WWE is making its return to Europe for a house show tour this spring.
It was announced today that WWE will hold four house shows in Europe this April and May. The tour includes two events in the United Kingdom, one in France, and one in Germany.
The tour dates are:
Thursday, April 28 — Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England
Friday, April 29 — The O2 in London, England
Saturday, April 30 — Accor Arena in Paris, France
Sunday, May 1 –QUARTERBACK Immobilien Arena in Leipzig, Germany
WWE has announced that Ronda Rousey will be in action at the London and Paris shows. The tour will also feature SmackDown’s Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Big E, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, and more.
WWE also held house show tours in the UK last September and November.
“All tickets for previously scheduled WWE Live events in Paris and Leipzig remain valid,” WWE wrote. “Ticketholders who cannot attend the new dates should contact their point of purchase.”
Tickets for the Paris and Leipzig shows are available now. The Newcastle and London events will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. GMT next Monday (March 14).
WWE’s European tour began on Saturday, with Raw holding a house show in Madrid, Spain and SmakDown having a house show in Cardiff, England.
Submitted from Raw’s house show in Madrid
– Finn Balor defeated Bobby Lashley (w/ Lio Rush)
Balor was very over with the crowd. Lashley was a “boo” magnet and got called boring by the crowd at times.
– Elias came out for a segment and got huge reactions. The biggest negative reactions were when Barcelona and Saudi Arabia were mentioned. The Riott Squad, Alicia Fox, and Alexa Bliss came out to interrupt him.
They tried to sing “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” and the crowd was very into it. The Riott Squad, Fox, and Bliss purposely sang it really bad. This led into the next match.
– Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax & Dana Brooke defeated The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan) & Alicia Fox (w/ Alexa Bliss)
Bliss didn’t wrestle here. Bayley was insanely over. Jax got the pin for her team.
– The B-Team defeated The Revival
The crowd was into this — even with them not being featured on the Spanish version of WWE TV.
– Braun Strowman defeated Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre in a handicap match
There were chants of “F*ck you Lesnar” and “Lesnar sucks.”
AOP won by pinning Slater. The crowd was into this — they especially liked Crews.
– Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defeated Nikki Bella to retain her title
Rousey was insanely popular. Bella was still loved by her section of fans.
– Seth Rollins demanded an explanation from Dean Ambrose after Ambrose turned against him on Raw. Though Rollins vs. Ambrose was originally announced, Baron Corbin came out and announced that he’d be facing Rollins in an Intercontinental Championship match.
– Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated Baron Corbin to retain his title
This started slow, then it gained traction. The crowd also got into this in the second half. Rollins won after kicking out of a Deep Six from Corbin. He celebrated before being attacked by Ambrose.
During the fight, a brawl broke out between the male roster — including Matt Hardy and Chad Gable despite them not having matches on the show.
Submitted by Edd Young from SmackDown’s house show in Cardiff
– Randy Orton defeated Jeff Hardy
Hardy got a pretty big pop. Orton generated a lot of heat, taunting Hardy throughout the match. Hardy went for the Twist of Fate and Orton countered with the RKO to pick up the win.
– The Usos defeated The Colons
The Usos came out as faces and were immediately attacked by The Colons. The Colons were surprisingly impressive, gaining a lot of heat and mocking The Usos repeatedly. The Usos dominated the match and picked up the victory.
– Mark Andrews defeated Wild Boar
Very entertaining match. Not much hype despite Andrews being from Cardiff, but it was very enjoyable. Andrews has talent but has 205 Live written all over him. There were lots of flips and acrobatics. Both men impressed.
The IIconics came out with microphones and talked about things they considered to be iconic, including their victory at Super Show-Down in Australia. They were booed throughout. Asuka and Naomi had a great reception. Asuka got the victory with the Asuka Lock.
– United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rey Mysterio and Andrade “Cien” Almas in a triple threat match to retain his title
This was originally advertised as Nakamura vs. Mysterio, but they made it a triple threat and added Almas. For me, this was easily the match of the night. Mysterio got a huge pop as the crowd chanted “619” throughout.
Almas had Mysterio in the ropes as the “619” chants continued and Almas mockingly went for a 619 — only to wag his finger to the crowd in a “no” fashion. The match largely involved Almas and Mysterio as Nakamura spent most of his time outside the ring.
Mysterio hit the 619 on Almas, Nakamura snuck back into the ring and threw Mysterio out, and Nakamura stole the pin.
– Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz
The bell rung — but a segment took place for about seven minutes. The Miz berated the referee for telling them to ring the bell prior to him removing his sunglasses, headband, and jacket.
Miz referred to the Cardiff crowd several times as “fat, Cardiff, sweathogs.” He pandered to the fans as he opened his jacket ready to take it off, only to put it back on as the crowd continued to cheer and then boo.
Miz removed his jacket and headband. As he removed his sunglasses, Bryan attacked him from behind. Bryan then turned to the crowd and described them as “lovely and beautiful” and said he wanted to show Miz what a “real man” looked like. Bryan removed his shirt and the crowd cheered.
Miz hit a Skull Crushing Finale for a near fall. There were plenty of “Yes!” kicks from both men, but Bryan eventually picked up the win.
