Going into detail with the name revelations in the Front Office Sports story by John Pollock, Brandon Thurston and Tim Marchman, more on the lawsuit, what it means in context, more notes not in the suit, Brock Lesnar update and the claims explained.
The heroic Mark Coleman story from the past week, as well as a look at his wrestling, MMA and pro wrestling careers.
The Mercedes Mone debut in AEW, what happened, ratings, live gate, money involved, and even a WWE comment
WrestleMania update, business notes, secondary market demand
Full coverage of UFC 299, business, what’s next for the fighters, how much of a superstar has Sean O’Malley become and what is next for him
Notes on SummerSlam coming to Cleveland
A study of WWE & AEW PPV buyers and how frequently each group has bought shows over the past year
The death of Yutaka Yoshie
A detailed look at Paul Levesque’s first Hall of Fame class and their respective backgrounds including multiple Muhammad Ali appearances in pro wrestling detailed, as well as the politics of the Hall of Fame, Vince McMahon, people not in and everyone going in this year
Joanna Jedrzejczyk enters UFC Hall of Fame
Major story on the 16 Carat Gold tournament
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week, including demos, competition, placing for the night, time slot and week
The first-ever all women’s show at Arena Mexico and how it did
MLW title defended at Arena Mexico
Stardom PPV coverage
All Japan Champion Carnival notes
NOAH heads to the U.K.
NOAH tag team tournament ends and notes
Update on New Japan Cup
What to look for in the NCAA wrestling tournament in two weeks
Former WWE wrestlers wedding notes
Lots of TNA business news and build to the next PPV
Will Ospreay talks why he chose AEW
Tag team tournament notes
Update on AEW Revolution, WWE Elimination Chamber, TNA Hard to Kill and Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua PPV numbers as well as PFL vs Bellator
Kenny Omega talks surprise match that was being set up for him
Advance ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Takeshita talks Ospreay match
International TV ratings and top streaming numbers
After it was announced that Shayna Baszler will face Masha Slamovich, Baszler wrote on X: “It matters not from where the blood flows, only that it does.”
Brian Gerwitz on X wrote that he didn’t come up with the name ‘Final Boss’ for The Rock, which was used on this past Friday’s SmackDown: ““Final Boss” isn’t anything I came up with. @TheRock calls himself that because he is that. If it makes you feel better @CodyRhodes, I was the first to tell him about your spectacularly stupid goofy ass dog.”
No Quarter Catch Crew’s music has been added to WWE Music’s YouTube channel.
Drew McIntyre’s The Savior of WrestleMania t-shirt is now on sale.
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland did a skit with ‘superfan’ John Cena ahead of the football club’s 2024 tour in the United States.
NXT Anonymous posted a video of Von Wagner and Mr. Stone arguing backstage after Wagner rescued Stone last week.
WWE wrestler Shayna Baszler’s opponent for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X has been revealed.
In a rare indie appearance for a contracted WWE talent, Baszler will be in action at Bloodsport X at GCW’s The Collective on Thursday, April 4 against Masha Slamovich.
Barnett revealed Baszler’s opponent in a video posted to social media on Monday where Slamovich commented on taking on Baszler. The video is embedded below.
Barnett posted:
In a place like Josh Barnett’s: Bloodsport, when a name like Shayna Baszler is announced it’s like blood in the water of an ocean of nothing but sharks. One voice stood out loudest and proudest of all. A voice with a tenor of authority from her accomplishments and tone of pure violence. In the end, I could not deny her request…
Slamovich is a two-time former TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion.
Baszler is a protege of Barnett’s, as well as a former NXT Women’s Champion and former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion.
A report from Fightful stated that “multiple” WWE talents are planned for the Bloodsport X event, which will stream live on Triller TV+.
Bloodsport presents pro wrestling matches with a worked MMA style where matches can only be won by knockout or submission. Baszler is a former professional MMA fighter.
Nic Nemeth vs. Mike Bailey, Josh Barnett vs. Johnny Bloodsport (John Hennigan), and Minoru Suzuki vs. Royce Isaacs are among other bouts confirmed for Bloodsport X.
In a place like Josh Barnett's: Bloodsport, when a name like Shayna Baszler is announced it's like blood in the water of an ocean of nothing but sharks.
One voice stood out loudest and proudest of all. A voice with a tenor of authority from her accomplishments and tone of pure… pic.twitter.com/u3wI9erGUB
WWE talent is coming to one of WrestleMania week’s biggest indie shows.
It was announced today that WWE’s Shayna Baszler, a former MMA fighter, will be in action at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 4. The show is being put on by Josh Barnett and Game Changer Wrestling. Baszler’s appearance is promoted as her GCW debut.
Bloodsport is a pro wrestling show where matches can only be won by submission or knockout. Baszler’s opponent has not been announced yet. The show will air live on TrillerTV+.
Baszler is friends with Barnett and is a long-time student of his. Barnett wrote about her competing at Bloodsport:
What does it mean when a Queen takes up the sword and marches to war?
Blood. Victory. Glory.
