Braun Strowman is the latest addition to Team Raw for Survivor Series.
Strowman qualified for Raw’s men’s Survivor Series team by defeating Sheamus and Keith Lee in a triple threat match on tonight’s episode of Raw. Sheamus and Lee have already qualified for Survivor Series. With AJ Styles, Lee, Sheamus, and Strowman confirmed for the team, there’s only one spot remaining.
Strowman interrupted Styles, Lee, and Sheamus on Raw tonight as they were arguing when Styles tried to make himself captain of Team Raw. Strowman said the only thing their team needs is him. Lee pointed out that they had to qualify for the team and said Strowman will have to qualify too. Strowman listed his qualifications and said he should be team captain.
Adam Pearce said he was having a hard time finding someone to face Strowman in a qualifying match. After Strowman, Lee, and Sheamus went back and forth, Styles proposed the triple threat match.
After Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick on Lee near the end of the match, Strowman gave Sheamus a powerslam and pinned him to qualify for Survivor Series. Styles celebrated that he’ll have Strowman on his team and wanted everyone to shake hands. Strowman told Lee they’ll have to put their differences aside to win at Survivor Series. They shook hands, then Sheamus gave Strowman a Brogue Kick. Lee then sent Sheamus to the outside with a tackle and Styles gave Lee a dropkick.
Kevin Owens and Jey Uso are the first two SmackDown wrestlers to qualify for the five-on-five traditional Survivor Series elimination match against Team Raw.
Survivor Series is taking place on Sunday, November 22. Here’s the updated card for the pay-per-view:
Non-title champion vs. champion match: WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Non-title champion vs. champion match: Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
Non-title champion vs. champion match: Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Non-title champion vs. champion match: United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn
Men’s five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match: Team Raw (AJ Styles, Keith Lee, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, and one wrestler to be announced) vs. Team SmackDown (Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, and three wrestlers to be announced)
Women’s five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match: Team Raw (Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke & Lana) vs. Team SmackDown (Bianca Belair and four wrestlers to be announced)
The first three wrestlers for Raw’s Survivor Series men’s team have been revealed.
AJ Styles, Keith Lee, and Sheamus will be part of Team Raw at next month’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. There are two spots remaining on Team Raw for the men’s five-on-five elimination match against SmackDown.
Styles, Lee, and Sheamus all won Survivor Series qualifying matches on tonight’s episode of Raw. Styles defeated Jeff Hardy, Lee defeated Elias, and Sheamus defeated Matt Riddle.
Raw’s Survivor Series women’s team has been fully revealed. it will feature Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, and Lana.
Survivor Series is taking place on Sunday, November 22. In addition to the two traditional elimination matches, WWE has announced four non-title champion vs. champion matches for the PPV. Here’s the updated card:
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn
Men’s five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match: Team Raw (AJ Styles, Keith Lee, Sheamus, and two wrestlers to be announced) vs. Team SmackDown (five wrestlers to be announced)
Women’s five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match: Team Raw (Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke & Lana) vs. Team SmackDown (five wrestlers to be announced)
The 30th anniversary of The Undertaker will also be celebrated at Survivor Series.
The Raw team for the women’s Survivor Series elimination match has been set.
WWE officials Pat Buck and Adam Pearce announced on tonight’s Raw that WWE Women’s Tag Team champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler and the team of Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose would be part of the women’s Survivor Series elimination match. They then announced a fatal four way match would determine the final participant.
The match involved Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, and Peyton Royce. The finish had Royce taking out both Evans and Cross with a German suplex off the turnbuckle, but Lana pulled Royce out of the ring and pinned Cross to win the match, making her the fifth and final member of the team.
After the match, Lana went to celebrate with her new teammates. She hugged Nia Jax, but Jax held on and put her through the Raw announce table for the sixth time in as many weeks.
Champions from Raw and SmackDown will face off at next month’s Survivor Series pay-per-view.
WWE has announced four non-title champion vs. champion matches for this year’s Survivor Series. They will feature the World champions, Women’s champions, Tag Team champions, and secondary men’s champions from Raw and SmackDown facing off against each other.
Unless there are title changes between now and the PPV, the champion vs. champion matches at Survivor Series will be:
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn
Last year’s Survivor Series PPV had featured involvement from NXT in the champion vs. champion matches and the Survivor Series elimination matches.
Survivor Series is taking place on Sunday, November 22. WWE has announced that the show will celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Undertaker. There will also be men’s and women’s traditional five-on-five Survivor Series elimination matches pitting Raw against SmackDown.
On the anniversary of his debut, WWE will be celebrating 30 years of The Undertaker.
