In the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer gave an update on how long Kofi Kingston is expected to be out of action.
Kingston suffered an ankle injury on SmackDown last Friday. Meltzer notes that the injury was a “fluke deal” that happened when Drew McIntyre did a flip dive over the top rope onto several wrestlers. The word is that Kingston won’t need surgery. He’s expected to be out of action for five weeks.
Meltzer wrote:
Kingston suffered an ankle injury when McIntyre did a running flip dive on several people. It was just a fluke deal. The time frame we are hearing is five weeks. There was concern earlier it could be longer because he may have needed surgery and if he does need surgery it would be lengthy. But all impressions are based on what he said publicly and the word privately is that he won’t be needing the surgery right now.
If Kingston is out of action for five weeks, it means that he would miss WrestleMania 39.
Kingston was supposed to take part in a five-way match on SmackDown tonight to determine the challenger for Gunther’s Intercontinental title at WrestleMania. Xavier Woods is replacing Kingston in the number one contender’s match. It will be Woods vs. McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. LA Knight vs. Karrion Kross.
Kingston posted a video on social media over the weekend confirming the injury that he suffered on SmackDown. Kingston wrote that he’s going to be alright.
Kofi Kingston will not be wrestling on WWE SmackDown this week.
The former WWE Champion suffered a leg injury on the show last week but it’s not clear how much time he will miss. He appeared to be hurt when catching Drew McIntyre on a dive to the floor.
WWE announced on Thursday that Xavier Woods will replace Kingston in the five-way match scheduled for Friday’s show. Woods will now face McIntyre, Sheamus, LA Knight, and Karrion Kross with the winner earning an Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther at WrestleMania.
Our own Dave Meltzer addressed Kingston’s injury on Sunday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer noted that it’s “hopeful” Kingston will avoid surgery but he could still end up missing WrestleMania.
Meltzer said:
Kofi Kingston will probably not be, almost assuredly will not be in that match [on SmackDown next week]. If he can be ready for WrestleMania, I don’t want to say 100% no but it’ll be touch and go if he can make it for WrestleMania if he doesn’t get surgery. Like I said, he’s hopeful he was not going to get surgery. So, it’s going to be time off but perhaps not that much time off.
WWE SmackDown on Friday, March 10, 2023, will take place from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. Two matches are advertised for the show:
Fatal five-way: Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. LA Knight vs. Karrion Kross vs. Xavier Woods
Kofi Kingston doesn’t seem too worried about the injury he suffered on SmackDown.
The former WWE Champion was involved in an angle on Friday’s show that involved several wrestlers expressing interest in facing Gunther at WrestleMania. During the segment, Drew McIntyre did a dive to the outside and landed on top of Kingston, which may have been where the injury took place.
Kingston posted a video to social media on Sunday of him lounging by a pool with his right foot and ankle bandaged up.
Kingston is scheduled for a five-way match on SmackDown next week with the winner earning a title shot against Gunther at WrestleMania 39.
Kingston’s injury was addressed by our own Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on Sunday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said:
If he has surgery, which from what I understand they’re hopeful of avoiding. If he has surgery, obviously, it’s going to be awhile. If he doesn’t have surgery it will be less time.
Meltzer continued to speculate on if Kingston will miss next week’s show and possibly WrestleMania as well.
Kofi Kingston will probably not be, almost assuredly will not be in that match [on SmackDown next week]. If he can be ready for WrestleMania, I don’t want to say 100% no but it’ll be touch and go if he can make it for WrestleMania if he doesn’t get surgery. Like I said, he’s hopeful he was not going to get surgery. So, it’s going to be time off but perhaps not that much time off.
Dave Meltzer is reporting that Kingston has suffered a leg injury, though further details aren’t currently known. Bryan Alvarez reported that the injury took place on Friday’s SmackDown.
Kingston was involved in an angle on Friday’s show where he and Xavier Woods engaged in a brawl with the likes of Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Karrion Kross, and LA Knight after all made claims to getting the next Intercontinental title shot against Gunther. As a result of the brawl, a fatal five-way match was announced for next week’s SmackDown. Kingston, Shemaus, McIntyre, Knight, and Cross are all scheduled to be in the match. The winner will face Gunther for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles April 1 and 2.