From battlefields all over the world – MMA & the @ufc, @WWENXT, @WWE, @wwr_stardom, and more – to now step into a ring she was made for from the beginning.
The Warmaster’s disciple, ‘The Queen of Spades’ Shayna Baszler, comes to Josh Barnett’s: Bloodsport X.
Baszler tweeted:
You people merely adopted Bloodsport. I was born in it, molded by it. From Billy Robinson the the gene seed of the Warmaster himself…..BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!! #LimbByLimb
A former NXT Women’s Champion and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, the 43-year-old Baszler is currently part of a tag team with Zoey Stark in WWE.
Fightful reports that “multiple” WWE wrestlers are scheduled to compete at Bloodsport X. The show has a 4 p.m. Eastern start time on April 4. Nic Nemeth vs. Mike Bailey, Josh Barnett vs. Johnny Bloodsport (John Hennigan), and Minoru Suzuki vs. Royce Isaacs are among the matches that have been confirmed.
Shayna Baszler defeated Rousey in an MMA rules match at Saturday’s pay-per-view. The finish of the match was Rousey passing out in Baszler’s Kirifuda Clutch.
The feud between best friends Rousey and Baszler began with a surprising turn at Money in the Bank. During a Women’s Tag Team title defense, Baszler attacked Rousey. The turn came abruptly and hadn’t been built up in advance.
Rousey fueled speculation that she’s leaving WWE in today’s Instagram post, writing that she has no reason to stay in the wrestling business after her loss to Baszler.
“[Shayna Baszler] you were the reason I got into this business… Now I got no reason to stay,” Rousey wrote.
Rousey and Baszler are two of the Four Horsewomen of MMA alongside Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. To build their SummerSlam match, there were a pair of videos on Raw last week about Rousey and Baszler’s history with each other.
Rousey made her WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 in 2018. The next year, Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair became the first women to ever main event WrestleMania.
Rousey was away from WWE for nearly three years after WrestleMania 35. She returned to the company at Royal Rumble 2022.
Across her two stints with WWE, Rousey was a three-time Women’s Champion and a one-time Women’s Tag Team Champion.
A new stipulation has been added to the Shayna Baszler vs. Ronda Rousey bout for WWE SummerSlam this coming Saturday in Detroit.
After two video packages aired on Monday’s Raw detailing the feud between Rousey and Baszler, it was announced that the match would be held under MMA rules. What exactly that entails isn’t currently known. Baszler has emphasized since issuing the challenge to Rousey that she didn’t want a match, she wanted a fight.
The video packages that aired detailed the story between Rousey and Baszler, dating back to when Rousey selected Baszler for her team during their season of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter reality show. Baszler said she gave everything to Rousey while Rousey gave nothing back. Rousey said she gave everything to Baszler to the point where Baszler now hated her. Baszler ended the promo saying that the worst thing is that Rousey’s daughter is her goddaughter, and her goddaughter will never forgive her for what she will do to her mother.
Here is the updated lineup for SummerSlam this Saturday:
WWE SummerSlam, Saturday, August 5, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
Tribal Combat match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and title of Tribal Chief: Roman Reigns defends against Jey Uso
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins defends against Finn Balor
WWE Intercontinental title match: Gunther defends against Drew McIntyre
Triple threat match for the WWE Women’s Championship: Asuka defends against Charlotte Flair & Bianca Belair
Thoughts on the Omega-Ospreay and Okada-Danielson matches, as well as the difference in match of the years today with in the past that is concerning. We look at the Omega-Ospreay storyline, the business record that was set in Toronto as well as PPV numbers, theater numbers, what we learned, the Okada-Danielson finish and the situation with C.M. Punk.
We have the biggest money live events in AEW history, match-by-match coverage, Danielson, Sting, Tony Khan and others talk after the show and more
A look at Money in the Bank and its unique record that was quietly set
Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show
Business notes on the show
What’s next for the top people on the show
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the wrestling shows this past week, talking competition, ranking, segment-by-segment, the unique change in the Raw audience this week as well as the low rating for AEW and notes on that
Early Fantastica Mania notes
64th anniversary of pro wrestling in one of its legendary arenas that likely has had more shows than all but a few in history
Notes on AAA’s next major show after TripleMania in Tijuana
Stardom PPV notes
Next Stardom PPV card
Stardom Five-Star Grand Prix tournament
Battle of two people who trained together as youths sells out standing room tickets at Korakuen Hall weeks ahead of time
The new three Musketeers in New Japan and thoughts
Update on this week’s New Japan major shows
A look in detail about the movie “Iron Claw” about the heyday of the Von Erichs and the collapse of their empire along with thoughts on it
One of the best wrestlers of the 90s and 00s goes into a sports Hall of Fame
Outsports talks about the most powerful LGBTQ+ people in the sports world including many from both pro wrestling and MMA
Notes on Ross Forman, who works backstage at Impact, making the list and his background and thoughts
WWC 50th anniversary show draws huge crowd in Puerto Rico and rundown of the show
Impact notes from the next few weeks of TV
AEW video game notes
Jim Ross update
Danielson talks Okada
Variety says AEW TV show deserves an Emmy nomination
Upcoming ticket sales for all WWE & AEW shows
Anthony Bowens felt crowd reaction was a real breakthrough, as does a reader who grew up in Chicago
Ariel Helwani responds to Tony Khan
What percentage of revenue did UFC fighters make last year
Lots of new UFC fights
Fighter rebounding from nearly fatal heart attack
Lots of notes on Vince McMahon and WWE
Notes on what happens with the new company, how much money Vince made WWE by staying and what percentage of the new company he will own
Notes on ideas for changes in NXT and main roster shows
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Sunday Update
Bryan and I did our weekend WOR last night covering Money in the Bank and all the television shows and other news. We also did a show Friday with John Pollock, Paul Fontaine, Garrett Gonzales and myself on modern candidates for the Hall of Fame. We also talked about a lot of other news such as the addition of Collision, keeping up with so much wrestling and so many more things.
