Nikki Cross is getting the next shot at Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship.
It was confirmed tonight that Bayley will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Cross at Clash of Champions. Cross won a fatal four-way number one contender’s match on SmackDown tonight to get the title shot.
Cross overcame a pre-match attack by Bayley to get the win. The match also included Alexa Bliss, Lacey Evans, and Tamina, but Bliss walked out of the match like she was in a trance after giving Cross a Sister Abigail on the floor. The storyline is that Bliss has been acting strange and has been changed by her encounters with The Fiend.
Cross got the win in tonight’s match by reversing a Samoan drop by Tamina, blocking a superkick, and then stacking up Tamina and pinning her.
After attacking Sasha Banks last week, Bayley appeared on SmackDown tonight and explained her actions. Bayley said she loved every single second of attacking Banks. She claimed that Banks was just waiting for the right time to strike against her. Bayley said Banks was using her — and she knows that because Bayley was using Banks too. Bayley said she never cared about Banks or their friendship. She said Banks is useless to her now.
Cross made her entrance as Bayley was walking up the ramp after her promo. Bayley then attacked Cross with the same steel chair she used to beat down Banks.
Bayley retained her title against Cross at Extreme Rules this July and then defeated her again in a rematch later that month.
Clash of Champions is taking place on Sunday, September 27. Here’s the updated card for the show:
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defends against Randy Orton
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Jey Uso
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defends against Nikki Cross
A family member will be the first challenger for Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship.
Reigns’ cousin Jey Uso defeated Matt Riddle, Baron Corbin, and Sheamus in a fatal four-way number one contender’s match on tonight’s SmackDown and will challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at Clash of Champions later this month. Uso wasn’t originally announced as one of the participants for the number one contender’s match, but there was an angle where Big E was attacked by Sheamus and taken out of the match.
Uso pinned Riddle to win tonight’s main event. Riddle had hit the Floating Bro on Corbin, but Uso then came off the top with a splash on Riddle to get the win.
After winning the Universal title at Payback, Reigns opened tonight’s SmackDown with Paul Heyman by his side. Uso approached Reigns backstage after, welcomed him back, and said Reigns made their whole family proud. Uso said he’s been calling and texting Reigns all week, but Reigns said he’s been busy. Uso asked what the deal was with Heyman, but Reigns told him not to worry about it and said he has it all under control. Uso assured Reigns that he’s always there if he needs someone to watch his back.
Heyman later approached Adam Pearce after Big E was taken out of the number one contender’s match.
Uso spoke to Reigns backstage before the match and thanked him for getting him the spot in it. Reigns said that Heyman made it happen. Reigns said he wins everything and he knows Jimmy Uso would win, so let’s see if Jey can get one on his own this time.
When he was interviewed after his win, Jey said now he made their family proud too.
Clash of Champions is taking place on Sunday, September 27. Drew McIntyre defending his WWE Championship against Randy Orton is also set for the pay-per-view.
Randy Orton is getting another shot at Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship.
McIntyre will defend his WWE title against Orton at Clash of Champions on Sunday, September 27. That was confirmed when Orton defeated Seth Rollins and Keith Lee in a number one contender’s triple threat match on Raw tonight.
Rollins was going for a stomp on Lee near the end of tonight’s main event, but Lee countered and hit a Spirit Bomb. Orton then came into the ring, hit an RKO on Lee, and pinned Rollins to get the win.
Three singles matches on tonight’s Raw determined who advanced to the triple threat. Orton defeated Kevin Owens after Owens was attacked by Aleister Black before the match, Rollins defeated Dominik Mysterio, and Lee defeated Dolph Ziggler. Rollins was originally supposed to face Rey Mysterio tonight, but WWE announced that Rey suffered a torn triceps at Payback.
Lee defeated Orton at Payback on Sunday night. McIntyre didn’t appear at Payback or tonight’s Raw after being given three punts by Orton last Monday. WWE issued a new storyline update on McIntyre’s condition last night, claiming that McIntyre “sustained a hairline jaw fracture” as a result of Orton’s punts.
McIntyre retained his title against Orton at SummerSlam by pinning him with a backslide.
WWE has officially confirmed when its next pay-per-view will be taking place.
It was announced during Payback tonight that Clash of Champions will stream live on the WWE Network on Sunday, September 27.
A video that aired during Payback first listed Clash of Champions as taking place on its originally scheduled date of September 20, but the PPV was then promoted for September 27 and WWE has confirmed that September 27 is the correct date. The September 27 PPV date is also included in WWE’s contract with the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre was featured in the advertisement for Clash of Champions. McIntyre wasn’t in action at Payback tonight following a storyline on last Monday’s Raw where Randy Orton gave him three punt kicks. Keith Lee instead defeated Orton at Payback. WWE issued a storyline update on McIntyre’s condition tonight, claiming that McIntyre “sustained a hairline jaw fracture” from Orton’s punts.