A commercial for next month’s Survivor Series pay-per-view aired during Hell in a Cell tonight and was focused on it being The Undertaker’s 30th anniversary. It was then announced on commentary that Survivor Series will celebrate 30 years of The Undertaker.
Further details about the celebration haven’t been revealed.
This year’s Survivor Series is taking place on Sunday, November 22. That’s also the day that The Undertaker made his on-screen debut for the WWF at Survivor Series in 1990.
In what may have been the last match of The Undertaker’s career, he defeated AJ Styles in their Boneyard Match at WrestleMania 36 this April. At the end of his Last Ride docuseries on the WWE Network, Undertaker said he has no desire to return to in-ring competition.
The WWE Network is also celebrating The Undertaker’s 30th anniversary with their “30 Days of The Deadman” lineup of programming. Starting today, a new special premieres on the WWE Network every Sunday for five weeks. Today’s special is a new WWE Untold episode on Undertaker and Randy Orton’s feud from 2005.
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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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
WWE Backstage tonight will have an interview with Seth Rollins, as well as Green Arrow star Stephen Amell. CM Punk noted on Twitter that he would not be on tonight’s show, but may be in next week.
PWInsider reported that WWE Network will not be adding Hidden Gems content weekly going forward.
Leaders in Orlando, Florida have made bids to host SummerSlam and Survivor Series in the near future.
A new WWE Day of documentary, which will cover this year’s Survivor Series, will air on the WWE Network this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
WWE’s “WrestleMania’s Legendary Moments” special will air on the USA Network after NXT tomorrow night. The special is narrated by John Cena and first aired on FOX.
NXT’s Brendan Vink (Elliot Sexton) has been added to EVOLVE 141 in Livonia on Friday and EVOLVE 142 in Chicago on Saturday. He’ll face Colby Corino at the Livonia show.
Rey Horus and Nicole Savoy will make their ROH debuts at the promotion’s post-Final Battle TV tapings in Philadelphia on December 15. Horus will face Flip Gordon, while Savoy will face Sumie Sakai. Marty Scurll & PCO vs. Jeff Cobb & Dan Maff, Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham, and Tracy Williams vs. Tyler Bateman have also been added.
A number one contender’s bout between Corey Anderson and Jan Blachowicz is in the works to headline UFC Fight Night on February 15. The winner would likely face Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight title.
WWE’s four days in Chicago’s Allstate Arena were headlined by the Survivor Series, which drew the largest, but hardly the loudest crowd of the weekend.
A legitimate sellout of 11,500 fans on 11/24 indicated a few things.
First, the lowest rated brand by far drew the loudest reactions. The matches pushed the hardest on television got mixed reactions. Nobody seemed to care much for Raw and Smackdown, and were heavily into NXT.
And based on the fact they did a scoreboard on the seven interbrand matches, which ended with NXT winning four, Smackdown two and Raw one, you could very clearly see the priority right now is trying to market the NXT brand as not being viewed as developmental or lesser, and most importantly, use the show to increase Wednesday night ratings. From a strategic standpoint, they couldn’t have done better. Time will tell if the strategy works long-term but writing this without knowledge of how numbers will turn out, thus far the angles that built the show plus the appearances of main roster talent have turned around the NXT ratings. The idea is, at least for now, that you will no longer see the Raw and Smackdown talent on NXT as much, so getting the brand over is the key long-term. It should help and the race should tighten up. I would suspect NXT viewership to increase even without Raw & Smackdown talent, at least to well above the pre-SS build-up levels. The key was the push in making people like Shayna Baszler, Rhea Ripley, Keith Lee, Roderick Strong and Matt Riddle into stars based on booking here, combined with the fact that of the three singles title matches, the NXT title bout with Adam Cole beating Pete Dunne was clearly the best of the three.
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.
NXT’s men’s division team for Survivor Series has finally been revealed.
On the pre-show for Survivor Series, Shawn Michaels made an appearance and announced that Tommaso Ciampa, WALTER, Keith Lee, Matt Riddle & Damian Priest will represent NXT in their triple threat elimination tag match against Raw and SmackDown.
Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Ricochet & Drew McIntyre have been announced for Team Raw, while Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G are on Team SmackDown.
Whether or not Owens wrestling at NXT TakeOver: WarGames will factor into the match remains to be seen. Owens was the final member of Team Ciampa, with him teaming with Ciampa, Lee & Dominik Dijakovic to defeat The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) in the men’s WarGames match.
Tonight’s women’s triple threat elimination tag match will be Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross) vs. Team NXT (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai & Toni Storm).
