One WWE couple began their WrestleMania week by getting engaged on Thursday night.
Zack Ryder proposed to Chelsea Green in New York City yesterday. Both announced their engagement, with Ryder writing “She said Ooh Yeah!”
“HE DID IT. Locked dowwwwn,” Green wrote. Yesterday was also Green’s birthday.
Ryder proposed on the same day that WWE officially announced that Ryder & Curt Hawkins will challenge for The Revival’s Raw Tag Team titles at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday. The match was set up in a video that WWE uploaded after this week’s Raw, with Ryder & Hawkins issuing the challenge to The Revival.
Green signing with WWE was announced in October 2018. She’s been wrestling at NXT house shows since and has yet to make her television debut. She’s been out of action since suffering a broken wrist while facing Jessie Elaban in a dark match at last month’s NXT TV tapings.
Before signing with WWE, Green was a one-time Knockouts Champion in Impact Wrestling as Laurel Van Ness.
The Revival vs. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins for the WWE Raw tag team titles has been added to Sunday’s WrestleMania 35.
The 33-year-old Ryder and the 33-year-old Hawkins issued a challenge in a video posted to WWE.com after Raw ended on Monday. The Revival answered the challenge via Twitter Thursday, and the match was officially announced on WWE.com.
The challengers are both New York natives, and previously held the WWE tag team titles together in 2008. Since reuniting as a team in January, the duo are winless in tag matches.
Hawkins is currently involved in a losing streak storyline which stands at 269 consecutive matches according to WWE.
The Revival won the Raw tag titles on the February 11, 2019, edition of Raw by defeating Bobby Roode and Chad Gable.
That brings the WrestleMania match total to sixteeen with nine title matches. The SmackDown version of the titles will be defended in a four way featuring the Usos (champions) vs. Aleister Black/Ricochet, The Bar, and Nakamura/Rusev.
– While a Raw Tag Team title match has yet to be made official for WrestleMania 35, the build to one continued after last night’s Raw.
WWE uploaded a post-Raw video where Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins challenged The Revival to a Tag Team title match at WrestleMania. Dash Wilder told them that The Revival would take it under consideration.
Hawkins’ storyline heading into WrestleMania is that he’s gone 269 straight matches without a win.
The Revival defended their titles against Ricochet & Aleister Black last night and won by countout. Scott Dawson was under the ring and stopped Ricochet from being able to make the count. Black laid out Wilder and Dawson with Black Mass after the match, then Ricochet hit the 630 on Dawson.
Hawkins and Ryder are both from New York, with WWE pushing that WrestleMania is taking place in their home area. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey is hosting WrestleMania 35 on Sunday.
– On last night’s go-home episode of Raw, it was confirmed that Finn Balor will be using his “Demon” character for his Intercontinental title match against Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania.
Lashley and Lio Rush did an in-ring interview and were asked about rumors of the Demon showing up on Sunday. Balor appeared on the video screen and then became the Demon. Balor said his Demon will be Lashley’s nightmare.
Balor defeated Jinder Mahal & Lashley in a handicap match last week to set up him getting the Intercontinental title shot at WrestleMania.
The Big Takeaway: Not much of a show to kick off 2019. Titus O’Neil picked up a win against perennial loser Curt Hawkins. The Revival headlined the episode for the first time since November to see off Tyler Breeze & Zack Ryder.
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Happy New Year, everyone.
The episode opened up with a graphic paying tribute to the late, great “Mean” Gene Okerlund.
Titus O’Neil defeated Curt Hawkins (4:52)
A new year, but the same old Curt Hawkins. Now at 0-252, the losing streak storyline appears to still be going nowhere, but a light “let’s go Hawkins” chant started up as these two locked up.
O’Neil got the crowd back on his side when he nailed Hawkins with a big open-handed chop that caused an audible “ooh,” followed by calls for “one more chop.” O’Neil smiled at the reaction, but Hawkins quickly took over the momentum.
There was really nothing much to this one in the end. The finish saw O’Neil connect with a big boot, followed by a hip toss and a running splash to Hawkins in the corner. O’Neil then hit the Clash of the Titus for the win.
The Revival defeated Tyler Breeze & Zack Ryder (7:44)
The Revival arguably spent far too much of 2018 on Main Event, despite calls from keen followers for them to be used more creatively on the main roster, and they find themselves back here again at the start of 2019. That said, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were easily the best thing about this match, that by the end was 100 mph.
