It’s Saturday and that means it’s time for Wrestling Observer Live — a very newsworthy show based on Friday’s WWE SmackDown.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came back to Denver and WWE, backing up Pat McAfee and laying out Austin Theory, but does he have Roman Reigns in his sights?
To hear him on McAfee’s show, he passed on WrestleMania 39, but might work WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia.
While SmackDown ratings were strong and the crowd in Denver went crazy, will this frenzy maintain all the way until WrestleMania? What does that mean for Cody Rhodes and LA Knight’s stories going into next spring’s big show?
Plus, I talk about John Cena, Jimmy Uso, the late Brett Sawyer and much more.
The first challenger of Rey Mysterio’s current WWE United States title reign is set following Friday’s SmackDown.
Former US champ Austin Theory defeated LA Knight in a number one contender’s match on Friday’s SmackDown in Toronto to earn a shot at Rey Mysterio’s US title.
Theory pinned Knight after a distraction from The Miz to win Friday’s bout and set up a future title match. No date has been set for the bout.
Mysterio defeated Theory to win the US title on the August 11 SmackDown, substituting for Santos Escobar in a scheduled title bout. Escobar won a United States Championship Invitational tournament to earn a shot at Theory’s title, but was attacked by Theory prior to the match.
Mysterio had been legitimately injured in the finals of the United States Championship Invitational tournament, and was believed to have been suffering from whiplash after catching Escobar on a dive during their bout. The match was stopped, and Escobar was declared the winner by referee stoppage. Mysterio’s injury was not deemed serious, as he was back in action two weeks later.
Theory is a two-time US Champion, while Mysterio is currently in his third reign with the title.
As for Knight, his cross-brand feud with The Miz which is playing out on both Raw and SmackDown appears set to continue following the events of Friday’s SmackDown.
WWE is hoping to feature younger wrestlers on Raw and SmackDown.
Currently, many of the company’s top stars range in age from mid-30s to late 40s. Of those scheduled to wrestle at Night of Champions, only Rhea Ripley is under the age of 30. Five wrestlers over the age of 40 (AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, Asuka, Natalya, and Trish Stratus) will also be on the show.
Our own Dave Meltzer wrote in Friday’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is focused on featuring more young talent on its main roster moving forward.
Meltzer wrote:
There is a big internal focus right now to get younger aged talent on Raw and Smackdown right now
Some of WWE’s younger talent include Austin Theory (25), Rhea Ripley (26), Dominik Mysterio (26), Mansoor (27), Tegan Nox (28), Omos (29), Sonya Deville (29), and Bad Bunny (29). Solo Sikoa just turned 30 back in March as well.
Newly drafted wrestlers such as Cameron Grimes (29), Pretty Deadly (26 & 28), Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn (30 & 29), Zoey Stark (29), Indi Hartwell (26), and Odyssey Jones (29) are also younger than the majority of WWE’s main roster.
John Cena says he really believes what he said to Austin Theory on the March 6 episode of WWE Raw.
Sam Roberts released an interview with the 16-time World Champion on Monday. During the conversation, Cena compared Theory to Roman Reigns and discussed Roman’s early difficulties getting over as a babyface.
Cena said:
I was really trying to hammer this home with Theory. It took Roman 10 years, eight years at the top, pushed for eight years for the lightbulb to go off and be like, ‘I”m doing it my way. I will work with who they say, I will hit my times, but I’m going to be who I really am.’
Cena continued:
When I talk to somebody like Theory, who has stars in his eyes and at 25 thinks he’s got a long road in front of him. You really need to start now, failing. Don’t just perform, fail, like a lot and then one day you’ll get it. You need to have like 85 suffering succotash moments.
Cena confronted Theory when WWE returned to Boston for the 3/6 Raw. During the segment, Cena told Theory he has everything a WWE executive looks for in a wrestler and that “in theory” he should be a big star, but he’s not because nobody cares about him. Cena would later tell Sam Roberts that he told Theory everything he was going to say in his promo that night beforehand.
Cena said:
Austin is great and easy to work with and we wrote that together. He was in every step of the process.
Cena continued later in the conversation:
Fans can see through the BS if you don’t believe in your character. It’s what I said to Austin Theory, ‘Dude, you are young, you are athletic, you will work for this company, you’ll do interviews, you’ll go X, Y, and Z, I don’t believe what you do when you’re out there, I don’t.
I said it to him personally before I said it publicly.
In a room with Austin Theory, I said the reason I came back to Boston is because you can’t do this yourself yet. You cannot carry a WrestleMania promo yourself yet and if you fail, we waste the equity that I’m willing to give. And if in that match I get hurt, I hold up a production, which puts 300 people out of work. Let’s do this right, let’s get some equity here and then you have to start thinking about the angles and what’s the most important thing and what are we really trying to tell, what’s our story. Okay, I don’t believe what you do, that’s what I’m going with.