Raw, SmackDown, and NXT will face off as Survivor Series takes place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois tonight.
There will be two traditional Survivor Series elimination matches pitting Raw, SmackDown, and NXT against each other. Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Ricochet & Drew McIntyre will represent Raw in the men’s elimination match, while Roman Reigns, Baron Corbin, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G will represent SmackDown. NXT’s team hasn’t been revealed.
We’re looking for your thoughts on this show as well as NXT Takeover, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan are on Team Raw for the women’s elimination match, Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross are on Team SmackDown, and Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai & Toni Storm are on Team NXT.
Tonight’s show will also feature three non-title triple threat matches between champions from Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. Those matches are: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong, and The Viking Raiders vs. The New Day vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defends his title against Rey Mysterio in a no holds barred match. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt will defend his Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan, and Pete Dunne will challenge for Adam Cole’s NXT Championship.
The pre-show begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush will defend his title against Raw’s Akira Tozawa and SmackDown’s Kalisto in a triple threat match on the pre-show.
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TAG TEAM BATTLE ROYAL – KARL ANDERSON & LUKE GALLOWS, THE REVIVAL, WESLEY BLAKE & STEVE CUTLER, DOLPH ZIGGLER & ROBERT ROODE (got a good pop), THE STREET PROFITS, ZACK RYDER & CURT HAWKINS, TYLER BREEZE & FANDANGO, LINCE DORADO & GRAN METALIK, FABIAN AICHNER & MARCEL BARTHEL, HEAVY MACHINERY
If a guy is eliminated, his partner is also out. Steve Cutler was first out. Next Lince Dorado. Zack Ryder thrown out by Marcel Barthel. Ziggler was doing the almost eliminated spots. Roode tackled Fabian Aichern out. The only crowd reaction early was for Otis. OC & Revival threw out Otis. The Revival knocked Breeze over but Fandango was on the floor and caught him. Then they knocked Breeze off the apron a second time and Fandango couldn’t block him hitting the floor. Street Profits double dropkick eliminated The Revival. Last three were OC, Street Profits and Roode & Ziggler. Ziggler superkicked Gallows out. Ziggler superkicked Roode but he didn’t go over the top rope. Roode shoved Ford off the top rope but he landed on the apron. Ford frog splashed Ziggler but Roode then threw Ford out to win.
WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION LIO RUSH VS. KALISTO VS. AKIRA TOZAWA
Rush pinned Kalisto with the splash off the top rope. Kalisto had just done the salida del sol on Tozawa when rush came off the top on him. Both Kalisto and Tozawa did their finishes on Rush and the third guy made the save. It was short. The work was solid but not much heat.
Some C.M. Punk chants.
Mauro Ranallo was scheduled on this show. He is not there at this point and is now off the show. I don’t have details past that the Corey Graves post (see the daily update on the site) is the reason. Graves is there and working the show .
They are doing a a scoreboard so Smackdown and NXT each have one win at this point.
NON-TITLE: SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE NEW DAY VS. NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY VS. RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS VIKING RAIDERS
The score is even at 1 with the Viking Raiders winning with the Viking Experience on O’Reilly powerslamming him on Fish and Ivar pinned Fish. Good but not great match. Because it was on the preshow it didn’t have a lot of heat but they did nothing that didn’t look good. Kingston was taken out when he hit the Trouble in Paradise on the ringpost. E had been taken out with a double-team German suplex and clothesine by the Viking Experience.
WOMENS’S ELIMINATION MATCH: CARMELLA & SASHA BANKS & DANA BROOKE & NIKKI CROSS & LACEY EVANS VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR & NATALYA & ASUKA & KAIRI SANE & SARAH LOGAN VS. RHEA RIPLEY & IO SHIRAI & BIANCA BELAIR & TONI STORM & CANDICE LERAE
Team NXT won. Banks and Ripley were the last two. Early in the match LeRae and Shirai were “injured” and taken out. They came back and LeRae distracted the ref, Shirai did a springboard dropkick on Banks and Ripley pinned her with riptide.
*LeRae & Shirai were taken out with the injury
*Belair pinned Cross with a schoolboy using the ropes
*Belair pinned Logan with a 450
*Flair pinned Carmella with natural selection
*Banks pinned Sane with the meteora
*Asuka pinned Brooke with a spin kick
*Asuka and Flair had dissesnsion. Asuka blew mist in Flair’s eyes and walked off
*Blinded Flair was hit with woman’s right by Evans and pinned
*Natalya pinned Evans with a schoolboy
*Natalya and Banks double submission on Storm
*Belair pinned by Hart attack by Natalya & Banks
*Banks turned on Natalya and pinned her when Natalya thought they were working together
This left Banks and Ripley.