Clash of Champions will be the third PPV to take place at the Amway Center with the WWE ThunderDome. SummerSlam and Payback were held at the Amway Center on back-to-back Sundays.
NXT debuted on the USA Network on 9/18 as the third straight night of pro wrestling that week on the station.
The first show consisted of two dark matches, a one-hour show on USA followed by another 51 minutes on the WWE Network.
You got a lot of hard work, an emphasis on in-ring and building matches for the future. There was less time for interviews, and much higher quality of wrestling than on Raw or Smackdown. Indeed, if it wasn’t a WWE product, the push of no B.S., had any other company said it, would be taken as a knock on the WWE main brands themselves.
NXT in uncharted water. There was one hour special a few years ago on USA that did 841,000 viewers. This debut was far more heavily promoted, but also comes at a time that WWE itself has run off a substantial percentage of its audience since that show a few years ago.
Sunday’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view went off the air with an angle involving Bray Wyatt’s Fiend character and Seth Rollins.
After retaining his Universal Championship against Braun Strowman in the main event, Rollins was celebrating on the stage at the end of the show. The lights then went out and The Fiend appeared. He hit Sister Abigail on Rollins before putting him in the Mandible Claw.
The Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California advertised last month that The Fiend would be challenging for the Universal title in a Hell in a Cell match at this year’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. The PPV is taking place at the Golden 1 Center on October 6.
The Fiend challenging the Rollins vs. Strowman winner to a match at Hell in a Cell was also brought up on the September 2 episode of Raw.
Rollins pinned Strowman at Clash of Champions after hitting a Pedigree and a curb stomp. Strowman had kicked out of three curb stomps prior to that. Earlier in the show, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode defeated Rollins & Strowman to win the Raw Tag Team titles. Roode pinned Rollins to get the win.
In the only televised match he’s had as The Fiend thus far, Wyatt defeated Finn Balor at SummerSlam. The Fiend also quickly defeated Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas in a dark match after last week’s SmackDown and 205 Live at Madison Square Garden.
Ten championships will be on the line as the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina hosts Clash of Champions tonight.
Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman will both be in action twice at the pay-per-view. Rollins will defend his Universal Championship against Strowman, and they’ll also team together as they put their Raw Tag Team titles on the line against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode.
Kofi Kingston defends his WWE Championship against Randy Orton, while The Revival challenge Kingston’s New Day stablemates for the SmackDown Tag Team titles.
After returning to WWE last month, Sasha Banks will challenge for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship. Charlotte Flair will get a title shot in her hometown as she takes on SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley.
The other title matches set for tonight are: AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander for the United States Championship, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental title, Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville for the Women’s Tag Team titles, and Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado for the Cruiserweight title.
Plus, Roman Reigns faces off with Erick Rowan in a no DQ match.
Tonight’s pre-show begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting an hour later.
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Drew Gulak defeated Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado to retain the Cruiserweight Title
A fun opener that the crowd respected, but didn’t react to for the most part. Carrillo and Dorado worked pretty well together. Gulak grounded and stretched both challengers, while Humberto and Lince took flight in their offense. Dorado hit a nice Springboard Dive to both men. At one point Gulak was on the floor with Dorado on his shoulders and Carrillo did a Suicide Dive to both. That got a brief “This is awesome” chant. Carrillo used a version of the Sharpsooter on Gulak, but Dorado turned into a submission on Carrillo. Dorado hit a Super Hurricarana on Carrillo. He went for a Shooting Star Press and Humberto almost rolled out of the way. Carrillo hit the Aztec Press, but Gulak stole the pin by throwing Humberto out of the ring and rolling up Dorado to retain the belt.
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AJ Styles pinned Cedric Alexander to retain the United States Title
Weird choice for the pre-show. AJ sent Gallows and Anderson to the back before the match.
Alexander, who is from Charlotte, almost won in the first 10 seconds of the match with a Michinoku Driver. AJ used a brain buster on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring, and a Styles Clash on the floor. AJ picked Cedric up at 2 and used the ushigoroshi. Cedric got the ropes after a Calf Crusher. Cedric got a brief flurry, but AJ cut him off and hit the Phenomenal Forearm and a Styles Clash for the win. Whole match went 5 minutes. Who wants the hometown babyface getting over?
Gallows and Anderson ran down after the match to do a 3-on-1 beat down. No one made the save. This Cedric Alexander push sure has been something, huh?
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Bobby Roode & Dolph Ziggler defeated Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman to win the Raw Tag Team Title
Second time in four years Seth is defending two titles at Clash/Night of Champions.
