WWE has changed up one of the participants for the Tuwaiq Trophy gauntlet match at Super ShowDown.
Rey Mysterio will now be in the six-man gauntlet match instead of Rusev. Mysterio, AJ Styles, Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, and R-Truth are the wrestlers set for the match.
On today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer confirmed that Rusev isn’t going on the trip to Saudi Arabia. Meltzer said the story for him not going is an injury.
Andrade is returning to the ring in the gauntlet match after the completion of his 30-day suspension for a wellness policy violation.
Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo vs. Andrade & Angel Garza has also been announced for next week’s episode of Raw.
Super ShowDown is taking place at Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Thursday. It will air live on the WWE Network starting at noon Eastern time.
Here’s the updated card:
Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defending against Goldberg
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Ricochet
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin in a steel cage match
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Naomi
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) defending against The Miz & John Morrison
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Murphy defending against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Tuwaiq Trophy gauntlet match (AJ Styles, Andrade, Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, and R-Truth)
A tag team match has been announced for this Monday’s Raw.
Rusev and Humberto Carrillo will team together to take on Bobby Lashley and Angel Garza. Rusev and Lashley have been feuding for the last several months, with Lashley pinning Rusev back on the January 20 edition of Raw in a mixed tag team match that also featured Lana and Liv Morgan.
Angel Garza made his debut on Raw two weeks ago, aligning himself with Andrade’s business partner Zelina Vega. Despite being cousins, Garza attacked Carrillo in his debut and later laid out Rey Mysterio with a DDT on exposed concrete outside of the ring.
It was also announced that a “sermon” from Seth Rollins will take place on Monday’s Raw. In recent months, Seth Rollins has been calling himself the Monday Night Messiah.
A no holds barred match is also set, with Randy Orton taking on Matt Hardy after Orton gave Hardy a con-chair-to last week. Hardy had confronted Orton about Orton’s attack on Edge from two weeks ago.
Monday’s Raw will take place at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.
WWE is introducing a new trophy for this month’s Super ShowDown event in Saudi Arabia.
During tonight’s Raw, it was announced that a six-person gauntlet match will take place at Super ShowDown. The gauntlet match will feature AJ Styles, Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Rusev, R-Truth, and Erick Rowan.
The winner of the gauntlet match will receive the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy.
Styles has been out of action since the Royal Rumble due to a shoulder injury. In an update that WWE issued earlier this month, it was said that Styles is “recovering way ahead of doctor’s projections.”
Andrade is currently serving a 30-day suspension for a wellness policy violation. His suspension was announced on January 28 and will expire just in time for Super ShowDown.
Super ShowDown is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, February 27 and will air live on the WWE Network. Here’s the updated card for the show:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Ricochet
Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defending against Goldberg
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin in a steel cage match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) defending against The Miz & John Morrison)
Two segments have been announced for next week’s Raw.
Rusev & Liv Morgan will team together next week to take on the team of Lana & Bobby Lashley.
Rusev faced Bobby Lashley in a singles match tonight on Raw. Lashley was able to get the win after Rusev was distracted by Liv Morgan, who came out from the crowd to confront Lana at ringside. Lana grabbed a drink from the crowd, threw it in Morgan’s face and sent her into the barricade.
Morgan became involved in the long-running feud between Lashley, Rusev and Lana after she interrupted Lashley and Lana’s wedding two weeks ago.
Additionally, Brock Lesnar will make an appearance on Raw next week. He came out tonight with Paul Heyman, who promised a Lesnar Royal Rumble victory. After some comedy with R-Truth, Lesnar attacked Truth and laid him out with the F5.
Raw next week will be at the INTRUST Bank Arena in Witchita, Kansas.
WWE has also announced Seth Rollins & AOP vs. Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe & Big Show in a “fist fight” and Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy for next week’s Raw.
Big Show returned on Raw tonight and teamed with Owens & Joe against Rollins & AOP in the main event. Murphy attacked Black after Black defeated Shelton Benjamin on the show.
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Two grudge matches are set for next week’s episode of Raw.
WWE has announced that AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton and Bobby Lashley vs. Rusev will take place on Raw next Monday. Lana will be in Lashley’s corner, while Liv Morgan will be in Rusev’s.
There was an angle on Raw last week where Orton laid out Styles with an RKO after faking that he had suffered a knee injury at a house show the previous night. On tonight’s Raw, Styles defeated Akira Tozawa in a match where he used a couple of Orton’s moves. Instead of pinning Tozawa after hitting the Phenomenal Forearm, Styles got the win after giving Tozawa a draping DDT and the RKO.
Styles did Orton’s pose after the match.
