Tag: John Morrison

WWE Raw live results: TLC fallout, six-man street fight

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: December 21, 2020
Location: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL 

The Big Takeaway — 

WWE followed consecutive bad Raw shows and an all-time bad rating with another poor show. Not only was it not an improvement in any way, but there was nothing new or different about it, besides the returning Charlotte Flair. 

The main story of the show was Keith Lee and Sheamus not getting along, with Drew McIntyre trying to keep the peace. Lee got the pin in the main event but Sheamus laid him out with a Brogue Kick. 

Bray Wyatt was not on the show but Alexa Bliss returned to issue a warning to Randy Orton.

Show Recap — 

The stage was decorated with Christmas trees. The announcers ran down tonight’s show, including some sort of message from Randy Orton. 

Charlotte Flair entered and they replayed what happened last night. She said, “Well, well — would you look at this. I am in the Thunderdome. And what would the Thunderdome be without the queen?” 

Charlotte said she walked into the Thunderdome for the first time as a champion because she’s always a champion and that hasn’t changed over the past few months. Charlotte said a friend was in need and that friend was considered the heartbeat of this division. She introduced Asuka. 

Asuka gleefully boasted about being a double champion. Asuka said Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler was not ready for her or Charlotte. Charlotte was about to ask about the Raw Women’s title but was interrupted by Jax and Baszler. 

Jax said it was good to see Charlotte and noted that it must’ve taken six months to recover from the beating she gave her. Jax also noted that six months off didn’t fix Charlotte’s robotic voice. Charlotte told her that she kicked their asses last night. Baszler and Jax bragged about handing out beatings of their own to the likes of Lana and Kairi Sane. 

Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke interrupted. Brooke said Jax looked like Rudolph after a nose job. Rose made a comment on her looks as well. Basically, they thought she looked like a reindeer. Rose and Brooke wanted their scheduled match against Jax and Baszler right now. Charlotte encouraged a referee to get out there and a referee did indeed enter the ring. 

This wasn’t exactly an exciting segment. 

Raw Legends Night was announced for January 4th. Guests include Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Beth Phoenix, Torrie Wilson and more. 

Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defeated Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke (12:52)

Asuka and Charlotte joined commentary. The announcers asked who they wanted to win and Asuka said she was cheering for her “sexy muscle friends” (Rose and Brooke). 

Rose and Brooke took down their opponents with dives. This was followed by a clunky spot where Jax knocked Rose off the apron by barely touching her. Jax tossed her into the barricade which led to break. The heels worked over Rose until Rose hit a knee strike and tagged in Brooke. Jax broke up a cover at one point so Rose took her out with a flying knee off the apron. 

Brooke got a couple of two counts on Baszler but Baszler caught her in the Kirifuda Clutch for the submission win. (Brooke tapped immediately. It didn’t even seem like the move was fully applied when she tapped.) 

As Baszler and Jax bragged to the champs, Brooke and Rose dumped them out of the ring and their music played as the segment ended. This was no good. 

Hurt Business bullied some guy wearing a New Day shirt. They ripped off his shirt and put him in a Hurt Business shirt. 

Things announced for Smackdown: Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns in a cage match, Sami Zayn vs. Big E for the IC title, and Charlotte and Asuka defending the tag titles. 

Jeff Hardy & Riddle vs. Bobby Lashley & MVP was announced for tonight. 

MVP’s VIP Lounge with The Hurt Business 

The Hurt Business entered all wearing black suits and gold accessories. MVP said the VIP Lounge was for people better than you. 

Shelton Benjamin began talking about their win but seemed to be interrupted by Cedric Alexander who bragged about beating New Day. (Lashley and Benjamin gave each other a knowing look as he spoke.) Lashley called himself dominant and said nobody could beat him. 

MVP brought in a photographer to commemorate the moment. She entered the ring and began taking pictures as R-Truth appeared unknowingly behind them to pose with his 24/7 title. The 24/7 losers ran after him which included everyone running between the X-Mas trees to the back. 

Riddle and Hardy interrupted (to Hardy’s music). Riddle congratulated Hurt Business on the win but wondered why they spent so much money on celebrating. Riddle said all you needed to do was hang out with your bros while listening to Joe Rogan or watching Dave Chappelle while making treats and getting toasted. 

Riddle said they were all the same: self-aware creatures travelling on a rock through the solar system. Hardy said there were more important things in life than status and money. He said they would rather live with pride than greed. Hardy’s music hit and that was the segment. 

It’s been 43 minutes and it doesn’t appear they’ve actually decided to change anything after last week’s rating. 

Angel Garza defeated Drew Gulak (2:13) 

Sarah Schreiber interviewed Garza before the match. He said he would be fighting Gulak but would be thinking of her. He gave her a rose. As Garza entered, the announcers said we’ve heard from him a lot recently. He hasn’t been on Raw in weeks. 

Garza won fairly quickly with a superkick and Wing Clipper. 

Chary Caruso approached AJ Styles (who had a large bruise on the left side of his face) and Omos. Styles told Caruso that Miz screwed him out of the WWE title. She wondered why he agreed to be on MizTV. Styles wanted to hear what Miz had to say for himself. 

[Second hour] 

MizTV with The Miz & John Morrison 

A morose Miz and Morrison stood in the ring. Miz said he failed at his goal of becoming a two-time WWE champion. Miz apologized to his family for letting them down. Morrison said that wasn’t the only apology he had and Miz called out Styles. Styles and Omos entered. 