The biggest surprise in this match was undoubtedly in the first 3 minutes when Strowman ran at Dolph and Dolph didn’t move out of the way. Instead the heels used smart tag team wrestling to get the heat on Rollins. Seth used a blockbuster on Roode and almost had the tag, but Dolph cut him off. Seth reversed a DDT into a Falcon Arrow and made the hot tag. Braun continued to run into Dolph. Finally, after Dolph got ran into 4 times, he moved out of the way and Braun shoulder blocked the ring post. The advantage didn’t last long as Rollins was back in and running wild on both challengers. The finish saw Strowman give Roode a running shoulder block, but Roode crashed into Rollins. Braun went after Dolph and Roode hit the Universal Champion with a Glorious DDT for the kind of surprising win.
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Braun emphatically told Charly backstage that he didn’t lose the Raw Tag Team Title, Seth did and later tonight Seth’s losing streak will continue.
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Becky Lynch told Kayla Braxton that tonight Sasha Banks has something to prove, not her. Becky has had the greatest one year in WWE history and all Sasha did was dye her hair. Becky said she earned everything, like the butt kicking Sasha earned tonight.
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Bayley pinned Charlotte Flair to retain the SmackDown Women’s Title
Bayley still has the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Men, but now she’s EVIL so she has a black jacket!
Charlotte used the Cedric Alexander strategy and tried to win in the first 10 seconds. Didn’t work for her either. This must be a Charlotte (the city) strategy. Charlotte (the wrestler) was a lot more aggressive as the match got going, as she beat on the champ all over the ringside area. Charlotte began working over the knee and then stomped on Bayley in the corner. The finish came quickly, as Bayley surreptitiously pulled off the bottom turbuckle pad, Bayley pulled Charlotte face-first into the exposed buckle and quickly pinned her. Bayley then ran away at top speed before anyone figured out what happened.
Both challengers from Charlotte (the city) lasted a total of about 9 minutes in their losses. Aren’t The Revival from North Carolina?
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The Revival defeated The New Day to win the SmackDown Tag Team Title
The Revival IS from North Carolina. The North Carolina curse ended. It helped that they’re not from Charlotte.
Xavier has a brace on his knee to sell the injury he got from Randy Orton & The Revival last month. Wilder gave Big E a running clothesline off the apron and E may have smacked the back of his head off the ring steps. Xavier also got laid out, which made this a Handicap Match as the top guys got the heat on Big E. Xavier dragged himself to the apron just in time for a hot tag, which only worked momentarily until his knee gave out. A series of reversals on the outside of the ring led to Big E being laid out with a Shatter Machine. On the inside Xavier did another fiery comeback, but Dawson chop blocked his knee. Revival hit another Shatter Machine, but instead of going for the cover they ripped off Xavier’s knee brace. Dawson slapped on his reverse Figure Four and Woods had to tap out.
Revival became the first team to win the NXT, Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Titles. Both Chad Gable and Jason Jordan did this as well, but they both won the Raw Titles with different partners.
Revival cut a promo after the match and announced that after Randy Orton wins the WWE Title tonight, it will finally be a new day.
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Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were cutting a promo when the boom mic suddenly appeared on the screen. Turns out it was R-Truth. Alexa took the boom and alerted everyone in the back that Truth was there and the promo ended with everyone running off screen.
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Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated Fire & Desire to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
Nikki threw Mandy around at the start, which was payback for Mandy saying mean things on Tuesday. Alexa slapped Mandy right in the face, which caused Mandy to complain to the referee.
Just as the match started the fall apart with Mandy and Alexa in there, R-Truth, Carmella and all the midcarders ran in. Alexa rolled R-Truth up for a 2 count and the 24/7 people ran off. Corey made a reference to Mean Girls, which is a great movie, but came out 15 years ago. Not sure if Mandy is just really bad or if her and Alexa have really bad chemistry. Nikki got the hot tag and worked pretty well with Sonya. Alexa got crotched on the top turnbuckle by accident and Mandy almost pinned her after a High/Low double team, but Nikki broke it up. Mandy missed a running knee and Nikki pinned her with a twisting neckbreaker.
The match could have been a lot worse, but weakest so far.
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Shinsuke Nakamura pinned The Miz to retain the Intercontinental Title
Sami Zayn came out in a neck brace and said The Undertaker is disrespecting him by chokeslamming him at Madison Square Garden. He introduced Nakamura. Nakamura now wears a cape. Capes rule! Zayn did commentary over the PA system early on, but someone shut it off. Miz grabbed Sami’s mic and threw it across the arena, which is when Namakura took over with a high kick. Nakamura worked over Miz’s arm, while Miz weakened the knee of the champion. Shin used a snap German Suplex while Miz was sitting in the ropes. Miz side-stepped a Kinshasa and slapped on the Figure Four. The crowd really got into that, but Nakamura got the ropes. Zayn distracted Miz, so Nakamura hit the Kinshasa, but Miz kicked out. Nakamura went for it the second time, but Miz blocked it and hit a Skull Crushing Finale. Zayn jumped on the apron to prevent the cover. Miz chased Zayn around the ring, but got caught with the Kinshasa. Nakamura hit another on in the ring to retain the title.