WWE followed up on last week’s wedding angle with the wedding officiant appearing again tonight and pronouncing Lashley and Lana husband and wife. On the video screen, Rusev interrupted Lashley and Lana and showed clips of the wedding being ruined last week.
Lashley challenged Rusev for next Monday, and Rusev responded by saying we’ll see the return of the Bulgarian Brute. After the match was officially announced, Morgan interrupted a backstage interview with R-Truth and said she’d be in Rusev’s corner.
The Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky is hosting next week’s Raw.
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 six-man tag match headlined last night’s episode of Raw in Nashville, Tennessee.
The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) took on Rey Mysterio, Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo, with the match being made after Mysterio, Ricochet & Carrillo saved Randy Orton from The O.C. earlier in the show. Orton appeared again after the match and laid out Styles with an RKO.
The show opened with Seth Rollins issuing an apology after last week’s town hall meeting. Kevin Owens didn’t believe Rollins was sincere and refused to team with him against AOP. He issued a challenge instead and faced Bobby Lashley.
Owens vs. Lashley was interrupted by AOP. Rusev also came through the crowd and attacked Lashley after the match. But despite Rusev violating his restraining order, it was Lashley and Lana who ended up getting “arrested: after Lashley bumped into a police officer.
A handicap match also took place last night, with Charlotte Flair taking on Asuka & Kairi Sane. Becky Lynch didn’t appear on the episode, but WWE uploaded a Raw fallout video where Lynch teased that she has one more debt to collect.
WWE’s revived version of Starrcade, essentially a glammed up house show, airs tonight on the WWE Network.
Three segments will be aired live. One will be a fatal four way tag team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles, with champions The Kabuki Warriors facing Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair, Bayley & Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross.
Another match set is a last man standing bout between Bobby Lashley and Rusev. The two have been feuding for a number of weeks, with the catalyst being Lana dumping Rusev for Lashley. The two ended up having a huge brawl this past week on Raw, with Rusev sending Lashley through a platform off the Raw stage.
One non-wrestling segment is also set for the show, with Ric Flair being announced as a guest for the Kevin Owens Show.
Join us for live coverage starting at 7 p.m. EST.
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Kevin Owens came out for his show and quickly introduced Ric Flair.
Flair started to give a speech about Starrcade but the crowd chanted “we can’t hear you”. Owens traded him microphones. He brings up what Roman said on Thursday and says he we might not like each other, but we are family. He said he was lucky to be here, look at his daughter. He thanks Harley Race and mentions their match at the first Starrcade, as well as Dusty Rhodes, who came up with the idea. He also brought up Sting.
He said behind that curtain tonight there are 30 people who want to go out there and prove they are the best. Owens says that is because of Flair’s legacy. Owens told Flair he wants to hear a “woo”.
They counted three, but at three the OC (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) came out. They should be celebrating that Gallows & Anderson are the best tag team. Kevin Owens threw a bald joke at them. Anderson said that they should spend the next 55 minutes airing O.C. highlight clips. Owens said that instead maybe they should show footage of AJ Styles losing the United States title to Rey Mysterio on Raw this past Monday.
This brought out The Street Profits. Montez Ford said they should make some highlights here tonight in “Atlanta”. This all leads to a tag match.
The Street Profits defeated The O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson)
Profits get the early advantage on Anderson before he tags in to Gallows. Ford is distracted long enough on the apron by Anderson to eat a boot by Gallows that sends him to the floor. Anderson works on him back in the ring as he tags back in Gallows.
Ford made the hot tag to Dawkins who ran wild on both men before being taken down by a spinebuster from Anderson. Both Anderson & Gallows went for the magic killer on Dawkins, but Ford breaks it up. He took out Gallows on the outside, then was tagged in for a frog splash and got the win. Basic match, though the crowd was into it.
Ric Flair celebrated with The Street Profits after the match.
Sasha Banks met up with Bayley backstage. Bayley says let’s just do what we do then get the hell out of here. Sasha said they would be double champions.
The Kabuki Warriors defeated Bayley & Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch & Charlotte and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles
The match starts out with some tentative back and forth and many tags. Charlotte and Asuka exchange strikes, with Charlotte getting the better of things. She went for a figure four, but Asuka shoved her away, allowing Sasha Banks to tag herself in.
Alexa Bliss is tagged in as she and Nikki worked over Sasha Banks. Bayley is tagged in and isolates Nikki briefly. Nikki tags in Becky Lynch, who is cut off by Bayley and Sasha.
Becky manages to escape from Bayley, but instead of tagging in Charlotte instead tags in Bliss. Bayley tags in Kairi as she put Alexa in a half Boston crab. Bayley & Sasha are back in and isolate Bliss. Bliss escapes momentarily, but Asuka grabs Bliss by the leg.