It might have been poor editing, but a lot of Breeze’s moves were quite obviously whiffing at thin air in the opening minutes and made Dawson and Wilder look a lot more legitimate in their move set. The rather expectant pre-Raw crowd seemed to get into it later on as they traded near falls.
The end of the match saw Ryder incapacitated outside. Breeze got a two count on Dawson and rolled to the apron and then drove his shoulder into Dawson’s midriff. When he then flipped into the ring over Dawson’s back, Wilder tagged in. As Breeze ran the ropes, Wilder and Dawson hit the Shatter Machine for the win.
The Big Takeaway: After his strange pairing with The Ascension on the show last week, it was business as usual for Tyler Breeze, who beat Curt Hawkins in the opener.
Taking Breeze’s place in a repeat of last week’s main event, Mojo Rawley teamed up with The Ascension. They lost in a ridiculously short six-man tag match against Zack Ryder & The B-Team.
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After his absence last week, Percy Watson returned from assignment to make up the three-man announce booth alongside Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness.
Tyler Breeze defeated Curt Hawkins (5:55)
Fresh off his Mixed Match Challenge debut with Ember Moon, where he replaced the injured Braun Strowman this past week, Hawkins returned to singles action. Breeze had played a pawn in last week’s six-man tag match here on Main Event, when he teamed with The Ascension, and so this was a return to the normal run of things for both men.
Hawkins looked like he was going to finally snatch a win, as Breeze very much played the heel. After both men had put each other in the tree of woe and both had kicked out of near falls, Hawkins nailed Breeze with a running lariat. But much to Hawkins’ chagrin, Breeze kicked out at two and a half.
With the referee trying to break Hawkins off at the ropes, while Breeze grabbed a rest, Hawkins was ushered away and Breeze was able to nail him with a superkick and then the Unprettier for the win.
The loss for Hawkins took him to 0-238 as of this match. He is winless since November 2016.
The B-Team & Zack Ryder defeated The Ascension & Mojo Rawley (2:26)
When the entrances run longer than the match itself, it’s rarely a good sign — and this was no different. As the time suggests, this wasn’t much to write home about and, inexplicably, it even ran through a commercial break.
Curtis Axel was the star of the show. After Rawley had played his usual bull in a china shop role, the ring filled and they all started to go at it. Ryder gave the Rough Ryder to Rawley and Viktor sent Bo Dallas outside. With the match running at 100 mph, Axel had to take control.
Viktor tried to roll Axel through and use the ropes for leverage, but the ref saw it and called it, stopping the count. Axel seized the opportunity to roll Viktor back through and snatched the three count before celebrating wildly with his team mates.
This trio are now 2-0 and are certainly fun to watch.
The Big Takeaway: Titus O’Neil beat Mojo Rawley in a battle of the big men. Tyler Breeze teamed up with The Ascension in what became a fun six-man tag main event against Zack Ryder and The B-Team.
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With Percy Watson absent from the commentary booth this week, Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness felt like a much more cohesive unit.
Titus O’Neil defeated Mojo Rawley (4:48)
Joseph noted that this would be a “strength vs. strength” match from the outset and, given who the “strength” were, that’s about as big a turn off as you can get. But to give them their dues, this was okay and the crowd got into it late on.
Rawley took the main body of the match, taunting O’Neil and posturing to the crowd, while O’Neil played babyface in peril. But when O’Neil got the heat and some revenge for the trash talk, it was fun to watch.
They went to the finish after a few near falls. O’Neil Irish whipped Rawley and went for a back body drop, but Rawley stopped to kick O’Neil. Rawley then charged at O’Neil, but he managed to grab Rawley and turn it into the Clash of the Titus for the win.
The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) & Zack Ryder defeated The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) & Tyler Breeze (6:39)
The story of this one was that Breeze was the odd man out, a babyface trapped on the heel side. They bullied him throughout the match. The Ascension blind tagged him and would use him in assisting their power moves. Breeze played the part well with B-Team pinning him in the end.
It was nice to see The Ascension get to do something a little more creative than their usual outings on Main Event. For most of the match, they cut the ring in half, beating on Ryder and using Breeze aggressively for their own means — tagging him and out at their leisure.
