Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre suffered the same injury in the men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series.
Our own Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that both Reigns and McIntyre are out of action with ruptured eardrums. Neither is expected to miss much time, however.
“Both Reigns and McIntyre are out of action for right now due to suffering ruptured eardrums at Survivor Series,” Meltzer wrote. “It’s a short-term thing and both should be back soon.”
“McIntyre was hurt at Survivor Series but kept working on it through the 12/4 house show in Portland, ME, but didn’t realize he was hurt that bad until he was examined after that show,” he continued.
McIntyre is expected to be back in time for the post-Christmas shows. Reigns is not on the schedule for those events, however.
Reigns suffered his broken eardrum after taking a slap from Kevin Owens near the end of the match. He was said to be briefly upset backstage after.
“Reigns was upset, but 20 minutes later it had all blown over so there is no lingering issue regarding it,” Meltzer wrote in the Daily Update on November 28.
McIntyre announced on Monday that he was medically disqualified from performing on Friday’s edition of SmackDown. He had been scheduled to team with Sheamus to challenge the Usos for the tag titles but has since been replaced by Butch of the Brawling Brutes.
Ronda Rousey has commented on the DDT to the ring apron she took in her match against Shotzi at WWE Survivor Series.
Rousey spent some time talking about the match during a recent video game stream on YouTube. During the bout, Shotzi gave Rousey a DDT on the ring apron but the timing between the two was off.
“Well, guys. Do you ever wake up from a deep sleep and think of a cringe moment in your life? Then you lay awake in bed? Well, I had one of those this morning. I woke up at 630 this morning and was like, ‘Oh god, that DDT on the apron! Ahhh!”
“So, let me explain what happened,” Rousey continued. “I actually pitched that spot because I love that she does that but we couldn’t practice it in my ring because the ropes were too loose and then we couldn’t practice it when we got to the arena because there were these big cages.”
“Everyone was so focused on ‘you got to guide her over, you got to guide her to the floor,’ that it was literally all that was on my mind when it happened. So, she went over, I was like, ‘guide her’ and when she was down, I was like, ‘oh f**k. Ahhh, just go to where you’re supposed to go.'”
“I f***ed it up because I was so concerned with keeping somebody safe and a lot of times when you see me do something for the first time, it’s the first time I ever did it. It’s the first time I ever did it, I was really concerned with keeping Shotzi safe and I made it look bad and you know what? Sorry. Apparently, I deserve to be fired or burned.”
Rousey would continue to say that just as they were turning the match around, they got the call from the back to go to the finish early.
“I guess the match before us went over by like six minutes and they were really concerned about going over on time and the match after us was a three-way so they wouldn’t be able to communicate with each other to be able to make the match shorter. The match after that was WarGames, they couldn’t cut that out so it was the only place where they could get that time back. So, I was kind of bummed though because we worked on that match for two weeks and we were really excited about it and I feel like I really kind of failed Shotzi. I really wanted to showcase her s**t and make all of her s**t look great and show everybody how great she is.”
“But that wasn’t the match, that was like the beginning of the match and I’m kind of bummed that we’re getting judged from not really what we put together.”
Roman Reigns was reportedly not happy following the Survivor Series main event.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Reigns was said to be visibly upset backstage regarding what he perceived as an “unplanned spot” that involved him and Kevin Owens. Reigns was overheard saying he may have a ruptured ear drum and it was clear to those who witnessed the scene that he was not happy with what happened.
Reigns did not take part in the post-event press conference as he was originally scheduled to.
Talent spoken with by Fightful indicated they did not believe there would be any extended heat from what happened and that Reigns’ reaction was likely due to the heat of the moment.
It is not clear what spot was the catalyst for Reigns becoming upset. The only spots Owens and Reigns worked with each other during the match came close to the end. Owens slapped Reigns and then they exchanged strikes for a period. Roman hit a Superman punch and Owens hit a superkick, a pop-up powerbomb, and a stunner. Sami Zayn then broke up the pin leading to the finish where Zayn hit a low blow and Helluva Kick on Owens.