Bliss strikes Asuka with a forearm before tagging in Lynch, who takes out both Kabuki Warriors, Bayley and Sasha. Asuka breaks up a pin attempt by Becky with a running knee. Nikki tags herself in and hits a double crossbody on both Kairi and Asuka.
Everyone started hitting big moves at this point. Sane hit the insane elbow on Lynch, but Charlotte took out both Kabuki Warriors with a double spear. Charlotte was posted in the corner. Asuka missed a kick as Nikki rolled her up for a flash pin, but Asuka countered with the Asuka lock, giving her the submission win. This was another perfectly fine match, but there was nothing particularly interesting about it.
Bobby Lashley won the last man standing match I guess
Lana says she has some good news and some bad news. The good news is that she’s excited for this holiday season because she has a hot boyfriend and he is the gift that keeps on giving. She said Rusev never appreciated her. Fans chanted “Rusev day”.
She said the bad news was that there would be no Last Man Standing match. She went to court in Georgia today and filed a restraining order. She said Rusev day was cancelled and they would gladly take the win by forfeit. The referee raised Lashley’s hand.
At that moment, Kevin Owens came out. He said he’s not ending the show like this. He said no one cares about their stupid relationship. He ran down the fact she doesn’t use her accent anymore. Lashley told him to get in the ring, and he obliged, leading to a match.
Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Owens by DQ
Owens hit a few cannonballs in the corner and went for a stunner but Lashley rolled out of the way. Owens wiped out Lashley with a senton off the apron. Lashley got the heat after tripping Owens on the apron.
Owens eventually reversed a suplex attempt from Lashley, but Lashley remained in control. Owens fought back with tops, but was quickly taken down again. Lashley went for a superplex, but Owens fought him off, sent him to the floor and hit a senton. He followed with a bullfrog splash off the opposite corner for a nearfall.
Lashley blocked a stunner attempt with a neckbreaker but Owens reversed it into a stunner. Lana distracted the referee, which led to Owens being distracted and walking into a spinebuster. Lana introduced a steel chair but Rusev came through the chair and assaulted Lashley for the DQ. This was another good match until the finish.
Rusev brawled around the ring with Lashley after the match, then took him into the crowd. Lashley cut him off back in the ringside area and threw him into the steel steps. In the ring, Lashley beat him with a kendo stick until Lashley grabbed it from him and began pelting Lashley with strikes. Rusev attacked Lashley with a chair then drilled him with a machka kick while Lashley was holding a chair, sending him out of the ring.
The show ended with Rusev leaving through the crowd to avoid being arrested, I guess.
F4W NEWSLETTER: NXT’s Survivor Series involvement Joseph Currier looks at how WWE featured NXT at Survivor Series and in the build to the PPV.
Even with how forced the battle for brand supremacy can admittedly be, Survivor Series is one of the bright spots on the WWE calendar.
The PPV has given us some of the main roster’s best matches in recent years. Last year, we got Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan and Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (filling in for the injured Becky Lynch). In 2017, Lesnar faced AJ Styles. Those matches wouldn’t have happened without the brand vs. brand concept. And while there would ideally be more substantive stakes involved, the brands facing off has given some life to the traditional Survivor Series elimination tag matches.
The added involvement of NXT this year only improved things. The battle of the brands would have been even more forced without their inclusion. Viewers can believe that NXT really wants to prove that it’s better than Raw or SmackDown. It’s much harder to suspend your disbelief and buy into Raw and SmackDown’s wrestlers being undyingly loyal to their brand just weeks after a draft.
Coverage of Survivor Series weekend and five shows in six nights in Chicago, as well as the business, polls and more, heads this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at the directions things are going, how DVR viewership affects all the major shows, the decision on match order, what Vince McMahon was doing during the Survivor Seres main event, the next two major shows as well as Survivor Series and Takeover with full coverage and star ratings for every match.
The issue also covers:
The myth of NXT as developmental, World’s Collide, the next Takeover, the mention of Britt Baker on the air and more.
The tragic death of Aniah Blanchard, the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris.
Changes in the UFC drug policy, regarding levels, what drugs are low levels now allowed, what UFC is encouraging fighters to do as far as supplements, .
The situation with Corey Graves and Mauro Ranallo, what happened, why Graves should have been more careful, and where things stand.
Jim Cornette’s apology, how his departure from the NWA took place, more of the background as to why Cornette was castigated for things that nobody would have batted an eye about had others said and why, what NWA wanted to do with him and why their hand was forced.
C.M. Punk signing with FOX, Vince McMahon’s thoughts on Seth Rollins pushing the Punk match, TV ratings in Canada and overseas, WWE get awarded, legend selling home, Oney Lorcan talks future, Mike Bennett talks wanting to leave, Injury updates in WWE, WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network, plus notes on the house shows.
