While nothing is official, it is looking more likely that Christopher Daniels is finishing up with Ring of Honor. The 48-year-old has been booking independent dates in 2019, likely meaning he has no intention of signing a new ROH contract.
His status was addressed in the recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Christopher Daniels has taken a number of independent dates, which means he’s not planning on signing a new contract (with ROH) any time soon,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “He’s also not being advertised for the January dates.”
The report continues to suggest Daniels could work in ROH as a producer (as he has been doing) and still work independent dates as a wrestler.
Christopher Daniels in 2019
Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Kazarian gained momentum in 2018 as members of SCU. The trio has appeared on numerous episodes of Being the Elite as well.
Daniels won the ROH World Championship in 2017. He spoke to Sportskeeda about the accomplishment.
“I’m just glad that I finally had that opportunity to win the big one. I feel like it was a good period of time in my career, and I think people look back at that and just the overall art of my career to finally get it 25 years in was an accomplishment that I’m very proud of and something that I’ll always look back on fondly with.”
If you want to see Christopher Daniels in a non-wrestling role, you can do so at Universal Studios Hollywood. For the past few years, Daniels has played the lead villain at the park’s Waterworld exhibit. Joey Ryan posted the following sneak peak of his show:
Over the course of the interview, he discussed the odd couple pairing with Carmella, and how it came to be.
R-Truth And Carmella Dance Break
Before the pair went on to win the Mixed Match Challenge, R-Truth was treading water.
“The writers didn’t know what to do with me or where to put me,” he explained.
“Once they put me and Carmella together, it was like, now I have something to do,” Truth said.
“Not only do I have something to do, it’s double the entertainment.”
“That’s the business. You’re just waiting for that bone to be thrown to you,” Truth said.
“When opportunity knocks, you have to be ready.
Carmella’s Face Turn
Truth says that when he and Carmella were paired, there were no concrete plans for either to turn. Rather, the audience ended up making both of them babyfaces.
“She was a bad guy. She was a heel. Just by her going out there with me, it turned her, and people took to it.”
As for the pairing of characters, Truth admits that he had reservations as to how the audience might respond to his character being aligned with the Princess Of Staten Island.
“In society today, for them to take to me and her like that, it was great,” he said.
Truth also discusses selling drugs as a youth, his “four or five” trips to jail, how he survived being incarcerated, and his path to the WWE, all on Chasing Glory.
With The Elite set to hit free agency and start their own promotion, all manner of wrestling pundits are chiming in with their predictions as to the success of a potential WWE competitor.
Jim Cornette appeared on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho to give his take on the state of the wrestling business, and what the future may hold for The Elite.
“Six months ago, I would have said wrestling sucks, for reasons including the things people send me,” Cornette said. “But Vince just got two billion dollars for a TV deal. That’s gonna be the biggest thing.”
Cornette went on to explain what FOX’s large investment in WWE Smackdown means for the wrestling business as a whole.
“People are looking at All In, and what The Bucks and Cody have done, the resurgence of New Japan, and this and that. Vince’s deal is going to be the most important thing,” Cornette said.
“Because now, people with platforms are interested in wrestling again. There’s a lot of money in wrestling again.”
A WWE Competitor
Cornette believes that the time is perfect for a WWE competitor to hit it big.
“For 20 years, WWE has trained the people that the McMahons that run the company are the evil empire, they keep our favorite wrestlers under their thumbs, they threaten them with their livelihood,” Cornette said.
Cornette believes that the storyline portrayal of the WWE promoters as heels may have consciously, or subconsciously, contributed to the mainstream breakthrough of The Elite.
“So now 20 years later, these guys are starting to get hot… [With All In] they’ve hit on the brilliant idea that the boys are going to run their own show… And for once, the wrestlers get the money,” Cornette said.
Cornette’s full comments on Cody and The Young Bucks can be heard in context below.
When referencing this transcript, please credit SEScoops.com. This transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Out of all the stars who have reinvented themselves and reached new heights by developing their character this year, Becky Lynch has to be on the top of the list.
Not only did Becky fuelled a fire in herself but became a character hot enough that she is now possibly the strongest candidate to main event the WrestleMania 35 event.