Miz began to explain himself but Styles quickly interrupted him. Styles said Miz might be the dumbest person on earth. Styles said Miz blew it. 

Miz fired up and said he knows what happened. He successfully cashed in the contract 10 years ago and wanted to do it again. After 15 years of hard work, people still don’t respect him. Miz wanted respect from the fans and from Styles and that’s why he tried winning the title last night. Miz said they were both robbed last night. He apologized to Styles. 

Miz had a gift for Styles: an opportunity to be in the next Marine movie. Miz showed a Marine poster with himself, Omos and Styles on the poster. Styles was tiny. Styles yelled at Miz. They all argued as Omos pointed out that Morrison is the one who cashed in the briefcase. 

As Styles and Morrison argued, Omos left the ring for some reason. Miz realized that Omos was right: Morrison cashed in, not him, so it shouldn’t count. Miz wanted his MITB contract reinstated. 

Drew McIntyre interrupted. McIntyre recalled celebrated over pints last night with Sheamus and Keith Lee. They wanted a sequel of the Nightmare Before TLC. He said they (drunkenly) wrote a new story (on napkins): Nightmare After TLC. 

Sheamus and Lee entered and they all read a line from the story they came up with. McIntyre realized they didn’t write down an ending so they gave up on it and decided to just come up with a new ending right now. They entered the ring and attacked the heels. (Omos isn’t a very good bodyguard.) 

Sheamus was about to finish things off with a Brogue Kick but Styles dropkicked Lee into him. Sheamus got in Lee’s face for ruining his moment. McIntyre tried to calm him down as the heels left. 

Lee and Sheamus argued backstage after a break. McIntyre got between them. McIntyre said if they didn’t stop, he’d knock them both out. McIntyre demanded that Sheamus go calm down. McIntyre tried to reason with Lee. He admitted that Sheamus can be a bit of a prick but he’s the guy you want on your team. Lee agreed to leave it alone. 

T-Bar (w/Retribution) defeated Ricochet (2:44) 

Like last week, Ricochet had to fight off other members of Retribution as the referee just watched. Mustafa Ali tried lecturing him so Ricochet went after him. This allowed T-Bar to grab Ricochet and hit Feast Your Eyes for the pinfall win. This sucked. 

T-Bar threatened to end Ricochet’s existence if he doesn’t join them. 

There was a pre-taped New Day interview where they tipped their caps to Hurt Business for winning the titles. New Day knew they’d get back on top because they’ve done it before. 

US Champion Bobby Lashley & MVP (w/Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander) defeated Riddle & Jeff Hardy (11:48) 

The good guys were in control through a break but, after the break, Lashley pushed Hardy off the top and he fell awkwardly on the outside. Riddle made a hot tag and ran wild on MVP. Alexander tried distracting Riddle but it didn’t work and he kept going. Riddle hit a fisherman’s suplex but Lashley broke up the cover, tagged himself in, and ran over Riddle. 

Riddle kneed out of a delayed vertical suplex and Hardy tagged himself in. Riddle hit Lashley with a knee strike and wiped out Benjamin and Alexander with a dive. Hardy went to the top but had to fend off MVP. Lashley dodged a Swanton attempt and applied the Hurt Lock. This was fine. 

Jaxson Ryker (w/Elias) defeated Gran Metalik (w/Lince Dorado) (0:54) 

Elias cut a promo before the ring where he basically said nothing. He wanted to show the impact his music could make on someone. 

As the match started, Elias climbed to the top rope to perform with his guitar. Metalik dodged a charge by Ryker before yanking Elias down with a rana. Dorado posed with his guitar. Ryker came back and knocked down Metalik with a clothesline before hitting a sit-out bomb for the pinfall win. 

[Third hour] 

Randy Orton segment 

Orton entered wearing a smile (and shorts). Tom Phillips tried to rationalize Orton winning the match by setting part of the Fiend on fire because those were the rules but thought he went too far by setting him completely on fire after the match. (They played loud booing for Orton.) 

Orton said he’s been called sick, twisted, deranged and demented. He proved that he was all of those things when he “burned the Fiend alive.” Orton said a normal man would have regrets for setting another man on fire but the Fiend was no man and Orton himself was not a normal man. Orton enjoyed every second of watching the Fiend burning. 

Orton said he could still see it and smell it. He couldn’t sleep last night because the voices in his head, which are normally like a lullaby, were absent. All he could hear were the screams of the Fiend. “The Fiend is gone. The Fiend is no more. And I am the evil son-of-a-bitch that took him out.” Loud booing continued. 

The lights began to go out so Orton bailed from the ring. A dim purple light shined on the ring to reveal Alexa Bliss on a swing set. (There was also a slide in the corner.) She invited Orton to come in the ring and play. 

Bliss said maybe “he” was on the beach, hopefully not getting a sunburn, or at his favourite restaurant having his favourite food — BBQ. Bliss thought maybe “he” was absorbed into the mat and into the earth. But maybe he’ll be back one day on Bliss’ playground. And if he does come back, he’ll be unlike anything you’ve seen before. 

The lights went out again. They cut to the announcers who looked befuddled. 

This was pure detritus. 