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.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Our weekend audio show with Bryan Alvarez is up right now on the site and we will have a second show talking economics of pro wrestling and AEW with Brandon Thurston and Garrett Gonzalez up later today. This was somewhat of a quiet weekend although the Starrcade show is tonight. From the 60s through the 80s, Thanksgiving was synonymous with the biggest shows of the year. We have a retro Observer up covering the history of pro wrestling on Thanksgiving.
After the first two days of its release, Chris Jericho’s “A Little Bit of the Bubbly” sparkling win has sold 10,000 bottles.
As far as Google trends go, the only thing over the last week combat sports related was Gina Carano at No. 10 on Friday with 100,000 searches due to her debut on the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. On Wednesday, there were 10 million searches for “History of Thanksgiving,” but that was not related to a Ric Flair vs. Harley Race match.
As far as Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley tonight, for whatever this is worth, this is what they did in the billed last man standing matches the last two days: Lashley and Lana came out and Rusev never came out. The referee counted to ten and ruled that Lashley won the match. They celebrated and Lana said “Rusev is a fool” but then Rusev came out to attack Lashley. They never had the match since the ten count meant that Lashley won already.
Here’s a link to the ice hockey movie “Net Worth” that we talked about on today’s Observer Radio, a true story based in the NHL in the late 50s. I would encourage all pro wrestlers and fans interested in business to watch this movie, particularly considering how owners manipulate and players get bullied. Even as bad as it was, the NHL players had a pension plan 63 years ago.
WWE
Samoa Joe is currently planned to announce Raw tomorrow night with Vic Joseph and Jerry Lawler.
WWE 24: Trish Stratus airs on the WWE Network after Starrcade.
There was a category on Jeopardy on Friday called WWE Slammy Awards. The answers to the questions were Charlie Sheen, Cyndi Lauper, Ronda Rousey, Dwayne Johnson and Vince McMahon. The contestants didn’t do well in the category (thanks to Ken Raftery)
A ‘Day Of’ special built around the 2019 Survivor Series airs 12/8 on WWE Network.
MISCELLANEOUS
Konnan returns to MLW on Thursday’s TV tapings in New York and the Melrose Ballroom.
AAW from last night in Chicago: Rory Storm b Reilly McGwire, Ace Austin & Clayton Gainz b Travis Titan & Jake Landers, Hakim Zane b Myron Reed, Killer Kross b Josh Briggs, Curt Stallion b Eddie Kingston, Good Brother #3 (Mance Warner) b Nick Gage (crowd loved this match), Josh Alexander b Ace Romero to keep AAW title, Paco b Jake Something to win the Heritage title, ACH & Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega b Sami Callihan & Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz (said to be super), Jessicka Havok b Kris Statlander to keep the womens’ title (thanks to Case Lowe)
The next AAW show has Alexander defending against Jacob Fatu, Zane defending the Heritage title against Pac and David Starr & Kingston vs. Stallion & Something.
WrestleCade results from Friday night in Winston, Salem, NC: Murphy Costagan b David Anthony to keep SWF TV title, John Skylar b Andrew Everett to keep PWI Ultra J title, Heatseekers b Jordan Cage & Caleb Courageous to keep the Innovate U.S. tag titles, C.W. Anderson b Ethan Page to keep the AML title, Gymnasty Boys b GRIT to win the vacant Fest Wrestling tag titles, Rocky Rage won three-way over Jason Kincaid and Brian Pillman Jr. to keep ASW title, Killer Kross b Billy Brash to keep the Wrestling Revolver title, Brian Cage b Willie Mack to keep the More Wrestling title, Diamante won four-way over Kiera Hogan, Miranda Alize and champion Ivelisse to win the Ladies Night Out title in an elimination match, Rich Swann b Matt Cross to keep the NWG title (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
WrestleCade results from last night in Winston-Salem, NC: Great Muta b George South, Nick Aldis & Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson b Homicide & Hernandez & Thomas Latimer, Jax Dane won Battle Royal, Taya Valkyrie won four-way over Rosemary, Jordynne Grace and Su Yung. Tessa Blanchard was to wrestle but due to an eye injury suffered last week in London, she couldn’t and did commentary. She said that a former ECW wrestler (Sandman) was backstage saying that he didn’t think women should be in the man event because he didn’t believe fans would accept it. She said that all the women in the ring have wrestled all over the world and held titles and they aren’t great women wrestlers, they are great wrestlers period.
MVP pulled out of WrestleCade weekend due to issues with a third party promoter. He was supposed to face Stephan Bonnar over the weekend.
