Tag: royal rumble

Pat McAfee returns to WWE commentary at Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

Pat McAfee tweeted after the Royal Rumble: “That was awesome. Massive thank you to the folks of the WWE Universe that were in that AlamoDome.. I’ll remember that ‘hello’ forever. So grateful to be back tonight..shahtaht @MichaelCole & @WWEGraves. GREAT to see the WWE family backstage again. I’ve missed everyone

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Pat McAfee is back in the WWE broadcast booth.

Saturday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view opened with McAfee making his surprise return to WWE commentary. He joined Michael Cole and Corey Graves to form a three-man commentary team for the PPV.

McAfee had been away from WWE since accepting a position with ESPN’s College GameDay last September. When WWE announced new commentary teams in October, it was stated that McAfee would return to the announce desk following his GameDay commitments.

Wade Barrett was introduced as Cole’s new broadcast partner on SmackDown when the new commentary teams debuted in October. Barrett previously was part of the NXT announce team.

McAfee joined SmackDown as a color commentator in April 2021. In July 2022, McAfee signed a multi-year extension of his WWE contract.

McAfee has wrestled five matches for WWE in the past. He was in action at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam last year. McAfee defeated Austin Theory and lost to Vince McMahon at WrestleMania. At SummerSlam, he defeated Baron Corbin.

Wrestling Observer Live: Royal Rumble, Cody, Kenny Omega, more, plus Jordan Clearwater interview!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the Royal Rumble on Sunday, Cody’s merch sales, odds for the show, more on the Briscoes and WBD, a lawsuit over the Luchasaurus mask, Kenny Omega visa update, and tons more. Plus, JORDAN CLEARWATER joins us to talk NWA and New Japan Strong! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Wrestling Observer Radio: Jay Briscoe AEW tribute show, Mark, Royal Rumble preview, tons more

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Mark Briscoe’s appearance and match on Dynamite Wednesday and what changed with WBD, a full recap of AEW and NXT, Rampage spoilers, a Royal Rumble preview, Conor McGregor facing legal issues again, ratings and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: Briscoes unbanned from Warner Bros. Discovery TV

5:44: Royal Rumble is this weekend

23:26: Ratings

27:46: Conor McGregor under investigation for assault

31:02: AEW Dynamite recap

51:34: NXT notes

59:18: AEW Rampage spoilers

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Wrestling Observer Live: Briscoe family, Sami Zayn, Okada, Royal Rumble, weekend news

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with TONS to talk about including RAW, the Sami Zayn segment and why it got changed, the Royal Rumble, the Okada angle this weekend, Keiji Muto’s final bye byes in multiple places, Rampage and Smackdown thoughts, more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens title match set for WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Kevin Owens is getting a shot at Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

During tonight’s episode of SmackDown, it was confirmed that Owens will challenge for Reigns’ Undisputed title at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Saturday, January 28. The PPV is being held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Owens teamed with John Cena to defeat Reigns & Sami Zayn in a tag team match on SmackDown last Friday. Owens won the match by pinning Zayn after hitting a stunner. Reigns had been taken out with an Attitude Adjustment from Cena.

When The Bloodline opened SmackDown tonight, Reigns claimed that he didn’t lose last week — Zayn was the one who lost. Reigns was unhappy that Zayn called his shot and failed to come through. He accused Zayn of wanting to be the Tribal Chief.

Owens then made his way out and said Reigns’ problem isn’t with Zayn, it’s with Owens. After Owens issued a challenge for a title match at the Royal Rumble, Reigns accepted. Owens said he’d see Reigns at the Royal Rumble — and he’ll see Zayn whenever Zayn manages to dig his balls out of Reigns’ pocket.

Owens also faced Reigns for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble 2021. Reigns defeated him at that PPV to retain.

The updated card for this year’s Royal Rumble is listed below:

  • Men’s Royal Rumble match
  • Women’s Royal Rumble match
  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Kevin Owens
  • Mtn. Dew Pitch Black match: Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight

Wrestling Observer Radio: The Rock, UFC insider betting, William Regal

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio going over the news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Topics include:

  • WWE’s pie-in-the-sky idea for The Rock
  • WrestleMania and who may be there
  • Who runs creative for the Bloodline story
  • Survivor Series and Full Gear business numbers
  • News out of Rampage
  • Update on William Regal
  • UFC insider betting story
  • Listener questions

The video version of this show is available for video subscribers at video.f4wonline.com.