Non-title match: Raw Women’s Champion Asuka & Charlotte Flair defeated Peyton Royce & Lacey Evans (8:27) 

Schreiber interviewed Royce and Evans before the match. Evans was offended that Schrieber thought they might not be ready for this. As Evans began making her entrance, Royce made it clear to Schreiber that she’s the one who got this match made. 

They went to break one minute into the match even though not much happened since the previous break. Royce and Evans were in control despite not getting along. Asuka gave Royce a German suplex and tagged in Charlotte who gave Evans a nasty-looking high-angle back suplex before hitting Royce with chops and a big boot. 

Charlotte set up for the Figure Four but Evans got in the way so Charlotte suplexed her. Royce put Charlotte in a single-leg crab but Asuka broke it up before knocking down Evans with a kick. Royce used a rollup for two and Charlotte followed with a Figure Eight for the submission win. This was the first babyface win of the evening. 

Lee, Sheamus, and McIntyre were shown getting ready together in the back. 

They aired a video of Titus O’Neil gifting a longtime school staff member with a new car. 

Miz was on the phone with someone trying to explain why he should get the MITB contract back. Styles approached him and ended the call. 

Six-man holiday street fight: WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, Sheamus & Keith Lee defeated AJ Styles (w/Omos), The Miz & John Morrison (17:54) 

They called this a street fight but everyone was still tagging in and out. 

Sheamus and Morrison had an exchange early on that reminded me that these two had a really damn good ladder match at TLC (10 years ago). 

The good guys were doing well and getting along just fine until Sheamus and Lee got a little heated. After a break, Sheamus worked over Styles. Sheamus and McIntyre decided to club away at the chests of Miz and Morrison in unison. They pushed Miz and Morrison into Lee who drove them unto the side of the ring. 

Morrison threw a gift box into the ring and the announcers let us know there were no DQs. Everyone was still standing on the apron waiting for a tag as he said this. 

Sheamus and Morrison battled on the top which resulted in Sheamus falling through a table on the outside. This allowed the heels to take over. McIntyre and Lee just watched from the apron as their teammate got beat up even though there are no DQs. 

The Steelers got a fortunate pass interference call in their favour as Sheamus hit a White Noise and tagged in McIntyre, who tossed around Morrison and Miz. Benny Snell Jr. scored a touchdown as McIntyre gave Miz a spinebuster but AJ Styles broke up a cover. 

Everyone traded moves until Styles finally decided to grab a kendo stick (dressed as a candy cane) and used it on McIntyre. McIntyre fought back and powerbombed Styles through a table. Sheamus and Morrison battled with kendo sticks on the inside as McIntyre set up Miz for a Claymore kick. 

Sheamus tagged himself in before McIntyre could hit the move (which he could have done anyway since it was no DQ). Lee tagged himself in before Sheamus could do anything (not that it matters since it was no DQ). Morrison was about to get involved so Lee knocked him off the apron into the arms of Omos. Morrison was relieved but Omos dropped him through a table. 

Lee gave Miz a Spirit Bomb for the pinfall win. As soon as the faces began celebrating, Sheamus gave Lee a Brogue Kick. McIntyre yelled at Sheamus as they abruptly went off the air at 11:00pm.

WWE Raw live results: Handicap match, Firefly Fun House

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: December 7, 2020
Location: Amway Center in Orlando, FL 

The Big Takeaway — 

None.

Show Recap — 

Vince McMahon, Triple H and the Raw roster stood on the stage for a ten bell salute in honour of Pat Patterson. RIP. 

Randy Orton entered as they played video recaps of his angle with Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss. Orton said most men would be afraid of the Fiend but he ditched his moral compass a long time ago and he planned on showing Wyatt who the evilest man on the planet really was. 

Wyatt in a sweater showed up on the screen, without Bliss. Orton said Wyatt didn’t want to play games with him. “Game” was the magic word because Wyatt was suddenly playing Price is Right host. (Orton had his back turned to the tron for a moment, which was funny.) 

Orton eventually began watching again as Wyatt told his puppet contestants that none of them had the right answer. Wyatt got serious and warned Orton that “he” always had the right answer. 

Orton challenged Wyatt, not the Fiend, to a match tonight. Orton actually specified that he wanted Wyatt because he knew had was getting the Fiend at TLC. Wyatt accepted. 

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler will defend the tag titles against Asuka and Lana at TLC. 

They showed social media tributes for Pat Patterson by John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Nikki Bella, Sami Zayn, Hulk Hogan, Bayley, and Vince McMahon. 

Jax hyped up Baszler before the upcoming match. They planned on hurting Asuka and doing worse to Lana.

Raw Women’s Champion Asuka (w/Lana) defeated Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler (w/Nia Jax) in a non-title match (8:28) 

They traded submission attempts until Baszler gave Asuka a back suplex. They went to the outside so Jax took down Lana and Baszler shoved Asuka into the announce table. This led to a break two minutes into the match. 

Baszler worked over Asuka’s arm back from break. Baszler used kicks to the chest but Asuka caught one and hit a German suplex. Asuka hit a Codebreaker and tried an armbar but Baszler countered. Asuka countered that but became distracted by Jax attacking Lana on the outside. Baszler knocked down Asuka and decided to watch what was happening outside the ring as well. 

Jax tried to powerbomb Lana on the announce table but Lana sent her into the table instead with a leg scissors takedown. Asuka rolled up the distracted Baszler for the pinfall win. This was a waste. 

