Tag: drew mcintyre

Drew McIntyre joins WWE SmackDown roster

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Drew McIntyre is officially a member of the WWE SmackDown roster.

Ahead of tonight’s show, WWE posted a video with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announcing that McIntyre as the newest signing to his brand. There will be a triple threat Elimination Chamber qualifying match tonight with McIntyre vs. LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso.

John Cena and CM Punk have already secured their places in the men’s Elimination Chamber match, which will feature six participants in total. The PLE is taking place in Toronto on Saturday, March 1.

There was a situation at the Royal Rumble last weekend where McIntyre was legitimately unhappy backstage after the timing of a spot he was involved in with Damian Priest got messed up by Knight doing moves that weren’t planned and got in the way of what McIntyre and Priest were doing.

In the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that was posted this morning, Dave Meltzer confirmed that McIntyre was joining SmackDown and would be working a program with Priest. Meltzer wrote that WWE also has plans for Cody Rhodes vs. McIntyre at some point:

McIntyre is moving to Smackdown. He’ll be working with Priest at first but the idea of him moving to Smackdown dates back long before there were any ideas for him an Priest. He’d been pushing Reigns in his promos for months for that reason. There is also a plan right now to get to Rhodes vs. McIntyre, which was scheduled for 2023 before Rhodes ended up not winning the title that year.

Here is the updated card for tonight’s SmackDown:

  • Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Drew McIntyre vs. LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso
  • Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Bianca Belair vs. Piper Niven
  • Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Alexa Bliss vs. Candice LeRae
  • Royal Rumble winners Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair will appear

WOR: WWE Raw recap, updates on The Rock, Alexa Bliss & Drew McIntyre, Duke Hudson released

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the “Ring Boy” lawsuit, what’s up with The Rock and Drew McIntyre and Alexa Bliss and Duke Hudson and Conor McGregor, Curry Man is retiring, the WWE Raw report and Royal Rumble fallout, and more!

A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: Maryland Supreme Court holds up law allowing ring boy suit to move forward

6:22: The Rock’s status for WrestleMania, other WrestleMania plans

15:47 Update on Drew McIntyre, what happened with Alexa Bliss

22:25: Duke Hudson released, Curry Man retires from wrestling, Jericho Cruise, Elias joining forces with The Righteous

27:48: Conor McGregor spit on someone, Dana White says he never wants to retire, ratings

32:30: WWE Raw recap

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Daily Update: Royal Rumble fallout, Alexa Bliss, Drew McIntyre

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today:

  • All-time records for WWE business that will be broken at the Royal Rumble
  • What 38 years old company attendance mark goes down this week
  • Rumble favorites and news on the show
  • Things AEW should look to do regarding the creative on Dynamite to avoid things like redundancy, not getting key people over, and examining what the actual purposes of angles are and making them work
  • Full coverage of Saturday Night’s Main Event from this past week, business numbers and what they  mean, Dory Funk Jr., Jesse Ventura and match-by-match coverage.
  • Paul Levesque goes into the Paul Levesque picked WWE Hall of Fame
  • One of the most notable pro wrestling arenas in the world closes this year after nearly 50 years of running major shows. A look at some of the biggest matches held there including Inoki, Jack Brisco, Hogan, Andre, Monsoon, Hansen, Dusty Rhodes, Backlund, Volk Han, Nobuhiko Takada and even the Crush Gals.
  • The life and times of Ed Wiskoski aka Col DeBeers. A look at a 25 year career that went all over the world with a variety of gimmicks, including rises and falls of major territories, the making of his most famous gimmick and its controversial nature.
  • The GFL draft is basically admitted to be a fraud as to how it was presented and all the major names from the past part of the new team-based promotion.
  • Bryce Mitchell says some of the dumbest things possible and Dana White counters. But should the company cut ties with him.
  • The life and times of 50s and 60s star Bill Melby, including the angle that put the Cow Palace on the map as a regular wrestling building, and the most accomplished wrestler/bodybuilders.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the television shows, as well as WWE shows on Netflix.  Quarters, year-to-year comparisons and more. Plus competition and demo numbers
  • CMLL’s second biggest show of the year coming
  • Hot Arena Mexico main event
  • Announcer leaves promotion after 30 years
  • TripleMania news for 2025
  • Stardom awards
  • Dark Side of the Ring 2025 notes
  • How the major TV cable stations are doing
  • Former WCW star in jail
  • AEW international TV notes
  • Lots of notes on AEW Grand Slam Australia
  • International TV numbers
  • Christopher Daniels talks the end of his career
  • AEW star wants to box and do MMA
  • Giant fight talked about is for sure not happening
  • Death of legendary sportswriter Michael Katz
  • WWE star in one of the top box office movies of all-time
  • Jordynne Grace talks leaving TNA
  • WWE injury notes and thoughts about the policy of not stopping matches
  • Top YouTube numbers for the week

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Sunday Update

— Both of our weekend shows are up on the site right now. The Friday show with Garrett Gonzales talks about the news of the past week and the Observer notes from the week. Last night’s show with Bryan goes heavily into both the Royal Rumble and the Janel Grant lawsuit filing and the new claims, the arguments against arbitration, and more. All the stuff on the Rumble, the Alexa Bliss story, the Drew McIntyre story and more are covered on the show.

— The Rumble attendance ended up funny with a graphic saying 65,407 and then on the air claiming 70,347 and then, the graphic being up with one number and Paul Levesque at the same time claiming the higher number. Either way the number is gigantic. We hope to get an actual real number in the next few weeks but even the smaller number breaks the Hogan-Orndorff 1986 record for the largest non-Mania crowd in North American history. The gate of about $17 million was the third largest in history behind only the two days from last year’s WrestleMania, although it will be fifth place after the two days of this year’s Mania. It’s really a testament of how many people are willing to pay such high prices for major show wrestling tickets. There has never been anything like this in pro wrestling history, adjusted for inflation or not, when it comes to fan willingness in giant numbers to spend so much on tickets when it comes to the major shows.

— The Men’s Rumble match went 80:04. They spaced more time between entrances this year in both Rumbles than any year in history. While there was an August 22, 1964, match in Madison Square Garden with Bruno Sammartino vs. Waldo Von Erich being listed as an 81:00 draw, in those days, they always made up the times of the longest matches and exaggerated them. I don’t know if anyone alive has a real time of that match but I’d be pretty sure it wasn’t nearly that long.  Last night was likely the longest match in WWWF/WWF/WWE history.