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Sunday News Update
We’ve got two shows up from this weekend. Garrett Gonzales and I went over the news of the week from WWE and AEW in depth on our Friday night show. Bryan and I talked Survivor Series, Smackdown and lots of thoughts on War Games on last night’s show. Bryan and I will be back again tomorrow night.
Some notes from last night’s show. The show was a legit sellout, and really it was pretty much sold out from day one. After production moved in, they put a few hundred more tickets on sale the last day or two, which scalpers bought immediately and then put on sale for the public. It was the largest pro wrestling gate ever in Boston and broke seven figures. It was the most-watched Survivor Series ever but with it being on Peacock which has over 15 million U.S. sub subscribers as compared to nine million last year and one million that the WWE Network had, it was a given going in it would break that record. I’ll have a story on War Games, its history and what did and didn’t work in the matches, on the Sports Illustrated site tomorrow.
Brian Kendrick was backstage producing. Not sure if this was a tryout or a new hire. PW Insider reported it as a tryout. It is notable that he was about to start in AEW when it became a thing of controversy regarding him claiming the holocaust wasn’t real and he was dropped. For some reason, with WWE, I saw nothing at all regarding that subject and his being hired. The only thing we heard was that it was a surprise to most people, including those at NXT who know him, that he was back.
Ricky Steamboat had his first match in more than a dozen years in Raleigh, NC tonight teaming with FTR against Jay Lethal & Brock Anderson & Nick Aldis managed by Arn Anderson. The Big Time Wrestling show also has Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson in the final Rock & Roll Express match ever at Dorton Arena, plus Matt Hardy vs. Crowbar Devon Storm, a Jimmy Valiant Boogie Man Jam Battle Royal plus The Steiners, Kane, Lex Luger and Teddy Long appear as guests.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Survivor Series, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
We’re also looking for reports from tonight’s WWE house show in Portland, ME and the Ricky Steamboat headlined show in Raleigh, NC tonight to [email protected]
The only thing this past week in boxing , pro wrestling or MMA to crack the Google search list was Survivor Series which was the seventh most searched term in the country with more than 200,000 searches. The number is normal level for a B show although Survivor Series is usually an A show. The previous show with Logan Paul did 300,000.
Road Dogg, Molly Holly and Alundra Blayze (Madusa) have all been announced for Tuesday’s NXT show in regard to announcing the wrestlers in the two Iron Survivor matches on the 12/10 special.
AEW has an ROH Final Battle PPV show from Arlington, TX, also on 12/10, and UFC has a PPV show on 12/10, so that will be a crazy day. AEW has two weeks to promote the ROH show with Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH title with Castagnoli having to join the JAS if he doesn’t win the title as the stipulation. That will be an afternoon show which may be more difficult for PPV than the usual prime time evening time slot. There were teases of FTR vs. Gunn Club and Mercedes Martinez vs. Athena for the tag and women’s titles. The latter from TV basically looked like it was happening although not officially announced.
Jr.: TJP & Francesco Akira b Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles
Heavy: Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi b Tetsuya Naito & Sanada
Aussie Open is in first place in the heavyweight with three wins while Naito & Sanada, Archer & Suzuki, Nicholls & Haste, Goto & Yoshi-Hashi and O’Khan & Henare have two wins.
In the junior, Austin & Bey are first with four wins, TJP & Akira, Zayne & Lindaman, Bushi & Titan and Yoh & Rush all have three wins.
New Japan has a junior heavyweight tag team tournament show live on New Japan World at 4:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning from Nagano with Ryusuke Taguchi & Clark Connors vs. Kushida & Kevin Knight, TJP & Francesco Akira vs. Sho & Dick Togo, Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles vs. Alex Zayne & Lindaman, Bushi & Titan (who have been great all tournament) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki and Lio Rush & Yoh vs. Ace Austin & Chris Bey.