So it was no surprise that CBS Sports chose the former SmackDown Women’s Champion as their wrestler of the year, saying that no one has shaken up the professional wrestling world like ‘The Man’:
“In a year filled with stunning developments, no one shook up the world of professional wrestling more than Becky Lynch, who has turned both WWE and the business as a whole on its head over the last six months by not only winning the hearts and minds of fans across the globe but doing so while standing out as “The Man” in an industry historically dominated by men.”
Lynch also responded to this accolade via her Twitter account, recalling how she couldn’t even get on TV at the start of 2018 and claimed that you’re never truly down:
WWE had originally announced Becky Lynch vs. Asuka for Royal Rumble but the company has backed out from that bout since then and currently, there is no word yet on what they are planning for her now.
wXw has announced the next name for 2019’s 16 Carat Gold tournament. The company has confirmed that NXT Superstar Axel Dieter Jr/Marcel Barthel will be making his way home to Germany. The former wXw and PROGRESS star will be in Oberhausen March 8th-10th to take part in the prestigious event. Other names confirmed for the tournament include Deisuke Sekimoto, Chris Brookes, Jurn Simmons, FENIX and Pentagon Jr.
Dieter Jr recently appeared as part of the company’s Anniversary event. The NXT Superstar took part in a six-man tag team match alongside Ringkampf members Timothy Thatcher and WALTER. The team faced NXT UK Superstars Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate.
wXw’s 16 Carat Gold tournament is currently regarded as one of the most prestigious in European wrestling. Several top WWE/NXT stars have appeared in and won the event. These include Aleister Black, Sami Zayn and Kassius Ohno. WALTER and Zack Sabre Jr are also synonymous with the event.
The 2017 and 2018 iterations of the tournament are widely regarded as two of the greatest in European wrestling history, you can check them out now on wXw’s on demand service, it certainly matches up to the annual New Japan G1 and PROGRESS Super Strong 16 tournaments on quality.
It’s no secret now that the Young Bucks are involved with the new All Elite Wrestling Promotion and with the new year approaching fast, the official announcement for it should be coming soon as well.
With all the signs pointing towards the rise of this promotion, various people related to wrestling world have been giving their opinion on this move, and now Eric Bischoff has joined this list as well.
Bischoff who himself is quite familiar with running a wrestling promotion talked about AEW during the latest episode of his After 83 Weeks podcast.
Eric first discussed the success of All In event which will probably be remembered as the show which started all this and said that what’s really cool about it is that they did it without television.
He then explained how as someone who has grown up in the wrestling industry and someone who couldn’t imagine being involved in the wrestling industry without a solid TV platform underneath you, the success of the show was mind-boggling.
When asked if he has any advice for the Young Bucks over the new promotion, Eric Bischoff said that they are in a zone right now and this zone doesn’t come easily.
Revealing his advice for the duo, the former WCW Official said that they should be smart, go slow and shouldn’t let it get to their head. Finally, he said that the brothers should always surround themselves with people they absolutely trust
Apart from this, Bischoff also hoped that he would get an invitation to watch shows of AEW and more. You can check out the full episode of his podcast here.
We knew that it was going to happen and it was only a Live Event appearance. However due to the caliber of the star he is, John Cena’s return to the WWE ring at the Madison Square Garden show, still left the wrestling world buzzing for the night.
Cena was advertised for the show in advance, but the company hadn’t revealed what he will be doing at the event. Turns out they actually had a small but great storyline planned to celebrate the Cenation Leader’s return to the ring.
Baron Corbin was expected to face Braun Strowman at the mega live event, but he was declared the winner of the match when Strowman failed to show up for the bout. That was until Mr. McMahon showed up.
The Boss not only reverted the decision but he also introduced the former General Manager Elect to his new opponent for the night- a man who has more MSG moments than Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, and Stone Cold combined:
And adding another moment to his collection, the 16 Time World Champion got back up after taking a lot of offense from Corbin, and while the Lone Wolf was trash talking the local crowd, John Cena took over the control and pinned him with his lightning fist maneuver:
Cena then went on to thank the crowd for letting him be part of the night and left the ring. Now it’d be interesting to see what the company has in store for him when he returns to WWE TV next week.
Bianca Belair Earned A Shot At The NXT Women’s Championship
Io Shirai, Mia Yim, Lacey Evans, and Bianca Belair competed in a Fatal 4-Way match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. Io and Mia teamed up and hit Bianca Belair with a series of chops as Lacey Evans rolled out of the ring.