— The belief right now is Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena and Gunther vs. Jey Uso as the two men’s main events. They teased Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk, but with the Elimination Chamber coming up, I’d think they would all be in the Chamber and this was just to set up the chamber.

— They are doing chamber qualifying matches starting with Raw tomorrow. Paul Levesque said that because of all John Cena has done, he doesn’t need to qualify and he’s in the men’s match.  Cena said he was going to Hungary to film a movie and won’t be back until the Chamber match.

— Jackie Redmond announced Cody Rhodes was injured and they didn’t know how severe.  Levesque minutes later said there were no serious injuries. Nobody has said anything about a Rhodes injury since then. IShowSpeed had a nasty looking bruise on his calf but was moving around fine after taking a killer spear from Bron Breakker.  

— The Drew McIntyre story was legit. We were told that he was hot, although I believe everyone cooled down. But he was clearly mad when he came through the curtain after being eliminated.  We were told others were as well but weren’t as obvious about it. McIntyre and Damian Priest were to start an angle and they felt the momentum was lost when LA Knight got in the way as they were doing the Priest throwing out of McIntyre. The top guys want things to go smoothly and have their story come off as planned, and that mentality is why they’re top guys. I don’t know if that means McIntyre is also headed to Smackdown or not, but that’s a possibility. Bryan went into detail on last night’s show with how it went down.  

— We’re looking for your thoughts on the Rumble show itself, you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

— We’re looking for reports from the Jericho Cruise matches the next few days, although I know from experience that Internet and cell service is not the best. The Cruise is probably why they taped Collision on Wednesday. Among those who wrestled there yesterday were Will Ospreay, Curry Man, MxM Collection, Big Bill, Bryan Keith, Harley Cameron, Billie Starkz, Nick Wayne, Daniel Garcia, Jay Lethal, Mark Briscoe, Bandido, The Outrunners, Thunder Rosa, Enzo, Tommy Billington, Elijah (Elias), Nyla Rose, Komander, Lance Archer, Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage and others. Curry Man announced that this was his last match.

— Regarding Bliss, those in the company say the thing was settled in the last day or two. My gut was that company worked its own people because of the T-shirt being released, but we were told the T-shirt was actually to be released on 1/13 when she was to debut in San Jose so that’s not proof of anything (unlike the Triple H Hall of Fame shirt being out the day of the announcement). I’m still skeptical as I’m sure everyone is. Mike Johnson actually reported Bliss being there on the show a before the show started so nobody knew the story (which was accurate with Punk in his return)  wasn’t actually the case. He had the same story multiple people in WWE told us about an impasse which two sources said had to do with Bliss having a child and we were told last night as others have reported that it was settled in the last 48 hours.  I’m very skeptical of that, thinking it was settled earlier and the company told its employees differently, based on the way it was handled on the show. She may have gotten the biggest pop of the night.

— It was noted that Wednesday’s Dynamite show, which airs on Friday night in the U.K. on ITV4, had the highest first-night audience in the history of the show. The number was 190,000 but that doesn’t include people watching after whenever the show aired and the final number in the U.K. doesn’t come out for more than a week as they include DVR numbers in their ratings. I’ve heard people say it had a beneficial lead-in from darts like the big Collision number a few weeks ago after the college football playoff game had, but AEW has been doing strong numbers all month.

— The only match from last night internationally we got a recommendation on was Leon Slater vs. Leon Cage from the RevPro  show in London which went 25:00. Cage is only 17 and Slater is 20.

— For Raw tomorrow they’ve announced the qualifying matches for the men and women’s Chambe shows on 3/1, plus appearances by Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair.

— Bryce Mitchell, who has been in the news the last few days (see the story in the last issue), has apologized, writing “I’m sorry I sounded insensitive. I definitely was not trying to offend anybody but I know I did. I know that a lot of people died in the Holocaust, and that’s a fact.  Hitler did a lot of evil things. I think we can agree on that. I’m definitely not a Nazi and definitely do not condone any of the evil things Hitler did.” That’s a real sore subject with me having multiple relatives killed in the Holocaust.

— Shara “Bullet” Magomedov, who lost his first pro fight yesterday at the UFC show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Michael “Venom” Page claimed he was suffering from a health issue, saying, “I knew all the risks when stepping in with such a nightmarish health condition and preparation. I felt that despite everything I could still win–but it didn’t work out and that’s it.”

— There were a ton of items relating to combat sports this weekend on Google trends. The Rumble trended higher than any WWE event in years. It had 1 million searches with Charlotte Flair being the most-searched of any WWE topic. That’s the level of the last UFC PPV show and UFC shows usually do better than even the biggest WWE shows. Tons of people finished high, notably the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell boxing match at 200,000, the UFC show at 200,000, Elimination Chamber, Penn State Wrestling, Michael Venom Page and John Cena at 50,000 plus and among those at 20,000 plus included Bliss, Kevin Owens, Trish Stratus, Nikki Bella, IShowSpeed, Jordynne Grace, Israel Adesanya, Janel Grant, Pitbull Cruz, AJ Lee, Rey Mysterio and Sergei Pavlovich. I can’t recall a weekend with so many trending so high in years.  

— Stardom legit sold out Korakuen Hall today for the Saya Kamitani World of Stardom title defense over Suzu Suzuki. Actually it was an overflow crowd. This Stardom run booked by Taro Okada with no prior booking experience has been a real success these past several months, especially when the overall wrestling popularity in Japan is not that high.

— Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers has been doing the Cena “You can’t see me” deal when he scores or is fouled.

— RevPro Epic Encounter on 3/16 at the Hangar in Wolverhampton has Hechicero  vs. Zozaya.

Drew McIntyre unhappy with WWE Royal Rumble participant ‘trying to get himself over’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Drew McIntyre is not happy with someone he was in the ring with at Royal Rumble 2025.

Yesterday, PWInsider reported that McIntyre was angry backstage after being eliminated from the Rumble about one participant who “had to get their moves in” at the expense of other stories being told. McIntyre is said to have been “screaming and cursing” and stormed out of the building before the end of the show. 