Hurt Business bullied a stagehand backstage. 

They came back from commercials with a long recap of last week’s main event as well as a replay of Slapjack beating Ricochet and Dana Brooke beating Mia Yim. Ricochet and Brooke team up against Yim and Slapjack tonight. 

Riddle approached Ricochet and Brooke with a box of donuts labelled “bronutts.” Riddle was looking for MVP. Ricochet told him they were busy talking strategy. Riddle left. 

Sarah Schreiber approached Ricochet and Brooke for an interview. Ricochet wasn’t opposed to being on a team but he just didn’t want to be on a team of jackasses. Brooke, who had a black eye, said she worked too hard to get where she is and had payback ready for Yim. 

(If you haven’t been watching, Yim’s Retribution name is “Reckoning.” I just don’t plan on calling her that.) 

Mustafa Ali said Ricochet and Brooke would reach their end tonight. 

I think it’s been about 20 minutes since anything substantial has happened. 

Mixed tag match: Dana Brooke & Ricochet defeated Mia Yim & Slapjack (w/Mustafa Ali) (1:42)

Brooke got the pinfall win fairly quickly for her team with a Samoan Driver on Yim. Ali admonished Yim and Slapjack after the match. 

Keith Lee approached Sheamus in the back and told him that he wasn’t buying the good guy act and knew it was a matter of time before he turned on Drew McIntyre. Sheamus was annoyed and, like last week, said he was going to turn on him tonight. 

[Second hour] 

They congratulated Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins on the birth of their child. 

MizTV with The Miz & John Morrison 

Miz and Morrison introduced AJ Styles, with Omos, as their guest. Omos stood outside the ring. 

They asked about Styles’ upcoming TLC match. Styles admitted facing McIntyre was a challenge. Styles planned on attacking him with chairs and putting him through every table he could find. McIntyre’s passion won’t mean a thing once he’s knocked out cold. Styles planned on being on top of the mountain as WWE champion. 

Morrison and Miz said that could only happen if McIntyre made it to TLC. They planned on beating up McIntyre and Sheamus tonight. Miz and Morrison did impressions of McIntyre and Sheamus. This went on a while. Styles was amused. Omos seemed impressed as well. 

Sheamus interrupted. He acted entertained. Sheamus was sick of people saying that he would turn on McIntyre. He threatened Miz and Morrison. They let him know in the most obnoxious way possible that he was badly outnumbered. 

McIntyre entered. McIntyre was confident about TLC even if Styles had Omos on his side. McIntyre gave Miz and Morrison credit for coming back every week no matter how many times they got beat up. McIntyre said Maryse had Miz’s balls but Miz replaced them with Morrison’s balls after he made Morrison his bitch. 

Styles made a threat from outside the ring so McIntyre and Sheamus attacked Miz and Morrison and sent them from the ring. 

Another bad segment. I don’t think there’s been a good one yet. 

There were more Patterson tributes from Roman Reigns, Natalya, Kurt Angle, Miz, Alexa Bliss, JBL and Triple H. 

Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) defeated Shelton Benjamin (w/MVP & Cedric Alexander) (3:25) 

Benjamin got the early advantage after a knee strike and boot. Kingston came back with a double foot stomp (sort of) and a dropkick but Benjamin countered an SOS into a powerbomb for two. Benjamin applied an ankle lock but Kingston got a rope break. 

Kingston side-stepped Benjamin on the outside and Benjamin crashed into the barricade. Benjamin just barely beat the ten count but ate a Trouble in Paradise upon entering the ring and Kingston got the pinfall win. 

After the match, Alexander said he was sick of New Day slipping through their fingers. He challenged Kingston to a match right now. Kingston marched back to the ring. 

Cedric Alexander (w/MVP & Shelton Benjamin) defeated Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) 

The match began during a break. Alexander was in control when they returned. He worked over the leg which may have been “hurt” in the previous match. Kingston came back with chops and applied a rollup for two. Kingston followed with an SOS (sort of) for two. Alexander kicked his leg out of his leg and hit a brainbuster for a nearfall. 

Kingston fought Alexander off the ropes but missed an axe handle and Alexander followed with a Lumbar Check for the pinfall win. 

Like last week, Alexander celebrated wildly but unlike last week, he remained in the ring with his teammates. 

They aired the tremendous Pat Patterson tribute video. Samoa Joe and Byron Saxton shared their thoughts on Patterson. 

There was a recap of Tribute to the Troops from last night. 

3-on-2 handicap match: AJ Styles (w/Omos), The Miz & John Morrison defeated WWE Champion Drew McIntyre & Sheamus (15:44) 

(McIntyre entered around 9:42pm. They went to break and came back with the Tribute to the Troops video. By the time everyone entered, the match started at 9:52pm. Then they went to break less than three minutes into the match.) 

Sheamus tried to punch Miz outside the ring but he ducked and Sheamus (lightly) hit McIntyre by mistake. McIntyre was slightly annoyed and told him to get his head in the match. Morrison tried wiping them out with a dive but they caught him and gave him a fallaway slam over the announce desk. Morrison actually landed in the leather chair, which seemed like a happy accident. (This led to the previously mentioned commercial break.) 

[Third hour] 

Sheamus and McIntyre were in full control and Styles had yet to tag in. Styles finally tagged in once he saw McIntyre was vulnerable. Sheamus and McIntyre quickly regained control of Miz. Miz raked Sheamus’ eye as the referee tried to pretend to be distracted and the heels took over. 