BCW from Friday night in Melbourne, Australia: Mortar b Vixsin to keep the women’s title, Nick Bury & Mitch Waterman b Carlo Cannon & Sketch, Cody Swift b Cletus to keep the Battle Express title, The Preston Kindred b The Pares to keep the BCW tag titles, Mick Moretti b Syd Parker, Gabriel Wolfe b Famous B, Mad Dog b Sabu in a barbed wire match to keep the BCW title. Next show is 1/26 in Melbourne with Ultimo Dragon vs. Syd Parker. On 1/25 in Sydney, Dragon will wrestle Moretti. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Limitless Wrestling from Friday night in Yarmuth, MA: Christian Casanova b Myron Reed, JD Drake b Alec Price, Masha Slamovich b Jody Threat, Ace Romero & Anthony Greene b Danger Kid & Aiden Aggro, CJ Cruz won scramble match over Pinkie Sanchez, Kevin Ku, Manders and Oswald Project, JT Dunn b Jake Something, Ashely Vox b Kris Statlander in a last creature standing match. They used multiple doors as objects and people were raving about the main event. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
NHPW on Saturday night in Perth, Australia: Creek Murdoch b Cannon Connors and WAR, Matthew Pace b Johnny Hardway, Jebediah b Aaron O’Malley in a hunters cage match, Julian Ward b King Shahil to keep the Art of Fighting title, Lena Kross & Mercedes Martinez b Kenicki Wheeler & Rogan Karguis-DQ,Tommy Knight won three-way over champion Rory Holmes and Chris Dickinson to win the Hybrid title. They announced Low Ki and Killer Kross on 2/12. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Adrenaline Pro Wrestling on 2/22 in Melbourne with Sammy Guevara.
OTT from last night in Dublin, Ireland: Terry Thatcher won five-way over Calum Black, Kyle Fletcher, Mao and Omari, Aidan b Liam Royal, Bonesaw & Damien Corvus b Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf 450, Katey Harvey b Debbie Keitel to keep the women’s title, Scotty Davis b Ren Narita to keep the No Limits title, Paddy M b B Cool, Rey Hours & Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix b Darren Kearney & LJ cleary & Nathan Martin, David Starr b Mike Bailey to keep the OTT title (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
Defy, PCW Ultra and Progress joint show last night in Seattle. Every match said to be ***+. Crowd looked sold out. Jake Atlas b Douglas James to keep PCW Ultra light heavyweight title, Jorel Nelson & Travis Williams & Cook Brothers & Alexander Hammerstone b Judas Icarus & Guillermo Rosas & Cody Chunn & Randy Myers & Schaff, Meiko Satomura b Nicole Savoy to keep the Progress title (disappointing), Josef Samael & Jacob Fatu won over Ethan HD & Mike Santiago and Randers & Big Jack for the PCW Ultra and Defy tag titles, Jimmy Havoc b Sonico, El Phantasmo b Artemis Spencer (thanks to Scott Janicek)
Stardom from this afternoon in Osaka: Andras Miyagi b Leo Onozaki, Natsuko Tora b Itsuki Hoshino, Konami & Zoe Lucas b Saya Iida & Saya Kamitani, Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona & Death Yama-San b Natsu Sumire & Jamie Hayter & Session Moth Martina, Riho & Tam Nanano & Saki Kashima & Starlight Kid b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & AZM, Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki b Kagetsu & Hazuki.
This evening’s show in Osaka: Jamie Hayter b Leo Onozaki, Andras Miyagi b Saya Iida, Riho & Starlight Kid b Saya Kamitani & Itsuki Hoshino, Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki & Tam Nakano & Saki Kashima b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & AZM,Hazuki & Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire & Natsuko Tora & Session Moth Martina b Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona & Konami & Death Yama-san & Zoe Lucas (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling announced its 12/28 show scheduled for East Carondelet, IL has been canceled.
Amale, the current WXW women’s champion who has worked for WWE as well, but isn’t signed and is having a lot of problems from parents as she is wrestling while being a schoolteacher. (thanks to Matt Burrows)
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.
A King’s Court segment with Rusev and Lana headlined Raw’s go-home show for Crown Jewel.
The Rusev/Lana/Bobby Lashley saga continued. Lana at first tried to blame her problems with Rusev on him wanting her to have a baby, then claimed that Lashley told her that Rusev cheated on her.
Lashley came down to the ring and brawled with Rusev. Rusev got the better of it until being distracted by Lana hitting him with a kendo stick. With Rusev’s attention turned away, Lashley gave him two low blows and celebrated with Lana to close the episode.
Rusev and Lashley will both be taking part in the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match at Crown Jewel this Thursday.
Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair appeared last night. Team Hogan member Ricochet faced Team Flair member Drew McIntyre in a rematch from last week, but an RKO out of nowhere from Randy Orton put a stop to things.
