In the opening moments of the show, R-Truth, in a display that would have been bizarre for anyone else on the WWE roster, performed his entrance without a soul in the audience. The calls for the crowd to join in were, of course, included. MVP played the role of a lone fan, answering “What’s up?” whenever necessary. This went on for longer than the typical Truth entrance and even incorporated an additional verse and a short playing to the non-existent crowd after the music subsided.
As the bell sounded, the size of Bloom was immediately apparent. The former tight end was on the receiving end of Truth’s offense in the early moments, but soon was able to use his power to take control of the match. After a few less than stellar strikes, Truth avoided an attack from Bloom in the corner and took advantage with an armdrag.
Truth played multiple times to the empty seats before landing a leg drop. Bloom was then led to the corner where he withstood multiple strikes before he drove Truth’s head into the turnbuckle. Bloom then secured double underhooks and tossed him across the ring. Bloom continued his offense with strikes followed by a rest hold.
Truth fought to his feet and connected with a strike that put him in the driver seat. He then used four of John Cena’s “Five Moves of Doom” before Bloom blocked the attitude adjustment that would typically finish off the sequence. Bloom sent Truth running into the ropes and caught him on the rebound with a spinning powerslam for two. A frustrated Bloom picked Truth up and played to no one with his arms forming an X. Truth took advantage of this pause and lifted Bloom into a fireman’s carry before dropping him with the attitude adjustment for the pin and win.
Truth looked the same in this match as he always does, a seemingly unaging man who never fails to entertain. This match did not make Bloom look good, however. He was lacking intensity and his offense was unconvincing. At no point did the match itself feel as if it was building towards any goal, especially not establishing Bloom as a future star.
Kairi Sane defeated Ruby Riott
The initial feeling out began as both Sane and Riott entered a collar-and-elbow tie-up. After finding herself in the ropes, Riott was playfully taunted by Sane. The referee separated them, but they were soon in the same position with the only difference being Sane pressed against the ropes. Instead of taunting her, Riott struck her upper chest. The two then entered a fast paced trade off of moves. Riott threw a spinning back fist, Sane ducked. Sane threw a spinning back fist, Riott ducked. Riott threw a kick, Sane blocked. Sane threw an elbow, Riott blocked. Both were at a standstill.
Riott broke the staredown with a stomp to Sane’s toes. Sane was then drug to her feet and sent running into the ropes. Sane jumped Riott and caught her on the other end with a rope-assisted rana, followed up by a running blockbuster. A recovering Riott then found herself on the receiving end of a top rope flying forearm that got a two count.
Sane began to choke the grounded Riott with her own arms. Riott fought free, regained her footing, and sent Sane to the floor all in the same motion. Riott ran in the direction of Sane but was sidestepped. Riott did not let this stop her momentum, however, as she jumped and grabbed the head of Sane with her legs, inexorably driving it into the middle turnbuckle.
Following a commercial break, Riott maintained control. She had a full nelson on a seated Sane that she was using to sling her opponent across the mat. Sane struggled to her feet and broke the hold by stomping Riott’s toes. The two then ran at each other with lariats and collided with neither gaining advantage. Riott grabbed Sane’s hair and drove her head into the top turnbuckle, followed by a running kick. Riott set her sights on a second kick but Sane was able to roll from harm’s way.
Riott, in an act of frustration and reckless haste, attempted a kick for the third time but missed once again. She was rolled up as a result but was able to kick out with a close two.
Sane then connected with a spinning back fist that rendered Riott unbalanced. Sane followed with various strikes that left Riott flat on the mat. Sane attempted a pin and was both visibly and audibly shocked by Riott’s kickout. Sane climbed to the top rope but was caught by a palm strike. The two fought for control on top of the ropes. Sane landed a headbutt that sent Riott to the floor but Riott used an enziguri that set Sane on unequal, if not entirely disadvantaged, footing.
Sane was then flattened by a top rope senton, barely kicking out of a pin attempt. Riott, in an even more furious than usual state, climbed the ropes once again but was met with a kick to the inside leg that reopened the match for her. Sane then lifted Riott from the ropes and delivered a devastating Alabama slam. Sane climbed to the top once again and this time successfully landed the insane elbow for the pin and win.