Kingston and Woods most recently held the NXT Tag Team titles. After they lost the titles, they started to re-appear on SmackDown, with Kingston pinning LA Knight on last week’s show after Kingston confronted Knight.
Bryan Danielson recently commented on the favorite part of his WWE career and the moment that left him the most demoralized.
Danielson revealed to The Ringer that his favorite part was Kofi-mania and his match against Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35. Danielson, a heel at the time, was sporting his custom-made environmentally sustainable title belt while Kingston was riding a wave of fan support that culminated in him defeating Danielson for the championship that night.
Danielson said:
“To me, the whole thing was magic,” Danielson explains. “And you look at the live events, like the number of shows that he did for WWE, the amount of TV time that he filled in every time, going out there and always having a positive attitude and all that kind of stuff. What a great human being, you know what I mean? Like I said, it was my favorite match. I think the whole thing was my favorite part of my WWE career.”
Kingston held the title for almost six months and defended it successfully 10 times on WWE programming. He was still the champion as SmackDown moved to Fox that October. The first episode to air on Fox took place on October 4, 2019. Kingston was defeated by Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship in just seven seconds on that show. Danielson told The Ringer that seeing Kofi lose the title in that fashion was the most demoralizing moment of his WWE career.
“And conversely, the most demoralized I ever was was seeing him lose it to Brock Lesnar the way that he did.”
Danielson has the opportunity to win the AEW World Championship Sunday at Revolution. He will challenge title-holder Maxwell Jacob Friedman in a 60-minute Iron Man match to close the show.
Kofi Kingston has declared himself for the men’s WWE Royal Rumble match that will take place in late January.
During a promo on Friday’s SmackDown, Kingston was the first to declare for the men’s Royal Rumble, which will take place on January 28 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
After he declared himself for the match, Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser of Imperium confronted Kingston, who said he’d take either of them on. But it was Gunther who ended up facing Kingston in a match, with Gunther scoring the victory.
WWE recently announced that the 2023 Royal Rumble has exceeded a $5 million dollar gate, a record for the long-running event that was previously broken by the 2017 event.
There is no WWE premium live event scheduled until the Royal Rumble on the 28th. Day 1, which was originally announced for New Year’s Day in Georgia, was ultimately canceled due to scheduling conflicts. WWE will instead hold a house show at the State Farm Arena on December 27.
A pair of singles matches are set for the October 14 episode of WWE SmackDown.
Stemming from a trios match on this week’s show, Kofi Kingston will face Sami Zayn next week. Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Braun Strowman defeated Zayn and The Usos on this week’s SmackDown.
Also announced for next week, LA Knight will take on mån.sôör of Maximum Male Models. Knight cemented his turn on the Maximum Male Models in a backstage segment on this week’s episode, reverting to his Knight ring name after being known as Max Dupri as part of the MMM group.
Next week’s SmackDown will also feature the fallout from the Extreme Rules premium live event set for Saturday, October 8. Liv Morgan will defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Ronda Rousey at Extreme Rules in the only SmackDown title match on the show.
New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods are teaming up to host an awards show next month.
Kingston & Woods will be the hosts of this year’s Hashtag Sports Awards, which are taking place at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Tuesday, July 12. The awards honor “the work of brands, agencies, media companies, sports and entertainment properties, and technology companies enhancing fan engagement and experience.”
“The Hashtag Sports Awards set the benchmark for effective fan and consumer engagement. The ceremony will take place during Hashtag Sports 2022 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on July 12,” Hashtag Sports wrote.
“The Hashtag Sports Awards is where media executives, CMOs, athletes, entertainers, creatives, producers, gamers, and storytellers all come together to recognize & inspire those who do it best on the biggest stage. This is your can’t-miss recognition and networking night for sports, content and entertainment’s doers and creators.”
Kingston tweeted about hosting the awards: “July 12 in Las Vegas! Suuuper excited to be hosting the 4th annual Hashtag Sports Awards alongside King @AustinCreedWins! We’re celebrating the best in fan and consumer engagement, BAAAAYYYYYBEEEEE!!”
On SmackDown each of the past two weeks, Kingston & Woods have teamed with Drew McIntyre against The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland & Butch). Kingston, Woods & McIntyre won the first matchup between the teams but lost the second.