Styles had Sheamus in the calf crusher but McIntyre broke it up and Sheamus followed with a White Noise. McIntyre made the hot tag and hit Morrison with clotheslines and overhead suplexes. He also suplexed Morrison and Miz at the same time. McIntyre set up for the Claymore but Miz pulled Morrison from the ring. 

Styles attacked McIntyre from behind but Sheamus managed to tag in. Sheamus wiped everyone out but clocked McIntyre with a Brogue Kick by mistake after Morrison ducked. Styles gave Sheamus a Phenomenal Forearm for the pinfall win. 

McIntyre stared at Sheamus after the match but nothing happened. 

Lana faces Nia Jax next week. 

Lana freaked out backstage about having to face Jax. Asuka tried to talk some confidence into her. Lana became confident until she turned around and bumped into Jax. Lana skulked away. 

Charly Caruso interviewed Sheamus who paced around backstage. Sheamus figured McIntyre was coming after him but said what he did was unintentional. McIntyre confronted him and said, “you know exactly what’s about to happen, don’t you?” Their intense staredown turned into a commercial break. 

Back from break, Sheamus and McIntyre were brawling in the back. Officials tried to break them up as other wrestlers gleefully looked on. Pat Buck briefly broke them up so they beat him up and slammed him through a catering table. 

McIntyre smiled and asked Sheamus if he wanted some pints. Sheamus said Drew was buying. They left together. 

(I’m glad they didn’t actually break up already.) 

Riddle approached Jeff Hardy with his donuts. Riddle thought the Hardy Boyz were one of the greatest teams ever but if they teamed together, they could be the Hardy Bros. (Riddle flubbed his lines and said the punchline too early before correcting himself.) Hardy seemed moderately amused but told him he had to head to the ring. Riddle took a bite out of a donut. 

US Champion Bobby Lashley (w/MVP) defeated Jeff Hardy (12:55) 

Hardy went to the top so MVP went on the apron to distract him. Riddle ran down and yanked MVP down. Hardy took down Lashley with a clothesline off the apron which led to break. Lashley posted Hardy during the break to take control. Lashley got in Riddle’s face at one point but Riddle didn’t back down. 

Lashley had a sleeper but Hardy came back with a jawbreaker, clotheslines, atomic drop, leg drop and a low dropkick for two. Hardy followed with a Whisper in the Wind for two. Lashley hit a Flatliner for two but Hardy responded with a Twist of Fate. Lashley avoided a Swanton Bomb, nailed a spear and applied the Hurt Lock for the submission win. 

Lashley wouldn’t let go of the hold so Riddle went to break it up but Lashley chucked Hardy into him, knocking them both over. MVP bit a donut and chucked the box down. 

Orton was in the back. He heard a knock on the door and opened it but there was nothing there. The rabbit puppet suddenly appeared behind the door and told Orton they were going to have so much fun. 

Orton staring at the puppet as if it was actually speaking to him was quite the visual.  

There were more Patterson tributes from Shane McMahon, Ric Flair, The Rock, Bray Wyatt, Paul Heyman, Drew McIntyre, Edge, Shawn Michaels, and Stephanie McMahon. 

(Tom Phillips mentioned that TLC is one week from Sunday, which is such a stupid way of telling us when the show is. It’s one week from six days from now?) 

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt 

Wyatt wore black jeans and a brown sweater. Orton wrestled in his gear. 

Orton tried a back suplex on the announce table but Wyatt countered and hit a back suplex on the edge of the table instead. Wyatt chased Phillips away, grabbed his headset and let us know that they’d be right back. He knows how this works because he sent us to break about 90 seconds into the match. 

Orton was in control after the break and Wyatt smiled and laughed as Orton stomped him. Orton barely got a one count after a knee and followed with a chin lock. They pipped in crowd clapping to encourage Wyatt to fight back. 

Wyatt came back with clotheslines, an atomic drop, running clotheslines, running body block, and a DDT for two. (It was like Edge’s lifting DDT.) Orton followed with a neckbreaker for two and gave him a back suplex on the announce desk. Wyatt almost got Sister Abigail but Orton thumbed him in the eye and hit a draping DDT. 

The lights started to go down but Orton managed to hit an RKO anyway. 

The lights went out completely and the red lights turned on. The Fiend was suddenly in the ring. He put Orton down with the mandible claw as the show went off the air.

Handicap match set for WWE Raw, Orton coming to Firefly Fun House

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A three-on-two handicap match has been announced for Monday’s episode of Raw.

AJ Styles, The Miz & John Morrison will team against WWE Champion Drew McIntyre & Sheamus on Monday’s Raw. Styles is challenging for McIntyre’s WWE Championship at TLC on Sunday, December 20.

Styles defeated Riddle and Keith Lee in a triple threat match last week to become the number one contender to McIntyre’s title. Styles then agreed to help Miz cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, saying it would be easier to defeat Miz at TLC instead of McIntyre.

McIntyre & Sheamus faced Miz & Morrison in last week’s main event. Styles was on commentary for the match and hit McIntyre with a Phenomenal Forearm to cause a disqualification. Morrison hit Starship Pain on McIntyre and Miz gave McIntyre the Skull Crushing Finale. But an argument between Miz and Styles delayed Miz’s attempt to cash in his briefcase. McIntyre sent Morrison out of the ring, laid out Miz with the Claymore, and was about to go face-to-face with Styles before Styles was carried away by his associate Omos.