This match was entertaining from beginning to end. It never dragged and always had me guessing. Both women looked phenomenal, but Sane, particular, exuded charisma.
The qualifying matches that have been announced for tonight’s show are all for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. The qualifiers are: Asuka vs. Ruby Riott, Kairi Sane vs. Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler vs. Sarah Logan.
Baszler unsuccessfully challenged for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36, but WWE has made it clear that their feud isn’t over.
Asuka & Sane lost the Women’s Tag Team titles to Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross at WrestleMania. Bliss & Cross also defeated Asuka & Sane in a WrestleMania rematch on SmackDown last Friday.
Asuka defeated Liv Morgan in a singles match on last Monday’s Raw.
After a year away from the ring due to undergoing surgery to repair both of her ACLs, Jax returned to action by decisively defeating Deonna Purrazzo on Raw last week.
Money in the Bank is set for Sunday, May 10. Two qualifying matches have also been announced for this Friday’s SmackDown. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro will determine one of the participants for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, while qualifiers for the women’s ladder match will continue with Naomi vs. Dana Brooke.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will kick off tonight’s Raw. An appearance by Becky Lynch is also advertised for the show.
WWE has made a couple of announcements for the first post-WrestleMania 36 episode of SmackDown.
After defeating Goldberg at WrestleMania, Braun Strowman will make his first appearance as Universal Champion on Friday’s SmackDown. Strowman was the replacement for Roman Reigns in the Universal title match at WrestleMania after Reigns pulled out of the show.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross became the new Women’s Tag Team Champions by defeating Asuka & Kairi Sane at WrestleMania. On Friday’s SmackDown, Bliss & Cross will defend their titles against Asuka & Sane in a WrestleMania rematch.
This is Strowman’s first World title reign. Bliss & Cross are now two-time Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Asuka was also in action on Raw this Monday. She defeated Liv Morgan on the show.
WWE is resuming tapings at the Performance Center this Friday. The closed set tapings will run for a week and will include three episodes each of Raw and SmackDown. Dave Meltzer also noted that it’s believed several episodes of NXT will be filmed at Full Sail University.
WWE has confirmed the Women’s Tag Team Championship match for WrestleMania 36.
Asuka & Kairi Sane defending their Women’s Tag Team titles against Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross will air on WrestleMania. The match was officially announced prior to Asuka defeating NXT’s Kayden Carter on tonight’s Raw.
On SmackDown last Friday, Bliss defeated Asuka in a singles match. Bliss & Cross had been calling out Asuka & Sane for a Women’s Tag Team title shot, which led to Asuka appearing on the March 13 episode of SmackDown and attacking Bliss.
Asuka & Sane defending their titles against Bliss & Cross and Beth Phoenix & Natalya in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 36 had been the plan at one point.
Asuka & Sane are the fourth team to hold the Women’s Tag Team titles since they were introduced. They won the titles from Bliss & Cross at Hell in a Cell in October 2019.
WrestleMania 36 was taped last week and will air on the WWE Network on Saturday (April 4) and Sunday (April 5).
WWE has announced a change to one of the matches that was scheduled for tonight’s episode of Raw.
Instead of Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka taking place on the show, it will now be Baszler vs. Kairi Sane. WWE.com claimed that the change was made due to Asuka having a sprained wrist: “Due to a sprained wrist, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Asuka is not medically cleared to compete tonight on Monday Night Raw. Facing Shayna Baszler in The Empress of Tomorrow’s place will be her tag team partner, Kairi Sane.”
Tonight’s Raw is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and is the go-home show for Elimination Chamber. Baszler, Asuka, Natalya, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan will face off in an Elimination Chamber match at Sunday’s pay-per-view, with the winner challenging Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36.
Tonight’s show will feature appearances by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Beth Phoenix. The Street Profits challenging for Seth Rollins & Murphy’s Raw Tag Team titles is also set for the episode, along with AJ Styles vs. Aleister Black, Rey Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo vs. Andrade & Angel Garza, and a 24/7 title defense by Riddick Moss.