Our own Dave Meltzer confirmed the story on Wrestling Observer Radio, adding that McIntyre was not the only one upset about the situation. 

“There’s a guy that a lot of people were pissed at in that match with the idea that he was trying to get himself over and not the match over,” Meltzer said, also noting that the name of the person in question will likely come out soon, but has not been confirmed by more than one source as of yet.

“It’s multiple people telling me that the Drew thing was… he wasn’t happy. It’s not an angle,” Meltzer said, adding, “I heard that Drew was not the only one unhappy about the situation.”

A clip of McIntyre being eliminated in the match by Damian Priest while Logan Paul and LA Knight are nearby was posted online by SEScoops’ Anutosh Bajpai. McIntyre attempts to throw Jey Uso out of the ring before he and Uso collide with Paul and Knight, which leads to McIntyre’s elimination.

Two matches added to WWE Raw lineup

Posted on by Ian Carey

Two matches have been added to the lineup for tomorrow night’s WWE Raw. 

Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Naomi & Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez are now scheduled for the show. 

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced the news on Sunday in a video posted to social media.

Pearce said: 

“Monday Night Raw tomorrow night live from Atlanta, GA, where I have two big matches to announce. First things first, off of what happened last week, both men have requested it, and that request is approved. It will be Sami Zayn one-on-one with Drew McIntyre.”

“Plus, women’s tag team action. Bianca Belair and Naomi will oppose the team of Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan. And you best bet that Lash and Jakara are watching this one cause they got their eyes on the prize this Tuesday on NXT.”

Naomi and Belair will also be in action at this week’s WWE NXT. They are scheduled to defend their titles against Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend on the show. 

The story with Zayn and McIntyre is that Zayn has never won a singles match they’ve had. They met twice on WWE programming last month, with McIntyre defeating Zayn at Saturday Night’s Main Event and the December 16 Raw. 

The announced WWE Raw lineup for Monday, January 27:

  • Logan Paul appears
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes appears
  • World Tag Team Champions The War Raiders (Erik & Ivar) defend against The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh)
  • Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Naomi & Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

WWE Raw live results: Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: January 20, 2025
Location: American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX 

********** 

The Big Takeaway —

Kevin Owens appeared and offered Sami Zayn words of encouragement for the Royal Rumble match. Owens made it clear that he wanted Zayn to win so the two men could main-event WrestleMania against one another. Owens also suggested that he would have Zayn’s back at the Rumble if Zayn had his (against Cody Rhodes).

Zayn saved Seth Rollins from a Drew McIntyre beat-down at the end of the show, only for Zayn to hit Rollins with a Helluva Kick by mistake. 

The inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria was advertised for the show but did not appear.

**********

Show Recap — 

Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk (wearing a t-shirt of Marvel’s The Thing) were shown arriving. Rhea Ripley was shown earlier today, too, but she was attacked by Nia Jax. They also plugged Penta against Pete Dunne. 

Michael Cole said Dallas was hosting Raw for the 27th time. Wade Barrett is filling in for Pat McAfee, who is at the College Football National Championship. 

Jey Uso and Gunther segment

Jey Uso entered to a huge reaction. Cole danced like an idiot, and instead of heading to the announce desk with Barrett, he awaited Jey to slap hands with him. 

Gunther quickly cut off Jey’s promo. Gunther called him a funny little man for thinking he would win the world title. Gunther was looking forward to facing him—until today. Until he saw Jey acting like their conversation hadn’t happened last week. Acting like a complete dork and a company mascot. At this point, Gunther may as well be facing Jimmy Uso. 

Jey warned him not to talk about his brother. Gunther asked, “Or what?” because Jey never followed up on his words. Jey claimed he bet on himself, but he wouldn’t be doing that if Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn or Cody Rhodes came calling for help. Jey was just a useful idiot. Jey’s words and actions didn’t align, but Gunther’s did. Gunther would expose Jey on Saturday. 

Jey said Gunther was right again. Jey was the mascot, but the fans were his team. Because they ride with him, and they would be with him when he beat Gunther for the title. Jey respected Gunther, and Gunther would respect him, too. Only one of them had main evented WrestleMania, and it wasn’t Gunther. 

Gunther heard enough and attacked, but Jey fought him off and sent him out of the ring with a superkick. Jey held up the world title belt, and the crowd popped. 

********

The New Day ran into JBL backstage. Kofi Kingston was glad JBL was doing commentary for his match and slid cash ($2) into his coat pocket to butter him up. Kingston and Xavier Woods assumed he would be on the same page as them because he cut the dead weight of his own tag partner and went on to the most success of his career—just not as much success as them. 

JBL gave them a backhanded compliment. He understood why they cut ties with Big E because the fans loved him way more than them, and he figured they wanted the fans to pay more attention to them. New Day didn’t appreciate this, so they left. 

********

Cathy Kelley interviewed Bayley. She announced she was officially back on Raw and declared herself for the Royal Rumble. She said she could go after either brand’s champion if she won. She was about to tease perhaps going after the NXT champion but was cut off by Jax. Jax wanted Tiffany Stratton for herself and planned on winning the Rumble. 

Professional bull riders Mason Taylor and Austin Richardson, and PBR announcer Matt West were shown in the crowd. 

JBL entered for commentary. 

********

The crowd booed New Day heavily as they entered. They were pissed at the fans constantly booing them since they were walking Hall of Famers, unlike JBL. Kingston took back the two bucks out of JBL’s coat pocket. 

Rey Mysterio defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) (10:30) 

Kingston wrestled in black jeans (with black knee pads). Kingston worked over Rey and had a lot of heat until Rey drove him into the steel steps ahead of a break. Interference by Woods behind the referee’s back allowed Kingston to take over. The crowd chanted, “Let’s go, Rey,” and he fought back with a seated senton and low dropkick for two. 

Kingston poked Rey in the eyes behind the ref’s back and hit a splash on Rey’s back for two. Rey set up for 619, but Woods blatantly tripped him, so the ref tossed him out. Woods argued, so Rey knocked him off the apron. Rey hit a 619, but Kingston got his knees up on a springboard splash. 

Kingston went for an SOS, but Rey reversed into a cradle for the sudden pinfall win. 

— Woods attacked Rey from behind and attacked him alongside Kingston until the LWO ran out to make the save. New Day bailed, but as LWO checked on Rey, New Day ran back down through the crowd, and Kingston posted Joaquin Wilde. New Day bailed again before Rey or Cruz Del Toro could get them. 