Theory was eliminated from the World Heavyweight title tournament after Bobby Lashley won a three-way against him and Sheamus on the 5/12 SmackDown. He is now scheduled to defend his US title against Sheamus on this week’s episode. Sheamus and Theory worked three matches against each other on WWE house shows this weekend.
A match between Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley is set for Monday’s Raw.
The match was announced during Friday’s WWE SmackDown. Theory is coming off a win over John Cena at WrestleMania, and Lashley is coming off winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal match. He also faced Bronson Reed on Monday’s Raw, with the two being counted out after they continued to brawl on the outside.
Trish Stratus will also appear on the show to explain her actions on this past Monday’s Raw. After Lita was attacked backstage, Stratus offered to team on behalf of Lita. She and Becky Lynch wound up losing the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodrigez. Stratus turned on Lynch after the match, attacking Lynch from behind and laying her out with the chick kick.
Already announced for Raw is the return of Brock Lesnar, who was last seen attacking Cody Rhodes on the Raw following WrestleMania. He will answer a challenge Rhodes gave on this Monday’s Raw for a match at Backlash next month in Puerto Rico.
John Cena will kick off the first night of WrestleMania.
During SmackDown on Friday, it was announced that Cena’s match will kick off the first night of WrestleMania on Saturday, April 1. Cena will face Austin Theory in a match that will be for the United States title.
Earlier this month, Theory challenged Cena to a match at WrestleMania. Cena initially rejected the challenge, saying that Theory wasn’t ready. Theory accused Cena of giving up on his fans, a play off of his catchphrase “never give up”. Cena says he was doing Theory a favor as Theory would lose everything if he lost, but after a poll with the fans, agreed to do the match.
Logan Paul has previously said that his match against Seth Rollins will also take place on the first night of WrestleMania. However, WWE has yet to confirm this.
Here is the updated card for WrestleMania 39:
WWE WrestleMania 39, Saturday, April 1 & Sunday, April 2, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair defends against Rhea Ripley
Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair defends against Asuka
United States Championship: Austin Theory defends against John Cena (opens night one)
Austin Theory and John Cena are set to square off at WrestleMania.
Theory confronted Cena on Monday’s show, issuing the challenge for the United States Championship. Cena initally rejected the offer, saying that Theory wasn’t ready. Cena told Theory that he had been given opportunity after opportunity, yet no one cares about him because Theory doesn’t believe in himself. Theory accused Cena of “giving up”, referencing his t-shirt. Cena said he’d never give up on the fans, saying he said no because Theory would lose everything if he lost at WrestleMania. Cena then asked the crowd if they wanted to see the match, and after the positive reaction, he agreed to the match for April.
The segment ended with Cena telling Theory he wished him luck because Theory doesn’t have the brains, the guts, or the balls, smacking him low before leaving.
Cena’s return on Monday marked the first time he appeared on WWE television since December, when he teamed with Kevin Owens to take on Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn on the final SmackDown of 2022.
Here is the updated lineup for WrestleMania 39:
WWE WrestleMania, Saturday, April 1 & Sunday, April 2, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena
WWE Intercontinental title: Gunther vs. TBD
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins
Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL
Edge will be looking to capture gold when Raw takes place in Ottawa this Monday night.
At WWE’s post-Elimination Chamber press conference, it was revealed that Edge will challenge Austin Theory for the United States Championship on Monday’s episode of Raw. Edge announced that he was accepting a US title open challenge that was issued by Theory.
Theory was the first wrestler to appear at the press conference. Theory said he doesn’t see anyone else on his level in the locker room, but he issued an open challenge to anyone who’s willing to step up.
Edge and Beth Phoenix appeared next. Edge accepted the open challenge, saying he hasn’t wrestled in Ottawa in nearly 20 years and hasn’t been a champion since he retired in 2011. Edge questioned Theory’s work ethic and threatened to kick Theory’s teeth down his throat on Monday.
Theory and Edge were both victorious at Elimination Chamber. Theory retained the US title in an Elimination Chamber match. Edge & Phoenix defeated Finn Balor & Rhea Ripley in a mixed tag team match.
Theory has held the United States title since defeating Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match at Survivor Series last November.
The updated card for Monday’s Raw is listed below:
United States Champion Austin Theory defends against Edge
Since July of last year when Paul “Triple H” Levesque was formally announced as taking over WWE creative from Vince McMahon, fans have noticed a shift in how the product is presented in addition to some past released stars returning.
During WWE Royal Rumble media accessibility last week, one of the questions I wanted to know from talent was what it was like to work with Levesque as head of creative.
Here’s what three of them had to say.