WWE hasn’t announced who Moss’ challenger will be.
Kairi Sane returned to the ring at WWE’s Raw-brand house show in Lafayette, Louisiana on Friday night.
In what was Sane’s first match since TLC, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Natalya defeated The Kabuki Warriors (Sane & Asuka) & Sarah Logan. Sane wrote about her return: “I’m back I love wrestling #WWElafayette”
Sane suffered a head injury when The Kabuki Warriors faced Lynch & Charlotte in a tables, ladders, and chairs match in the main event of December’s TLC pay-per-view. Dave Meltzer wrote about the situation at the time:
The big story coming out of the show was an injury to Kairi Sane in the main event. It’s not clear exactly what happened but at some point she was knocked loopy. It may have been from an exploder suplex on the floor by Charlotte Flair, because there was an open spot near the barricade that didn’t have a mat and Sane hit her head on the floor. It could have happened earlier as a TLC match carries higher than usual risks, and this match featured throwing chairs. Sane at one point was throwing a chair into the ring, and it didn’t clear the top rope and bounced back and hit her. She was also hit when chairs were being thrown around.
But she was impaired, most noticeably when she didn’t take a spear from Flair correctly. Flair, not knowing anything was wrong, slapped her a few times. Later, Flair went to power bomb Sane through a table and you could see Sane was scared to death and didn’t want to take the move. Flair powered her up anyway and power bombed her through the table. Asuka may have told Becky Lynch during the match that there was a problem because Lynch was talking to both and at one point Lynch rolled Sane under the ring as a way to keep her out of taking any more punishment.
Sane had been pulled from upcoming matches after suffering the injury, though she did make appearances on Raw while out of action.
Sane & Asuka are WWE’s current Women’s Tag Team Champions. Asuka will challenge Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 26.
WWE took a step forward this past weekend by resolving their situations with a few wrestlers who wanted out of the company.
In quick succession on Sunday, WWE announced that Luke Harper, Sin Cara, and The Ascension had been released: “WWE has come to terms on the releases of Jonathan Huber (Luke Harper), Sin Cara, and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) and Eric Thompson (Viktor) of The Ascension. WWE wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Harper’s release saga was nearly eight months long. He went public with his request via a statement he posted online on April 16. He spent the next five months off of television before then returning in a pretty significant angle at Clash of Champions, helping Erick Rowan defeat Roman Reigns in their no disqualification match.
Our biggest issue of the year, the 2019 Hall of Fame issue is out with complete balloting results, breakdowns by category, bios of the new entrants, comparisons with how everyone did last year, as well as who will be on next year’s ballot who will be removed from next year’s ballot, breakdowns on how each new inductee did in different groups and a look back at a lot of stellar careers. We also talk about the future of the Hall of Fame.
Feature on the development of pro wrestling in France at the turn of the previous century and the wrestler generally considered most responsible for establishing pro wrestling in that country.
The two Tokyo Dome shows, as well as New Japan’s last three events of 2019. We look at the good and bad aspects of the lineups and the comparisons with last year. We look at the retirement of Jushin Liger, the signing of Dragon Lee and his change to Ryu Lee and talk about the different titles at stake.
Drug test suspensions of Robert Roode and Primo Colon and why guys can look the way they look with drug testing and how WWE’s testing greatly differs from others, a look at the releases of Luke Harper, The Ascension and Sin Cara, major change for Miz & Mrs., WWE star hints leaving, Canadian ratings, signing of Oney Lorcan, Tribute to the Troops coverage, Lana death threats, Ronda Rousey talks potential return, current plans for holiday shows, celebrity training for a WWE stint, a rundown on the different people at the last tryout camp including a former MMA champion, the boyfriend of a reality show star and a number of high level women athletes including a former WNBA player, an incident at a house show, value of WWE stock, most-watched show on the WWE Network as well as a rundown of all the WWE and NXT arena events over the past week with business notes , results and highlights.
2019 Tokyo Sports awards, including what wrestles historically have had the most MVP trophies and the most match of the year trophies.