(New Day running back down just to attack one of the LWO guys was pretty funny.) 

*******

There was a video package highlighting Penta’s debut. 

Kelley interviewed Chad Gable, who was pissed off. He spoke of his recent struggles in the ring with Penta, Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio. He realized he knew a man who could help with his luchador problems, and that was Dominik Mysterio. 

Ivy Nile and the Creed Brothers stated their intentions of winning gold. Gable said they would all be wrapped in gold, and it would be glorious. 

********

During a break, Jackie Redmond interviewed Karrion Kross and Scarlett. Kross dismissed the Wyatt Sicks. He said, “I’m the only guy to beat Uncle Howdy. I derailed all their momentum. He’s gone, I won, they lost.” He had his eyes set next on Rollins, Punk, and Zayn. 

******** 

The announcers spoke briefly about pro wrestling’s history in Dallas. They aired a clip of one of the many things to happen in Dallas: Wade Barrett winning the first season of NXT. 

*******

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens segment 

Zayn entered and announced he was in the Rumble after speaking with Adam Pearce. His conversation with Rollins last week really made him think about what he wanted. It opened up a lot of thoughts. 

He thought about his 14-year-old self and all the people who grew up wanting to be wrestlers. He thought about the few thousand who did become wrestlers and the many fewer who actually got to WWE. He thought about the even smaller group of guys, the upper echelon of five or six or seven guys. 

He considered himself in that group, and all of those guys were in the Rumble with him. The only difference between them and him was that they had a world championship in their name, and he didn’t.  He has had a great life and career. He didn’t need the world title to feel complete. 

The fans have supported him throughout the years, and their support has meant more to him than any world title could ever mean. “So no, I don’t need the world champion. But dammit, I want it!” Because 14-year-old Sami wanted the championship, and 14-year-old Sami was still with him. 

Kevin Owens interrupted. (Owens wore a Bret Hart zip-up jacket.) Zayn said he knew it was just a matter of time before Owens came. Zayn asked how he wanted to do this. Owens didn’t know what he meant. Zayn brought up his issues with Rhodes after he teamed with Reigns. 

Owens wasn’t here for that. Owens admitted he was upset when Zayn teamed with Reigns, but it wasn’t the same as Rhodes. Zayn and Reigns had a lot of history, just like they did. Reigns did terrible things to Zayn that he chose to overlook. Owens did terrible things, too, and Zayn forgave him, just like he forgave Reigns. Zayn did that because he was a good person. 

Owens called Zayn his best friend and brother. Owens wanted to tell Zayn, “You can and will win the Royal Rumble.” Zayn deserved to win the Rumble and go on to Mania to win the title. They’ve done a lot together, but there was one more thing they could do, and that was main event WrestleMania one-on-one for the WWE Championship. 

Owens said that could only happen if Zayn won the Rumble—and if Owens walked out as champion. Owens knew that would happen because he had Zayn’s back, and Zayn would have his back. Owens ended with, “As my brother, if I need you, I know you’ll be there.” Owens left as Zayn contemplated what he said. 

********

Kelley interviewed Sheamus backstage. Sheamus said he may have had the best career backwards. He beat John Cena just six months into his career for the WWE title. But ironically, the Intercontinental title drew him to WWE as a kid and it’s the title he has been chasing for five years. The stars were aligned on Saturday where he would beat Bron Breakker for the title. 

Breakker interrupted. Bron said he would beat Sheamus and break him like an old man. Bron advised him to retire. Sheamus shoved Bron, who laughed and backed away.

******** 

They aired a memorial graphic for Bob Uecker. RIP.  

******** 

Nia Jax defeated Bayley (12:21) 

Roxanne Perez watched from the front row (squeezed between two regular fans). Perez tried to slap Bayley, but Bayley blocked it and slapped her instead. Perez was about to jump the barricade, but a random security guard grabbed her and held her way up in the air with one arm. She was carried away (off-camera). 

Bayley was amused, but Jax attacked her from behind as they went to break. After the break, Jax missed a leg drop on the ring apron, and Bayley hit a sunset flip powerbomb into the post. Bayley followed with an Annihilator (Jax’s finisher) and an elbow drop off the middle rope for two. 

Jax responded with a shoulder breaker. Jax drove her shoulder-first into the ring post and squished her into the post. Bayley blocked an Annihilator attempt and hit a running knee strike for two. 

Jax went up for her finisher again, but Bayley brought her down with a powerbomb for two. Bayley followed right away with a flying elbow drop off the top for a nearfall. Jax followed with a pop-up Samoan drop, senton, and Annihilator for the clean pinfall win. 

— After the match, Ripley ran out to attack Jax, but the brawl was quickly separated by security. As you can imagine, they broke through the pack a few times which led to Ripley knocking everyone down with a cannonball off the announce table. Ripley angrily challenged her to a match at SNME. 

********

Gable eagerly asked Dom for help with his Lucha problems in the Judgment Day clubhouse. They didn’t seem to want him there and even Dom initially resisted his request. However, Dom handed him a piece of paper containing the name of someone who could help. Gable was excited, and he dismissed the rest of Judgment Day as he left to learn the dark arts of Lucha libre. They weren’t sure why Dom would help him, but Dom said it wasn’t the worst thing for Gable to owe them one. 

JD McDonagh was worried because they were getting a tag title rematch next week, but Finn Bálor was out. Dom offered to take Bálor’s place, and McDonagh accepted. McDonagh was worried Bálor may not like this idea but Liv Morgan assured him that he would. Morgan poked fun at Dom for trying to be helpful like he was (or wasn’t) in her match against Ripley. Dom said he would make it up to her. 

********

There was a video recap of Lyra Valkyria winning the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. (She was advertised for the show but never appeared.)

******** 

There was a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute video. 

******** 

Zayn approached Rollins to let him know that his words got through to him last week. Rollins knew it and was glad to see this side of him. However, Rollins wouldn’t hesitate to throw him out of the Rumble. Zayn said he would toss him out first. They had a friendly face-off before Zayn left, and Rollins continued to warm up. 

******** 

Penta defeated Pete Dunne (10:02) 

Cole mentioned that these two first wrestled at RevPro years ago (2017), which is true. 