Seth Rollins
Rollins is no stranger to working with Levesque, having been involved in a storyline with him that led to a WrestleMania 33 match — one of several they have wrestled. Given all that, Rollins explained that he didn’t feel the change was really that different.
“I’ve worked with Triple H in many different versions of him in the ring: behind the scenes for many years so, honestly. the transition really wasn’t that different. It wasn’t like a big ‘Oh no, you know everything is different.’ Pretty much the same for us as far as people who have worked with him.
“The process is a little bit different, obviously. He’s gonna handle situations differently so conversations are different than they were with the previous regime, but there’s a lot of people who are still in place. It’s just one guy in a different chair so it’s not as big of a shift as people think.”
Austin Theory
Prior to McMahon leaving WWE before returning again, Theory was one of the main performers that was constantly seen with McMahon. He was the guy that was doing constant weekly segments with McMahon in his office, and from the fans’ point of view, it was clear that McMahon was pushing him to be the “next guy.”
“I was thinking about this a lot. The trajectory of my start on the main roster, going from not knowing so much to now being a position to where there is a lot of pressure on me and there is a lot on my plate but learning all of that so quick, I think now where I find myself is being able to adapt with having more creativity with Triple H.
“It’s hard for me to say because my time with Mr. McMahon, and you know him in the creative position as I was growing, it was almost like we were trying to develop a character and a mold and I think now when Triple H came in and we had the (Money in the Bank) briefcase go away, we kinda had something that we could start creatively on. I think it’s kind of starting to let me branch out and have that freedom with segments and promos, but I think overall looking back at both ways, they both benefitted me great. I think now, especially with Triple H having that trust in me and that creative process being available for me to stretch, it’s great.”
Chad Gable
Gable, one half of Alpha Academy, has been featured a lot more heavily on WWE Raw. While he was more of a comedic role with the McMahon regime with Triple H, we have seen him go out there and show more of his wrestling ability. Gable has been having entertaining matches weekly with talents like Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Matt Riddle, and others. Whether it’s in tag team competition or singles competition, his matches always tend to be a highlight of Monday nights.
“I think we’ve seen since Hunter took over and, thankfully for my sake, he does really appreciate the wrestling side of what we do. I think he sees that in me. I think he sees me as a valuable go-to guy he can depend on when he needs a quality match out of whoever. Which, to me, is really gratifying that I can be looked upon from somebody, not only just fans but someone like Hunter who is in a position he is. So, it’s been rewarding. It’s been nice to be very busy and feel very useful over the past six months because a lot of times in the past, it hasn’t been that way. So yeah, it’s been a good period.”
WWE has started to reveal its plans for February’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
It was announced today that a United States Championship match will take place inside of the Elimination Chamber at the Chamber PPV, which is being held in Montreal on Saturday, February 18. Austin Theory is the current United States Champion.
Qualifying matches for the Elimination Chamber bout will begin on Raw tonight. Seth Rollins vs. Chad Gable and Baron Corbin vs. Johnny Gargano are the qualifiers that are taking place on tonight’s show. The winners will become the first confirmed participants to join Theory in the US title Elimination Chamber match.
Theory won the United States title at Survivor Series last November, defeating Rollins and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match.
This is the first match that’s been made official for the Elimination Chamber PPV. There’s also expected to be a women’s Elimination Chamber bout.
In Sunday’s Daily Update, Dave Meltzer reported that Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn is “now as confirmed as it can be” for the Elimination Chamber PPV. Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble. Following the match, there was a significant angle where Zayn split from The Bloodline.
Triple H found it “weird” to refer to Austin Theory as just Theory.
The United States Champion was featured in an ESPN article released Thursday that included comments from Triple H and others praising his potential. Triple H also commented on his decision to give Theory his full name back.
“It’s a little bit hard to just refer to him as Theory,” Triple H said. “And even to me, it was a little awkward when he was announced, like ‘Theory!’ It’s weird.
“Is that Stone Cold Steve Austin coming in? Is it confusing for fans? I’m of the opinion that if you don’t know the difference between Austin Theory and Stone Cold Steve Austin, there’s already a problem, right? So, we’re fixing the wrong end of the problem.”
Triple H continued to praise Theory’s potential to be one of the biggest stars in the industry.
“Do I think he has all the potential to be one of the biggest stars in the business? Absolutely. What determines that? A lot of that is up to him now.”
“You give him little bits of things here and there and he’s improving his game and he’s smart,” Triple H continued. “He listens to the crowd, he listens to the people. He sees all the stuff that’s going on, and he adapts his game on a regular basis.”
The Undertaker was quoted as saying he believes Theory will be a “real viable heel” for the promotion once he develops a mean streak.
“Theory is gonna be one of those [top] guys,” Undertaker told ESPN. “He’s a natural heat-getter, but he’s gotta develop a mean streak. Once he does that, once he develops a good mean streak, then he’s gonna be a real, real viable heel.”