TLC PPV including the changes in the show and the ticket demand.
Next Wednesday ratings battle and why it is the most interesting in several weeks.
Dave Bautista’s career, the NWO, and look back at the program that made Bautista’s career and the good and the bad of the NWO.
New Japan tag team tournament, whether the changes in format worked, the business of the final night, standings, match-by-match coverage and star ratings of the last night.
Saturday’s UFC show from D.C. with the business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage.
Look back at the life of Andy Robin, a U.K. star who was one of the greatest performers in the history of pro wrestling in Scotland.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
After Kairi Sane’s injury at TLC, Madison Square Garden is now advertising that Becky Lynch will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat cage match at WWE’s December 26 house show. The match was originally advertised as Asuka & Sane defending the Women’s Tag Team titles against Lynch & Charlotte.
Slated for tonight’s WWE Backstage are Alexa Bliss and William Shatner.
WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded the Prime Target special building up tomorrow’s Shayna Baszler vs. Rhea Ripley NXT Women’s Championship match.
Xavier Woods talked about how he injured his Achilles on The New Day’s new podcast.
NXT’s Deonna Purrazzo appeared on Raw last night, losing a match against Asuka.
Our own Dave Meltzer will be doing a live show January 4th just hours prior to the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14. It will take place at Toudoukan at 11 a.m. Ticket information here.
Brian Ortega, who had to pull out of this weekend’s UFC event in Busan, is hoping to return sometime in early 2020 and still wants to face The Korean Zombie.
UFC prelims on ESPN 2 this weekend scored 865,000 viewers.
WWE took a step forward this past weekend by resolving their situations with a few wrestlers who wanted out of the company.
In quick succession on Sunday, WWE announced that Luke Harper, Sin Cara, and The Ascension had been released: “WWE has come to terms on the releases of Jonathan Huber (Luke Harper), Sin Cara, and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) and Eric Thompson (Viktor) of The Ascension. WWE wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Harper’s release saga was nearly eight months long. He went public with his request via a statement he posted online on April 16. He spent the next five months off of television before then returning in a pretty significant angle at Clash of Champions, helping Erick Rowan defeat Roman Reigns in their no disqualification match.
Our biggest issue of the year, the 2019 Hall of Fame issue is out with complete balloting results, breakdowns by category, bios of the new entrants, comparisons with how everyone did last year, as well as who will be on next year’s ballot who will be removed from next year’s ballot, breakdowns on how each new inductee did in different groups and a look back at a lot of stellar careers. We also talk about the future of the Hall of Fame.
Feature on the development of pro wrestling in France at the turn of the previous century and the wrestler generally considered most responsible for establishing pro wrestling in that country.
The two Tokyo Dome shows, as well as New Japan’s last three events of 2019. We look at the good and bad aspects of the lineups and the comparisons with last year. We look at the retirement of Jushin Liger, the signing of Dragon Lee and his change to Ryu Lee and talk about the different titles at stake.
Drug test suspensions of Robert Roode and Primo Colon and why guys can look the way they look with drug testing and how WWE’s testing greatly differs from others, a look at the releases of Luke Harper, The Ascension and Sin Cara, major change for Miz & Mrs., WWE star hints leaving, Canadian ratings, signing of Oney Lorcan, Tribute to the Troops coverage, Lana death threats, Ronda Rousey talks potential return, current plans for holiday shows, celebrity training for a WWE stint, a rundown on the different people at the last tryout camp including a former MMA champion, the boyfriend of a reality show star and a number of high level women athletes including a former WNBA player, an incident at a house show, value of WWE stock, most-watched show on the WWE Network as well as a rundown of all the WWE and NXT arena events over the past week with business notes , results and highlights.
2019 Tokyo Sports awards, including what wrestles historically have had the most MVP trophies and the most match of the year trophies.
TLC PPV including the changes in the show and the ticket demand.
Next Wednesday ratings battle and why it is the most interesting in several weeks.
Dave Bautista’s career, the NWO, and look back at the program that made Bautista’s career and the good and the bad of the NWO.