Dunne tried a backflip off the top, but Penta superkicked him out of mid-air. Penta went for a dive, but Dunne cut him off with a forearm ahead of a break. Penta fought back after the break with a slingblade, corner dropkick and DVD for two. Penta followed with a Canadian destroyer, but Dunne rolled out of the ring, so Penta hit a flip dive. 

Dunne blocked another destroyer attempt and hit a DeadEye for two. Dunne snapped Penta’s fingers and applied an arm bar, but Penta hoisted him up and hit a backbreaker, The Sacrifice (armbreaker) and Penta Driver for the pinfall win. 

This was pretty good. The crowd was into Penta’s entrance. They got into the match more toward the end and popped for the win. 

******** 

There was a Logan Paul video package. 

********

CM Punk promo 

CM Punk entered. He basically stole Jey Uso’s entrance. He entered from the concourse through a sea of fans. He joined Redmond in the stands for an interview. She asked Punk about the Rumble, a match he’s never won against a stacked field.  

Punk called himself the maker of history. He made history by main-eventing the first Raw on Netflix, where he beat Seth Rollins. He would make history at the Rumble by beating 29 other superstars, and nobody was better than him when the people were behind him. 

Punk ran down the names Redmond listed. He dismissed the idea of John Cena or Roman Reigns eliminating him and he already put Drew McIntyre in the ground. (He got some light boos for his line about Cena.) 

He didn’t want to hear about Sami Zayn because Zayn wasn’t on his level. You could put Hulk Hogan in the Rumble, but Punk would throw his dusty ass out and kill Hulkamania. (The fans cheered, which is exactly what Punk was hoping for.) 

Punk said he would settle a score and would call in a favour or two if he needed to. Only one man would get his hand raised, and that was CM Punk. 

********

Kelley interviewed the War Raiders (who spoke in their normal guy voices). Ivar said they were always ready to defend the tag titles. They would return honour and prestige to the division, something that was tarnished by Judgment Day. Erik said they weren’t overlooking any teams, but no one was taking their titles. 

********

IYO SKY & Dakota Kai defeated Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler (6:24) 

Early in the match, Stark obliterated Kai with a springboard dropkick, and the crowd buzzed at the spot. (The ref checked on Kai, and the match continued.) 

Sky eventually made the hot tag, and the fans chanted her name. Sky took out Baszler with a German suplex and suicide dive. Sky hit Stark with a missile dropkick and a running double knee strike for two. 

Sonya Deville tried to distract Sky, so Kai wiped her out. Sky was distracted instead by Baszler taking out Kai. Stark knocked Sky off the top and suplexed her for two. Baszler hit a running knee but Kai broke up the cover. Kai hit Stark with a PK, and Baslzer knocked Kai off the apron. 

Baszler put Sky in the Kirifuda Clutch, but Sky slipped out of it and hit a moonsault for the pinfall win. This was more or less a showcase for Sky. The fans were into her. 

********

There was a video package for Rollins vs. McIntyre. Rollins entered ahead of a break, and if you are among the lucky people who get to watch during the breaks, you got to hear Rollins’ music play and play and play. 

(The main event began at 10:15 pm ET.) 

Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre (16:59) 

Rollins hit a suicide dive, but McIntyre caught his second attempt and suplexed him over the announce desk. After a break, McIntyre tried a reverse Alabama Slam, but Rollins countered into a victory roll for two. Rollins followed with jabs and chops and drove McIntyre shoulder-first into the ring post three times. Rollins followed with a flying knee and running boot for two, followed by a springboard senton for two. 

McIntyre went to the top, but Rollins brought him down with a superplex. Rollins tried to transition into the falcon arrow but McIntyre hit the falcon arrow instead. Rollins ducked a Claymore, but McIntyre hit a spinebuster for two. Rollins hit a falcon arrow for two. 

They traded counters until Rollins applied a crossface, but McIntyre got a rope break. Rollins got in McIntyre’s face (in the ropes), and as the ref pulled him away, McIntyre poked Rollins in the eye. McIntyre followed with a Future Shock DDT for a nearfall. 

McIntyre hit consecutive clotheslines and seemed to think Rollins was done. He took his time pacing around the ring, so Rollins caught him in a jackknife cover for the sudden pinfall win. 

— McIntyre was pissed, so he attacked Rollins after the match and nailed a Claymore Kick. 

McIntyre placed Rollins’ head against the ring post and was about to kill him with a Claymore but Zayn ran out to make the save. Zayn checked on Rollins, but McIntyre headbutted Zayn. 

McIntyre taunted Rollins in the corner. Zayn went for a Helluva Kick, but McIntyre moved out of the way just in time, and Zayn kicked Rollins instead. McIntyre was amused. Zayn explained himself to Rollins as they went off the air (at about 10:36 pm).

(They had a good match but the crowd was pretty quiet for it. There was nothing on the line, and Rollins hasn’t been the most endearing babyface lately, so that could explain it. 

One negative was they repeated a few spots we saw earlier tonight. The shoulder-into-the-post spot was done multiple times, as it was in the Bayley-Jax match. Although Bayley and Jax varied it a bit. McIntyre poked Rollins in the eye to set up a nearfall, only for Rollins to win with a flash pin. In the opening match, Kingston poked Mysterio in the eye to set up a nearfall, only for Mysterio to win with a flash pin.)

Drew McIntyre on CM Punk rivalry: ‘The whole process was magic’

Posted on by Ian Carey

During a recent interview with The Daily Mail, Drew McIntyre opened up about why he feels his rivalry with CM Punk worked as well as it did. 

McIntyre and Punk wrestled three PLE matches against each other last year, starting with SummerSlam 2024, continuing with a strap match at Bash at Berlin, and concluding inside Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood. McIntyre says he and Punk know they have a “certain magic with each other.”

McIntyre said:

“As much as we have certain feelings towards each other, we both are aware we’ve got certain magic with each other. It’s a tale as old as time. The more people have a genuine disdain for each other, people can truly feel it. And if you’re actually good at your job, like we are, it does create magic. And the whole process was magic, and the cell itself was a match that we talked about forever.”

McIntyre continued to say that he was also impressed with how Punk responded to some of the personal shots he took at him both on-screen and on social media. 