WWE has also announced that the feud between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt will continue with Orton inviting himself to the Firefly Fun House on Monday’s Raw.

WWE Raw video highlights: Survivor Series build continues

Posted on by Joseph Currier

As the build to Survivor Series continued, WWE also set the stage for a big title match next week.

It was announced that Randy Orton will defend his WWE Championship against former champion Drew McIntyre on Raw next Monday. The winner will go on to face Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a non-title champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series.

Orton was furious about the title match announcement and refused to tag in for last night’s main event. McIntyre & Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) got the win against Orton, The Miz & John Morrison. After pinning Morrison, McIntyre stared down Orton and taunted him, telling him to enjoy every second he has left with the title before losing it next week.

Next week’s Raw will also feature The New Day defending their titles against The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin). The winning team will face SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits in another one of Survivor Series’ non-title champion vs. champion matches.

Raw’s Survivor Series men’s team is now fully set after Riddle defeated Elias and Jeff Hardy in a second chance qualifying match last team. But dissension between the team continued, with a team meeting leading to AJ Styles refereeing a tag match with Riddle & Keith Lee facing Braun Strowman & Sheamus.

More coverage from last night —

WWE Raw video highlights —

Miz TV opens the show

Second chance qualifying match

Mustafa Ali says Ricochet needs to accept that one man can’t change everything

R-Truth wins back the 24/7 Championship

Lana vs. Shayna Baszler

Raw Survivor Series team meeting

AJ Styles referees Keith Lee & Riddle vs. Braun Strowman & Sheamus

Nikki Cross gives Alexa Bliss an ultimatum

Bobby Lashley vs. Titus O’Neil for the United States Championship

Sheamus wishes he could team up with Drew McIntyre again like the old days

Asuka vs. Nia Jax

Seven-way 24/7 Championship match

Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali

Drew McIntyre & The New Day vs. Randy Orton, The Miz & John Morrison

Raw fallout: Randy Orton guarantees he’ll defeat Drew McIntyre next week

Raw fallout: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler are doing Lana a favor

Raw fallout: Riddle gives Sarah Schreiber a Team Raw nickname

Mandy Rose traded to WWE Raw roster

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Raw women’s division has a new member.

It was announced on this week’s episode of Talking Smack that Mandy Rose has been traded to Raw. The Miz and John Morrison made an appearance on Talking Smack and Miz made the announcement, with WWE.com writing that the move “was the latest tactic in The Miz & John Morrison’s ongoing quest to part Otis with his Money in the Bank Contract.”

The explanation given on Talking Smack was that Miz made the pitch for Rose to be moved to the Raw roster. Miz said that — when you’ve been in the entertainment industry as long as he has — you develop relationships with executives and people in power start to trust you. Miz said Fox and USA Network rely on him and listen to any pitch he has.

On SmackDown last night, Otis defeated Morrison in a singles match. Heavy Machinery also defeated Miz & Morrison in a tag match the previous week. After both matches, Miz & Morrison tried to steal Otis’ Money in the Bank contract but Otis outsmarted them. Otis didn’t have the contract in his MITB briefcase the first week and then didn’t have it in his MITB lunchbox.

Miz said he was going to call in a favor after being outsmarted by Otis last night.

Rose hasn’t appeared on SmackDown since defeating Sonya Deville in their “loser leaves WWE” match at SummerSlam last month. That match originally had a hair vs. hair stipulation, but it was changed following the real-life incident where a man was arrested and charged with aggravated stalking, armed burglary of a dwelling, and attempted armed kidnapping after breaking into Deville’s home. Rose was also in the house with Deville at the time.

Big E ‘uninvited’ to Miz TV, six-man tag teased for WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

WWE posted a pre-SmackDown video with The Miz “uninviting” Big E to Miz TV. A six-man tag match between Big E & Heavy Machinery and The Miz, John Morrison & Sheamus was instead teased for the show.

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A discussion from last week’s Talking Smack will play a part in a segment for tonight’s SmackDown.

Following his back-and-forth with The Miz on the return episode of Talking Smack, WWE has announced that Big E will appear on Miz TV tonight:

After an impassioned back-and-forth with The Miz on ‘Talking Smack,’ Big E will restart the conversation on ‘Miz TV.’

Big E has gotten off to a scorching start with [his] singles run, but he turned up the heat even more in his confrontation with The Miz. On the return of ‘Talking Smack’ to the award-winning WWE Network, Big E spoke up about Kofi Kingston’s post-WWE Title opportunities, and The Miz was quick to fire back with his own conflicting viewpoint.

Throw in the fact that the New Day powerhouse has defeated The Miz & John Morrison in recent weeks, and it’s fair to assume fireworks will follow on ‘Miz TV.’

Tune in to Friday Night SmackDown at 8/7 C on FOX to see what happens next between Big E and The Miz.

The Miz was the guest co-host for last week’s Talking Smack. Kayla Braxton and Xavier Woods will be the regular hosts for the show, but Woods wasn’t informed of that before the announcement was made and wasn’t there for last week’s episode.