Theory recently defeated Bobby Lashley to retain the United States Championship on Raw after some assistance from a returning Brock Lesnar. Lashley had the following to say about Theory:
“He’s a kid that’s hungry and that’s a big thing with him,” said Lashley. “Some of these kids, they wanna see if they can kind of wait for their turn. He’s the kid that’s like, no, I’ll step up. And if you step up, you’re gonna be seen and you’re gonna be heard. And right now, he’s seen and heard by a lot of people.”
Theory also spoke about receiving advice from Brock Lesnar after they were both part of the men’s Elimination Chamber match last year.
“That was something cool, Brock giving me the opportunity to watch the match back with him, giving me advice and critiques, somebody that’s just had the success he does,” said Theory. “It’s like, wow, [he’s] taking the time out of his day, and he’s not gonna waste his time.
Up next for Theory will be Saturday’s Royal Rumble in San Antonio. Theory is one of 15 wrestlers to have officially declared for the men’s Rumble match. It will be his second time in the Rumble after having lasted over 22 minutes in the match last year.
WWE has made a couple of announcements for tonight’s 30th anniversary edition of Raw.
Ahead of tonight’s Raw, WWE uploaded a video with Byron Saxton announcing that the first hour of the show will air commercial-free. It was also announced that a no disqualification stipulation has been added to Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley’s United States Championship match tonight.
EXCLUSIVE: @ByronSaxton is joined by a couple of legendary friends with some huge news ahead of #RawisXXX tonight!
The first hour will be COMMERCIAL-FREE and the #USTitle encounter between @_Theory1 & @fightbobby will now be a No Disqualification Match!
Tonight’s anniversary show is taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and will include appearances by several WWE legends. The Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Madusa, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Hart, Jerry “The King” Lawler, The Godfather, Ted DiBiase, and IRS have been announced for the episode.
Here’s the updated lineup for Raw:
No DQ match: United States Champion Austin Theory defends against Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
The Bloodline will hold Tribal Court for Sami Zayn
Bobby Lashley will get a chance at Austin Theory next week on the 30th anniversary edition of Raw.
In the main event of Monday’s Raw, Bobby Lashley defeated Seth Rollins in a six-man elimination match to become the new number one contender for the United States title. The show closed with Theory, who had been at ringside, holding the United States title as Lashley stared him down.
MVP and Omos came to ringside towards the finish of the match. Theory struck Lashley with the United States title, causing Omos to attack Theory. Rollins laid out Omos with a stomp on the announce table and threw Theory over the barricade. He went back to the ring and laid out MVP but then walked into a spear by Lashley.
Last week, MVP had attempted to reconcile with Lashley, pointing out that Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin had recently reunited. Lashley thus far has not been receptive to a Hurt Business reunion.
Here is the updated lineup for Raw’s 30th anniversary:
WWE Raw is XXX, Monday, January 23 —
WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
Bloodline acknowledgement ceremony with Roman Reigns
WWE legends appearing: The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Jerry Lawler, The Bella Twins, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Theodore Long, Ron Simmons
John Cena has reportedly filmed content for WWE that has yet to air.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Cena filmed a segment with Austin Theory at the WWE SmackDown on December 30 from Tampa. However, it’s not clear if what was filmed is intended for future WWE programming, a commercial, or something else.
Theory was pulled from a live event in Toronto that night in order to travel to Tampa and film the segment with Cena. He had been scheduled to face Seth Rollins in a steel cage match to headline the house show but was replaced by Finn Balor.
Cena and Theory had also been rumored for a program leading to SummerSlam last year. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed the two potentially working together in the June 13, 2022 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Meltzer wrote:
While this has not been confirmed to us by the company, the talk in wrestling is that it will be Cena vs. Theory at SummerSlam with the idea that working with Cena will bring Theory up to a higher level
Raw started off 2023 with two title matches taking place last night.
The Raw Women’s Championship and United States Championship were both up for grabs on the first Raw of the new year. Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss ended in a disqualification, while Austin Theory retained the United States title against Seth Rollins in the main event.
The DQ in the Raw Women’s Championship match happened after Bliss snapped. During the match, Bliss was distracted by seeing two people in Uncle Howdy masks in the crowd. Bray Wyatt’s moth logo then flashed on the video screen twice. That caused Bliss to freak out and attack the referee. Bliss then went after Belair, giving her two DDTs onto the steel steps. Belair, who had blood on her chin after being sent into the steps, was helped to the back by her husband Montez Ford.
Theory defeated Rollins after giving him a low blow, taking out Rollins’ hurt knee, and then hitting A-Town Down. Rollins had given Theory a Pedigree near the end of the match, but there was a ref bump that delayed the pin. Rollins was also slow to make the cover because of his knee.