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Sasha Banks defeated Becky Lynch via disqualification, so Becky retains the Raw Women’s Title
In case anyone cares, they called Becky “The Man” about 75 times during this match. We had a pretty good dueling chant going during the match. The Lynch fans were a tad louder. Sasha was a great heel and Becky was her normal awesome self, so this was a great match. Both girls hit some really nice knees. Sasha partially got on the Banks Statement when Lynch was coming off the ropes, but Becky got out since it wasn’t fully applied. Sasha used the Meteora from the middle rope, which enough people bought as the finish, for a great near fall. After a series of reversals Becky got on the Dis-Arm-Her, but Sasha got her foot on the ropes. Sasha hit a pair of Back Stabbers and got on the Banks Statement fully. Becky clawed towards the ropes, but rolled through into the ropes. Sasha pushed a chair into the ring to distract the referee, so she hit Becky in the ribs with a second one and hit a Shining Wizard for a near fall. Sasha brought another chair into the ring, but Becky got it and swung, however Sasha ducked and Becky nailed the referee.
Becky went after Sasha and they fought into the crowd and up the stairs. Becky slapped on the Dis-Arm-Her on the steps and Sasha tapped, for whatever that’s worth. Sasha went running into the concourse and concession stand area. Becky dumped mustard on Sasha, as they fought down a different set of stairs. The referee, mind you, is still out. Sasha finally got the advantage back when they went back over the dasher boards and Sasha speared Becky into the barricades. Even though there was no bell and there has been no announcement and there are no other officials, the match is over and Sasha wins by DQ.
Becky had the chair and it was Revenge Time, as she bent it around the spine of The Boss. We got another Dis-Arm-Her, this time in a chair, before referees ran in to break it up. The fans, who didn’t know the match had ended, booed and chanted “Let them fight”. Finally Becky got her title and left as the announcement was finally made. Even before the finish there was something missing to keep this from going to the next level of great.
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A commercial for the Gears 5 video game, featuring Batista, aired.
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Kofi Kingston pinned Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship
A very slow pace to start, it picked up when Kofi got a flurry, but he punched Orton right in the face, so Randy rolled outside and regained his composure. With Kofi on the apron Randy necked up by pulling down on his hair and then did a running shoulder block, which sent Kofi crashing into the barricade. Orton gave Kofi a suplex on the floor and a back suplex on the German announce table. Oh mein Gott! Kofi gave Randy a pretty good dropkick to the shoulder. Not sure if it was meant to be to the shoulder, but it worked for the match. The fans started to get behind Kofi when Orton threw him into the ring steps. Kofi went for Trouble In Paradise, but Orton turned it into his backbreaker. Kofi backdropped Randy out of the ring and Orton may have twisted his ankle. This is a bad match for Randy’s health. Orton raked Kofi’s eyes, but got caught with an SOS. Orton hit his power slam for a near fall. He got frustrated even though in 17 years he has never won a match with the power slam. Randy hit the RKO Outta Nowhere, but Kofi got his foot on the ropes. Orton backed up for The Punt, but he missed, Kofi hit the Trouble In Paradise and retained the title.
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Street Profits are backstage and promote Raw tomorrow. Both picked Chad Gable to win King Of The Ring and Montez Ford started comparing this to the opening scene from The Lion King. King Booker showed up to predict the KOTR finals. Angelo Dawkins cut him off and asked to be Knighted because he wants to be The Dark Knight. Booker took his crown off and told them both to smarten up.
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Erick Rowan pinned Roman Reigns in a No Disqualification Match, after interference by Luke Harper
They didn’t last long in the ring, as Rowan drove Roman’s head into the German announce table. Roman got hold of a Kendo Stick, but the master of the Stairs Match used the stairs to assault Roman and send him into the audience. Rowan hit Roman with a plastic garbage can and asked Roman how he liked that. Roman didn’t answer, but I imagine it wasn’t a positive reply. Roman cleared off the English announce table, but Rowan ran him over before anything could happen. The crowd entertained themselves by chanting for tables, but Rowan was a good heel and shook his head. Rowan ripped apart the LED board and smashed Roman face-first on the apron, which is the hardest part of the ring. Rowan heaved the steps into the ring and then charged at Roman, but Reigns ducked down and muscled Rowan up into a Samoan Drop. Roman went for a running Superman Punch, but Rowan caught him and power bombed him through the English announce table. He threw Reigns back in the ring quick enough that people bought it as a finish, which it wasn’t. They fought through the other half of the arena and Rowan gave him the Claw Slam through another table. Rowan began literally carrying Roman and then they hit each other with production equipment. Making their way back down the aisle, Roman went for a running Spear when….Luke Harper cut him off? Luke Harper, last seen quitting WWE in April, laid out Roman with a big boot. In the ring Rowan pinned Roman with an Iron Claw Slam.