Seth Rollins was with Kevin Owens. Kevin said he loved NXT but NXT doesn’t need me, Raw needs me so don’t worry I’m Team Raw. Owens made fun of Rollins questioning anyone’s history.
NON-TITLE: INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VS. U.S. CHAMPION A.J. STYLES VS. NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION RODERICK STRONG
Strong got the win when Styles hit the phenomenal forearm on Nakamura and Strong ran in, threw Styles out of the ring and pinned Nakamura. Basically the classic three-way finish. Very good match but it didn’t have that much heat. All three looked good but it was more a basic solidly worked match than a special match.
Bryan and Miz were together. Miz gave Bryan a pep talk telling him he had to put a stop to The Fiend. Bryan told him to get out of his face.
Michael Cole said that Mauro Ranallo was going to announce the next match but his voice blew out but he would be back Wednesday. That isn’t true but it sounds like they are sympathteic to him in this stiaution and that they this to blow over.
NXT CHAMPION ADAM COLE VS. PETE DUNNEThis was really good. Dunne did the broken fingers sot and went for the bette rened but Cole turned it into the Panama Sunrise and last shot for the pin. Dunne had kicked out of the last shot earlier and Cole kicked out of the bitter end. The first 10:00 didn’t have much heat at all but the work was very good. Dunne went for a moonsault and Cole superkicked him and the crowd went wild for that and the crowd was hot the last few minutes,with a big reaction to Cole doing the Panama sunrise on the apron.
WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPION “THE FIEND” BRAY WYATT VS. DANIEL BRYAN
This was the best match The Fiend has had thus far. Even with the handicap of the red tinting, Bryan’s comeback after selling early got the crowd going wild. People bought Bruyan’s running knee and when Wyatt had the mandible claw the first time, Bryan broke it by getting an armbar over the ropes. Wyatt sat up from Bryan’s kicks. Bryan got out of Sister Abigail with a cradle for a good near fall. Wyatt got the mandible claw and Bryan was pinned.
Rey Mysterio did a promo saying he’s taking out Brock’s knees and he hopes Domninick is watching close as he massacres Lesnar.
MEN’S SURVIVOR SERIES MATCH: SETH ROLLINS & DREW MCINTYRE & RICOCHET & RANDY ORTON & KEVIN OWENS VS. ROMAN REIGNS & KING CORBIN & SHORTY G & MUSTAFA ALI & BRAUN STROWMAN VS. MATT RIDLE & KEITH LEE & TOMASSO CIAMPA & DAMIEN PRIEST & WALTER
Goldberg chants to start the match because of Riddle.
Great match ending when Reigns pinned Lee with a spear after he kicked out of the Spirit bomb. Lee had pinned Rollins to eliminate him with a jackhammer
McIntyre pinned Walter with the Claymore kick. The crowd was really bad at that.
Owens pinned Shorty with a frog splash’
Ciama pinned Owens with a draping DT
Orton pinned Priest witht he KRO
Riddle pinned Orton with a roll-up
Corbin pinned Riddle
McIntyre used a Claymore kick on Strowman outside the ring and he was counted out
Corbin pinned Ricochet after end of days
Rolins pinned Ali after a curb stomp
Reigns pinned McIntyre with a spear
Ciampa pinned Corbin after Reigns speared Corbin when they kept arguing
Rollins pinned Ciampa after a curb stomp after Reigns gave Ciampa a spear
Lee pinned Rollins jackhammer
WWE CHAMPION BROCK LESNAR VS. REY MYSTERIO
It was a story, but a short story. Lesnar was destroying him and got the pipe. Dominick came in with a towel to throw in. Lesnar took the towel from him and threw it out. Mysterio and Dominck both gave Lesnar low blows and a double 619. Each gave Lesnar a frog splash but he kicked out with both of them covering him. Dominick went to the top but Lesnar pulled him off with a German suplex. Rey came off the top rope but Lesnar caught him with an F-5 for the pin. Another short match. Fine for the early part of a match but underwhelming when it was over.
NON-TITLE: SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPION BAYLEY VS. RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPION BECKY LYNCH VS. NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPION SHAYNA BASZLER
This was just to put Baszler over. The match came off flat after the prior two matches. Baszler concentrated on the kirafuda clutch multiple times. Baszler laid out Lynch with a a Bruno Sammaritno backbreaker and threw Lynch onth the announcers table. In the ring, Bayley came off the top rope with an elbow but Baszler caught her in the kirafuda cltuch and Bayley tapped out.