WWE has made a new match announcement for tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
A singles match between Kofi Kingston and Butch (Pete Dunne) will take place on SmackDown tonight. The show is being held at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
On last week’s SmackDown, Butch helped Sheamus & Ridge Holland win a tables match against Kingston & Xavier Woods. Butch attacked Woods after the match until Sheamus and Holland stopped him.
“What once was lost now is found! After being missing for weeks, Butch reemerged from under the ring last week on the blue brand and unleashed an attack on Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods that helped Sheamus & Ridge Holland win a Tables Match,” WWE wrote.
“Tonight, the brutal conflict will continue when the tough-as-nails Butch goes head-to-head with Kingston in a highly-personal showdown. Don’t miss all the action of SmackDown at 8/7 C on FOX.”
Here’s the updated lineup for tonight’s SmackDown:
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro confront The Bloodline
Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks & Naomi defend against Natalya & Shayna Baszler
On the road to WrestleMania 38, SmackDown comes to Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama tonight.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns attacked WWE Champion Brock Lesnar after Lesnar defeated Austin Theory in the main event of WWE’s Madison Square Garden house show last Saturday. Reigns gave Lesnar a vicious beatdown and posed over a bloody Lesnar. Tonight, Reigns addresses the brutal attack.
Big E & Kofi Kingston take on Sheamus & Ridge Holland tonight. Last week, Sheamus and Holland attacked New Day and destroyed Big E’s ATV.
It was originally announced that Zelina Vega would be facing Sasha Banks in a singles match on tonight’s show. After that was changed to Vega & Carmella vs. Banks & Naomi in a non-title tag team match, WWE removed the bout from tonight’s SmackDown preview.
Vega & Carmella are set to defend their WWE Women’s Tag Team titles against Banks & Naomi and Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan in a triple threat match at WrestleMania.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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They recapped Roman Reigns and The Usos attacking Brock Lesnar at the MSG house show.
Reigns beat down Lesnar with a chair and the stairs. He then gave Lesnar a Rock Bottom on the stairs and left him a bloody mess.
Brock Lesnar Segment
This was a good opening segment. Lesnar chasing Heyman in the back was an awesome scene.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar made his way to the ring to start SmackDown.
Lesnar noted that Reigns changed the rules. Reigns drew first blood, and now Lesnar wants revenge. He doesn’t care about WrestleMania or the title. Lesnar threw the WWE title out of the ring.
Lesnar called out Reigns and said he wanted blood for blood. Paul Heyman walked out and told Lesnar to calm down. He teased introducing Reigns but instead claimed Reigns isn’t there tonight.
Lesnar wondered if Reigns isn’t there, then who’s protecting Heyman. Lensar jumped out of the ring and chased Heyman to the back.
In the back, Heyman ran for his life, screaming for security to stop Lesnar. Lesnar followed and destroyed security guards that tried to stop him. Lesnar chased Heyman through the backstage area, but Heyman escaped in a limo.
They recapped Sheamus and Ridge Holland beating down Big E and Kofi Kingston last week. They stole Big E’s ATV and destroyed it with sledgehammers.
In the back, Sheamus and Holland bragged about destroying the ATV. They claimed they don’t need sledgehammers tonight because they have Butch. Pete Dunne entered dressed like Sheamus and Holland.
Sheamus & Ridge Holland (w/Butch) defeated Big E & Kofi Kingston (9:23)
This was a good match but there was one very scary moment when Big E landed on his head. Medical staff checked on him and took him out on a stretcher.
Later, Big E announced on social media that his doctors believe he broke his neck and thanked the fans for their messages.
They renamed Pete Dunne Butch and claimed that he’s good friends with Sheamus and Holland.
Kingston and Big E jumped Sheamus and Holland before the bell. New Day had the early advantage as Big E stomped Sheamus in the corner. Sheamus fought back and rocked Big E with a clothesline. Big E briefly recovered, but Sheamus hit the ten beats of the bodhran.
Big E dragged Sheamus on the apron, and Kington took out Holland with a cross body to the floor. Big E missed the splash, and the heels took over.
Back from the break, Kingston and Sheamus tagged in simultaneously. Kingston ran wild, hitting a dropkick and the boom drop.
