Shield. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose came to Reigns’ aid when Strowman attempted to cash-in his Money In The Bank (MITB) briefcase.
Now, Strowman will get his one-on-one shot at Reigns’ Universal Title inside Hell In A Cell. As we build to that, however, The Shield continue to feud with Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre. This week the two factions collided to open up RAW.
Acting General Manager Baron Corbin ushered out the entire locker room to separate the six men. They continued to fight into the backstage area, but eventually The Shield were arrested and taken away for most of the show.
Towards the end of the night, Michael Cole announced that The Shield had been released from jail. They returned in a cop car and made their way to the ring to meet Strowman, McIntyre and Ziggler.
Before that could happen, however, all the heels in the locker room came out to ambush The Shield. The show went off-air as Rollins, Reigns and Ambrose laid lifeless on the floor.
The Explanation
Several days removed from RAW, we finally have an explanation as to how The Shield got out of jail. Corey Graves took to Twitter and suggested that WWE’s David Otunga phoned in a friend in the legal community to get The Shield released.
Here’s Graves’ Tweet:
Made a few calls this morning. Turns out @DavidOtunga has a judge friend in Columbus and called in a late night Labor Day favor for The Shield.