We’re looking for your thoughts on WWE Money in the Bank yesterday. You can leave a thumbs up, down or middle plus a best and worst match to [email protected].
We’re also looking for reports on the final night of the WWE UK tour today in Cardiff, Wales, which was an instant sellout (4800) months ago at the International Arena.
Just to clarify on the Shayna Baszler vs. Ronda Rousey finish from Saturday, I don’t know Rousey’s actual contract situation but she is leaving some time relatively soon and wanted to do a program with Baszler before leaving. The idea was to do the tag team thing longer and establish them as a team and not have the turn be so sudden but basically time ran out on them.
John Cena and Drew McIntyre were kept hidden last night at Money in the Bank. Cena was working there. While Cena has in the past talked about WrestleMania in London, there is more to that now than in the past. We discussed it on last night’s WOR, but it is definitely something they would like to see done. Obviously with AEW drawing the largest pro wrestling crowd in years at Wembley, WWE would like to top that and two nights of Mania would do so automatically.
Natalya and the Guinness Book of World Records people have added to her stuff in their annual book. They presented her with awards that will be in the next book for these world records: Most WWE women’s matches (1,514); Most WWE women’s wins (663); Most WWE women’s PLE appearances (75); Most WWE women’s WrestleMania appearances (8); Most women’s matches on Raw (174); and Most women’s’ matches on SmackDown (200)
Every winner of the women’s MITB match in history but one (Carmella) either cashed it in that night or the next day. So, IYO SKY already has the second-longest tenure as a MITB winner in history unless she cashes it in in Cardiff today which is very doubtful to happen. Every female winner in history has gone on to win the title. (Thanks to Arya Witner)
AEW Dynamite in Boston on 7/19 sold about 1000 tickets after the announcement of the Blood & Guts match. It was at about 5300 at the start of the weekend.
In an interview with Boxing Social, promoter Eddie Hearn said he believes Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury could be happening soon. He said he believes it’s happening but also said it would be an exhibition fight but who knows. Hearn was trying to put together Oleksandr Usyk vs. Fury which is why he made those comments.
Money in the Bank did 200,000 Google searches which, with the new standards after the change, is a great number. It used to be a normal number. Nothing else related to boxing, wrestling or MMA made the list including yesterday’s UFC show. It was up with Damian Lillard, the NASCAR race in Chicago, the changes in Twitter and the Los Angeles Lakers for the top spots over the weekend behind the death of actor Alan Arkin.
A&E tonight at 9 PM has WWE Most Wanted Treasures focusing on Trish Stratus and Alundra Blayze, plus Stone Cold Takes on America at 10 PM.
We’ve heard a lot of stuff about different matches this weekend to watch. Mirai won the Wonder of Stardom title from double champion Tam Nakano on today’s Stardom PPV show from Yokohama which is getting a lot of praise and called a classic. Also heavily praised are Rocky Romero vs Volador Jr. and Desperado vs. Mascara Dorada 2.0 matches from Arena Mexico where they had their biggest crowd in a long time. Several people also brought up Yuma Aoyagi’s Triple Crown title win today over Yuji Nagata which took place today at Korakuen Hall. On the GLEAT show, which is free on YouTube, I was told there was a great match if you like UWFi style with Hayato Fujita winning their UWF world title from Takanori Ito. Another match was the Kobe World Memorial Festival show today by Dragon Gate where Diamante lost his mask, as expected, in a five-way loser loses his mask cage match with Dragon Kid, Ultimo Dragon, Strong Machine J and Shun Skywalker. That show drew Dragon Gate’s biggest crowd in years, with both Hiromu Takahashi (over Yamato) and Shingo Takagi (destroying Konomama Ichikawa twice) as outside attractions.
AEW Dynamite in the UK, which airs on Friday nights, is off ITV 4 due to darts coverage. It will air on the main ITV 1 station at 11:40 p.m. Friday night. So, it will be on a much more viewed channel but in a worse time slot. (thanks to Stephen Lyon)
Bret Hart turns 66 today.