When Ryder eventually got the hot tag to Axel, he cleaned house so that Viktor and Konnor were left unable to make the save on the outside. He and Dallas teamed up on Breeze to deliver a belly-to-back neckbreaker combination on him for the win. This was way more interesting than the normal tag matches on Main Event.
The Big Takeaway: Dana Brooke grabbed a rare solo win against Alicia Fox and Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins made their first tag team appearance together in nearly 10 years.
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Dana Brooke defeated Alicia Fox (5:20)
Its sometimes easy to forget that Alicia Fox is the longest tenured female performer on the Raw roster — and yet she’s only 31. Having been signed in 2006 and debuting in 2008, she’s been doing this for a very long time — and yet there’s still no spot for her on this weekend’s Survivor Series card.
In Brooke’s case, you’d have to argue that she has really struggled since Titus Worldwide was disbanded. This was her first solo win since January and she pretty much stole it here in a match that felt like a long five minutes.
They were supposed to trade small packages at the finish, after Fox rolled Brooke into one, but instead of Brooke rolling her over into her own, she essentially just covered her. It was an underwhelming finish, but Brooke showed her delight at finally getting a win.
For those still following along, Hawkins is still on his losing streak that began back in November of 2016. He is currently 0-236. He and Ryder are now producing their own YouTube content for WWE — Figure It Out – where they hunt down vintage action figures.
Ryder and Hawkins’ reunion as a tag team wasn’t quite met with the approval that you might expect. Given that this was their first tag match together since late 2008, its significance may well have been lost on some. Whatever anyone says, these are two men who have been around the block, fighting the mad and the bad and are good enough to still be filling a main roster spot.
Ryder and Hawkins took a lot of the match, were slick and smooth, and as a match it was perfectly good. It led to a finish where Hawkins was sent outside after he and Ryder looked to have Crews beaten. Ryder sent Breeze outside too but then got caught by Crews: first with a Gorilla press drop and then with the standing moonsault for the win.
The Big Takeaway: Mike Kanellis lost again, this time to Zack Ryder in a solid opener. Kanellis is still without a singles win since July 2017. Apollo Crews then defeated Mojo Rawley in a decent bout at the end of the show.
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Zack Ryder defeated Mike Kanellis (5:10)
While Zack Ryder spends his free time making podcasts with Curt Hawkins about wrestling figures of old, you have to admire the physical shape both he and Mike Kanellis present themselves in. Both don’t appear to have an ounce of fat on them — with Kanellis looking especially lean here.
This was a solid, entertaining match. Mainly because they looked to be setting up for a quick win for Ryder — with him even hitting the Rough Ryder early on — but Kanellis got his foot on the rope to save the match. Things then switched and went completely in Kanellis’ favor.
Kanellis hit a Samoan driver on Ryder, got a near fall, and teased hitting a Broski Boot of his own. His wicked smile as he mimicked Ryder’s “woos” was great. But Ryder moved out of the way and sprung up to hit the Rough Ryder for the win.
Apollo Crews defeated Mojo Rawley (7:26)
Mojo Rawley has had a good run of late. Over the last few months, he has picked up wins against the likes of Tyler Breeze, No Way Jose, and even Chad Gable. However, it seems that whenever he comes up against Apollo Crews, he comes up short. And that’s just what happened here.
These two took their time and on the opening bell made it look like it had a big-match feel as they squared off in the middle. In another promotion maybe it would be, but Rawley has never had a character that has properly connected with the fans and, despite his talent, Crews has been given a character that just feels lacking in any depth.
Crews got a near fall on Rawley, then connected with an elbow and went for a crossbody, but Rawley caught him. Rawley hoisted him up onto his shoulders and nailed him with a flapjack. After Crews kicked out at two, Rawley taunted and trash-talked him, kicking him in the head and screaming at him.
Crews rolled out of the way and then sprung up and nailed Rawley with an enzuigiri. Rawley sold it like he was knocked out and Crews hit the frog splash for the win.
The Big Takeaway: There were two good matches from Long Island this week featuring hometown talent. Cedric Alexander beat Tony Nese after some good back and forth and Curt Hawkins went 0-193 as Zack Ryder answered his open challenge.