That was unexpected.
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Seth Rollins told Charly that he doesn’t give a damn about what Braun Strowman thinks, He can’t worry about the past, he has to worry about the future. Tonight is not Braun’s time and it’s time to add a Monster to his collection.
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Seth Rollins pinned Braun Strowman to retain the Universal Championship
Braun ran over Seth at the bell. Braun hit a series of shoulder blocks and went for the Running Powerslam, but Seth got out of it. Seth hit 3 superkicks and a Frog Splash, but Braun caught him when he went for the Curb Stomp. Shockingly Braun ran shoulder-first into the ring post. Seth hit a pair of Springboard Knees, but Braun caught him again and dropped forearms across his chest. Braun twice took a lap around the ring and ran over Seth. However on the third one, Seth side-stepped it send sent Braun over the German announce table. Those poor Germans. Seth gave Braun a Suicide Dive, which somehow caused the German table to fall apart. Seth superkicked Braun onto the Spanish announce table. OH DIOS MIO! Seth went for Something, but Braun came back and knocked him off the top rope. Braun decided he should come off the top rope too, so he did a diving splash, but only got a 2 count. He did that once against Roman, but Roman had rolled out of the way. Seth hit a Curb Stomp and only got a 1 count. He got a 2nd one and got a 2 count. Seth hit a third one, but that also only got a 2 count. Rollins hit a Pedigree and a 4th Curb Stomp for the win.
The fans had been booing Seth towards the end, but they popped for the finish. No one left the arena because everyone knew what was about to happen. As Seth was celebrating on top of the stage, the lights went out and The Fiend showed up, giving Seth the Sister Abigail and then the Mandible Claw. The fans, who didn’t react too loud for much on this show, popped huge for this.
There’s your Hell In A Cell main event. Thank you for reading tonight and check out all the radio shows recapping the show later tonight.
WWE CLASH OF CHAMPIONS AT 6 P.M. EASTERN SUNDAY ON THE WWE NETWORK FROM THE SPECTRUM CENTER IN CHARLOTTE
Seth Rollins vs Braun Strowman for Universal title – Rollins is a -400 favorite to retain the title. I think everyone would have him as the favorite, but those are long odds.
Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton for WWE title – Kingston is a -185 favorite to retain. I could see Orton as the guy they’d want the title on when they move to FOX, so don’t rule out an upset title change here.
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan no DQ – Reigns is a -290 favorite. Lots of expectations that Daniel Bryan will end up involved. This match is expected to get a lot of latitude.
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks for Raw women’s title – Lynch is a -140 favorite to retain. This match needs to be good for the show as a whole. There’s no reason for it not to be, but Banks’ return will lose momentum if they go out and only do a decent match.
Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair for Smackdown women’s title – Bayley is a -155 favorite to retain the title
Braun Strowman & Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode for Raw tag titles – Roode and Ziggler are heavy favorites, at -280, to win the title here. Now this is Paul Heyman booking which isn’t the same, but if they lose, if it was Vince McMahon’s booking, the guy who lost the fall would come back to win the Universal title match.
Big E & Xavier Woods vs The Revival for Smackdown tag title – E & Woods are -185 favorites top retain the title.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz for IC title – Nakamura is a -210 favorite to win. On paper, this doesn’t look like much. They have the chance to surprise people.
A.J. Styles vs. Cedric Alexander for U.S. title – Styles goes in as a -350 favorite to win and retain.
Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville for women’s tag title – Bliss & Cross are -350 favorites to retain the titles. I would see those odds as bigger than they should be..
Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado for cruiserweight title. Gulak is a -230 favorite to retain. Carrillo is +220. Dorado is +1100, so nobody expects him to win.
To me, this show looks solid on paper in the sense nothing looks bad, but nothing stands out on paper as being great. When I look at star ratings predictions, this looks less impressive going in than most WWE shows. But there can always be surprises.
AAA FROM THE HULU THEATER IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IN NEW YORK AT 6 P.M. EASTERN ON PPV AND FITE TV
Cain Velasquez & Brian Cage & Psycho Clown vs. Black Taurus & Rey Bucanero & El Texano Jr.
Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie for Reina de Reinas championship
Pentagon Jr. & Fenix vs. LAX for AAA tag titles
Dr. Wagner Jr.vs. Blue Demon Jr.