Ahead of his falls count anywhere match against The Fiend in Saudi Arabia, Seth Rollins took on former Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan in a falls count anywhere match.
Becky Lynch and Kairi Sane faced off in last night’s opening match, with The Kabuki Warriors turning against Paige before it got started.
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.
Both Bobby Lashley and Lana returned to Raw tonight, and it was made clear that they were in a relationship.
Lashley resurfaced during the closing moments of the show, interrupting a match between Rusev and Seth Rollins for the Universal title. He motioned for someone to come out, and sure enough it was Lana.The two then made out with one another on stage, leaving Rusev in the ring flustered. Rusev had mentioned in an earlier promo on the show that the two were having problems at home.
The Universal title match never had a finish, as once Lashley and Lana were done making out The Fiend attacked Seth Rollins to close out the show.
Lana had not been seen on WWE television since WrestleMania 35. Rusev returned to television a couple of weeks ago without her, destroying Mike Kanellis. Lashley had been out of action since July, recovering from elbow surgery.
WWE has revealed Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair’s roles for Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
On this week’s Raw season premiere, it was announced that Hogan and Flair will coach teams for a five-on-five tag match against each other at Crown Jewel. Hogan and Flair won’t be wrestling in the match.
Rollins was announced as the captain of Team Hogan, while Randy Orton will captain Team Flair. It was also revealed that Rusev will be on Team Hogan and Baron Corbin will be on Team Flair. Rusev made a save for Rollins after he was attacked by Orton and Corbin.
The remaining members of the teams will be announced in the coming weeks.
Crown Jewel is taking place at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 31. Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, The New Day, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, and NXT’s Mansoor are also advertised for the show.
Crown Jewel 2019 will be the fourth event in WWE’s 10-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority. It began with last year’s Greatest Royal Rumble.
We’re doing a poll on tonight’s ROH PPV so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]” target=”_blank”>@juno.com
We’re also looking for reports from the Raw show tonight in El Paso, NXT in Independence, MO and Orlando, FL and New Japan in Lowell, MA to [email protected]
Saturday we’re looking for reports from the dual brand WWE show in Prescott, AZ, NXT in St. Charles, MO and Fort Pierce and New Japan in New York.
NXT took advantage of their head start over AEW by hitting a home run with last week’s live premiere.
It wasn’t surprising that NXT’s first live episode was good — it would have been pretty shocking if it wasn’t. Even if there have been occasional peaks and valleys, NXT has always been a good show. Triple H and his team know what they’re doing and the roster is stacked with talent. But NXT was able to pass one of their most important tests: creating a show that feels must-see and different from what they were already offering viewers.
It’s become clear that NXT is going to be a place that features all of WWE’s non-main roster sub-brands. In addition to the regular NXT talent on display, the show featured an appearance by WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER and his Imperium stablemates. There was also a Cruiserweight Championship number one contender’s match, with Lio Rush making his return and defeating Oney Lorcan.
Due to the final episodes of the USA Network series “Suits,” the first two live editions of NXT are being split across USA and the WWE Network. Last week’s USA Network hour featured a really good fatal four-way number one contender’s match that saw Candice LeRae defeat Mia Yim, Bianca Belair, and Io Shirai to become NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler’s next challenger. Cameron Grimes squashed Sean Maluta, and Roderick Strong became the new NXT North American Champion by defeating Velveteen Dream. The first NXT broadcast of the USA Network era ended with every member of Undisputed Era holding a title.
With perhaps the most important week for the U.S. industry in a decade coming up, a double issue this week:
Goes through details of the moves by WWE and AEW, what plans are, advertisers wants, promotion and much more.
Includes an extensive look at Battle of Los Angeles, New Japan’s upcoming big shows and Tokyo Dome plans, what to learn from the NXT ratings and much more.
The lead story talks about WWE’s big week, the importance of the different shows, overdoing nostalgia, ticket sales, announcing changes, 205 Live’s future, plans for all the shows, what demos to look at, what happened with AEW and ITV, NXT, Smackdown and AEW on the West Coast, replays shows, Smackdown ad rates, as well as a look at Hell in a Cell.
Impact to AXS and what the plans are for specials leading to the regular show.
The keys in week two’s NXT show and the audience change.
Brock Lesnar’s future, John Hennigan coming in, CM Punk, former UFC legend talks coming to WWE, Shayna Baszler talks her career, WWE injuries, WWE stock update, most-watched shows on WWE Network for the past week, as well as a look at every WWE & NXT arena event over the past week with results, highlights and business notes.