Big E appeared as a guest with Braxton and The Miz on Talking Smack last week. Big E said Kingston had his legs cut out from under him with his WWE Championship loss to Brock Lesnar and the follow-up to it. Miz compared himself to Kingston and said the same thing happened to him and he always blamed himself and not anyone else for his own failures. Big E pointed out that Miz didn’t have to wait 11 years for his first World title opportunity.

The Miz also criticized Big E’s style for not being serious enough. He said that’s the one thing Big E is missing to get to the Universal Championship picture. Big E said he’s going to be himself and will be serious when the time calls for it.

Big E defeated Sheamus on SmackDown last Friday.

Tonight’s SmackDown will feature the brand’s fallout from SummerSlam and build to Sunday’s Payback pay-per-view. Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, and Roman Reigns will take part in a contract signing tonight ahead of their triple threat no holds barred match for the Universal title at Payback.

Two segments, Big E vs. Morrison added to WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has announced another match and two segments for this Friday’s episode of SmackDown.

Big E vs. John Morrison is set for this week’s SmackDown. The match comes after Big E defeated The Miz two weeks ago, getting the first win of his current singles run.

Universal Champion Braun Strowman confronting “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt has also been announced for this week’s SmackDown, along with a sit-down interview with Alexa Bliss. Bliss will discuss her experiences with The Fiend from the past two weeks.

The main event angle of SmackDown two weeks ago saw The Fiend attack Bliss by putting her in the Mandible Claw. Last week, The Fiend appeared with Bliss again but backed off when Bliss touched his face. Strowman then appeared on the video screen, returning for the first time since his Swamp Fight against Wyatt at last month’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Strowman said he doesn’t care about Bliss — all he cares about is destroying Wyatt. He agreed to defend his Universal Championship against The Fiend at SummerSlam.

Friday’s SmackDown will also feature a triple brand battle royal to decide SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley’s challenger for SummerSlam. The battle royal will feature wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. SummerSlam is taking place on Sunday, August 23.

Six-man tag match, contract signing added to WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A six-man tag match will be part of WWE’s final build to Backlash.

WWE has announced that Universal Champion Braun Strowman & Heavy Machinery will face The Miz, John Morrison & Dolph Ziggler on this week’s episode of SmackDown. Miz & Morrison are challenging for Strowman’s Universal title in a two-on-one handicap match at Backlash on Sunday.

A storyline throughout last Friday’s SmackDown saw Miz and Morrison play pranks on Strowman in an attempt to make his life a living hell. After they destroyed his car’s windshield, Strowman flipped over a van with Miz and Morrison in it.

This will be the first time Tucker has appeared on SmackDown since April.

Strowman & Otis defeated Miz & Morrison in the main event of SmackDown on May 15. After the match, Otis teased cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase but then said he was only joking when Strowman turned around.

Otis defeated Baron Corbin by disqualification on SmackDown last week. Corbin got disqualified for using a steel chair, but Otis hit The Caterpillar on him after.

WWE has also announced that tomorrow’s SmackDown will feature a contract signing for Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus at Backlash.

Plus, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles will face off in the finals of WWE’s Intercontinental title tournament on SmackDown tomorrow.

Women’s Tag Team title match announced for WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A “warning”, as well as a Women’s Tag Team title match, has been announced for next week’s SmackDown.

Announcers tonight said that The Miz and John Morrison are set to issue a ‘warning’ to Braun Strowman on next week’s show. The two are scheduled to face Strowman in a handicap match for the Universal title at Backlash on June 14. 

Additionally, a Women’s Tag Team title match was announced for next week as well. Champions Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss will defend their championships against Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women’s champion Bayley.

The champions invited SmackDown Tag Team champions The New Day and Women’s champion Bayley to a Moment of Bliss segment. The discussion led to Sasha Banks saying that she and Bayley put the Women’s Tag Team titles on the map and would prove that they were the best team.

This led to a match between Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss. Banks defeated Bliss after Bayley interfered, pushing Cross into Bliss, which allowed Banks to get the win with a sunset flip roll-up.

Universal title handicap match announced for WWE Backlash

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Braun Strowman’s next Universal Championship defense will be in a handicap match.

It was announced on SmackDown tonight that The Miz & John Morrison will challenge for Strowman’s Universal title in a two-on-one handicap match at Backlash. The pay-per-view is taking place on Sunday, June 14.

The main event of last week’s SmackDown saw Strowman & men’s Money in the Bank winner Otis defeat Miz & Morrison. On tonight’s SmackDown, Miz & Morrison kicked off the show with a Dirt Sheet segment. It led to a singles match where Strowman defeated Miz despite Interference from Morrison.

Strowman then accepted a challenge from Morrison for the Universal title handicap match at Backlash.

At Elimination Chamber in March, Strowman lost the Intercontinental title in a handicap match against Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro.

Strowman became Universal Champion by defeating Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 in April. Strowman retained the title against Bray Wyatt at Money in the Bank earlier this month, but WWE has made it clear that his rivalry with Wyatt isn’t over.

This is the third match to be confirmed for Backlash. Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship and Edge vs. Randy Orton are also set for the pay-per-view.

SmackDown Tag Team title match added to WWE Money in the Bank

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Four teams will be facing off for the SmackDown Tag Team titles at Money in the Bank.

WWE announced today that SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day are defending their titles against The Forgotten Sons, The Lucha House Party, and The Miz & John Morrison in a fatal four-way match at Money in the Bank. The pay-per-view is set for Sunday, May 10.