Mia Yim connected with a Suicide Dive onto Belair outside the ring. Shirai followed it up with a ridiculous Crossbody onto Belair on the entrance ramp. Yim and Shirai teamed up on Lacey Evans in the ring and beat her down in the corner. Yim accidentally booted Io in the face and sent her tumbling out of the ring.
Evans connected with a slingshot Elbow Drop on Shirai for a two count. Lacey then hit Io and Mia with a Bronco Buster in the corner. Belair got back into the ring and lifted Io up in the Torture Rack. Evans broke it up and started trash talking with Bianca.
Lacey and Belair teamed up for a bit to beat down Io and Mia. Shirai connected with a Dropkick on Evans and turned around into a Spear from Belair. Io followed it up with a Double Stomp and then a 619. Shirai climbed to the top rope and hit Belair with a Dropkick but Evans broke up the cover.
Yim hit Evans with a couple of chops but Lacey responded with the Woman’s Right. Lacey went for the cover but Io broke up the cover at two. Shirai hit Evans with a Moonsault but Belair broke it up with the hair whip. Bianca sent Io out of the ring and planted Evans with the Belair Driver for the pinfall victory. Belair will face Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix.
Ciampa Suggested That Gargano Should Get A Shot At The NXT North American Championship
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa
Tommaso Ciampa cut a backstage promo about what happened last week on NXT. Ciampa claimed that Johnny Gargano followed his lead and it resulted in him pinning Aleister Black last week. Tommaso suggested that Johnny should get an opportunity at the NXT North American Championship.
Ciampa said that he knows Johnny is listening and that this was what they always talked about. Tommaso stated that NXT TakeOver: Phoenix should end with Ciampa as the NXT Champion and Gargano the NXT North American Championship. Tommaso added that it would be two kids taking over the world and the possibilities would be endless.
Undisputed Era Retained The NXT Tag Team Championships
Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) defended the NXT Tag Team Championships against Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) in the main event of this week’s NXT.
Knight and Strong started off the match. Knight took Strong down to the canvas and rolled him up for a two count. Strong battled to his feet and O’Reilly tagged himself in. Kyle booted Knight in the leg a few times and shoved him to the corner.
Strong tagged in as Knight leveled both of them with a Clothesline and tagged in Dozovic. Otis splatted Strong with a Splash in the corner and then punched O’Reilly off the apron. Dozovic launched Strong across the ring and then followed it up with a massive Body Slam.
Tucker Knight tagged back in and hit Roderick with a Splash for a two count. Heavy Machinery planted Undisputed Era with dueling overhead Belly to Belly Suplexes and then isolated O’Reilly in the ring. Kyle quickly retreated out of the ring and Tucker chased him around.
Strong snuck up behind Knight on the apron and planted him with a painful looking Belly to Back Suplex that sent the two Superstars crashing to the floor outside the ring. Back in the ring, O’Reilly hit Knight with a knee to the face and Roderick tagged back in.
Strong hit Knight with a series of chops in the corner of the ring and then beat him down to the canvas. Strong wrapped Knight’s left knee around the rope and tagged O’Reilly in. Kyle connected with a Dragon Screw to Knight’s left knee and then went for the cover but Tucker powered out at two.
Roderick tagged back in and connected with an Olympic Slam but once again Knight kicked out at two. Knight finally was able to battle back with a Clothesline and then tagged in Dozovic. Otis came into the ring and beat the hell out of O’Reilly and Strong.
Otis hit Strong with an Elbow Drop and tagged Knight back in. Dozovic catapulted O’Reilly into Knight and then Tucker slammed him down for a two count. Knight climbed up to the top rope and went for a Moonsault but O’Reilly got out of the way.
Dozovic and Strong tagged in and traded shots in the middle of the ring. Otis got the better of the exchange with a massive Clothesline for a near fall. Otis then made his way up to the top rope but Strong hit him with an Enziguri to the face.
Strong joined Otis on the top rope and went for a Superplex but Dozovic blocked it. O’Reilly joined in and they planted Otis with a Superplex for a two count. O’Reilly tagged in and hit Knight off the apron with a boot to the face.
O’Reilly and Strong hit Dozovic with a couple of knees to the head for another two count. Strong tagged in and teamed up with O’reily to hir the High-Low on Otis for the pinfall victory.
RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey took to her official Instagram account where she praised Natalya after their title match on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw in Sacramento, CA at the Golden 1 Center. This served as the Christmas Eve edition of RAW. Some backstage news about this match has surfaced online which you can read here. Rousey wrote the following:
“@natbynature this Christmas I am so thankful and so lucky to have you as a friend, mentor, and contender. Thank you for guiding me through every step of this journey. You trained me and helped me improve to challenge yourself even more. To push the women’s division even farther. You bring out the best in everyone, because you aspire to be the best of the best. You live for the challenge, and that’s why you’re a real champion.”
Mustafa Ali gave his take on Andrade “Cien” Almas after he beat him in a singles match on Tuesday’s SmackDown Live. This was the latest match for the former 205 Live star on the blue branded show under the WWE banner.
Ali wrote, “As if you didn’t already know, @AndradeCienWWE is a beast. #SDLive”
A new title match has been announced for WWE NXT’s next special, NXT TakeOver: Phoenix.
As seen on this week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network, which was taped on Wednesday, November 28, 2018, from Winter Park, FL at Full Sail University, Bianca BelAir defeated Io Shirai, Mia Yim, Lacey Evans in a Fatal 4-Way Match in order to become the new #1 contender for the strap.
Now, BelAir will challenge NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler for the title at TakeOver: Phoenix, which marks only the second match announced for this show.
The NXT TakeOver: Phoenix event takes place on Saturday, January 26, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona at the Talking Stick Resort Arena and will air on the WWE Network. NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. WWE will be adding more matches to this card in the coming weeks for the first special for the yellow brand in 2019. Here is the updated card:
WWE NXT TakeOver: Phoenix Card
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca BelAir
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? What other matches do you expect WWE to announce for this show? Sound off in the comment section.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Royal Rumble PPV. During this week’s episode of 205 Live, General Manager Drake Maverick revealed that Buddy Murphy would defend his Cruiserweight Title against three other Superstars in a Fatal 4-Way Match at this show. Those competitors will come from qualifying matches that will take place over the coming weeks.
Kalisto vs. Lio Rush, as well as Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa, will take place on next week’s episode of 205 Live while Hideo Itami vs. Cedric Alexander will go down on the January 9th episode. The winners of these matches will move onto the Royal Rumble.
WWE presents the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on Sunday, January 27, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona at Chase Field that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Royal Rumble Card
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman
30-Man Royal Rumble Match:
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match:
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Becky Lynch
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy vs. TBA – Fatal 4-Way Match
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
John Cena has reacted to EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory calling him out by issuing a recent challenge to the former WWE Champion to a match. It all started when Theory talked about his future with the EVOLVE during a recent video that was published this week.
Theory was quoted by stating, “Until the day I walk into TakeOver. John Cena, I heard you’re trying to pass the torch. Well, you know how to get in contact with me.”
This led to Cena reacting when he posted this photo with no caption on his official Instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br2y8yAlSA2/
Just earlier this month, while promoting the Bumblebee movie, which is set in 1987 and is a prequel to the events of the Transformers film franchise, Cena talked about his actions with Instagram.
This is where he posts seemingly random images with no captions that include Stone Cold posts. Cena noted that he came up with the idea that Friday should be ‘Stone Cold Friday’ but there will be no photos of Austin’s face but something else.
It’s already been announced that Theory would take on WWE NXT star Johnny Gargano at EVOLVE 119. As of this writing, his opponent at EVOLVE 120 has yet to be revealed.
Former WWE Champion AJ Styles had a great year with feuds with several WWE stars including Samoa Joe. In this storyline, WWE went in a different direction as they used his wife and daughter in this program that started at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event.
Styles was recently interviewed by Wrestlezone’s Kevin Kellam to talk about several topics including his feud with Joe over the summer with the WWE Title on the line.
He brought up how this is all his family has ever known that he does when it comes to his job and quite used to it, and used to what goes on. He continued by stating this is entertainment so it’s not a big deal to them and they couldn’t care less about their Dad being a pro wrestler.
“The challenges aren’t the storylines, the challenges are not being there when they need you the most.” He brought up how they get older, their bodies are changing, there’s school stuff and having those sit-downs with them. Thus, Styles wants to make sure that he’s kind of Dad to take the time to make sure that they know that he loves them, and they can come to him with anything.
It looks like John Cena might miss this year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV). The 16-time World Champion has been keeping busy outside of the WWE ring as of late. He was recently living in China for several months to work on his “Project X” film alongside Jackie Chan. Now, Cena is making the media rounds to promote his new “Bumblebee” film.