After the match, Lynch scooped Baszler’s leg as she was celebrating and hip tossed Baszler on the German announcing table. Lynch then came off the barricade with a butt splash and put Baszler through the table. They pushed that Baszler won but never beat Lynch.
NXT finished four wins, two for Smackdown and one for Raw.
We have polls today for both NXT Takeover and Survivor Series this weekend. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
WWE SURVIVOR SERIES AT 6 P.M. EASTERN ON THE WWE NETWORK FROM THE ALLSTATE ARENA IN CHICAGO
Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio no holds barred for WWE title – On paper this looks to be strong. Lesnar has had some of his beat matches against smaller great workers and Rey qualifies as both. Lesnar is a -400 favorite. A title change her would qualify as a major surprise.
Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Bayley – This is the brand champions against each other match that has gotten the most attention. Based on 5 Dimes odds, Baszler is the favorite at +110-, with Bayley +205 and Lynch +225. With no title at stake, it doesn’t mean much who wins, but Baszler would seem to make the most sense here.
Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan for Universal title. Wyatt is a -1350 favorite. The entire story plays like he has no chance, and granted, they did that with Seth Rollins before he beat Brock Lesnar, but Wyatt had been destroying everyone and Bryan doesn’t have any significant momentum.
Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT title – Cole is a -565 favorite to retain, since they’ve already started heavy building Cole vs. Ciampa. The big thing here is how much time they get and how the crowd responds. If this match was on an NXT show, it would be incredible and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be here.
A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong – Another match that looks great on paper. Styles is the -120 favorite with Nakamura at +185 and Strong at +335. Another match that looks strong on paper.
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Viking Raiders vs New Day – Another match that looks great on paper with Viking Raiders at 1-75, Fish & O’Reilly at +225 and New Day at +525
Seth Rollins & Drew McIntyre & Kevin Owens & Randy Orton & Ricochet vs. Roman Reigns & Mustafa Ali & Shorty G & King Corbin & Braun Strowman vs. Team NXT in an elimination match – Some questions regarding Owens, who may switch to the NXT side since that team is a secret. Team NXT is +140, Team Smackdown is +165 and Team Raw is +230. The Owens switch has led to betting on Team NXT.
Charlotte Flair & Natalya & Asuka & Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan vs. Sasha Banks & Nikki Cross & Lacey Evans & Carmella & Dana Brooke vs Rhea Ripley & Candice LeRae & Team NXT in an elimination match. We’re told Flair is fine after being bloodied up on Friday night. It’s currently Raw at +105, NXT at +170 and Smackdown at +290.
Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto for the cruiserweight title. No odds are out. Tozawa and Kalisto were pulled from the 205 Live roster to the main roster, but now are back again. This will be a pre show match.
Raw will be Monday night at the Allstate Arena in Chicago.
F4W NEWSLETTER: CM Punk joins WWE Backstage Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on CM Punk’s return to the pro wrestling world.
When CM Punk first walked out of the company, no one would have guessed that his return to WWE-related programming would come at nearly midnight on an FS1 studio show.
The possibility became more and more of a reality over the past few months, but — with Punk saying FOX hadn’t followed up on his tryout — it was still a surprise when it happened. At the end of the second official episode of WWE Backstage, Renee Young hyped that it was time for the show to have its first iconic, history-making moment. “Cult of Personality” then hit, with Punk making his way into the studio and stepping into the ring at the center of the set.
“It’s as simple as this: Just when they think they’ve got the answers, I change…the culture,” Punk said, “I’ll see you here next week.”
FOX Sports wasted no time confirming that Punk had officially joined Backstage. They sent out a press release announcing that Punk will be a special contributor and analyst on the show and will make select appearances alongside hosts Renee Young and Booker T.
Backstage is a FOX production, which means that Punk will be working for them rather than WWE. That distinction is obviously really important. Just like Punk appearing at Starrcast didn’t mean that he was going to show up at All Out, this doesn’t guarantee that we’ll see Punk at Survivor Series, WrestleMania, or that he’ll ever wrestle another match again. It’s been almost six years since Punk wrestled. He’s 41 years old now, has dealt with injuries throughout his career, and has never sounded passionate about returning to the ring since he’s been gone.
The story behind Jim Cornette’s greatest attribute, his mouth, leading to his latest fall, is covered in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We talk about the line he said, the background of the line, why Cornette was wide open for this reaction even though others have said worse of late to little or no outcry.