NEW JAPAN DESTRUCTION IN KAGOSHIMA AT 5 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yuya Uemura vs. Clark Connors in Young Lions tournament
Ren Narita vs. Michael Richards in Young Lions tournament
Yuji Nagata & Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino & Yota Tsuji vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Toa Henare & Karl Fredericks & Alex Coughlin
Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Sho & Yoh vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
Bayley going through a long-anticipated character change was the latest step in WWE refocusing on the Four Horsewomen.
Bayley & Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross main evented last Monday’s episode of Raw. Sasha Banks ran in and caused a disqualification by attacking Lynch. Banks struck Lynch with a steel chair until Bayley took it away from her. But instead of playing peacemaker between her friends, Bayley smiled and pummeled Lynch with the chair herself.
After beginning her heel turn and reuniting with Banks, Bayley cut a promo explaining her actions the next night on SmackDown. The crowd alternated between cheering and booing her. Bayley told the fans that their reaction was confusing. Instead of going full bore with the heel turn, Bayley spoke about her friendship with Banks and called Banks the one person who has always had her back. Bayley disingenuously talked about being a hero and a role model. She said she was trying to show kids what it means to be loyal and noted that she couldn’t turn her back on Banks just because things got rough. Bayley said that SmackDown deserves a champion that gets the same kind of recognition as Lynch.
In a move that has great ramifications in pro wrestling, Anthem Sport and Entertainment has purchased a majority interest in AXS TV and HDNet Movies and will begin running the two channels.
The deal also includes purchasing the AXS TV library of concerts, pro wrestling and MMA content, which would include U.S. broadcast rights to old ROH, many years of New Japan, WOW, and some defunct MMA promotions as well as countless smaller MMA shows.
Mark Cuban, who founded the stations, and AEG, his partners, will continue to own a minority interest. Part of the purchase team included Anthem, headed by Leonard Asper, and entertainer Steve Harvey, who will enter into a strategic content development agreement.
The company will continue operating from studios in Los Angeles and Denver, as well as use Anthem studios in Toronto, Nashville and Europe. The office in Dallas was closed down.
While not stated in the sales press release, as noted over the months this day has been in play, that if it was to go through, that Impact would move from The Pursuit Channel, where it has been dying on the vine, and move to AXS.
The deal actually first started with an attempt by Anthem to get Impact on AXS when they got word in the latter stages of 2018 that they weren’t going to be renewed by Pop TV. AXS turned down the initial deal, since Impact did not have a good reputation in the wrestling world at the time and AXS had its own wrestling franchise with New Japan.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk Clash of Champions, the AAA show and New Japan shows, and the rest of the news. Questions can be sent to [email protected]
With football dominating the weekend, the only things that cracked the Google trends were Tyson Fury at No. 5 yesterday with 200,000 searches, which is probably less than I’d have expected given the pub, and the UFC Fight Night was No. 14 with 100,000. As far as today goes, if Clash hits 200,000, that would be expected.
According to The Cubs Fan, AAA wrestlers who have been seen in New York and thus should be on the undercard of tonight’s show are Daga, Drago, Aerostar (meaning something insane will happen), Flamita, Mascarita Dorada, Demus and Lady Shani. Myzteziz Jr. and Dave the Clown have also said they are going to New York, but nobody has been them yet. La Hiedra is also expected.
Meiko Satomura won the Progress women’s title on their big show at the Alexandra Palace today.
WWE
Tamina returned to action last night at the house show in Macon, GA, facing Natalya. She had been out of action with a concussion for the past two months.
The oddsmakers are favoring A.J. Styles vs. Cedric Alexander to be the best match on the show with -192 odds. Second is “either Seth Rollins match” at -182.
20 new episodes of WCW Thunder will be added to the network on Monday. This would be shows from June 28, 2000 to November 6, 2000.
MISCELLANEOUS
Northeast Wrestling from Friday night in Waterbury, CT: Keith Youngblood b Chris Battle, Ron Zombie & Jimmy Preston b JP & Tommy Grayson, RJ Rude & Zane Bernardo won three-way over Private Party and Maine Street Posse to keep tag titles, Jake Manning b Mike Verna, JT Dunn b Rey Fenix, Wrecking Ball Legursky & CazXL b Bill Carr & Bull James, Darby Allin b Brian Anthony-DQ so Allin retained NEW title, Pentagon Jr. b Joey Janela. David Arquette did a surprise run-in on this show (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
nZo was at the show and didn’t wrestle. It should be noted in wake of the problems with CazXL (Brian Morrisey last night, that nZo, CazXL and Janela were all at the show Friday night together and there were no issues at all. Those at NEW praised Cass’ behavior the night before and noted he’s been a regular since June and nobody has a negative word to say about his behavior at any of their shows. nZo was only there for the meet and greet. Next show is 10/19 with Allin vs. Brian Anthony in a rematch, Rude & Bernardo defending tag titles against Thrillride & Ron Zombie, and Jungle Boy appears.