He continued:

“I will say, however my feelings are towards him, I went completely gangbusters for him. I didn’t hold back. On TV, I can only go so far, but, on social, but it’s my social. You can’t tell me what to do. I went overboard. And the company could have asked me to pull back if they wanted me to, and I’d have said, ‘No, it’s my social.’ But I went at him and went at him. And I’ve done that with a couple of people, and they have got a boo boo face. Not that I care, but he didn’t. He ate it like a man, and then came back with what he had to say. So I’ll give him that.”

McIntyre was absent from WWE programming for two months following his loss to Punk at Bad Blood. He returned on the December 2 episode of Raw, attacking Sami Zayn. Two weeks later, he defeated Zayn in his in-ring return at Saturday Night’s Main Event. 

McIntyre declared for the Royal Rumble on last week’s Raw. He is scheduled to face Seth Rollins in singles competition on Monday’s show. 

Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso added to WWE Raw Netflix premiere

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Another new match is set for the WWE Raw premiere episode on Netflix on January 6, 2025.

After Drew McIntyre attacked Jey Uso in the ring on Monday’s Raw, GM Adam Pearce announced that McIntyre vs. Uso has been made official for next week’s Netflix premiere.

Since returning to WWE on the December 2 Raw, McIntyre has focused his attacks on Roman Reigns’ iteration of The Bloodline, including Uso, plus scoring victories over Sami Zayn at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and on the December 16 Raw.

McIntyre vs. Uso is one of four matches official for next week’s episode, which also features the return of John Cena for the kickoff of his retirement tour, plus the expected debut of Penta El Zero Miedo.

The lineup for the Monday, January 6 WWE Raw on Netflix premiere episode:

  • Tribal Combat: Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa
  • CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins
  • Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan defends against Rhea Ripley in a Last Woman Standing match
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso
  • John Cena returns
  • Penta El Zero Miedo debuts

Daily Update: Natalya, Drew McIntyre, Mustafa Ali

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The  new issue of the Observer is on the site today (after a snafu):

  • Full coverage of the lessons of Saturday Night’s Main Event, from ratings to execution
  • The Athletic story on Lee Fitting, plus our thoughts on the subject
  • B.J. Whitmer alleged victim Jaime Hawn comments on current and former AEW legal heads
  • Full coverage of New Japan’s show in Long Beach with the Mercedes Mone vs. Hazuki main event
  • Update on Worlds End and the Battle of Orlando
  • CMLL’s international based show on Friday and what went right and wrong
  • Dragon Gate’s lastest major show of the year
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows and UFC shows including segment ratings, standings for the week and night, demos, comparisons with last year and a lot more
  • Annnouncer leaves company after more than 30 years and why
  • Stardoms’ end of year show
  • Comedy wrestler retires
  • CyberFight (DDT, NOAH and TJPW) financials looked at
  • How sports ratings are doing
  • Notes on a movie on one of the most legendary woman wrestlers of all-time that will be out  in March
  • Chris Jericho and Matt Cardona angle in GCW and how it came about
  • Tessa Blanchard to TNA notes and the bigger picture
  • WWE, AEW and TNA PPV numbers updates
  • Notes on changes in WBD structure
  • More on AEW move to MAX
  • Ticket advanceds for WWE & AEW shows
  • UFC business updates
  • More on WWE to Netflix and international TV notes
  • Dwayne Johnson box office notes

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Tuesday Update

Natalya

WWE

  • The full match between Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn from Monday’s Raw has been uploaded in full to WWE’s YouTube channel.
  • WWE’s YouTube channel also has a look at the Bloodline story in 2024.
  • Following her loss last night in the Women’s Intercontinental title tournament, Natalya wrote on social media: “There’s so much more I want to say, but I don’t know how to. I wake up everyday  worried that I wont be able to realize my full potential. It haunts me. More than I can say. But I’ll never stop fighting. I’ll never stop showing up for my dreams. I love and appreciate everyone who’s fought hard with me. You guys are truly the best.”
  • A new teaser for Penta El Zero Miedo aired on Raw last night.
  • Drew McIntyre has a message for The Bloodline and fans ahead of Christmas.
  • Aaron Rourke vs. Timothy Thatcher in a WWE ID Showcase match has been added to Beyond Wrestling’s December 31 event in Worcester.
  • This week’s WWE Vault content has a focus on ECW. In the last couple of days, Gunther introduced the ECW One Night Stand 2005 match between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka, The Dudley Boyz relive their greatest moments, and the Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn match from Hardcore Heaven 1999 has been added.

AEW/Other Wrestling

Drew McIntyre on AEW: So many people making a full-time living is ‘awesome’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE star Drew McIntyre is happy to see so many of his friends making a full-time living in professional wrestling.

During a social media Q&A with fans on Thursday, McIntyre was asked to give his thoughts on the current AEW product. McIntyre was in character for much of the session, but he said he’s happy to watch all wrestling and is glad to see how much the industry outside of WWE has grown.

“I mean, I’m happy to watch all wrestling, especially when I’m off. You know, when I was out that three months,” McIntyre said. “That’s a chance for me to catch up and everything. You know, Impact, AEW, New Japan, the independent scene. And I’m just happy to see so many people that I’m friends with making a full-time living. That wasn’t the case when I was fired in 2014 and reinvented what it meant to be an independent wrestler. Using social media, as I still do to this day at a top level, it’s been going since 2014, to rebrand myself. To see how much the industry grew in those three years and led to so many places with so many people making a full-time living is awesome.”

McIntyre was away from WWE television for a couple of months following his Hell in a Cell loss to CM Punk at Bad Blood. He returned earlier this month and recently defeated Sami Zayn at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

JNPO wrestling year in review series: Arrivals, departures, ladders & airport meetings

Posted on by Josh Nason

The second half of the Josh Nason’s Punch-Out pro wrestling year in review series continues with July and debuting guest Jack Farmer, a wrestling media free agent formerly of Wrestling Inc.