According to a report from Cageside Seats’ “Rumor Roundup,” it’s being rumored that “The Leader Of The Cenation” could miss this year’s Royal Rumble PPV due to his busy film schedule. The 2019 Royal Rumble goes down from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona on January 27, 2019.
Cena has won the Royal Rumble match twice before, first in 2008 and later in 2013, which also took place in Phoenix.
Earlier this week, WWE announced that Cena would be appearing on SmackDown Live’s New Years Day edition of the program next week. It will be interesting to see what WWE has in store for him when he returns to the ring for WWE’s annual Holiday live events tour.
John Cena’s Upcoming WWE Schedule
12/26: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
12/27: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
12/28: Royals Farms Arena, Baltimore, MD
12/29: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
12/30: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
1/4: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, GA
1/5: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, FL
1/6: Hertz Arena, Ft. Myers, FL
1/7: Amway Center, Orlando, FL (WWE RAW)
1/11: Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, WV
1/12: Knoxville Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN
1/13: Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, AL
1/14: FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN
What do you think about Cena missing this year’s Royal Rumble PPV?
Tetsuya Naito Vows To Retire Chris Jericho (Video)
The rivalry between Chris Jericho and Tetsuya Naito has been brewing for quite some time now. It all stemmed from last year at Wrestle Kingdom 12 when Jericho claimed his match with Kenny Omega was the real main event of the show. However, Naito faced Kazuchika Okada in the main event for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Jericho went on to defeat Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Dominion back in June. “Y2J” then successfully defended his title against EVIL at Power Struggle 2018. Now, he’ll rematch Naito at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in January with his title on the line. Last week, Jericho said he was going to end Naito’s career when they step into the ring again.
In a recent video from Naito on New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) YouTube channel, Naito has promised the same in return:
A lot of WWE stars have been getting married recently. The Riott Squad’s Sarah Logan tied the knot with NXT star Raymond Rowe in a Viking-themed wedding. Then, RAW star Lio Rush married his longtime girlfriend Sarah Green last week as well. Now, 205 Live star Akira Tozawa has also gotten married. The ceremony took place this past Saturday on December 22nd:
Speculation remains rampant regarding the relationship between John Cena and Nikki Bella. The couple broke up earlier this year and the incident was filmed for the latest season of “Total Bellas.” However, many fans assume the breakup is staged to help promote the show’s latest season. But both Cena and Bella have remained adamant that their breakup is legitimate.
Since their split, both Cena and Bella have been spotted together on several occasions, making fans speculate even more. With that being said, it looks like Cena is done talking about the matter for the time being. Cena is currently making the media rounds to promote his new “Bumblebee” film.
“The Leader Of The Cenation” was in New York City this past Thursday and was part of the Empire State Building’s lighting ceremony. Cena was also at the event doing promotional work for Make-A-Wish as well. However, The New York Post’s “Page Six” is reporting that interviewers were told beforehand that they were not allowed to bring up Cena’s past engagement to Bella.
The couple got engaged at WrestleMania 33 in 2017 after their feud with The Miz and Maryse. Cena proposed to Bella in front of thousands of fans and millions watching around the world. However, they decided to split up from each other back in April.
What do you think about Cena dodging questions about Bella?
WWE stars certainly enjoyed their holiday breaks this week. As we’ve mentioned, this week’s episodes of Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live were pre-taped last week. This was in order for WWE stars to get the opportunity to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with their families.
However, some Superstars’ holiday breaks went better than others. NXT star EC3 recently took to Twitter to wish his fans a Merry Christmas this week. EC3 also included in the Tweet that he was battling the flu and was spending his Christmas Eve “violently throwing up”:
“Merry Christmas to you all. I spent last night violently throwing up with the flu. I hope you have a blessed and charmed day with those you love the most.”
Merry Christmas to you all. I spent last night violently throwing up with the flu. I hope you have a blessed and charmed day with those you love the most. pic.twitter.com/ezT3oBOQEe
EC3 seems to be a part of WWE’s plans to shake things up in the coming months. The McMahon Family recently announced on RAW that they will be giving WWE fans more of what they’re asking for. This includes new Superstars in the form of NXT call-ups. Several names have already been confirmed for the main roster.