The new issue also covers:
NWA’s decision to get rid of him and what that happened, what opened Cornette up to this, his reaction, Nick Aldis and Dave Marquez speak on the subject, why it is not in the NWA’s best interest to be critical of AEW, Cornette’s line about Justin Roberts which started all this, how Jerry Lawler, Randy Orton and Eric Bischoff fit into the same story and how social media has changed things.
Cornette’s background, how he got started in wrestling, his managerial heyday, his time as a promoter and the lesson of how times have changed.
Five shows in six days in Chicago this week, lineups, ticket sales and ticket demand.
The return of C.M. Punk to WWE television on Backstage, rating, what he said and thoughts on the show.
Paul Levesque press conference and his talking on different subjects, an ACH update, NXT U.K. Takeover card, Starrcade card, Canadian ratings, German ratings, next Mexico show, NXT injuries, main roster injuries, WWE current market value, most watched shows on WWE Network and a rundown of all the NXT and WWE house shows over the past week with business notes.
The career of Ben Askren, including how WWE’s leading scout viewed him coming out of college and why he didn’t get an offer, his amateur background, his strengths in promoting himself, his career and his being forced to retire.
New Japan tag team tournament, standings plus notes and every match in the first week and coverage of the bigger show.
UFC show from Sao Paulo, Brazil with Jan Blachowicz vs. Ronaldo Jacare Souza.
Japan saying goodbye to Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer, what he was best known for in the country as well as coverage of his memorial this past week.
Wednesday ratings, with every match,every segment, viewers, demos and high points, the major lessons of the AEW viewer and the WWE viewer and the NXT viewer.
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
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Survivor Series and the latest news on Wrestling Observer Radio. You can also send e-mail questions to the show to [email protected]
I’d also heavily recommend listening to interviews on the site over the last few days, as Jim Valley & Fumi Saito interviewed Chris Jericho, myself and Jim Valley did a show with Kenny Omega and we also did a show with Marshall Zelaznik. A lot of people noted the latter show because Zelaznik, who was a key player at inDemand during the PPV era, was the key guy staring UFC Fight Pass and in the expansion of UFC internationally, is now the CEO of Glory. The discussion is how difficult it is with the weakening of television in trying to get a new product that is successful elsewhere to get big in the important U.S. market.
Corey Graves on Twitter knocked Mauro Ranallo by saying, “Just for the record guys. I know you wouldn’t know it, but there’s actually a WWE Hall of Famer AND a former Ring of Honor Champion on commentary. I’d imagine they have a lot to offer.” Given Ranallo’s well-known mental health issues, that have continued recently, as much as announcers are fair game from fans under any circumstances unfortunately it’s bad form from other announcers, particularly given what happened a few years ago. Ranallo then deleted his Twitter account. Paul Levesque at one point said Ranallo would be on the show tonight.
Frank Shamrock, Ranallo’s friend and manager, tweeted to Graves a picture saying “Social media has made too many of you comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the mouth for it.”
Takeover didn’t crack the Google search list although at one point the biggest Google search topic coming off the show was Britt Baker. Paul Levesque said that the Baker mention was a coincidence. He said the person who called for the shot as they were looking for a stunned crowd reaction for the final move, where Tommaso Ciampa gave Adam Cole the air raid crash off the top of the cage and through a table. They saw Baker, having no idea who it was, and Mauro Ranallo,when seeing her on the screen, identified her as Cole’s girlfriend. That was quite unique.
On paper, Survivor Series when you look at the matches looks to be the strongest WWE PPV in a long time. There isn’t one match that on paper doesn’t look good, and every match has the potential to be great. Survivor Series should finish high in Google searches for today as WWE major PPVs always do. So far this week, the only stuff that cracked the searches related to boxing. Last night’s Deontay Wilder heavyweight title defense over Luis Ortiz via seventh round knockout was the most searched for topic in the U.S., at more than 1 million searches. That should indicate a good PPV number. The other listing was Floyd Mayweather at No. 13 on Friday, stemming from his teasing coming out of retirement and working with Dana White. This would not be MMA, but White is looking to start up his own boxing promotion.
WWE
Because ticket sales are soft for Monday, which is more from running four straight nights, WWE announced last night they were adding Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend in a cage match fro the Universal title. That would be a dark match. Notable announcing that last night when Bray Wyatt/Fiend is scheduled for a title defense tonight that literally nobody expects him to lose in. (thanks to Mike Miazga)
Jake Atlas noted that he would continue to be part of Bar Wrestling in 2020. Not sure how that relates to his expected start at the Performance Center.