Jack and I go in-depth on all kinds of happenings including:

  • WWE Money in the Bank where CM Punk again shafted Drew McIntyre
  • The significance of WWE signing Stephanie Vaquer and moving away from Bobby Lashley and MVP
  • The announcement of the ’25 John Cena retirement tour
  • AEW putting all the big matches in place for August’s All In
  • MJF winning the AEW International title and subsequently renaming it
  • The Shane McMahon/Tony Khan meeting
  • Continuing crossovers in NXTNA and two big WWE stars heading to Japan for matches
  • Hundreds of other headlines and topics

Click here to listen

Here’s the rest of the series thus far:

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event live results: Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens

Posted on by Marc Quill

For the first time since 2008, WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event will return, back on its original home of NBC and emanating from Uniondale, New York — the site of the very first episode of the show.

The two-hour show will be full of nostalgia from the original theme song to Jesse Ventura returning to what Ventura described as a stripped-down stage and entrances reminiscent of the 1980s.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will defend his title against heated rival and former champion Kevin Owens while in a three-way for the WWE World Heavyweight title, Gunther will defend against two former champions in Damian Priest and Finn Balor.

WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan defends against IYO Sky while the inaugural Women’s United States Champion will be crowned between Chelsea Green and Michin.

The main card is rounded out by Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre in the latter’s first match since October’s Hell in a Cell.

**********

– After the WWE signature open, an overhead shot of New York City and the voice of Raw’s Joe Tessitore welcomed us to tonight’s show. We then headed into the cold open, followed by the iconic intro set to Animotion’s “Obsession”.

– Jesse “The Body” Ventura joined Tessitore at the broadcast position to loud cheers from the Uniondale, NY crowd. Ventura and Tessitore talked about Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens, with Ventura talking trash about Rhodes as only he could. They tossed things over to Michael Cole at ringside, as Pat McAfee joined the commentary team.

Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn

Zayn went after McIntyre right away as the bell rang, but got taken down with a chop. Zayn recovered and hit McIntyre with bunches of punches in the corner, followed by a clothesline. On the apron, Zayn hit a modified springboard moonsault on McIntyre.

On the other end of the ring, Zayn attempted for a vaulting press to the outside, but got caught by McIntyre, who splayed him on the announce table, which took us to the first break of the night at 8:13pm.

We returned to Saturday Night’s Main Event with McIntyre throwing Zayn for an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. That got a count of two. Zayn avoided calamity by dodging an attempted shoulder charge from McIntyre, which sent the Scot to the ringpost.

McIntyre tried for an Avalanche White Noise, but got flipped for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb by Zayn for another near fall. Zayn’s attempt at a Blue Thunder Bomb was blocked by McIntyre, who cracked him with the Glasgow Kiss headbutt.

McIntyre had Zayn in his sights for the Claymore, but he was intercepted for the Blue Thunder Bomb for yet another near-fall. As McIntyre rolled out to avoid a Helluva Kick, Zayn chased him to the outside, only to be met by a surprise Claymore Kick for the clean three.

A heck of a opener for tonight’s show. Zayn and McIntyre have fantastic chemistry and I enjoyed the intensity shown throughout the bout.

**********

– Tito Santana, Rich Hering, and Jimmy Hart were shown in the crowd enjoying the show.

Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) def. IYO SKY

Fast and furious action between SKY and Morgan to start off as the action headed to the apron. Morgan attempted for a powerbomb to the outside, but was blocked by SKY. Apron-based moonsault from SKY to Morgan took us to the break.

We returned with SKY and Morgan at a standstill, with the challenger gaining momentum. SKY ran across the ring and landed a suicide dive to the outside on Morgan. Double-footed springboard dropkick by SKY got a near fall.

Morgan avoided SKY’s Bullet Train and hit her foe with a backstabber. SKY, however, regained the advantage with three consecutive roll-through German suplexes. Morgan managed to kick out at two.

Enzuigiri from Morgan is met by a crossface from SKY that is easily escaped out of. Morgan, however, failed to escape another Bullet Train from SKY.

Moonsault by SKY is blocked by double feet from Morgan. Ob-Liv-ion from Morgan put an end to this title defense.

Post-match, Morgan’s victory celebration was interrupted by Rhea Ripley, who stared down the Women’s World Champion at the top of the ramp.

A by the numbers match with a by the numbers result that still managed to be entertaining. Hopefully, 2025 means bigger things for IYO SKY, who’s a joy to watch in the ring.

**********

World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Match: Gunther (c) def. Finn Balor & Damian Priest

We started off with Gunther and Priest teeing off on Balor for a bit before the latter took over with a dive to the outside that stunned Gunther and led to a break in the action.

The action picked up from the break with Priest and Balor duking it out in the ring before Gunther floored both men with dual big boots to the face. Priest felt the wrath of the Boston Crab from Gunther before Balor chopped the World Champion to break things up. Pele kick by Balor to Gunther is followed by a double clothesline to both men by Priest.

Priest fired away with hard chops of his own to Gunther as he then teed off on Balor afterwards. With Gunther and Balor on opposite corners, Priest laid into both his opponents easily. He ascended the top rope with Gunther in hand and hit his own twist on the Undertaker’s Old School maneuver. Priest had Balor in position for the Razor’s Edge, but Gunther stopped it and looked to hit the Powerbomb. Balor took down both Priest and Gunther with consecutive Slingblades as a sleeper hold attempt was inadvertently turned into a pin by a superkick from Priest to Balor.

Gunther locked in the sleeper on Priest and looked to have him out, but the challenger powered out of it and landed South of Heaven. Balor snuck in with a neckbreaker on Priest, followed by the shotgun dropkick. Up top, Balor’s attempt at a Coup De Grace is stopped by Gunther, who looked to hit a superplex. Priest caught Gunther with a Razor’s Edge, as Balor hit a Coup De Grace on the champion. Priest managed to break it up at the last second.

South of Heaven to Balor by Priest, but the pin is interrupted by Gunther. Powerbomb to the steel steps to Priest by Gunther is followed by the Powerbomb to Balor in the ring and that’s it, over. Gunther retains.

A hell of a triple threat match with high stakes, and Gunther scoring the clean victory over two competitors certainly helps with building his credibility as a champion moving forward. A highlight of the night so far.

**********

– We went back to Ventura and Tessitore for their thoughts on the matches that we’ve seen so far on tonight’s edition of SNME before they sent things back to ringside.

Women’s United States Championship Finals: Chelsea Green vs. Michin

Missed kicks from both Michin and Green to start off as both women traded arm drags before Green threw her opponent to the outside. On the apron, Michin applied a modified submission using the middle rope as leverage. With the referee distracted, Piper Niven slammed Michin outside the ring, as we headed for a break in the action.