New Japan tag team tournament, whether the changes in format worked, the business of the final night, standings, match-by-match coverage and star ratings of the last night.
Saturday’s UFC show from D.C. with the business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage.
Look back at the life of Andy Robin, a U.K. star who was one of the greatest performers in the history of pro wrestling in Scotland.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, Wednesday night, Kairi Sane and the rest of the news with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can also send questions to the show to [email protected].
We’re taking polls on the UFC show last night, ROH show Friday night, NWA show yesterday and TLC from WWE tonight, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with the best and worst matches to [email protected]”>[email protected]. With two shows being taped tonight in Des Moines, IA, because they don’t have a live show on Monday, we’re looking for reports from Des Moines with anything not on the live show to [email protected] The only thing announced at this point is A.J. Styles vs. Randy Orton. We’re also looking for reports from the NWA TV tapings in Atlanta.
Regarding last night, Kairi Sane’s situation as far as the extent and nature of her injuries has been kept quiet although there has been talk of a concussion. The only thing we’ve been told regarding last night is that Sane is not cleared for tonight’s show.
Neither Vince McMahon nor Paul Levesque were in Minneapolis yesterday. They were conferenced in on the meeting and the show was put together the way Vince wanted it to. but he was not in Gorilla nor producing the announcers during the show. We were told that Paul Heyman was in charge of the Raw matches (which would include the main event) and Bruce Prichard in charge of Smackdown matches.
It’s pretty much universally agreed that last night was handled poorly. It’s no one person, but many. Ultimately, a doctor should have been sent out (see Cody vs Chris Jericho) with the power to stop the match if needed, or they could have gone right to the finish, sent out a partner, taken Sane away and made it a handicap match (the problem is obviously they weren’t changing the title and Asuka lone beating both Flair & Lynch could have been done but it would have required many changes in the plans. We’ll talk more about it tonight, but what happened last night was very disappointing and dangerous in how things were handled.
Aleister Black is cleared to perform tonight. He appeared to suffer a broken nose in his match with Buddy Murphy.
TLC was the 20th most searched topic on Google with 100,000 searches. That’s low end of normal for a PPV like that.
WWE
Tonight’s NFL game is the Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints. Ratings should be up slightly due to the PPV being yesterday.
There will be no 205 Live tapings the next two weeks, only Smackdown on Friday. The next two Fridays will be Best of Shows on the WWE Network.
NXT United will have a wrestling figure toy drive on Wednesday before the show in Winter Park, FL. Fans are encouraged to bring unwrapped wrestling figures to the donation spot next to the NXT merchandise truck between 5:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. All figures collected will be dropped off at Orlando’s Toys for Tots headquarters on Thursday. NXT United is the support group for NXT and they host pre-show and post-show activities related to NXT shows.
The Detroit Pistons have announced WWE Night on 2/20 at the Little Caesar Arena. There will be WWE star or stars doing autographs plus a WWE related Pistons T-shirt available.
UFC
Megan Anderson vs. Norma Dumnt has been added to the 2/29 show in Norfolk, VA. Anderson also today went public with her battles with depression and how serious they were with Ariel Helwani.
MISCELLANEOUS
Marty Scurll will be doing an interview regarding his future on the NWA Powerrr show tomorrow night.
AEW announced they surpassed the 100,000 ticket sold mark for 16 shows in 2019 and future shows in 2020. The official sold number as of Monday was 105,303. The paid total puts them at 5701 for 2019 events thus far.
FITE TV will be carrying both the 1/4 and 1/5 Tokyo Dome shows in addition to New Japan World. They are also doing the 1/6 New Year’s Dash show. The shows are $24.99 each on FITE.