On last night’s WOR when talking about Kurt Angle and winning match of the year, he did win it once: in 2002 with the Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio match at the No Mercy PPV. People forget about it but it was one of the best matches of that era. (thanks to Arya Witner)
American Pro Wrestling will hold a memorial show for Dan Parris on 7/8 in Bollins Spring, SC, at 4 p.m. The show is at 120 Builders Court. Parris, who passed away last week, was a great proponent for Carolinas independent wrestling for decades and a really nice guy.
Other Stuff
ICW No Holds Barred from last night in Red Bank, TN: Malcolm Monroe III b Sean Campbell, John Wayne Murdoch b Hardway Heeter, Tank b Mickie Knuckles, Jaden Newman b Danny Demanto, Bobby Beverly b Dr. Redacted, Brandon & Kasey Kirk b Krule & Max the Impaler, Hoodfoot b Tommy Vendetta. Vendetta was managed by Darren McCarty, a former Detroit Red Wings star who does a indie wrestling shows and Impact these days (Thanks to Leonard Brand)
Warrior Wrestling on Friday night in Chicago Heights, IL: Sabin Gauge b Cole Radrick, Skye Blue b Heather Reckless, Bang Brothers b Koda Hernandes & Sorta Incredible Iverson, Jordan Kross b Storm Grayson, Konosuke Takeshita b Warhorse, Gringo Loco won three-way over El Hijo del Vikingo & Gabriel Fuerza to keep the Lucha title, KC Navarro b Matt Cardona to keep the Warrior title. The clip going around saw the event, held outside on the Marian High School football field, saw Takeshita run the hurdles and then take out Warhorse. (Thanks to Leonard Brand)
Boom Wrestling from last night in Vancouver, BC before a sellout 250 fans: Evan Rivers won their Money in the Bank over Jacky Lee, Shareef Morrow, Big Cat, Casey Ferreira and Maxwell Benson, Shaolin Funk b Kyle Fines, Amira over Kikyo, Izzy McQueen and Liiza Hall, Brady Malibu b President Abraham Lincoln in a loser leaves town match, Travis Williams b Judas Icarus, Randy Myers b Tony Baroni.
Ronda Rousey’s second stint in WWE could be coming to an end in the near future.
Rousey’s longtime friend and training partner, Shayna Baszler, turned on her at Money in the Bank, setting up a likely feud between the two. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed the timing of the angle on Wrestling Observer Radio and noted that Baszler vs. Rousey is expected to take place sooner rather than later due to Rousey having given WWE a “hard out” date.
“This was always, always, always the plan,” Meltzer said.
“It kept getting delayed and then Ronda got hurt and the thing was – and I don’t know the date, and it might be SummerSlam, it might be a little bit after – the deal is that Ronda has a hard out. She gave a date, ‘This is my last date.’ Cause I remember talking to somebody there and it’s like, ‘I know they’re going to do this, and I guess, make the big match for WrestleMania.’ And it’s like, ‘No, her hard out is…’ – they didn’t give me the date but it’s long before WrestleMania,” he continued.
“They want to do a feud. The whole tag team was to set up Ronda and Shayna doing a feud. Ronda wanted to do this feud with Shayna, she got what she wanted. She’s always wanted to do it because Shayna is the one who got her basically into pro wrestling.”
Meltzer continued:
Based on whenever that out is, they had to get it done now. This was the latest they could go. Yeah, they wanted a long title reign to build it up and to do the whole thing where you can see the stuff coming, the little teases and everything. They didn’t have time. Things just got screwed up. Really it was the broken arm that screwed it up more than anything else but that’s what happened.
Rousey returned to WWE after a nearly three-year absence at the 2022 Royal Rumble. She defeated Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s title at last year’s Backlash, lost it to Liv Morgan via MITB cash-in the following month, and then regained it from Morgan at Extreme Rules. Flair returned and defeated Rousey for the title on the 12/30 SmackDown. Rousey then suffered a fractured radius on a 2/26 house show but would still perform in the four-way women’s tag match at WrestleMania.
Rousey and Baszler then won the WWE Women’s Tag titles on the 5/29 WWE Raw. They would later unify the belts with the NXT Women’s Tag titles after defeating Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn on the 6/23 SmackDown. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez’s victory at Money in the Bank was the 21st time the titles have changed hands.
Rousey’s previous WWE stint lasted from her debut at WrestleMania 34 to her loss in the main event of WrestleMania 35.
New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions were crowned as Shayna Baszler betrayed Ronda Rousey at Money in the Bank.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez won the titles after Baszler attacked Rousey. Baszler blindsided Rousey with a forearm, beat her down, and put her in the Kirifuda Clutch. Baszler then walked out on Rousey. With Rousey left on her own, Rodriguez hit the Tejana Bomb and Morgan hit Oblivion. Morgan then pinned Rousey to win the titles.
The turn from Baszler came out of nowhere. Rousey had just tagged herself into the match before being attacked by Baszler.