Stardom’s Five Star Grand Prix continued with a doubleheader yesterday in Osaka:
Noon show: Mayu Iwatani b Saya Kimitani, Hazuki b Avary, Tam Nakano & Arisa Hoshiki b AZM & Leo Onozaki, Momo Watanabe b Natsu Sumire, Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona won three-way over Saki Kashima & Saya Iida and Natsuko Tora & Andras Miyagi, Jamie Hayter b Konami, Kagetsu b Bea Priestley
Late afternoon show: Natsuko Tora b Saya Kamitani, Konami & Avary b Arisa Hoshiki & Saya Iida, AZM b Saki Kashima, Tam Nakano b Momo Watanabe, Kagetsu & Hazuki & Andras Miyagi b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Leo Onozaki, Jamie Haytor b Jungle Kyona, Mayu Iwatani b Hana Kimura (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Jungle Kyona suffered a dislocated shoulder and is out the rest of the tournament. All of her scheduled future opponents get automatic forfeit wins. They already had to redo the tournament when Utami Hayashishita was injured. If you know anything about Japanese booked round-robin tournaments, they are very carefully crafted and something like this means they will have to redo all booking.
CZW from Friday night in Voorhees, NJ: Brandon Kirk won ladder match over KC Navarro, Anthony Greene and AR Fox to get a CZW title match, Joe Gacy won CZW title beating champion John Silver and Conor Claxton in a three-way, Anthony Gagnone & Matt Tremont b The Rep to keep the tag tiles but when Tremont turned on Gagnone, and then Maven Bentley turned on The Rep, Jordan Oliver b Dan O’Hare to keep the Wired title, Matt McIntosh b Kris Bishop, Joey Lynch b LSG, Gabriel Sky & Ikuro Kwan b YDNB, Jimmy Rave b Griffin McCoy, Bear Country b ?. Next show is 10/26. The ladder match was the annual Chris Cash ladder match. Cash’s family members were there as well as the parents of Lyle Wllliams, the former CZW photographer who passed away recently. (thanks to Bob Magee)
Tessa Blanchard had a strong main event with Serpentine (Thunder Rosa) at last night’s WOW TV show.
Both NJPW and WOW are pre-empted next Saturday on AXS. This was planned before the sale so don’t read this into a decision having been made. Not to say that getting rid of many involved with putting together both shows can be seen as a positive either.
Pro Wrestling EVE from last night in London: Holidead won four-way over Jetta, Charli Evans and Trish Adora, Mercedes Martinez b Jinnny, Jayla Dark & Laura Dimatteo b NightShade & Livvii Grace, Rhia O’Reilly b Roxy-DQ to keep Eve title (Roxxy won and was announced as champion, but it was overturned due to the interference and a rematch was set up later in the show), Sammii Jayne b Angel; Hayze,Milie McKenzie b Solo Darling, Mercedes Martinez b Charli Evans, Rhia O’Reilly b Roxxy to retain Eve title. NightShade and Grace and O’Reilly attacked Roxxy after. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemonsnet
CWE on 10/18 in Fannystelle, Manitoba at the Fannyselle Hall. They also announced a debut in Ottawa on 12/6 which is the final day of their tour. This will be a joint show with Devon Nicholson’s Great North Wrestling.
Travis Banks (WWE) and Orange Cassidy (AEW) are both in the PWA Colosseum tournament on 10/18 and 10/19 in Sydney, Australia. They will likely have to make sure not to face each other for the obvious political issues.
Maya Yukihi beat Risa Sera to win the vacant ICExInfinity title. The big match on the show yesterday in Yokohama saw Tsukasa Fujinmoto over Sareee.
Twitch has the show in Taiwan with the Kenny Omega & Riho vs. Michael Nakazawa & Yuka Sakazaki comedy match main event.
After a brawl on tonight’s SmackDown, WWE has added a stipulation to Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan at Clash of Champions.
Reigns vs. Rowan at Sunday’s pay-per-view will now be a no disqualification match. Reigns interrupted Rowan as he was cutting a promo on SmackDown tonight. Reigns gave Rowan a Superman punch and they got into a brawl. Officials tried to break it up, but they kept brawling until Rowan threw a camera crane at Reigns.
On last week’s SmackDown, Rowan admitted to being the culprit in the Reigns mystery attacker storyline.
Clash of Champions is taking place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina this Sunday. The updated card for the PPV is listed below:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan in a no DQ match
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Big E & Xavier Woods defending against The Revival
Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defending against Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
United States Champion AJ Styles defending against Cedric Alexander
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against The Miz
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a triple threat match
AJ Styles and Cedric Alexander are officially set to face off at Clash of Champions.