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Kofi Kingston declares for 2023 WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Bryan Rose

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.

Wrestling Observer Radio: Full Gear fallout, Tokyo Dome, Stardom, RAW report, AEW and NXT, more

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including fallout from AEW Full Gear, more Tony Khan press conference notes, Kenny Omega working the Tokyo Dome, AEW and NXT line-ups, Stardom and New Japan weekend notes, Royal Rumble breaks records, the Rock, RAW report for the week and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps

Start: Fallout from Full Gear

14:40: Stardom/NJPW notes

24:54: Royal Rumble breaks records

29:08: NXT/AEW previews

33:45: Cain Velasquez asks judge to allow him to wrestle

36:32: Ratings

40:06: Raw report

57:28: BOLA dates

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WWE Royal Rumble 2023 has broken largest gate record in event history

Posted on by Ian Carey

WWE says the 2023 Royal Rumble has already broken records. 

The company sent out a press release on Monday stating that next year’s event has broken the largest gate record in Royal Rumble history. 

WWE Royal Rumble 2023 – slated for Saturday, January 28 – has broken the company’s record for largest gate in the event’s 36-year history.

Over the weekend, Royal Rumble surpassed the $5M mark and previous record holder from 2017 – the last time the event was held at San Antonio’s AlamoDome.

This carries a 2022 trend into 2023 where WWE set gate records for many of its events, including WrestleMania, Extreme Rules and Crown Jewel.

On the WWE Investors call earlier this month, Nick Khan noted that the 2023 Royal Rumble had grossed more than $4.6 million at the time.

As of November 18, WrestleTix is reporting that 30,361 tickets have been distributed to the event. 4,186 of those are available on the secondary market. If WWE has surpassed the $5 million mark for the event, that puts the average ticket cost in the area of $164 depending on how many tickets were sold over the weekend. 

Currently on Ticketmaster, the cheapest ticket available (The get-in price) is under $50. The most expensive tickets available are in the $3300 range. The most expensive ticket currently available through Ticketmaster’s verified resale program is over $5000.  

Bryan and Lance Storm talk Dynamite, Impact, Hogan and Beefcake DRAMATIC READING

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including Lance’s thoughts on the Royal Rumble with STAR RATINGS, AEW Dynamite, Impact, and, yes, A DRAMATIC READING of the Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake promo from MARCH TO WRESTLEMANIA on the ‘cock. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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We’re Live, Pal: Royal Rumble fallout, backstage chaos, farewell Denise

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

It’s a brand new episode of We’re Live, Pal.

Andrew Zarian, Denise Salcedo and I are back to talk about the fallout of the Royal Rumble, including the reporting on the backstage chaos during the show.

We look at the booking for the Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, especially surrounding Ronda Rousey.

We then preview AEW Dynamite.

This is the last episode with Denise as a regular, but she’ll be back as a guest in the future. 

Enjoy the latest We’re Live, Pal in podcast form or on YouTube.

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Wrestling Observer Live: Royal Rumble fallout, changed plans, Shane McMahon, RAW, more!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including fallout from the Royal Rumble and RAW, plans that changed, WrestleMania ideas, Shane McMahon, Nia Jax telling WWE to ram it up their HOLE, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Wrestling Observer Live: WWE Royal Rumble 2022 fallout plus all the news!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including everything you ever wanted to know about the Royal Rumble and fallout, the road to WrestleMania, tons and tons of news notes from the weekend and so much more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Wrestling Observer Live: Royal Rumble and much more

Posted on by Andrew Zarian

Today on this special edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Andrew is joined by Garrett Gonzales to discuss all the fallout From Saturday’s Royal Rumble. We discuss the winners and losers and what the fan perception has been like since the end of the event.

Ronda Rousey made her big return, winning the women’s Royal Rumble only four months after giving birth. It has been reported she will face Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania.

Brock Lesnar lost the WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley after interference from Roman Reigns, but he would then enter and win the men’s Rumble.

We also run down Rampage from Friday and take a look at Dynamite this coming Wednesday 

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