Kingston set up for the trouble in paradise, but Holland caused a distraction. Instead, Kingston hit the SOS on Sheamus, but Holland broke up the pin attempt. Big E went for the spear through the ropes, but Holland moved out of the way.
Holland then gave Big E a very scary-looking belly-to-belly suplex on the floor. Big E landed on the top of his head and appeared to be hurt. Cole noted medical personnel is checking on Big E.
The finish came when Kingston climbed to the top rope, but Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick for the win. After the match, Butch attacked Kingston until Sheamus and Holland stopped him.
They recapped Kevin Owens calling out Stone Cole Steve Austin on last Monday’s Raw to appear on the KO Show at WrestleMania. They also showed Austin accepting Owens’ challenge.
They recapped Ricochet defeating Sami Zayn to win the Intercontinental title when Johnny Knoxville caused a distraction last week.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed former Intercontinental Champion Zayn. He was furious that she called him the former champion.
Braxton showed footage from TMZ of Knoxville flying a banner in the sky with Zayn’s phone number. Zayn was furious that Braxton showed the footage. Zayn claimed that Ricochet got lucky last week. He pointed out that Knoxville isn’t there tonight, and he promised to win the title back.
Drew McIntyre & The Viking Raiders vs. Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss & Jinder Mahal
The match didn’t end up happening and turned into an angle instead.
McIntrye made his entrance before the break. Back from the break, McIntyre was waiting for his partners, The Viking Raiders to make their entrance. They cut backstage where Corbin, Moss, Mahal, and Shanky beat down the Raiders.
The heels ran out and attacked McIntyre. He tried fighting back, but the heels overwhelmed him. McIntrye finally broke free, but Corbin ran away. McIntyre beat down the heels and gave Shanky a Michinoku Driver. McIntyre grabbed his sword Angela and pointed at the WrestleMania sign to end the segment.
They recapped Ronda Rousey defeating Sonya Deville last week and putting Charlotte Flair in the ankle lock.
Ronda Rousey Segment
The was a fine segment.
The fans broke into a loud “Ronda” chant. Rousey addressed Flair calling her a one-trick pony last week because all she has is the armbar. She compared that to calling Mike Tyson a one-trick pony because all he does is knocks people out with punches.
Rousey noted she added the ankle lock to her repertoire, which she learned from her first mentor Kurt Angle. Rousey said that she made Flair tap out to the ankle lock last week.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair made her way to the ring. Flair pointed out that she was wearing heels and an expensive suit last week. She doesn’t care that Rousey uses the ankle lock now. Rousey challenged Flair to prove she won’t tap out, but Flair walked away.
The fans chanted “You tapped out” at Flair as she walked around the ringside. Rousey promised to tap out Flair at WrestleMania and leave with her arm.
They recapped the opening segment and announced that an angry Lesnar had left the building.
The match started during the break. Carmella and Queen Zelina watched from ringside.
The heels gained the early advantage as they isolated Naomi. Baszler slowed the pace down and worked over Naomi’s knee. Naomi recovered and kicked Baszler in the face to gain control. Banks got the hot tag and ran wild on the heels. She then hit a Meteora on Natalya and sent the heels to the floor.
Banks gave Natalya a tilt-a-whirl head scissors into the tag team champions at ringside. Naomi then took out Baszler with a cross body off the steps.
Natalya caught Banks with a discus clothesline for a close near fall. Zelina jumped on the apron, but Banks sent Natalya into Vega. Banks then pinned Natalya for the win.
They recapped The Usos attacking Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs last week and defeating The Viking Raiders.
The Usos Segment
They showed the footage of Roman Reigns and The Usos beating down Brock Lesnar at the MSG house show.
The Usos bragged about being the tag team champions almost for one year and Reigns holding the Universal title for nearly two years. Nakamura and Boogs interrupted and demanded a match for WrestleMania.
The Usos mocked Boogs and Nakamura. They agreed to give them a title shot at WrestleMania if Boogs could defeat Jey Uso. They pointed out that Boogs has a knee injury and doubted he could compete on one knee.
Rick Boogs (w/Shinsuke Nakamura) defeated Jey Uso (w/Jimmy Uso) (1:44)
This was a fine match that didn’t get a lot of time.