– Rusev & Lana defeated R-Truth & Carmella
There was a 10-minute segment featuring Carmella after R-Truth’s entrance song. Rusev and Lana emerged to a huge pop as various “Rusev Day” and Lana chants roared. Carmella and R-Truth had a dance off with Lana. The crowd urged Rusev to join in, but he shook his head and left the ring and refused.
Lana brought him back into the ring and encouraged him to dance. He squatted as he tried to perform a dance and R-Truth took the opportunity to roll him up. Rusev kicked out and the match begun. Very short match and Rusev won with a roll-up.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defeated The New Day to retain their titles
New Day entered to a big cheer. As Cesaro & Sheamus’ music hit, New Day were wrestling one another in the ring and rolling each other up, including the referee. It was pretty funny to watch.
Sheamus removed his shirt after entering the ring and kept changing direction on where he was going to throw the shirt as each corner of the crowd cheered for it. He eventually went for a big throw, only to throw it to Cesaro as they laughed and hugged.
This was a pretty even bout. Xavier Woods hyped the crowd up nicely. It ended with a big brawl in the ring, Big E helping Kofi Kingston do a dive outside the ring, and Sheamus giving Big E the Brogue Kick for the win.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair to retain her title
The match was okay. Despite Lynch being in this weird situation as a heel, the crowd continued to adore her. Charlotte was booed repeatedly. The match was quite brief and we didn’t actually see any finishers. Lynch retained.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe in a no DQ match to retain his title
Styles got the biggest pop of the night, no doubt. The match was explosive. We saw kendo sticks used as Joe began to dominate. He also teased a Muscle Buster. Styles eventually found his way back into the match, hitting Joe a few times with a kendo stick.
Styles then left the ring and picked up a steel chair. He brought it into the ring, but before he could hit Joe, Cesaro and Sheamus ran down as Joe, Cesaro, and Sheamus teamed up on Styles. The crowd chanted “We want tables” as Cesaro and Sheamus set one up in the corner. They continued to wail on Styles until The Usos ran down to the ring to make the save.
They continued to brawl for a while until both tag teams left. Styles was left planted on the table as Joe surged towards him and went straight through the table. Joe was laid out, and Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm to get the victory. Great match.
SmackDown’s side of WWE’s European tour began in Oberhausen, Germany on Thursday, while Raw’s second show took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Here are results from both events:
Submitted by Max from yesterday’s SmackDown house show in Oberhausen, Germany
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The New Day and The Usos to retain their titles
Bludgeon Brothers retained after Harper hit Kofi Kingston with a discus lariat.
– Shelton Benjamin defeated Sin Cara
– Asuka, Becky Lynch & Naomi defeated Peyton Royce, Billie Kay & Lana
Asuka won it for her team by submitting Lana with the Asuka Lock.
– Daniel Bryan & Tye Dillinger defeated The Miz & Big Cass
Like at Backlash, Bryan tapped out Cass.
– United States Champion Jeff Hardy defeated Rusev (w/ Aiden English) to retain his title
Hardy won it with a Swanton Bomb.
– Charlotte Flair defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella by DQ
The disqualification came when Carmella was attacking Charlotte and wouldn’t stop for the referee’s five count. Charlotte had teeth knocked out during the match and will be returning to the United States for dental work before rejoining the tour.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows defeated Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro & Sheamus
For the finish, Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm on Sheamus and pinned him.
Submitted by James Stevenson from Raw’s house show in Belfast, Northern Ireland
– Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defeated The Revival to retain their titles
This was a pretty fun, back-and-forth match. Hardy did all of his “Woken” mannerisms and the champions retained with a double Sister Abigail.
– Tucker defeated Joseph Conners
Tucker got a good reaction in his hometown, though it didn’t seem like many people knew who he was. This was basic and Conners played heel. Tucker won with a superkick.
– No Way Jose, Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews & The Ascension defeated Jinder Mahal, Baron Corbin, The Authors of Pain & Curt Hawkins
The crowd was pretty quiet for this one. It started off with Hawkins poking fun at O’Neil’s fall from the Greatest Royal Rumble. No Way Jose took the hot tag and cleaned house until the heels cleared out the babyfaces, but Hawkins tagged in and won with a pop-up punch after the rest of the heels were pulled off the apron.
The faces had a dance-off to celebrate their win.
– Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss and Bayley to retain her title
Bliss played chicken, running away from Jax and Bayley throughout the match. Jax hit a Samoan drop to win. The match was alright, but the crowd was quiet here as well.
– Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
The audience loved Strowman. He got lots of “Get these hands” and “Let’s go Strowman” chants. Lashley was in the ring for most of the match, keeping Strowman on the apron until the hot tag.
Strowman cleared house, Lashley hit a big delayed suplex on Zayn, and Strowman powerslammed Owens for the win. They had a really fun match, with Strowman getting the biggest pop of the night so far.
– Roman Reigns defeated Samoa Joe
Joe got a big pop, while Reigns got a mixed reaction with more cheers than boos. Joe jumped him before the bell and got the heat. Reigns made a comeback after Joe put him in a rest hold.