As we returned, Michin countered Green’s attempt at a Rough Ryder with a powerbomb. She followed that up with a release German suplex and then a tornado DDT. Green kicked out at two following that barrage from Michin. Green managed to connect with the Rough Ryder on Michin, but that only got two. Attempt at a spear is avoided by Michin, which caused Green to crash into Piper Niven.

Outside the ring, Michin took Niven out of the equation with Eat Defeat. In the ring, Michin managed to hit Eat Defeat on Green, but a well-timed foot on the bottom rope saved the match for the precocious Canadian. Michin was momentarily distracted by Niven, who got a dropkick for her troubles. On the corner, Green hit an amazing counter on Michin that led to the Un-Pretty-Her and the one, two, three that secured her the Women’s United States Championship.

A memorable finish led to a memorable moment for Chelsea Green, whose 2024 ends on a high with this Women’s U.S. Title victory. It’s a heck of a moment and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer star. Props to both Green and Michin for that incredible finishing sequence, too. Just a great way to end this match.

**********

– Koko B. Ware & Greg “The Hammer Valentine” were shown in the crowd as we saw Jesse Ventura join Cole and McAfee for commentary on our upcoming main event. After a “Pat-a-strator” gimmick, we got a hype video for the Undisputed WWE Championship main event match.

Undisputed WWE World Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) def. Kevin Owens

Owens entered to the ring wearing a t-shirt with his face taped over Dusty Rhodes, while Cody made his entrance with the Winged Eagle WWE Championship around his waist, which was teased a few days earlier in a YouTube video.

As the bell rang, Owens rolled out the ring and took his time while taking a gander at the Winged Eagle championship at ringside. Rhodes headed outside and proceeded to go on the attack against Owens, as he slammed him into the commentary table. Dive to the outside by Rhodes to Owens led to an awkward landing on the injured ankle of the Undisputed WWE Champion.

Owens regained the advantage by throwing Rhodes into the ring post, then doing a Randy Orton-style backbreaker on the commentary table, which led to a picture-in-picture break, but not before Owens said a sarcastic “Hi, Randy” to the camera.

During picture-in-picture, Owens targeted Rhodes’ injured ankle in the ring to maintain control of the match. As the match returned to live action, Owens, landed the swanton bomb on Rhodes for the two. Owens decided to rub salt in the wound by mocking Dusty Rhodes’ signature punches, but he got met with Rhodes hitting his father’s punches instead.

Disaster Kick by Rhodes on Owens got him a near-fall. The WWE Champion looked for a Cody Cutter, but Owens rolled to the outside. A superkick from Owens was followed by the challenger clearing the announce table., Rhodes paid homage to Randy Orton iwth an RKO outta nowhere on Owens right on the table. Inside the ring, Rhodes had Owens in his sights for the Cody Cutter. One, two, no!

Rhodes placed Owens up top and had him set up for a high-risk superplex attempt. Owens fought out of it and landed an avalanche fisherman’s buster on Rhodes, but the champion kicked out at two. Stunner attempt by Rhodes is met with a Cross Rhodes, but Owens countered and pushed him right into the referee!

Stunner by Owens, but the referee was still down. A second referee ran in to make the count, but Rhodes kicked out at two. Pop-up Powerbomb was blocked by Rhodes, and the second referee found himself knocked out by an errant dive from Rhodes. Owens rolled to the outside and looked to grab a streel chair. He took a swing with the chair, but Rhodes dodged it and hit a Cody Cutter. Cross Rhodes onto the chair by the Undisputed WWE Champion as Rhodes hid the evidence. The cover, and that’s it, over. Cody Rhodes retains in the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

A very fun way to cap off what has been a great evening of action on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The finish with the referee bumps and the chair should naturally lead to a third match down the line with Owens perhaps having a claim due to the murky way the match wrapped.

All in all, a solid night of wrestling for WWE’s return to NBC on Saturday Nights. While the results for four out of the five matches were never in doubt, the in-ring action was excellent and there was never a dull moment throughout. How things shape up for the next SNME in San Antonio next month should be quite interesting, but for now, I had a good time with this inaugural edition of the SNME revival.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn set for WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A new match has been added to WWE Saturday Night’s Main event on December 14.

Following a pair of angles involving the duo on Monday’s Raw, Sami Zayn and Drew McIntyre will go one-on-one this Saturday on the NBC special.

McIntyre made his surprise return to the company on last week’s Raw, aying out Zayn in the aftermath of a Zayn vs. Seth Rollins matchup. McIntyre again attacked Zayn on the Raw stage on this week’s episode, with Zayn getting retribution in a backstage attack in a later segment:

Five matches are now set for Saturday’s prime time NBC Saturday Night’s Main Event. The updated lineup:

  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Kevin Owens
  • World Heavyweight Champion Gunther defends against Finn Balor and Damian Priest in a three-way
  • Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan defends against IYO SKY
  • Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre
  • WWE Women’s United States title tournament finals
  • Jesse Ventura on commentary

Wrestling Weekly: Drew McIntyre returns to WWE, AEW Continental Classic update

Posted on by Victor Sosa

Image: WWE

On a new Wrestling Weekly, we talk about where WWE is headed after a newsworthy Survivor Series and the return of Drew McIntyre. We also look at AEW’s Continental Classic and some good matches happening on Rampage and Collision.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Click here to listen (sub needed)

Drew McIntyre returns on WWE Raw, attacks Sami Zayn

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Drew McIntyre is back.

The former WWE Champion made his return on Monday, catching Zayn with a claymore kick as he was recovering from a loss against Seth Rollins. The show ended with McInytre staring into the camera with a cold look on his face.

After Raw went off the air, McIntyre posted a video on social media saying if you don’t hear it from him or on his social channels, assume that everything you hear about him is BS.

“Oh, and how soon they forget,” he concluded.

Shortly before the main event, Zayn had discovered Jey Uso being laid out backstage. After asking GM Adam Pearce who attacked Jey, Zayn came to the conclusion that Rollins was behind the attack after he berated Zayn earlier in the show for asking him to team with Roman Reigns at Survivor Series.

McIntyre was last seen at Bad Blood losing the Hell in a Cell match between himself and CM Punk, ending their feud that lasted most of 2024.