In addition to EC3, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, Heavy Machinery, and Lars Sullivan have all been announced to be making their main roster debuts. We wish EC3 a speedy recovery, and can’t wait to see him step into the squared circle on WWE’s main roster soon!
What do you think about EC3 getting the call up to WWE’s main roster?
This past October it was revealed that former Ring Of Honor (ROH) star Punishment Martinez signed with WWE. Martinez dropped the ROH World TV Championship before departing to be a part of WWE’s NXT developmental brand. However, the man he dropped the title to has become one of ROH’s most promising stars.
Jeff Cobb picked up the ROH TV Title from Martinez in his first match with the promotion. It was quite the performance for the former amateur wrestling Olympic hopeful. Recently, Cobb joined the WINCLY podcast to talk about his journey through ROH. He mentioned how helpful Martinez was to him before he eventually departed for NXT:
“He was the previous champion so he definitely helped me out with how to represent the company,” said Cobb. “‘This is how you carry yourself.
“This is how you represent the company, represent the belt, represent your peers.’ My interactions with him weren’t as much as I would have liked… but he definitely helped out in the short time that we had.”
Just As Surprised As Anybody
As aforementioned, Cobb’s ROH World TV Title victory was his first match with ROH. Not only did the move shock a lot of professional wrestling fans, but Cobb was just as surprised by the decision as well:
“I was more shocked at how quick the belt was coming to me on my first official ROH match. I definitely was very shocked that day showing up to the venue,” Cobb said.
“Well the day before. There was rumblings but I never believe anything until I show up and it’s on the call sheet.”
Cobb has since defended his title several times, including a recent successful defense against Adam Page at Final Battle. The Hawaiian’s future with ROH looks extremely bright, and he has the potential to be a big star for the promotion.
To listen to Cobb’s full interview on the WINCLY podcast, click this link here.
What do you think of Martinez assisting Cobb before he departed to NXT?
We’ve recently noted that this week’s episodes of Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live were pre-taped. The episodes were filmed last week in order for WWE stars to enjoy this week’s holidays with their families at home. Yesterday’s episode of SmackDown Live ended with a title change. Rusev defeated Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship in the main event of the night.
With the victory, “The Bulgarian Brute” is now a three-time WWE United States Champion. Recently, WWE posted a YouTube video showing some extra footage from Rusev’s victory celebration after SDL went off-air. Rusev celebrated with fans at ringside before looking into the WWE’s camera. He then said he dedicated the victory to his mother, who gave birth to him 33 years ago on Christmas Day.
Rusev then said “Thank you momma” before gesturing a kiss towards the camera. Check out the video here:
Shortly after the episode aired, Rusev took to Twitter and issued out a message to WWE fans regarding his title victory. Not only is Rusev celebrating both his birthday and Christmas, but a US Title win. He called it the “best day ever”:
“Merry Christmas Happy RusevDay and thank you for the birthday wishes. Best day ever.”
Merry Christmas Happy RusevDay and thank you for the birthday wishes. Best day ever. #AndNew
Former WWE writer Jimmy Jacobs was recently a guest on the Art Of Wrestling podcast. This is where he talked about a wide range of topics including the fact that over the years, there has been one interesting rumor making the rounds. It involves WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and his hatred for people sneezing. In fact, he doesn’t even like to sneeze.
This is a story that has been told by many people who have worked with the boss of the company while in creative meetings. This is just one of many quirks that Vince is rumored to have.
During this interview, Jacobs shed some light on this rumor when he was quoted by stating that this is just a rumor as to when you’re on the WWE creative team, you hear things about McMahon but not sure if they are true or not.
He recalled being with the company for a few months and nobody had sneezed in front of him until one day, Triple H sneezes in front of him. This is when McMahon stated, ‘Oh God’ and then he, like puts up his invisible shield.”
Jacobs continued by stating that there would be times where he was in a small room with McMahon and he would stuff a sneeze. He recalled being in a production meeting a year and a half later where he’s sitting next to Adam Pearce and Vince is up at the front table. This is when he sneezed and McMahon reacted by stating, ‘Oh God, Adam, you should put up your shield’.”
After months of talk of the possibility, WWE has made it official as there will be an introduction of tag team titles in the women’s division. During this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Sacramento, CA at the Golden 1 Center, WWE aired a video of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announcing the news while being dressed up like Santa Claus.
WWE touted the announcement as “it was one gift, in particular, that’s set to send shockwaves throughout the WWE Universe: The imminent creation of Tag Team Championships for the Women’s division.”