Joe locked in the Coquina Clutch for a second, but Reigns got to the ropes. Reigns connected with a drive-by dropkick and a Superman Punch. Joe went to get a steel chair, had a tug of war with the referee, and missed the chair shot. That allowed Reigns to hit a spear to win.
Pretty good match following intermission. It started off with a battle of cheers between Ziggler and Tyler Breeze. Later, there was a comedy spot where Ziggler went to the top and Breeze rolled away a few times. Ziggler got the heat on Breeze, then Fandango took the hot tag but got beat down. Fandango was pinned with the Claymore/Zig-Zag combo.
– Sasha Banks, Ember Moon & Natalya defeated The Riott Squad
The babyfaces did a baseball slide spot before Sarah Logan slowed down the match against Banks. The babyfaces ended up clearing the ring and Natalya submitted Logan with the Sharpshooter.
– Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated Elias, Finn Balor, and Bobby Roode to retain his title
Elias came out first and did a concert for us. He started singing, insulted the town, and was interrupted by Roode’s theme. Rollins got one of the loudest reactions of the night.
The crowd was into this, mostly getting behind Rollins. It was a really good main event and very back-and-forth match with everyone looking great. For the finish, Balor hit a Coup de Grace on Elias, Roode hit a Glorious DDT on Balor, and Rollins hit a knee on Roode and pinned Elias with a Curb Stomp. This was my match of the night.
Ronda Rousey will be in action at an upcoming house show in Paris, France according to the arena website.
Accorhotels Arena has a card for the May 19 event on their website. It lists Ronda Rousey vs. Mickie James in what would be Rousey’s second professional wrestling match. It’s possible the match could be changed down the line following the Superstar Shakeup. She is also set to appear on three other dates during WWE’s European tour, including May 16 in Geneva, Switzerland, May 17 in Vienna, Austria and May 18 in Turin, Italy.
Rousey had her first wrestling match a few weeks ago at WrestleMania 34, where she and Kurt Angle teamed together to defeat Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in a mixed tag team match. In recent weeks, she has started an angle on television with Natalya, who helped train her in pro wrestling.
Other matches listed for the Paris card include Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal for the Intercontinental title, Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw women’s title, Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin, Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley vs Elias.
With The Miz moving back to SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup, WWE has already announced a few matches where he’ll be facing Daniel Bryan.
Miz vs. Bryan is set for three house shows on WWE’s tour of the United Kingdom next month. Those events are in Liverpool on May 16th, Newcastle on the 17th, and Sheffield on the 18th.
While announcing that Miz was going to SmackDown last night, Kurt Angle mentioned that Bryan was “very adamant” about the move and still had pull as the show’s former general manager. Their on-screen history dates back to Miz being paired with Bryan on the first season of NXT, but their most noteworthy interaction happened when they got into a heated exchange on Talking Smack while Bryan wasn’t cleared to wrestle by WWE.
WWE will be in Europe from May 9-20. Ronda Rousey is scheduled for matches in Geneva, Switzerland on the 16th, Vienna, Austria on the 17th, Turin, Italy on the 18th, and Paris, France on the 19th.
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and WWE breakout star Ronda Rousey will work four dates on the company’s upcoming European tour.
Announced by WWE on Friday morning, Rousey will wrestle on May 16th in Geneva, Switzerland, May 17th in Vienna, Austria, May 18th in Turin, Italy, and May 19th in Paris, France. Opponent(s) were not named.
Even before WrestleMania, the 31-year-old was booked for the company’s Madison Square Garden house show on July 7th.
Rousey made her WWE debut nearly a week ago at WrestleMania to great fanfare, teaming with Kurt Angle to defeat HHH and Stephanie McMahon. She appeared on Raw this past Monday and armbarred McMahon in the show’s opening segment.
After appearing at WrestleMania with the Rock several years ago, Rousey returned at this year’s Royal Rumble to close out the show and appeared several times on Raw to help build the WrestleMania program.
UPDATE: Dave Meltzer notes that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were sent home as a disciplinary measure after their post-match angle with The New Day didn’t go as planned on SmackDown last night. They were supposed to stay in the ring to be beaten up by New Day following Zayn’s loss but left the ring early.
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Though details are sparse at this point, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have been removed from WWE’s European tour.
Our Dave Meltzer reports that Owens and Zayn aren’t at SmackDown’s house show in Leeds, England today and won’t be appearing on the rest of the tour. Both were on television last night, where they interrupted Shane McMahon and The New Day in SmackDown’s opening segment and traded words with them in a promo.
Kofi Kingston then defeated Zayn in a match, with it later being announced that Owens & Zayn would be teaming against The New Day on next week’s episode in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Without Roman Reigns, WWE has been shorthanded on this month’s tour. Triple H filled in for Reigns at Raw’s first five stops, Kurt Angle teamed with Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose yesterday, and New Day were moved to the Raw side for their remaining dates after this week’s TV. How the SmackDown house shows will be affected by Owens and Zayn’s absence remains to be seen.
SmackDown’s final show before flying home from Europe will be in Florence, Italy on Sunday.