With their victory, Morgan & Rodriguez reclaimed the titles that they were forced to vacate in May. They had to relinquish the Women’s Tag Team titles then due to a shoulder injury that Morgan suffered. Morgan made her return from injury on SmackDown last week.
Rousey & Baszler won a fatal four-way match for the titles after they were vacated by Morgan & Rodriguez. Last month, the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles were unified with the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles when Rousey & Baszler defeated Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez are getting a chance to reclaim the titles that they never lost.
During this week’s episode of The SmackDown LowDown, it was confirmed that Morgan & Rodriguez will challenge for Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler’s Women’s Tag Team titles at Money in the Bank. The pay-per-view is taking place in London on Saturday, July 1.
Rousey & Baszler defeated Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn on SmackDown last night to unify the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles with the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles. Following the match, Morgan made her return from injury as she and Rodriguez confronted Rousey and Baszler.
Morgan & Rodriguez had to vacate the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles last month due to Morgan suffering a shoulder injury. Rousey & Baszler then won the vacant titles in a four-way match against Rodriguez & Shotzi, Bayley & IYO SKY, and Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville.
This is the sixth match that’s been announced for Money in the Bank. The updated card for the event is listed below:
Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match: Zelina Vega vs. Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark vs. Bayley vs. IYO SKY vs. Trish Stratus
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Finn Balor
Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
Women’s Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler defend against Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
Tonight’s SmackDown emanates from the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, as the friction between The Usos and Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa may reach new heights following the events of last week where Jey Uso superkicked Reigns.
The two teams will square off in the Bloodline Civil War at Money in the Bank. WWE is hyping that the war begins tonight.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler will face off against NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn tonight in a match to unify the belts.
After a confrontation last week, Bayley will put her women’s Money in the Bank ladder match spot on the line against Shotzi. The match was made when IYO SKY accepted the challenge for Bayley.
A triple threat match between Santos Escobar, Butch, and LA Knight was originally announced for tonight. Instead, Knight will be going one-on-one with Rey Mysterio.
Plus, Charlotte Flair returns to action against Lacey Evans, Pretty Deadly appear on The Grayson Waller Effect, and more.
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
– The show opened with a video recap of what happened with the Bloodline on last week’s episode.
The Usos Segment
The Usos made their entrance and had mics in their hands. The crowd chanted their name and they soaked it in before starting to talk. Jey started to say “The Bloodline …” but Jimmy stopped him and Jey corrected himself to say “The Usos are in your city.” Jimmy asked Jey how he was feeling and the crowed chanted “Ucey!” Jey noted that they’re about to fight their own family and it’s not supposed to be like that. Jey started to ramble a bit and Jimmy stopped him to say he thinks Jey made the “absolute perfect choice” last week. Jey said they still love Roman Reigns and the crowd booed.
Jey spoke to Roman, into the camera, and said he would have done anything Roman told him to do. Jey said where Roman messed up was when he disrespected Jey and Jimmy. Jimmy said respect is huge and they were in the most dominant faction in WWE, but once Roman stopped showing the Usos respect, the Usos left him on the Aisle of Irrelevancy on his own. Jey said they can forgive Roman, but they can’t forgive those outside the circle. Jimmy talked about how Jimmy and Jey were built on respect. Jey said there’s going to be a Civil War at Money In The Bank. Jey said everyone is looking at the best tag team in the world. Jey said at MITB, it’s lockdown and Jimmy and Jey welcomed Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns to the Uso Penitentiary to end the segment.
**********
LA Knight defeated Rey Mysterio Jr. [8:35]
Wait. Where was Butch?! Anyway, the match was fine enough, but those two had a few too many sloppy moments for me. A rare half-miss for two wrestlers who I typically like, but here, things felt a half-step off for the bulk of the match. Knight going over was the right move, but nobody came out of this looking good when it’s all said and done. The post-match angle felt a little forced, too, because nobody’s buying Knight as a heel, yet WWE keeps trying to sell it. This was fine, but it could have been much, much better.
The crowd chanted “LA Knight” once the bell rang. Knight had control early. Mysterio eventually cut Knight off with a dropkick, but Knight responded quickly with a knee to the head. Mysterio eventually fought back and landed a series of punches on Knight and hit the first part of the 619. Knight went to the apron and Mysterio hit a baseball slide onto Knight, taking him to the outside as the show went to a commercial.
Back form break, Knight had control with a neck-breaker. Knight lifted Mysterio, but Mysterio rolled Knight into a turnbuckle. Mysterio hit a Senton and cross-body for a two count. Mysterio ran at Knight and Knight caught him for a slam. Knight then landed a jumping elbow for a two count. Mysterio jumped at Knight and eventually it turned into a DDT for a two-count. Mysterio hit an enziguri, but Knight caught Rey and ultimately Blunt Force Trauma for the win.
After the match, Knight tried to take off Mysterio’s mask, but Santos Escobar ran out for the save. The show cut backstage, where Solo Sikoa gave the Samoan Spike to Ridge Holland in the back. Paul Heyman was with Sikoa and after Sikoa took Holland down, Heyman “called Roman Reigns” as the show went to break.