PWP on Thursday night from Omaha: Donnie Peppercricket b K-Dos, Moonshine Russell b Logan James, Nicky Scent b Willy Sweet, Jack Darling & Uncle Ricky b Seto Kobara & Tim Boston, Brett Bishop b Purple-DQ, Lars Metzger b Mack Riggs, Duke Cornell b Con Artiest, Tony Cortez & Manford Zablinski & Gideon Tenpenny b Pat Powers & Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels. Next show is 12/18 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha headlined by Arik Cannon.
CWE on 12/1 in Sault Ste. Marie, ONT at Soo Blaster with Juventud Guerrera, Jimmy Jacobs and Vinny Marseglia.
Stardom from yesterday in Tokyo at Shinkiba First Ring: Saya Iida & Saya Kamitani b Ruaka & Rina, Jungle Kyona b Itsuki Hoshino, Starlight Kid & Saki Kashima won three-way over Bea Priestley & Leo Onozaki and Konami & Zoe Lucas, Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki & Tam Nakano b Natsuko Tora & Jamie Hayter & Session Moth Martina, Riho won three-way over Hana Kimura and Hazuki, Momo Watanabe & AZM & Utami Hayashishita b Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire & Andras Miyagi to win the Artist of Stardom trios titles when Miyagi turned on her partners (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Results from today’s Stardom show in Tokyo: AZM & Leo Onozaki b Hina & Itsuki Hoshino, Bea Priestley won three-way over Andras Miyagi and Starlight Kid, Natsuko Tora & Jamie Hayter & Session Moth Martina b Hana Kimura & Zoe Lucas & Rina, Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita b Saya Iida & Saya Kamitani, Kagetsu & Hazuki & Natsu Sumire b Mayu Iwatani & Riho & Saki Kashima, Jungle Kyona & Konami kept the Goddesses of Stardom tag titles over Arisa Hoshiki & Tam Nakano.
ASWA from last night in Wollongong, New South Wales: Dean Draven b Banjo Powers, Grand Linstrom b Phil Picasso, Vagrant Boys & Jack Zimmer b Banks & Goran Nikolov-DQ, Keega Brettle b Jace Chalmers, Jasmin Vottora & Johnny Starr b Nikki Poteet & Tony Cruise, Minoru Tanaka b Kingston Eclipse.
ACW from last night in Adelaide, Australia: Riley b Neon, Ace Wilson & Joe Mundie b Isaac Bailey & Joey Triton, Casey Johns b Blair Valentine, Cadie Tre b Jack Rossely, Havok b Duke Marshall, Jesse Hendy b Edward Dusk, Matt Hayter b Adam Brooks to win ACW title (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Saraya Knight, Mercedes Martinez, Erika Reid, Meiko Satomura and Hiroyo Matsumoto have been announced for a 12/7 NHPW how in Perth, Australia.
Australian Wrestling Alliance is running 11/30 in Brisbane with all proceeds going to benefit the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in their efforts to help wildlife affected by Australia’s wildfires.
All Star Wrestling on 12/7 in Maple Ridge, BC at the Maple Ridge Seniors Activity Centre.
Toni Storm vs. Avary has been announced for WrestleRock on 12/13 in Australia.
Singapore Pro Wrestling from last night: CK Vin b Blue Nova, Prince Khaleed & Sultan Singh b Jang Kawi & Top Notch, Alexis Lee b The Coloniser, Trexxus NC Aiden Rex, Team ACE b Trexxu & Aiden Rex, Butcherman won three-way over Black Arrow and Destroyer Dharma, Mighty Dragon Family b Team GM, Tajiri b Andruew Tang
Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 12/7 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds with Shiloh Jonze vs. Flash Flanagan.
Hugo Savinovich ran a show last night in Guaynabo, PR as a tribute to Bret Hart. Star Roger & Hiram Tua won three-way TLC match over Hellspawn & Gladiador Angel (champions) and Controversial Inc to win the tag titles, Karissa Rivera won three-way over Vanilla Vargas (AAA) & Ivelisse Velez (former champ) to win the women’s title, Boricua Guerrero won four-way over Pablo Maruqez, El Hijo de L.A. Park and Noriega to win the NGW International title (Noriega was champion), Teddy Hart DCOR Chicano, Killer Kross b Brian Cage-DQ for interference by Melissa Santos, Ken Anderson b Mr. Aguila, Katie Forbes (Impact) b Kamille (NWA), Rush b Mecha Wolf 450-DQ when L.A. Park interfered, Blue Demon Jr b L.A. Park when Rush interfered, Rob Van Dam b Mil Muertes falls count anywhere. Next show is 11/21/20 called DemonMania, a tribute to Blue Demon Jr. (thanks to Leonardo Mendez Toledo)
Limitless Wrestling has a big show on 11/29 in Yarmouth, ME.
The Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line on tonight’s Survivor Series pre-show.
Ahead of tonight’s pay-per-view, WWE announced that NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush will defend his title against wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown in a triple threat match on the pre-show. It will be Rush vs. Raw’s Akira Tozawa vs. SmackDown’s Kalisto.
Tozawa and Kalisto were both on the 205 Live roster prior to last month’s WWE Draft.
Rush has recently been feuding with Angel Garza. Rush retained his title against Garza on NXT two weeks ago, but Garza had his foot on the rope while he was being pinned. Garza also taunted Rush’s wife during that match.
Garza defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott on last night’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames pre-show. WWE posted video of an angle after the match where Rush attacked Garza as he was heading backstage.
The pre-show will begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. Shawn Michaels will also appear on the pre-show and reveal NXT’s team for tonight’s men’s triple threat elimination tag match.
NXT’s women’s division team for Survivor Series is officially set.
Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Toni Storm will join Rhea Ripley for the Raw vs. SmackDown vs. NXT women’s elimination tag match. Ripley’s partners were revealed when she appeared on a live stream with Triple H and Cathy Kelley after NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan are on Team Raw. Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross are on Team SmackDown.
Ripley was announced as the captain for Team NXT on Friday’s SmackDown. Her team defeated Team Baszler in their WarGames match at TakeOver, with Ripley and LeRae facing Shayna Baszler, Belair, Shirai & Kay Lee Ray on their own after angles where Mia Yim and Tegan Nox were taken out.
Yim was laid out by a mystery attacker before the show. That led to Dakota Kai taking her place, but Kai turned heel and attacked Nox instead of entering the match.
Ripley explained choosing Belair and Shirai by saying they stood out to her in WarGames and she wants the best on her team against Raw and SmackDown.
Survivor Series is taking place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois tomorrow night. Here’s the updated card for the pay-per-view:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Rey Mysterio in a no holds barred match
Universal Champion The Fiend defending against Daniel Bryan
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler in a non-title match
United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong in a non-title match
Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Ivar & Erik) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) in a non-title match
Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Ricochet & Drew McIntyre) vs. Team SmackDown (Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G) vs. Team NXT (to be announced) in an elimination tag match
Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross) vs. Team NXT (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai & Toni Storm) in an elimination tag match
NXT Champion Adam Cole defending against Pete Dunne
It will be Cole vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT Championship on Sunday night. Dunne was set up as Cole’s challenger by defeating Damian Priest and Killian Dain in a number one contender’s triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
The finish of the triple threat match was Dunne pinning Priest. Dunne was on Dain’s back and had him in a sleeper hold prior to that. Dain broke that up by dropping both of them onto Priest, but Dunne pinned Priest to get the win.
The WWE and Universal titles will also be on the line tomorrow. Brock Lesnar will defend his WWE Championship against Rey Mysterio in a no holds barred match, while Daniel Bryan will challenge for “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt’s Universal Championship.
Here’s the updated card for Survivor Series:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Rey Mysterio in a no holds barred match
Universal Champion The Fiend defending against Daniel Bryan
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler in a non-title match
United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong in a non-title match
Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Ivar & Erik) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) in a non-title match
Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Ricochet & Drew McIntyre) vs. Team SmackDown (Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G) vs. Team NXT (to be announced) in an elimination tag match
Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross) vs. Team NXT (Rhea Ripley and four partners to be announced) in an elimination tag match
NXT Champion Adam Cole defending against Pete Dunne
Team NXT has its captain for the triple threat women’s elimination tag match at Survivor Series.
On tonight’s SmackDown, it was announced that Rhea Ripley will be the captain of NXT’s women’s team at Sunday’s pay-per-view. She faced off against Raw captain Charlotte Flair and SmackDown captain Sasha Banks tonight, with Ripley pinning Charlotte as Charlotte had Banks locked in the Figure Eight.
Ripley appeared alongside Tegan Nox, Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, and Toni Storm, though they weren’t confirmed as the other members of Team NXT.
Nox, LeRae, and Yim will also be on Team Ripley against Team Baszler (Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair & Kay Lee Ray) in the women’s WarGames match at TakeOver tomorrow night.
Charlotte, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan will be on Team Raw at Survivor Series, while Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross will be on Team SmackDown.
There will also be a men’s triple threat elimination tag match on Sunday. Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Ricochet & Drew McIntyre are on Team Raw, and Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G are on Team SmackDown. WWE hasn’t revealed any of the members of Team NXT.