NJPW coverage of Destruction in Kobe, Tokyo Doe direction, King of Pro Wrestling, the Young Lions Cup and match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
Battle of Los Angeles, Bandido’s win, past winners, other PWG alumni, business notes, the good and the bad, the stars of the weekend, the stars of the future, Aramis, Alex Zayne, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
Full coverage of the UFC from Mexico City along with business notes.
Full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
For the weekend WWE shows, El Paso tonight is a Raw show but no Seth Rollins or Becky Lynch, nor Bray Wyatt. Saturday in Prescott, AZ is a joint brand show with Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Braun Strowman, Ricochet and Rey Mysterio as among the headliners. Sunday in Tucson has Rollins and Lynch back for a joint-branded show.
Former star Samu Anoa’i of such teams as The Headshrinkers and SST underwent a 13 1/2 hour liver transplant operation. His son Lance noted his father was in a lot of pain after surgery. Samu has been battling liver cancer for some time.
Seth Rollins deleted his Twitter account after he ended up with a twitter skirmish with Sasha Banks. Keep in mind that Rollins’ fiancee is feuding with Banks and twitter is often used to set up angles in WWE although this doesn’t look to be the case.
Tito Ortiz isn’t happy about the upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 piece on the Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell feud. Ortiz said that he’s sure ESPN will be disappointed to see their work chopped up and edited by Dana White and called it a shameful hack job.
Weigh-ins for the main Bellator fights from tomorrow night at the Forum in Los Angeles:
Lyoto Machida (186) vs, Gegard Mousasi (186)
Patricio Pitbull Freire (144.9) vs. Juan Archuleta (144.6) for featherweight title in featherweight Grand Prix
A.J. McKee (144.9) vs. Georgi Kharakanyan (145) in featherweight Grand Prix
Darrion Caldwell (144.9) vs. Henry Corrales (144.4) in featherweight Grand Prix
Daniel Weichel (144.2) vs. Saul Rogers (144.8) in featherweight Grand Prix
The main card airs exclusively on DAZN at 10 p.m. Eastern. Bellator also has a show tonight from Dublin that airs on Paramount at 9 p.m. Eastern. Part of the show is on the Bellator App at this moment.
Weigh-ins for tomorrow’s UFC show from Copenhagen, Denmark, which starts at 11 a.m. on ESPN+:
Nohelin Hernandez (136) vs. Jack Shore (135)
Marc Diakiese (155) vs. Lando Vannata (155)
Macy Chiasson (136) vs Lina Lansberg (136)
Giga Chikadze (146) vs. Brandon Davis (146)
Siyar Bahadurzada (171) vs. Ismail Naurdiev (171)
Alessio Di Chirico (186) vs. Makhmud Maradov (185)
Alen Amedovski (185) vs.; John Phillips (186)
Nicolas Dalby (171) vs. Alex Oliveira (171)
Michel Oleksiejczuk (205) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (206()
Ion Cutelaba (205) vs. Khalil Rountree (205)
Gilbert Burns (171) vs Gunnar Nelson (171)
Danilo Belluardo (156) vs. Mark Madsen (155)
Jack Hermansson (185) vs. Jared Cannonier (185)
WWE
Rusev just officially became a U.S. citizen after 14 years of living in this country.
BetOnline has these odds for Hell in a Cell
Seth Rollins +300 vs. Bray Wyatt -500
Becky Lynch +200 vs. Sasha Banks -300
A new Hidden Gems show on the WWE Network is the April 8, 1990 Superclash IV show in St. Paul during the end of the AWA with Paul Diamond & The Trooper (Del Wilkes) vs. Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom in a cage match, Masa Saito vs. Larry Zbyszko for the AWA title with Nick Bockwinkel as referee, Kokina (Yokozuna) vs. Nord the Barbarian, Tommy Jammer vs. Tully Blanchard, Baron Von Raschke vs. Col. DeBeers and more.
Adam Cole was pulled from the current NXT Midwest tour. He hasn’t wrestled in a several weeks and has had a coast on his right wrist.
Cameron Grimes will be doing a meet and greet for the Evolve shows coming to Atlanta and Concord, NC. Austin Theory defends his Evolve title against AR Fox in Atlanta. They also announced Fox & Leon Ruff defending the tag titles in Concord against Theory and a partner who will be named on Monday. Also at meet and greets in both cities are Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Kassius Ohno, Babatunde and Arturo Ruas, while William Regal will be appearing but only in Atlanta.
Tickets for the Crown Jewel show on Halloween night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will be going on sale Monday.
Edge announced today that due to family duties he is leaving the Edge & Christian podcast. Christian said he would be continuing the podcast.
A story on Mandy Rose. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
A story on George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers at Raw.