**********
– Back from break, Sheamus cut the show off and walked out of the back with a microphone calling out Sikoa. He said he’d give Sikoa the fight of his life and stomped to the back. Ronda Rousey’s music hit and she, along with Shayna Baszler, walked to the ring. Raquel Rodriguez was sitting at ringside for their match with Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn.
Shayna Baszler & Ronda Rousey defeated Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre to win the WWE Unified Women’s Tag Team Titles [9:50]
The outcome wasn’t really in doubt, but I do wonder what Liv’s injury was. It seems like this has been happening a bit lately in WWE: a woman with a title gets injured, the injury isn’t really ever explained, and then she reappears fairly quickly to challenge for a title she never lost. OK, maybe it doesn’t happen too, too much, but I have Roxanne Perez on my mind. Anyway, it’s hard to think anyone outside of Baszler and Rousey should have those tag titles for a good long time, if only because maybe they can build them into something they haven’t been. As for the match itself … Fyre and Dawn showed good fire (pun always intended). Here’s hoping they get some meaningful time moving forward. I’d hate it if they were just in a bad position at a bad time, considering how they’ve been the NXT women’s tag champs and the company is just in title unification mode. Time will tell.
Baszler and Fyre began the match and Baszler got the best of her. Dawn tagged in soon into the match and got a quick two count, which led to Baszler tagging in Rousey. Rousey did her takeover series on Dawn, but Dawn cut her off with a boot. Fyre tagged in and took Rousey down. Fyre suplexed Rousey and Dawn hit a meterora for a two-count. Fyre kicked the back of Rousey’s leg and put Rousey on her shoulders, but Rousey came right back with a poison-rana, which sent the match to break.
Back from the commercial, Rousey was working an ankle-lock on Fyre until Fyre got out of it via an enziguri. Baszler tagged in, hit a knee strike and got a two-count on Fyre. Fyre kicked away Baszler and got the hot tag to Dawn. Dawn took town Baszler with a kick. Dawn then landed a back suplex and came off the top with a meteora for a two count. Baszler sank in her finisher, but Fyre came off the top to break it up. Fyre then took out Rousey on the outside and Fyre tagged in. Baszler kicked Dawn and Baszler and Rousey sank in their finishers on Fyre and Dawn to win the match in a double tap-out.
After the match, Rodriguez got on the mic and said “they” want a rematch because they never lost the titles. Baszler asked who “they” were and Liv Morgan came to the ring to solidify her comeback. It appears Rodriguez and Morgan will be first up for Rousey and Baszler.
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The Grayson Waller Effect
Waller introduced Pretty Deadly as his guests. Waller added a disco ball to his set. The team said the Grayson Waller Effect is “so much better” than The KO Show. Waller said it was nice to have people on the show who have style and banter. Waller brought up the fact that next week, Pretty Deadly will take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed Tag Team Titles. Elton Prince started talking about how he doesn’t believe Owens and Zayn haven’t given them enough respect. The crowd chanted “Shut up!” in response.
Prince talked about how Owens and Zayn have giant egos. Prince said Pretty Deadly will be on the same page for at least the next 10 years while Zayn and Owens’s egos will get in the way. Waller brought up how Pretty Deadly won five of the best teams in WWE last week to get the title shot. Kit Wilson said Pretty Deadly are the iron men of SmackDown. Pretty Deadly noted repeatedly how they beat the LWO last week. Pretty Deadly then brought up the Street Profits and on cue, the Profits made their entrance. Montez Ford yelled that they want the smoke and as a result, Pretty Deadly vs. the Street Profits was made.
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Pretty Deadly defeated The Street Profits [8:58]
Poor Street Profits. They came into the main roster with a bang and since then … well, can someone please name me the last significant win they had? Asking for a friend. Either way, the match here was pretty good, even though a lot of it was lost to commercial break. The Profits showed pretty good fire (even though they mostly always do), despite the prevailing notion that Pretty Deadly would get the win because they’re the ones with an upcoming title match. The Profits, meanwhile, are veering into that era in WWE where either something changes soon or they might want to head elsewhere if they’re interested in being used as a serious top team. Or, for that matter, I mean … WWE could break them up. Right? Whichever it is, they are closer to WWE purgatory than they’ve ever been and that’s not great.
Ford and Wilson began the match and Ford took control with a headlock. Dawkins tagged in and Pretty Deadly quickly got the upper-hand. Prince tagged in and worked over Dawkins with some strikes. Prince came off the second rope and Dawkins caught him with a punch. Ford tagged in and chopped the hell out of Prince. Ford took Prince’s shirt off him and put it on himself before the Profits took out Pretty Deadly, who were on the outside, with a tandem splash.
After the show returned from commercial, Wilson was in control, working over Ford inside the ring. The two came off the top with Ford getting the best of it. Ford got the hot tag to Dawkins and Dawkins came in to clean house. Dawkins landed a double under-hook slam for a two count. Ford tagged in and Dawkins shoulder-blocked Prince into Ford, who pinned Prince for a two count. Ford slammed Prince and tagged in Dawkins. The Profits set up for something, but Wilson broke it up and Prince rolled up Dawkins (with a little help from the ropes) for the win.