Boogs revealed that he faked his knee injury. Boogs gave Jey a delayed suplex and a press slam. Jimmy tried to interfere, but Nakamura cut him off. Jimmy took out Nakamura at ringside. Boogs fought back and hit the Boogs Cruise on Jey for the win.
After the match, Jimmy broke a guitar over Boogs head. Nakamura and Boogs take on The Usos for the tag team titles at WrestleMania 38.
Pat McAfee-Austin Theory Segment
McAfee was good in this segment. McAfee and Theory had a good brawl that the fans were into. Cole was good in his role as well.
Sami Zayn and Ricochet made their entrances for the next match. After doing the ring introductions, Austin Theory’s music interrupted, and he walked to ringside.
Theory got in Pat McAfee’s face at the commentary table. He slapped McAfee and knocked off his headset again. McAfee lost his temper and jumped off the table onto Theory.
They brawled until officials ran out to break it up. Cole tried to stop McAfee, but he had to leave the building. The fans broke into a “Pat” chant.
Intercontinetal Champion Ricochet defeated Sami Zayn to retain (12:41)
Zayn and Ricochet had another great match, but the focus at the start was on Austin Theory and Pat McAfee. They even cut away from the match to recap the Theory-McAfee brawl.
Cole claimed Johnny Knoxville and Jackass influenced Ricochet’s high flying style. Cole stressed that Knoxville isn’t at the show tonight.
Back from the break, Cole noted security escorted McAfee out of the building. He added that he’s not sure about McAfee’s commentary career. Cole stressed that McAfee was unprofessinal and had a job to do.
Zayn and Ricochet started slow, going back and forth. Ricochet took over and hit a springboard clothesline. He went for the recoil, but Zayn blocked it. Ricochet climbed to the top rope, but Zayn shoved him off, and Ricochet crashed on the barricade.
Back from the break, they recapped Theory and McAfee brawling before the match. Cole repeated that security escorted McAfee out of the building. He isn’t sure that McAfee will be at SmackDown next week.
Zayn scored a close near fall and went for the blue thunder bomb. Ricochet countered, but Zayn maintained control. Zayn went for a suplex, but Ricochet reversed into a hurricanrana for a two-count.
Ricochet went for a headspring elbow, but Zayn reversed into a blue thunder bomb for a close near fall. They fought on the top rope. Ricochet knocked Zayn off, but he recovered.
Zayn climbed back up and gave Ricochet an exploder suplex. He set up for the helluva kick, but Ricochet countered with the recoil. He followed up with the 630 splash to retain the title.
Ronda Rousey And Charlotte Flair Brawl
This was a good, short and chaotic brawl that was a good ending to SmackDown.
They cut backstage; Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair were in the middle of an intense pull-apart brawl. They fought around a red car with referees and officials getting involved.
Flair gave Rousey a suplex on the car’s hood and continued to beat her down. Flair walked off with a furious Rousey on the ground in pain to end SmackDown.
Next Week: WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Universal Champion Roman Reigns collide.
Two matches have been made official for SmackDown’s Royal Rumble go-home show.
WWE is advertising that Sonya Deville will finally make her true return to the ring against Naomi on next Friday’s SmackDown. Plus, The New Day’s Big E & Kofi Kingston will face Happy Corbin & Madcap Moss on the episode.
Deville has been feuding with Naomi for months but has refused to face her one-on-one, saying that Naomi isn’t allowed to touch her when she’s working in her role as an on-screen authority figure. Deville again abused her power on tonight’s SmackDown by making herself the referee for Naomi’s non-title match against SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. Naomi had Flair beat, but Deville refused to count the pin. When Charlotte put Naomi in the Figure Eight, Deville called for the bell before Naomi tapped out. Deville then taunted Naomi after the match.
Adam Pearce told Deville that what she did was over the line, and her issues with Naomi need to stop. Pearce said he was going to suggest to upper management that Naomi and Deville have a match next week.
Big E is a member of the Raw roster but appeared on SmackDow tonight and was in Kingston’s corner for his match against Moss. Big E sent Corbin into the steel steps at one point. After the match, Big E challenged Corbin to come into the ring. When Corbin wouldn’t, Big E gave Moss the Big Ending and said it was for Corbin.
Moss had defeated Kingston when they faced off on SmackDown last Friday.