The 1/4 AEW show in Seattle has a ticket special that you can get four tickets for $80 using the code AEWSEASON.
The Miz will be on NBC’s The Wheel shows from 12/19 to 12/23 and 12/26 to 12/30. He will be one of six celebrities helping contestants win money. He will also be on Pictionary soon. (thanks to Brian Henke)
A correction from Friday. We had listed that the Stardom in Showcase show yesterday was the first Showcase show on PPV, but that they had other Showcase shows on PPV. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Biaggio Ali-Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, fought MMA Friday night at the PFL show at the Hulu Theater. He looked very good, knocking out Tom Graesser in :45 in an amateur fight that opened the show.
Impact wrestling has received new physical belts. Top Rope Belts, which made the new belt, sent out a tweet showing heavyweight champion Josh Alexander with his new belt, Knockouts champion Jordynne Grace with her new belt and Heath & Rhino with their new tag team title belts.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including WWE Survivor Series 2022 with two War Games matches! Full results, thoughts on War Games today versus the past, what is better and what is not, and more, plus the news of the week, Smackdown and Rampage, Q&As from the chatroom, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: WarGames today vs. the past
15:32: Survivor Series WarGames recap
42:50: Survivor Series press conference notes
48:06: PFL notes, the Sasha Banks chants during Survivor Series
The man advantage has been decided for Saturday’s WWE Survivor Series WarGames.
Drew McIntyre and Sheamus defeated The Usos in a tag match on Friday’s SmackDown to earn the man advantage in Saturday’s men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series.
Playing off a storyline teasing dissension between Sami Zayn and The Bloodline, Zayn inadvertently caused a distraction in Friday’s tag bout allowing Kevin Owens to interfere in the match and leading to Sheamus pinning Jey Uso.
The card for Saturday’s pay-per-view was finalized at the top of Friday’s SmackDown with the return of Becky Lynch, revealed as the final member of Bianca Belair’s WarGames team.
Here is the lineup for Saturday’s Survivor Series:
Becky Lynch is back, and will be inside WarGames this Saturday.
Friday’s SmackDown opened with Bayley and the rest of her WarGames team in the ring, demanding Bianca Belair reveal the fifth member of her team. Belair came out and introduced the fifth person, who ended up being Lynch. The two teams immediately started brawling, with Rhea Ripley facing down Lynch at one point. Ripley and the rest of her team backed off as Bianca’s team stood tall on the apron.
Lynch had been out of action since SummerSlam, when she dislocated her shoulder in a match against Bianca Belair. On the Raw following SummerSlam, Lynch turned face and congratulated Belair on retaining the championship. Later backstage, however, she was attacked by members of Damage CTRL, writing her off of television.
Here is the updated lineup for Saturday’s Survivor Series:
The final member of Bianca Belair’s WWE Survivor Series WarGames team will be revealed on this Friday’s SmackDown episode.
Belair announced during a promo on Monday’s Raw that the final member of her team will be revealed on this week’s SmackDown show, the night before Saturday’s Survivor Series event in Boston.
Already announced for Belair’s team are Belair, Michin, Alexa Bliss, and Asuka. They will face Bayley, IYO SKY, Dakota Kai, Nikki Cross, and Rhea Ripley in the women’s WarGames bout on Saturday.
Damage CTRL’s WWE Survivor Series WarGames team is set following Monday’s Raw episode.
Rhea Ripley will join the team alongside Nikki Cross, and Damage CTRL’s Bayley, IYO SKY, and Dakota Kai in the Survivor Series WarGames match on Saturday, November 26.
Ripley, Cross, Bayley, SKY, and Kai will face a team comprised of Bianca Belair, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Mia Yim, and one competitor still yet to be announced.
A match to determine which side will start with the one-person WarGames advantage will be held on next week’s Raw episode.
Here is the current Survivor Series WarGames lineup:
WWE Survivor Series WarGames, Saturday, November 26, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