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Charlotte defeated Lacey Evans [2:30]
The closest thing to a squash we got all night. It’d be nice to see this segment get more love because my God, Asuka and Charlotte are set to fight next week for the WWE Women’s Championship. But it is what it is, I suppose. Remember that purgatory I was just whining about when it comes to the Street Profits? Lacey Evans has a permanent address there these days. She’s doing her best to work her way out of it, but luck doesn’t seem to be in her favor these days.
The two locked up to begin the match and Evans pulled Charlotte’s hair, but Charlotte responded with a shoulder block before stepping over Evans while Evans laid down. Charlotte hit Evans with some chops. Evans fought back by whipping Charlotte to the ground via her hair. Evans went to the second rope to demand the crowd salute her. Somewhere, Sgt. Slaughter called his lawyer. Charlotte mocked Evans and suplexed Evans. Charlotte hit the big boot and sank in the figure eight for the win.
After the bell rang, Asuka attacked Charlotte and saluted Charlotte repeatedly in some very funny moments. Asuka left Charlotte laying.
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– Bianca Belair was shown talking to Adam Pearce backstage. Belair said she wants to be ringside next week to make sure nobody cuts the line. Pearce said there is too much at stake and as a result, Belair will be barred from ringside. Belair questioned Pearce and walked away.
– Next week, we get Charlotte vs. Asuka for the WWE Women’s Championship. Roman Reigns will return to SmackDown next week. Logan Paul will be the guest on the Grayson Waller Effect. And the tag team title match between Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Pretty Deadly will go down.
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Solo Sikoa fought Sheamus to a no-contest in 14:53.
Good for Sheamus for stepping up in a match that didn’t feel like it was necessarily planned to happen since WWE started making plans for this SmackDown. Sikoa continues to step up in these high-profile moments, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that final run through the barrier didn’t look like Sikoa utterly missed Sheamus. It wouldn’t be so bad if Sheamus wasn’t written to be taken out as a result of it, but so it goes. With the Usos standing tall to end the episode, you have to wonder if they’ll be the ones taking the loss in at MITB. There’s still next week, I suppose. As for this episode of SmackDown, this was the match of the night for what it was worth, but a lot there felt luke warm. We’ll see how they heat it up next week going into MITB.
Sheamus had control early on until Sikoa fought back with passion. Sheamus tried an early Brogue Kick before Sikoa rolled to the outside. Sheamus followed him and stomped on Sikoa’s hand and rolled Sikoa back into the ring, where Sikoa bounced right back and worked Sheamus’s back. Sheamus ultimately turned things around and came off the top for a clothesline and a one-count. Sikoa fought back with some chops. Sheamus cut off Sikoa with a clothesline and went for 10 Bells while Sikoa was on the apron, but Sikoa blocked it. On the apron, Sheamus lifted Sikoa, but Sikoa fought out and rammed Sheamus into the ring post. Sikoa then hit a Samoan Drop ont he outside as the show went to break.
Back from break, Sikoa had control and pumped himself up until he ran into a clothesline from Sheamus. Sheamus slammed Sikoa to keep control. Sikoa rolled to the apron and Sheamus grabbed him for 10 Bells. Sheamus fired up and went for the Brogue Kick, but Sikoa cut him off, only for Sikoa to run into a knee from Sheamus for a two count. A “This is awesome!” chant broke out. Sheamus tried to lift Sikoa, but he couldn’t for a minute … until he did and and hit White Noise, but it resulted in only a two count.
Sheamus set up for a Celtic Cross, but Sikoa fought out of it and hit a Samoan Spike, which took Sheamus to the outside. Sikoa slammed Sheamus on top of the broadcast table on the outside, but the match kept going. Sikoa put Sheamus through the barricade on the outside and Jessika Carr called the match off as Sheamus looked to be out. Sikoa started spiking everyone around him. The Usos music hit and they ran to the ring. Both brothers hit Sikoa with super-kicks. The Usos stared down Paul Heyman before hitting Sikoa with another double super-kick. The Usos then hit Sikoa with an Usos Splash to end the show.
Winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles with one of her best friends was an emotional moment for Shayna Baszler.
Baszler & Ronda Rousey won the Women’s Tag Team titles on Raw last Monday, defeating Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi, Bayley & IYO SKY, and Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green in a fatal four-way match. The titles had been vacated last month due to a shoulder injury that Liv Morgan suffered.
“That moment at the end of the match where I crawl back in the ring, and we’re hugging was a real emotional moment,” Baszler said. “When we think back to trying to pay for enough food to eat throughout the week and still make weight and living on the beach in Venice. It’s weird to think that we talked about it, and it’s here, and it happened.”
Baszler told TMZ Sports that this is an opportunity that she and Rousey had to fight for.
“I don’t think people really understand how much we had to fight for this,” Baszler said. “Maybe that’s something for a book in the future. It’s not like it’s been easy. It’s not like this is just handed to us. We had to fight and claw and demand for this opportunity.”