Coming out of last night’s Raw, WWE has announced that Styles will defend his United States Championship against Alexander at Sunday’s pay-per-view. It’s taking place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Alexander pinned Styles in the main event of Raw last night. Alexander teamed with Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman & The Viking Raiders against Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode.
The O.C. (Styles, Gallows & Anderson) attacked Alexander during a backstage segment on last week’s Raw. Alexander initially faced Styles in a non-title singles match last night, with The Viking Raiders making the save after Gallows and Anderson caused a disqualification.
Here’s the updated card for Clash of Champions:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Big E & Xavier Woods defending against The Revival
Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defending against Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
United States Champion AJ Styles defending against Cedric Alexander
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against The Miz
The finals of the King of the Ring tournament
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a triple threat match
The Cruiserweight title match at Clash of Champions is now a triple threat.
Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak will defend his title against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a triple threat match at the pay-per-view. Dorado got added to the match by defeating Carrillo in the main event of this Tuesday’s 205 Live.
The episode ended with an angle where Gulak and Tony Nese reunited and laid out both Dorado and Carrillo.
Dorado and Carrillo have been feuding for several weeks. Their match on the August 6 episode of 205 Live ended in a double countout when Dorado prevented Carrillo from getting back in the ring and making the count.
Carrillo getting a Cruiserweight title shot at Clash of Champions was confirmed when he defeated Oney Lorcan in a number one contender’s match last week.
The Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina is hosting Clash of Champions on September 15. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Big E & Xavier Woods defending against The Revival
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against The Miz
The finals of the King of the Ring tournament
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a triple threat match
Erick Rowan has been announced as Roman Reigns’ opponent for Clash of Champions.
WWE confirmed Reigns vs. Rowan for Clash of Champions prior to tonight’s SmackDown. Reigns, Rowan, and Daniel Bryan then took part in the main event segment of the episode, with Rowan admitting to being the culprit in Reigns’ mystery attacker storyline.
Tonight’s segment began with Bryan demanding an apology from Reigns for calling Bryan a liar and thinking he was involved in the attacks. Rowan then ambushed Reigns while he was making his entrance. The show ended with Rowan standing tall after laying out Reigns and putting Bryan through the announce table.
Clash of Champions is taking place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 15. Here’s the updated card:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Big E & Xavier Woods defending against The Revival
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against The Miz
The finals of the King of the Ring tournament
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a triple threat match
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks is now official for Clash of Champions.
On tonight’s Raw, it was confirmed that Lynch will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Banks at Clash of Champions. The announcement was made after a promo segment with Lynch and Banks.
Lynch challenged Banks to fight her tonight, but Banks responded by saying she wasn’t going to do anything for free for these fans. Banks said the next time she faces Lynch will be for the Raw Women’s title at Clash of Champions. Lynch accepted the title match.
Lynch and Banks’ feud began when Banks returned to WWE television last month and laid out both Lynch and Natalya.
Clash of Champions is taking place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 15. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Big E & Xavier Woods defending against The Revival
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against The Miz
The finals of the King of the Ring tournament
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Humberto Carrillo
WWE has officially added two more title matches to the card for Clash of Champions.
It was confirmed today that The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) will defend their SmackDown Tag Team titles against The Revival at Clash of Champions. Shinsuke Nakamura defending his Intercontinental Championship against The Miz has also been confirmed for the pay-per-view.
The matches had been set up by The Revival and Miz issuing challenges to their respective opponents.
The Revival have been aligned with Randy Orton during the build to Clash of Champions. Orton will challenge for Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship at the PPV.
Earlier this month, it was established that Sami Zayn is now Nakamura’s spokesman on WWE TV. Nakamura has laid out Miz on SmackDown each of the past two weeks.
The Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina is hosting Clash of Champions on September 15. Here’s the updated card for the show:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Big E & Xavier Woods defending against The Revival
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against The Miz
The finals of the King of the Ring tournament
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Humberto Carrillo
Humberto Carrillo is getting the next shot at the Cruiserweight title.
Drew Gulak will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Carrillo at Clash of Champions. Carrillo was set up as Gulak’s challenger for the pay-per-view by defeating Oney Lorcan in a number one contender’s match on this week’s 205 Live.
Carrillo and Lorcan were the two survivors in last Tuesday’s Captain’s Challenge match. They teamed with Jack Gallagher, Akira Tozawa & Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and defeated Gulak, Ariya Daivari, Mike Kanellis, Angel Garza & Tony Nese in an elimination match.
Gulak retained his title against Lorcan on the SummerSlam pre-show earlier this month. He then defeated Lorcan again in a rematch on 205 Live.
The Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina is hosting Clash of Champions on September 15. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
The finals of the King of the Ring tournament
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Humberto Carrillo