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WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defeated Tony Nese in a non-title match (6:00)
As you would expect, Tony Nese was over here in front of his home crowd — but he still played the heel as they put on as good a match as they could in the time they were given. The commentators really put over Alexander strong with notes on his work ethic, dedication, and good nature outside the ring.
Alexander got some heat early on with elbows and a swinging neckbreaker, but Nese kicked out at two. Alexander took off his elbow pad and went for a top rope forearm, but Nese was wise to it and hit a beautiful twisting moonsault over the top rope to Alexander on the outside.
The crowd got into it late as Nese got some near falls and you could tell they thought he might sneak one out because it was his home turf. The finish came when Nese couldn’t dodge the charge and got caught with the Neuralyzer. Alexander followed it up with the Lumbar Check for the win.
Zack Ryder defeated Curt Hawkins (5:27)
Hawkins cut a pre-match promo issuing an open challenge. He noted that he’d won championships in the building and had grown up coming to shows there. He then turned against the crowd, calling them “nobodies” before a light “we want Ryder” chant started up. Ryder came out to a good reaction.
Hawkins went 0-193 here after a good match that gave him plenty of chances to break the losing streak. The way it was told, this match really wouldn’t have looked out of place on a pay-per-view. Hawkins kicked out of the Broski Boot — and when Ryder missed the Rough Ryder, Hawkins was able to send him into the turnbuckle and hit an enzuigiri for a near fall.
The crowd got into it the more they traded finishing moves and near falls. Ryder took Hawkins off the top rope and hit the Rough Ryder, but Hawkins managed to get his foot on the rope. Hawkins had the match won after blocking a Broski Boot attempt, but the referee spotted that he was using the ropes to get leverage. As Hawkins pleaded with the referee, Ryder used the distraction to hit the Rough Ryder for the win.
After the match, Ryder got on the mic and said that after he’d climbed the ladder and won the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 32 he wanted to see that “sick” view again. He said he wanted to be in the Money in the Bank ladder match at next month’s PPV and become WWE’s new “Mr. Money in the Bank.” Whether or not he will be entered in the match remains to be seen.
The Big Takeaway: After the Superstar Shakeup, the show had a slightly fresher feel with Mike Kanellis and Zack Ryder opening up the episode and Percy Watson joining Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness on commentary.
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The show opened up with a tribute to Bruno Sammartino.
Nigel McGuinness was back this week after having taken time off to spend with his newborn daughter, Amelia. Percy Watson joined the team to make it the latest WWE show to feature a three-man commentary booth.
Zack Ryder defeated Mike Kanellis (5:10)
Ryder twisted his knee here in his first week back as a member of the Raw roster but took to Twitter to explain that although he is hurt, it is nothing too serious.
While you have to go back as far as October 2016 to see Ryder on Main Event, this match marked Kanellis’ debut on the show. They worked well together, with McGuinness really putting over Kanellis strong on commentary.
After a solid back-and-forth match, the finish saw Ryder reverse a suplex attempt by Kanellis into a neckbreaker. Ryder got a near fall, then Kanellis sent Ryder headfirst into the top turnbuckle. Ryder blocked a roll-up attempt by Kanellis and hit the Rough Ryder for the win.
The Revival defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno (7:24)
The Revival have been on a good winning run on Main Event of late. While over on Raw, they have taken some losses, most recently to the likes of Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt, here they have been a dominant force in recent weeks.
This one went longer than the typical key matches normally go, with a lot of selling from both sides. There was little to report here from two teams that are used to facing each other fairly regularly, but The Revival looked like slick operators who certainly make a good case for a main roster push.
They built to a finish where Slater hit a neckbreaker on Dash Wilder for a near fall. Scott Dawson then pulled Rhyno off the apron and Slater reversed a back suplex attempt into a crossbody on Wilder. After another two count, Slater locked in a headlock, but Wilder pushed him to the ropes so that Dawson could blind tag in.
Dawson and Wilder hit their Shatter Machine finisher on Slater — and Dawson hurriedly scrambled across the ring to cover him for the win.
Zack Ryder has some good news after suffering a knee injury prior to Raw on Monday.
Ryder posted on Twitter earlier this afternoon that no surgery would be needed.
“Got some good news this morning…MCL/ACL/Calf muscle strains…nothing completely torn…no surgery will be needed” he said. “Thanks to everyone who reached out. It’s time for #Raw to get #Zacked!”