Baszler and Rousey have been friends since their mixed martial arts careers. They’re part of the Four Horsewomen of MMA with Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke.
Rodriguez & Morgan were the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions prior to Morgan’s injury.
A new match announcement has been made for SmackDown’s WrestleMania 39 go-home show.
Tonight’s SmackDown will feature a fatal four-way match between Raquel Rodriguez, Natalya, Shayna Baszler, and Sonya Deville. The bout is a preview of the women’s WrestleMania Showcase match that’s taking place at WrestleMania 39 night two this Sunday.
That Showcase match will be Rodriguez & Liv Morgan vs. Natalya & Shotzi vs. Baszler & Ronda Rousey vs. Deville & Chelsea Green.
WWE.com wrote:
Tonight on WrestleMania SmackDown, four of the eight WrestleMania Showcase participants will face off in a star-studded Fatal 4-Way.
Raquel Rodriguez, Natalya, Shayna Baszler and Sonya Deville will get a chance to gain some momentum for their teams as they look forward to the Fatal 4-Way Tag Team WrestleMania Showcase match.
Don’t miss this showcase before the Showcase on WrestleMania SmackDown, tonight at 8/7 C on FOX!
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles is hosting SmackDown tonight. After the show goes off the air, the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will take place. The HOF ceremony is streaming live on Peacock/WWE Network.
The updated SmackDown card is listed below:
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes go face-to-face for the final time before WrestleMania
2023 Andre the Giant Battle Royal
Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Sonya Deville
Ronda Rousey is returning to action at WrestleMania 39.
Rousey and Shayna Baszler appeared following a match between Shotzi & Natalya and Xia Li & Lacey Evans on Friday’s SmackDown and announced that they have been added to the Showcase tag team match at WrestleMania 39. They join Shotzi & Natalya, who won their qualifying match, and the team of Raquel Gonzalez & Liv Morgan, who qualified on last week’s SmackDown.
Rousey confirmed on Instagram Friday that she has fractured her radius at a WWE house show in Rockford, Illinois on February 26.
Reportedly, the original idea for Rousey and Baszler were for them to challenge for the Women’s Tag Team titles. However, Dave Meltzer reported last Friday that the Tag Team title match was off, and instead Rousey would be in a different match at WrestleMania. That same day, WWE announced two four-way tag team showcase matches for WrestleMania, one for men and the other for women.
Here is the latest WrestleMania card:
WWE WrestleMania 39, Saturday, April 1 & Sunday, April 2, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair defends against Rhea Ripley
Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair defends against Asuka
United States Championship: Austin Theory defends against John Cena (opens night one)
WWE has announced that Reigns will appear on tonight’s Royal Rumble fallout episode of SmackDown. It will follow up from the show-closing angle of last Saturday’s pay-per-view, where Sami Zayn hit Reigns with a steel chair and split from The Bloodline. Jey Uso then walked out on The Bloodline as they were beating down Zayn.
Reigns defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes has been made official for WrestleMania 39. Before that, Reigns is expected to face off with Zayn at WWE’s Elimination Chamber PPV in Montreal on Saturday, February 18.
WWE.com wrote:
How will The Head of the Table react to the unprecedented turmoil that has rocked The Bloodline? Will Reigns have any response to Cody Rhodes after the Royal Rumble winner addressed their WrestleMania title showdown? Will The Island of Relevancy ever be the same? Don’t miss all the action of SmackDown this Friday at 8/7 C on FOX.
A fatal four-way Elimination Chamber qualifying match has also been added to the lineup for tonight’s SmackDown. Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Zelina Vega, and Natalya will face off with a spot in the women’s Elimination Chamber match on the line.
The women’s Elimination Chamber match will determine Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair’s challenger for WrestleMania 39. Asuka, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Nikki Cross have already been confirmed for the match. The final participant will be determined in a qualifier between Michin, Candice LeRae, Piper Niven, and Carmella on Raw next Monday.
SmackDown is being held at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina tonight. The updated card for the episode is listed below:
Roman Reigns appears
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defends against Sonya Deville
SmackDown Tag Team title contender’s tournament finals: Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
Women’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi vs. Zelina Vega vs. Natalya
Baszler won a gauntlet match on Friday’s SmackDown to earn a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Clash at the Castle on September 3. She will face current champion Liv Morgan.
The gauntlet match had Raquel Rodriguez pin Sonya Deville, Xia Li, Shotzi, and Natalya. However, going into the last match with Baszler, Rodriguez’s leg had been worked on by Natalya. The finish had Baszler locking in the kirifuda clutch, but Rodriguez reversed, pinning Baszler’s shoulders on the mat for a nearfall. Baszler then picked up the win with a rolling cradle.
Morgan retained the title at SummerSlam despite tapping out to Ronda Rousey’s armbar submission. The referee in that match instead counted Rousey’s shoulders to the mat, neglecting to see Morgan tap out.
Here is the current card for Clash at the Castle:
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