The interesting part of the news is the unknown of how WWE will handle this. The speculation is that WWE could have separate titles on each brand just like they did with the men’s tag team titles. However, it’s always possible that they have one set of titles that are defended on each brand – Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live – considering the fact that all pay-per-view events are co-promoted with both brands. The company has also yet to announce when the titles will be introduced.
Several WWE stars have taken to social media to react to the news by posting the following:
It turns out that former WWE Champion John Cena will be appearing on WWE television after all during his limited return.
The original belief was that Cena would only be working live events and although he was advertised for episodes of Monday Night RAW, he would only compete in the dark matches for these TV events.
Those TV events including RAW shows on January 7th & 14th in Orlando, FL at the Amway Center and in Memphis. WWE aired a video package on the Christmas Eve edition of RAW with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon revealing that Cena would be returning on their red and blue branded shows.
Then on Christmas night, WWE announced that the former WWE Champion would appear on next Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, which will be the New Year’s Day edition. WWE is slated to tape this show this coming Saturday night from Pittsburgh, PA at the PPG Paints Arena.
In WWE’s announcement, the company hyped the impact of his return as they wrote, “As Team Blue gets ready to kick off 2019, how will the presence of one of the greatest Superstars in WWE history effect things?”
John Cena’s Upcoming WWE Schedule
12/26: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
12/27: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
12/28: Royals Farms Arena, Baltimore, MD
12/29: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
12/30: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
1/4: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, GA
1/5: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, FL
AJ Styles recently had an interview with WrestleZone, and during the talk, the former WWE Champion talked about a number of things including his recent feuds and more.
While talking about his recent rivalry with Samoa Joe and how Joe brought up his family during contest, Styles revealed that his family is quite used to it.
AJ said that they know it’s a form of entertainment and according to him while others think his kids might be going to school and bragging about him being a pro wrestler, they actually don’t care much about it.
When the hosts started talking about everything Styles has achieved in WWE so far, the former Champion said that he feels like there’s one more level to reach before he can consider himself a WWE Superstar:
“I feel like there’s one more level that I need to reach before I really feel like this ‘WWE Superstar’ and that’s really made a difference in this business. I’m not sure how I’m going to get there, but I’m going to continue to work hard and see what happens next.”
Apart from this AJ Styles also talked about how the real challenge is not being with his family during important moments and more. You can check out his full interview here.
It’s no secret that Ronda Rousey has been protected by WWE and since she has been considered too green to perform on her own; most of Rousey’s matches since her debut have been planned and practiced in advance.
However, this reportedly was not the case for last night’s episode of Raw. Dave Meltzer revealed on Wrestling Observer Live that the match between Ronda and Natalya was actually called in the ring by both the stars.
If anything, the fact that Ronda was able to call the shots in the ring and produce such a good match on the fly while she has only been training for a year shows that she has natural talent for the sport.
This week’s episode of SmackDown Live saw the Club Gallows and Anderson returning to televised in-ring action for the brand, and they teamed up with the Usos.
These four faced Sanity and The SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar in an eight men tag team match and the faces were able to win this bout during the Christmas special of The Blue Branded Show.
After their victory, the good brothers were interviewed backstage. In the interview as seen below, they talked about how the upcoming year will be different for them:
WWE surprised everyone by putting the United States Championship on Rusev during the taped Christmas special of SmackDown Live yesterday night.
Rusev won the title in a very competitive bout and he was able to defeat the former Champion Shinsuke Nakamura after hitting him with a Machka kick.
However, as we noted before, the cameras didn’t stay on Rusev for long after his victory and the broadcast cut to the backstage segment between AJ Styles and Vince McMahon, while the Bulgarian Brute was still in the ring celebrating his victory.
Though the company did post a video of the former NXT Star making his way back to the locker room and as seen in the clip below, he dedicated this win to his mother:
“This is for my mother, as she gave birth to me 34 years ago on Christmas day. I’ve been three days in the hospital of labor. Thank you, Mama.”
This wasn’t the only place where Rusev reacted to his victory. The new champion also thanked everyone and wished them Merry Christmas via the following tweet:
Merry Christmas Happy RusevDay and thank you for the birthday wishes. Best day ever. #AndNew
No word yet on what are the future plans for Rusev or the United States Championship, but we’ll keep you posted if more details regarding the same come to light.