UFC
A story on Conor McGregor business (thanks to Dave Teixeira)
Tracy Cortez vs. Duda Santana has been added to the 11/16 show in Sao Paulo,Brazil. Cortez replaced Leah Letson, who pulled out for undisclosed reasons.
Andre Barriault vs. Jun Yong Park has been added as a middleweight fight on the 12/21 show in Busan, South Korea.
Impact tonight at 10 p.m. on The Pursuit Channel has the Brian Cage/Melissa Santos wedding plus Tessa Blanchard vs. David Crist, Madison Rayne vs. Tenille Dashwood and Mahabali Shera vs. Cousin Jake.
AAW on 9/28 in Chicago at the Logan Square Auditorium has Sami Callihan vs. Josh Alexander for the AAW title, David Starr & Eddie Kingston vs. Curt Stallion & Jake Something, Allysin Kay vs. Kimber Lee, Darby Allin vs. Fatu plus more.
Pro Wrestling Eve from earlier today in London: Jetta b Priscilla Kelly, Gisele Shaw b Holidead, Jinny b Kanji, Nina Samuels won three-way over Tsukasa Fujimoto and Sammii Jayne, Mercedes Blaze b Trish Adora, Roxxy b Skye Smitson, Emi Sakura b Solo Darling, Rhia O’Reilly b Jayla Dark no DQ. Jayla Dark has her retirement match on tomorrow’ Eve show in London at the Stratford Circus at Theater Square against Fujimoto. Jetta & Erin Angel vacated the tag team titles and said they would give a reason at a later time. The promotion announced a tournament for the titles. Sierra Loxson came out and talked about her recovery from a broken back and that she would be wrestling next year. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Mick Foley, Ted DiBiase Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake, The Godfather and Terri Runnels have been announced for the Hamilton Comic Con on 10/19 and 10/20 in Hamilton, ONT as part of a Legends of Wrestling Reunion theme.
WAR on 10/5 in Lima, OH at the Bradfield Community Center.
Innovate Wrestling on 9/28 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium.
There is an autograph signing at the famed Harry’s Hofbrau in San Leandro, CA tomorrow from Noon to 3 p.m. with Chavo Guerrero Jr., Cryme Tyme, The Godfather, Ron Simmons, Teddy Long and Stevie Ray.
River City Wrestling and World Class Revolution have a show tonight in Selma, TX at Retama Park with Stephan Bonnar, MVP, Fallah Bahh vs. Kongo Kong, Kiera Hogan, Hernandez, Rodney Mack and more.
Jimmy Valiant appears on 10/5 for Hoosier Pro Wrestling at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Columbus, IN.
Caveman Ugg & Hartley Jackson vs. Adam Brooks & Slex has been added to the 10/11 Melbourne City Wrestling show.
Defy tonight in Seattle at Washington Hall has Schaff defending his Defy title against Joey Janela, Bestia 666 vs. Rey Hours, Darby Allin vs. Cody Chhun, Douglas James vs. Killer Kross and more, including Super Crazy.
All Star Wrestling tonight in Vancouver, BC at the Labor Centre.
Schadenfreude and Friends from Tuesday night in Manchester, UK: Chris Brookes b Dani Luna, Kyle Fletcher b Joe Nelson Tyler Bate b Dean Allmark, Invisible El Phantasmo b Real El Phantasmo, Chris Ridgeway b Nco Angelo, Charli Evans & Rickey Shane Page b Gene Dunny & Los Federales Santos Jr. in a life match.
MLW Fusion TV tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Eastern has Mance Warner vs. Jimmy Havoc in a bunkhouse match.
559 Fights returns to Visalia,CA at the Convention Center on 11/9.
Rory Gulak will be based out of Sydney, Australia for an unspecified length of time helping train PWA.
Combate Americas on 10/18 in Monterrey, Mexico, live on Univsion with Levy Marroquin (12-3) vs. Enrique Gonzalez (80-3) as the main event.
There will be a screening of No Holds Barred on 10/2 at 9:30 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn. This is Hulk Hogan’s first movie built around a match with Zeus, who later became his wrestling rival, paled by Tom “Tiny” Lister.
MCW Pro Wrestling on 10/5 in Joppa, MD with a Noon to 5 p.m. convention with Kane, D-Von Dudley, Tito Santana, Joey Ryan and Rene Michelle,plus a show that night with Ryan and a main event of Ken Dixon vs. Drolix in a stairway to hell match.
Pro Wrestling Revolver on 11/5 in Dayton at The Brightside. they also have a 10/4 show in West Des Moines, IA at the Val Air Ballroom with Brian Cage VS. JT Dunn and Sami Callihan vs. Tessa Blanchard in street fight, plus Jake Crist vs. Daga vs.Arik Cannon vs. Ace Austin, Lance Archer vs. Ace Romero and more.