On SmackDown last night, The Forgotten Sons defeated The New Day in a non-title match. Miz & Morrison were on commentary during it.

There was a segment on SmackDown last week where The Lucha House Party, Miz & Morrison, and The Forgotten Sons all interrupted The New Day. It led to The Forgotten Sons starting a brawl and attacking New Day and Lucha House Party while Miz & Morrison bailed.

Lucha House Party also defeated Miz & Morrison last week.

Here’s the updated card for Money in the Bank (WWE has confirmed that both MITB ladder matches are taking place at the same time):

  • Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Shayna Baszler, Asuka, Nia Jax, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, and Carmella)
  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Aleister Black, Rey Mysterio, Daniel Bryan, Baron Corbin, Otis, and the winner of a last chance gauntlet match that’s airing on Monday’s Raw)
  • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defending against Seth Rollins
  • Universal Champion Braun Strowman defending against Bray Wyatt
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Tamina
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defending against The Forgotten Sons, The Lucha House Party, and The Miz & John Morrison in a fatal four-way match

New WWE SmackDown Tag Team champions crowned

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The New Day are once again the SmackDown Tag Team champions.

Tonight’s match, a triple threat singles match featuring Big E, Jey Uso and champion The Miz ended when Miz put the figure four on Jey Uso. Big E broke up the submission attempt by grabbing Miz, lifting him up and pinning him after landing the Big Ending. 

With this win, The New Day are now eight time Tag Team champions. The most Tag Team title wins within the WWE are The Dudley Boyz, who are nine time champions.

The triple threat match was similar to a ladder match held at WrestleMania 36, when Kofi Kingston, Jimmy Uso and John Morrison faced off in a ladder match after The Miz was unable to compete. Morrison retained the titles for his team.

The Miz and John Morrison held the titles for 50 days, defeating The New Day at Super ShowDown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 27. 

WWE announces change to tag title ladder match for WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ahead of night one of the show airing, WWE has confirmed that The Miz isn’t wrestling on WrestleMania 36.

It was officially announced on today’s edition of WWE’s The Bump that Miz is off this year’s WrestleMania. With Miz out of the show, the SmackDown Tag Team titles will be on the line in a triple threat ladder match between John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, and Jimmy Uso.

It was said that the match will be part of night one of WrestleMania 36 tonight.

Miz & Morrison defending their titles in a triple threat ladder match against The New Day and The Usos was originally planned for WrestleMania. In storyline,the explanation given during today’s announcement was that Miz is out of the match due to being injured during a brawl on SmackDown last night.

It’s been known since March 27 that Miz didn’t wrestle at WWE’s tapings for WrestleMania. Dave Meltzer reported that Miz showed up to the tapings sick and ended up being flagged from performing.

No one in WWE has tested positive for coronavirus.

WrestleMania 36 airs across two nights tonight and tomorrow. Both nights will have pre-shows starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time. The main cards will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern.

New WrestleMania 36 match, updates on Cesaro, Asuka & Murphy

Posted on by Josh Nason

Editor’s Note: The following includes spoilers for WrestleMania.

The coronavirus epidemic not only forced WWE to move WrestleMania 36 to their Orlando, Florida, based Performance Center but also wreaked havoc on their efforts to do the show they initially wanted this week.

News began to spill out earlier this week that both Rey Mysterio and Dana Brooke were off the plans for the show due to self quarantining and Thursday night, word broke that Roman Reigns decided to not go through with his match against WWE Universal Champion Bill Goldberg despite being in the building.

On Friday, The Miz was confirmed as being pulled off the show due to illness which nullified the planned SmackDown tag team title defense. However, our Dave Meltzer is reporting that Miz’s partner John Morrison will face one of the Usos in a ladder match instead. 

Meltzer didn’t know whether there was any stipulation associated with the match nor which Usos brother competed against Morrison which could come as early as tonight’s edition of SmackDown.

Other news:

  • Despite reports otherwise, Asuka and Cesaro both worked WrestleMania with no health issues.
  • Edge vs. Randy Orton was successfully taped this week.
  • Meltzer confirmed PWInsider’s report earlier Friday that Buddy Murphy was indeed sick and didn’t come to the TV tapings this week. Meltzer added that no one sick was allowed around, even if they had a cough or a stuffy nose.

Miz & Morrison vs. Heavy Machinery added to WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has announced a match that will be taking place on tonight’s SmackDown.

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Miz & John Morrison will face Heavy Machinery in a non-title match tonight. The show is being held at the WWE Performance Center with only essential personnel in attendance.

Miz & Morrison retained their titles against Heavy Machinery, The New Day, The Usos, The Lucha House Party, and Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode at Elimination Chamber earlier this month. That Elimination Chamber match aired in full on SmackDown last week. Miz & Morrison also did an in-ring promo last Friday.

Ziggler and Mandy Rose have been posting pictures together on social media recently, furthering their storyline with Otis. Rose captioned a picture yesterday with “Life is better when you’re laughing @heelziggler #powercouple”

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross and Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro were the live matches on SmackDown last week. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade was the only live match on Monday’s Raw.

Tonight’s SmackDown will feature a contract signing for Goldberg and Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 36. Rob Gronkowski, who will be the host of WrestleMania 36, will also appear on the episode.

After missing last week’s SmackDown due to travel issues, Paige has tweeted that she’ll be on tonight’s show: “Okay but for real Smackdown. See ya tonight..”