Lineup for Impact TV tomorrow night
Jordynne Grace vs. Tenille Dashwood
TJP vs. Daga
Ace Romero vs. Joey Ryan
Ace Austin vs. Petey Williams for the X title
Rich Swann vs. Ethan Page
IPW New Zealand on 12/14 in Auckland before 250 fans: Liam Fury b Falcon Kid, Charlie Roberts won over Danny Jacobs, Matty Short, Will Cutting, Liger and Sir Mr. Burns, Alfred Valentine & James Shaw won over Will Stone & Alex Savage ad TKD & TED to keep the New Zealand tag titles, Ringo Ryan b Marcus Kool, Kingi & Te Tahi Vinny Dun & Reuben de Jong b Adam Avalanche & Ben Mana & Toa Henare, Candy Lee b Kellyanne to keep the women’s title, Jamie Tagataese b Jake Shehaan to keep the New Zealand title (thanks to Bradley Fisher and Steve Ogilvie)
Shine from Saturday night Chicago: Avery Taylor b Nadi, Lindsay Snow b Stormie Lee, Natalia Markova b Double D Rose, Brandi Lauren b Aja Perera, Natalia Markova b Avery Taylor, Lindsay Snow b Brandi Lauren, Jenna Van Muscles won over Candy Cartwright, Jay Raves & Rosa Negra & Rahne Victoria & Vipress, Natalia Markova b Lindsay Snow to win the tournament for the Nova title, Ivelisse b Mercedes Martinez to win the Shine title (thanks to Leonard Brand)
Riot City Wrestling in Adelaide, Australia yesterday: Dean Brady b Downunder, Steve Miller & Jimmy C b Rosenthal & Havok, Barren b Codie Tre, Matt Basso b Jonathan Corvidae, Jett Armstrong b Nick Armstrong, Chris Basso & Matt Hayter won three-way over Gabriel Aeros & Eli Theseus and Zak Sabbath & Mike Boomer, Adam Brooks b Royce Chamber, Rocky Menaro b Brodie Marshall (thanks to Andrew Conley)
Two matches that had been advertised for TLC are now official.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane will defend their titles against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair in a tables, ladders, and chairs match at Sunday’s pay-per-view. A tables match between Rusev and Bobby Lashley has also been announced.
TLC is taking place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The arena first advertised both matches last month, though the tables stipulation for Rusev vs. Lashley wasn’t mentioned then.
One week after their handicap match against Charlotte, Asuka & Sane faced Lynch two-on-one tonight. There was a backstage segment earlier in the show where Charlotte approached Lynch and wanted to team with her against Asuka & Sane, but Lynch said she’d rather face them on her own.
Lynch defeated Asuka & Sane by disqualification after Asuka used a steel chair. Sane then gave Lynch a flying elbow off the top rope through a table on the outside.
Asuka & Sane attacked Charlotte backstage later and challenged Lynch & Charlotte for TLC.
Rusev and Lana’s divorce segment opened tonight’s Raw. It set up Rusev vs. Lashley for TLC, with Rusev wanting a match against Lashley as a provision of the divorce. Lashley and Rusev brawled and Rusev put him through a table.
Here’s the updated card for TLC:
Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane defending against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair in a tables, ladders, and chairs match
Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin in a tables, ladders, and chairs match
Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz
Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley in a tables match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) defending against The Revival
A handicap match is set for Monday’s episode of Raw.
WWE has announced that Asuka & Kairi Sane will face Charlotte Flair in a two-on-one handicap match on Monday’s show. It’s taking place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee and will also feature Seth Rollins issuing an “apology” after his town hall meeting with the roster from this past Monday.
Asuka defeated Charlotte after spitting green mist in her eyes on Raw this week. That was the second straight night that Asuka used the mist on Charlotte. After a dispute between them, Asuka caused Charlotte to get eliminated at Survivor Series and then walked out of the match.
Asuka & Sane will defend their Women’s Tag Team titles in a fatal four-way match against Charlotte & Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks & Bayley, and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross at WWE Starrcade this Sunday night. The match will be part of the one-hour live broadcast of Starrcade that will begin on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Though not officially announced, Asuka & Sane defending the Women’s Tag Team titles against Charlotte & Lynch in a tables, ladders, and chairs match is being advertised for December’s TLC pay-per-view.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane will defend their titles in a fatal four-way match against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks & Bayley, and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross. Rusev and Bobby Lashley’s rivalry will also continue with them facing off in a last man standing match.