Ryder suffered the knee injury during a match on Main Event against Mike Kanellis, his first appearance on Raw since being drafted from SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup. He finshed the match, pinning Kanellis. Since he had to travel to Orlando to get an MRI done on the knee the following day, Ryder will miss the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia on Friday. He was likely to be a part of the 50 man Royal Rumble bout.
Ryder missed six months of action back in December of 2016 when he suffered a ruptured patellar tendon during a battle royal on SmackDown.
After suffering a knee injury during last night’s Main Event tapings, Zack Ryder is heading to Orlando for an MRI instead of making the trip to Saudi Arabia for the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Ryder revealed the news on Instagram: “This picture was taken last night before my match against @therealmichaelbennett on @WWE#MainEvent. We both treated it like we were wrestling on #Raw…but unfortunately, I suffered a knee injury. While the rest of the roster is flying to Saudi Arabia today for #WWEGRR, I’m flying back to Orlando to get a MRI. I’ll keep you posted……and I’ll be back.”
The match was Ryder’s first appearance since moving to Raw in last week’s Superstar Shakeup. He underwent reconstructive knee surgery in December 2016 after suffering a ruptured patellar tendon and was out of action for six months.
Ryder likely would have been one of the participants in Friday’s 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match. He defeated Mike Kanellis last night, with The Revival also beating Heath Slater & Rhyno on Main Event.
More trades have been made, with three superstars heading to Raw while the Miz is headed to SmackDown.
Miz introduced Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens as the newest members of the Raw roster. The trio, along with the Miztourage all celebrated together when Kurt Angle came out. He pointed out that Zayn and Owens lost their opportunity to be on Raw last week when they went to a double count out against one another. In response, Sami Zayn read a email from Stephanie McMahon saying that they deserved a spot on the roster and hired them, undermining Angle.
After the Miz mocked him over the email, Kurt Angle broke the news that Paige and Shane McMahon had called, and were interested in bringing in The Miz to SmackDown, saying that Daniel Bryan requested him. Angle also revealed that only the Miz was heading to Smackdown, effectively splitting him and the Miztourage as a unit.
Zack Ryder also revealed that he is heading to Raw in a Twitter post. It wasn’t announced on Raw, but the WWE Twitter account did retweet his post. He hasn’t been on SmackDown ever since he and Mojo Rawley blew off their feud at Clash of Champions last year, with Rawley picking up the win. Breezango also revealed in a backstage skit with The Bar that they had “moved to a new precinct” and gave tickets to Cesaro and Sheamus.
After Xavier Woods advanced last night, the first round of WWE’s United States title tournament is set to conclude on SmackDown next week.
Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder is the final match scheduled for the opening round. Rawley cut a pre-taped promo on Ryder that aired on last night’s show, promising to defeat him and to send him back to the past where he belongs. The winner of Rawley vs. Ryder will face Bobby Roode in the semifinals.
The other semifinal match will be Jinder Mahal vs. Woods. Mahal defeated Tye Dillinger to advance last week and Woods beat Aiden English this Tuesday. The semifinals will occur on SmackDown over the next few weeks, with the new champion scheduled to be crowned when the finals take place at the Royal Rumble in Philadelphia on January 28th.
Before SmackDown went on the air last night, Rawley defeated Ryder in a dark match.
Two more matches were announced for Clash of Champions on SmackDown last night.
Breezango will be facing The Bludgeon Brothers on Sunday’s main card, with Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley set for the pre-show. That brings the lineup for Clash of Champions up to seven matches coming out of last night’s go-home show.
Both new matches were set up in videos that WWE put out, though they didn’t air on SmackDown. In the latest edition of the Fashion Files, Breezango reluctantly agreed to challenge The Bludgeon Brothers after The Ascension said Harper & Rowan were the ones behind their issues over the last several months. Ryder also called out Rawley for Sunday’s pay-per-view, which stems from Rawley turning heel and attacking Ryder two weeks ago.
Here’s the updated card for Clash of Champions:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Jinder Mahal
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura (both Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan will be special guest referees for the match, Owens and Zayn will be “fired from all of WWE” if they lose)
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defending against Natalya in a lumberjack match
United States Champion Baron Corbin defending against Bobby Roode & Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defending against The New Day, Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, and Rusev & Aiden English in a fatal four-way match