On tonight’s show, The Bloodline (Roman Reigns & The Usos) will “acknowledge and celebrate Reigns for his record-breaking 508 days as the Universal Champion.” Reigns’ current title reign recently surpassed Brock Lesnar’s 2017-2018 reign for the longest in the history of the Universal Championship.
Reigns won the Universal Championship by defeating “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match at Payback in August 2020. He’s set to defend the title against Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble later this month.
A face-to-face confrontation with Reigns and Rollins headlined last week’s SmackDown. Rollins was able to avoid an ambush by The Usos then, but they showed up on Raw this Monday and laid him out with a superkick.
A rematch between Kofi Kingston and Madcap Moss has also been added to tonight’s SmackDown. Moss defeated Kingston when they faced off last week.
Tonight’s SmackDown is taking place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The episode will also feature SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Naomi in a non-title match.
Four new participants have been confirmed for this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match.
Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss, Sami Zayn, and Kofi Kingston have been added to the lineup for the men’s Rumble, bringing the number of announced participants up to 14. Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory, “Jackass” star Johnny Knoxville, Sheamus, Damian Priest, AJ Styles, and Big E have also been confirmed for the match.
There are still 16 open spots for the men’s Rumble.
On tonight’s SmackDown, Kingston read a proclamation from Xavier Woods announcing that Woods wouldn’t be able to be in the Royal Rumble this year due to his torn plantaris injury. Woods said the Rumble still needed royal representation, so Kingston would be in the match.
Moss defeated Kingston in a singles match on SmackDown tonight.
Zayn has been feuding with Knoxville leading into the Royal Rumble. Zayn is also the number one contender to Shinsuke Nakamura’s Intercontinental title.
The Royal Rumble is taking place at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis on Saturday, January 29. Here’s the updated list of entrants for the men’s and women’s Rumble matches:
Becky Lynch’s challenger for the Royal Rumble will be decided on next week’s episode of Raw.
WWE has announced that a triple threat number one contender’s match between Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair, and Doudrop will take place on Raw next Monday. The winner will get a Raw Women’s Championship shot against Lynch at the Royal Rumble.
At WWE Day 1 last Saturday, Lynch defeated Morgan to retain the Raw Women’s Championship. It appeared that Lynch was supposed to cheat by having her feet on the ropes while pinning Morgan, but the ropes were too far away and Lynch couldn’t get her feet on them.
Morgan and Belair interrupted Lynch on Raw tonight, and they both wanted the next shot at her title. Later in the night, Doudrop went to WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville and complained about the same women always getting opportunities. Doudrop demanded to challenge for the Raw Women’s Championship. Pearce and Deville responded by announcing next week’s triple threat number one contender’s match.
The Royal Rumble is taking place at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis on Saturday, January 29.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
With Thanksgiving weekend, Garrett is away so we won’t be doing a show this week. I will be back with the regular weekend show with Bryan either Saturday or Sunday.
Smackdown tonight has announced Drew McIntyre & Jeff Hardy vs. Happy Corbin & Madcap Moss and Cesaro vs. Ridge Holland. 205 Live, which isn’t 205 or Live, has Solo Sikoa vs. Andre Chase, Amari Miller vs. Erica Yan and Elektra Lopez vs. Valentina Feroz.
AEW Rampage tonight has Adam Cole & Bobby Fish vs. Orange Cassidy & Wheeler Yuta, Britt Baker vs. Riho non-title and Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia.
Stardom has a PPV tonight from Yoyogi Gym in Tokyo. Stardom PPVs are some of the best shows in the world, particularly at the main event level. It airs at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific:
Ruaka vs. Mai Sakurai vs. Waka Tsukiyama for the Future of Stardom title
Momo Watanabe & AZM vs. Unagi Sayaka & Lady C
Mayu Iwatani & Hazuki & Hanan vs. Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death & Rina
Saya Kamitani vs. Natsupoi vs. Himeka – Winner gets a Wonder of Stardom title match
Starlight Kid vs. Koguma for the High Speed title
Syuri vs. Konami for the SWA title and the right to challenge for the World of Stardom title at Sumo Hall
Tam Nakano vs. Mina Shirakawa for the Wonder of Stardom title
Utami Hayashishita vs. Maika for the World of Stardom title
With it being a slow holiday week in the U.S., the biggest shows are really the Stardom show tonight and the Sunday NOAH show also from Yoyogi Gym, which is on Wrestle Universe in English live. Wrestle Universe is free until the end of the year. Katsuhiko Nakajima puts up the GHC title against the National title of Kenou, in a match to unify the two top singles titles in NOAH. Keiji Muto & Naomichi Marufuji & Masato Tanaka vs. Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba & Kazuyuki Fujita is the semi.