Starrcade is taking place at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia on Sunday (December 1). One hour of the show will stream live on the WWE Network starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Bliss is returning to the ring after being out of action since Hell in a Cell. WWE noted earlier this month that it was a minor injury Bliss was dealing with and that she would be returning soon.
Though not officially announced, the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota is advertising that Asuka & Sane will defend their titles against Lynch & Charlotte in a tables, ladders, and chairs match at next month’s TLC pay-per-view. Rusev vs. Lashley is also being advertised for that show.
This is the third straight year that WWE has held a Starrcade event. The name was first resurrected for a house show in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2017. Starrcade took place in Cincinnati, Ohio last year, with a one-hour WWE Network special from it airing a day after the show.
WWE has revealed all five members of Team Raw for the women’s triple threat elimination tag match at Survivor Series.
Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan will represent Raw in the match. They’ll face off against teams of five from SmackDown and NXT.
Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross will be on Team SmackDown. WWE hasn’t revealed any of the members of Team NXT.
For the men’s triple threat elimination tag match, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Ricochet & Drew McIntyre will be on Team Raw, while Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G will be on Team SmackDown. WWE hasn’t revealed any of the members of Team NXT for that match either.
Survivor Series is taking place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on Sunday (November 24). Here’s what’s been announced for the pay-per-view:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Rey Mysterio in a no holds barred, no DQ match
Universal Champion The Fiend defending against Daniel Bryan
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler in a non-title match
United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong in a non-title match
Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Ivar & Erik) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) in a non-title match
Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown vs. Team NXT five-on-five-on-five men’s elimination tag match
Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown vs. Team NXT five-on-five-on-five women’s elimination tag match
A few announcements have been made for Monday’s episode of Raw.
There will be two non-title matches involving champions on the show. Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will face Women’s Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane, and Universal Champion Seth Rollins takes on Erick Rowan in a falls count anywhere match.
The Rusev/Lana/Bobby Lashley saga will also continue with Rusev and Lana appearing on a “Divorce Court” segment on Monday. It will be hosted by Jerry Lawler.
Rollins vs. Rowan comes in advance of Rollins defending his Universal title against The Fiend in a falls count anywhere match at Crown Jewel next Thursday (October 31). WWE has announced a stipulation where Rollins vs. The Fiend can’t end in a stoppage.
Sane pinned Lynch in a tag match on the October 7 episode of Raw.
Sane & Asuka will defend their Women’s Tag Team titles against Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox on NXT next Wednesday (October 30).
Monday’s Raw is taking place at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It’s the go-home show for Crown Jewel.
The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles are set to be defended in NXT for the first time.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane will put their titles on the line against Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox on NXT next Wednesday. The match was set up by Kai & Nox defeating Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke in a number one contender’s match tonight.
Asuka & Sane appeared on the video screen after the match, cutting a promo and saying Kai & Nox have no chance next week.
When the Women’s Tag Team titles were introduced, WWE announced that they could be defended on Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. Sasha Banks & Bayley appeared on an episode of NXT while champions but never defended the titles on the brand.
Asuka & Sane became Women’s Tag Team Champions by defeating Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross at Hell in a Cell earlier this month. Asuka & Sane have been heels since that match.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross will defend their newly won Women’s Tag Team titles on Monday’s Raw.
WWE has announced that Asuka & Kairi Sane will challenge for Bliss & Cross’ titles on Monday’s episode. It’s taking place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is the post-SummerSlam edition of the show.
Bliss & Cross won the titles in a fatal four-way elimination match this past Monday. Peyton Royce & Billie Kay were the champions heading into the match and were eliminated first. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville were then the second team eliminated.
The finish was Bliss hitting a punch and Twisted Bliss on Sane and pinning her to win the titles. That came after Cross pushed Sane off the top rope when she was going for an elbow drop, then trapped Asuka in the ring skirt.
The four-way Women’s Tag Team title match was originally scheduled for SummerSlam but ended up being moved up to Raw.
The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler is also official for Monday’s Raw. Ziggler will face Goldberg at SummerSlam.