The Joey Janela vs. Nick Wayne match from Defy over the last weekend that a lot of people have talked about is up for free on YouTube.
New Japan has a Super Juniors show at 4 a.m. Eastern today from Fujisawa live on New Japan World:
Yuto Nakashima vs. Ryohei Oiwa non-tournament
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Douki vs. Sho
Master Wato vs. Yoh
El Phantasmo vs. Bushi
Robbie Eagles vs. Desperado
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori
Frank Mir said that he will make close to seven figures for his fight tomorrow night on the Triller Triad show against former boxing champion Kubrat Pulev. He said in his UFC 100 fight with Brock Lesnar which did 1.3 million buys that he didn’t’ come within a few hundred thousand of $1 million payoff. He noted that he and Lesnar didn’t get 10 percent of what Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder got even though they sold far ore PPVs. The gimmick for tomorrow’s show is boxing vs. MMA in a triangular ring. They will fight with MMA gloves, allowing more clinching and spinning attacks that aren’t legal in boxing.
WWE
The reason Kofi Kingston has been out of action doing a knee injury angle is because his wife was about to give birth. She gave birth Tuesday night to a girl, Lotus Selene Sardokie-Mensah, who was 6 pounds 2 ounces and 19.5 inches long.
The first day ticket sales for a Smackdown taping on 1/21 in Winnipeg got off to a big first day as they were already at 6,200 tickets out.
UFC
James Krause announced on The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast that he’s not necessarily retiring, but right now he’s not looking for any future fights as he’s transitioning to coaching.
Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell is being looked at for a 3/5 show. Mitchell comes into the fight with a 14-0 record.
Matt Brown is off the 12/4 UFC show where he was to face Bryan Barbarena due to testing positive for COVID-19.
OTHER NOTES
AAW on FITE TV PPV tonight from 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL:
Fred Yehi vs. Mat Fitchett for AAW heavyweight title
Allysin Kay vs. Skye Blue for AAW women’s title
Ace Austin & Myron Reed vs. Hakim Zane & Karam in a street fight’
Charli Evans vs. Christi Jaynes vs. Lady Frost vs. Sierra for a women’s title shot
Silas Young vs. Manders
Russ Jones vs. Larry D
Hartenbower vs. Ren Jones vs. Schaff vs. Jake Lander vs. Brayden Lee vs. Gringo Loco vs. Storm Grayson vs. Jah-C in a ladder match and the winner gets to pick the title he wants to challenge for
Rich Swann vs. Davey Vega vs. Josh Alexander vs. Brody King for a heavyweight title shot
There is a huge Lucha Libre show on 12/11 at Dorton Arena in Raleigh.
Cage match, loser loses his hair: El Texano Jr., Mecha Wolf 450, Mesías, El Hijo de Dos Cara, Monsther Clown, Dave the Clown, Alberto El Patron’
Pagano & Psycho Clown & Murder Clown vs. Taurus & Rey Escorpion & Dr. Wagner Jr.
L.A. Park & Blue Demon Jr. vs.. Diamante Azul & Puma King
El Hijo de L.A. Park & L.A. Park Jr. & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr vs Drago & Laredo Kid & Aero Star
Combate Global on 12/12 on Univision and Paramount + with a $100,000 first prize. The idea is an international tournament with Kevin Cordero (12-2) of Spain; Leo Muniz (6-1) from the U.S.; Frans Miambo (10-5) of Ireland; Jose Zaraauz (22-8-1) of Peru; Cristian Barraza (7-3) of Chile; Luciano Ramos (8-6) of Argentina and Pierre Daguzan (6-5) of France.
Lucha Libre Toronto on 12/30 at the Opera House.
Superkick’d Wrestling tonight at The Great Hall in Toronto with Taylor Wilde vs. Taylor Rising.
