Category: WWE News

  • WWE Main Event results: #SocialOutcasts go viral in Laredo

    The newly-formed Social Outcasts open the show to successfully live down Monday night’s abysmal introductory promo. They enter to Heath Slater’s theme, which does nothing to dispel assumptions that this grouping will be 4MB in all but name. The graphic at the bottom of the screen suggests that there will be no hashtag in the faction’s title; however, one is prominently featured on their bland (and presumably placeholding) TitanTron video.

    Slater beings by screaming: “Forever trending baby, Social Outcasts!” before encouraging the WWE Universe to take their penicillin…as he and his cronies are about to go viral. What chance have we got against anitbiotic-resistant bacteria when opinion-moulders like Slater are peddling misinformation like this? Shameful.

    Adam Rose leans in to bring the weirdness again. He talks in floral metaphors before throwing off his spectacles and announcing to the world that he does in fact have 20/20 vision. Okay.

    Slater goes to start flapping his gums again, but becomes distracted by Curtis Axel’s frantic pacing in the background. This allows Bo to jump in, telling us that poor Curtis may be very upset, but he is about to release some of that inner anger on The Usos. Bo states that he and his new jobber pals will be “walking the path of success together”. He then goes to deliver his catchphrase, only for the Usos’ theme to cut him off mid-sentence.

    Jimmy shouts “Whoa!” like a million times, which somehow manages to get roughly five of this previously dead-silent Laredo crowd to chant along with him. The Usos clearly have taken issue with their names being mentioned in anger. Bo attempts to receive them with a friendly handshake as they climb into the ring, only for Axel to attack them and ruin the gesture. What a hothead. Predictably, Jimmy and Jey get the upper hand and clean house, leaving the Social Outcasts to run up the ramp and lick their wounds ahead of tonight’s featured contest. Yay.

    – More promo “goodness” on an unusually talk-heavy installment of Main Event, as we get one of those “awesome” promos from the Star Room, in which Stardust says some cryptic things that may or may not be directed at his opponent for the night, Titus O’Neil.

    Titus O’Neil def. Stardust by pinfall

    This, of course, is a rematch from RAW the previous night, where Titus emerged victorious from a nothing match. We get an inset promo from The Big Deal as he makes his entrance, in which he tells us that 2016 will be his year. He said the same thing almost exactly two years ago – the last time the Prime Time Players went their separate ways. That didn’t go well. Remember Slater Gator?

    Rich Brennan helpfully reminds us of the now-forgotten storyline of Titus attempting to get Stardust to drop this stupid gimmick. God forbid the matches have any actual motivation behind them or anything.

    Titus’ weaknesses are masked by keeping this one short. Usual overhand chops in the corner to start, before Stardust works the left arm for a while for some reason. A missed crossbody off the top from Stardust leads into the comeback, as Titus hits the Pay Check, the Stinger Splash and the Clash of the Titus for the win.

    Tyler Breeze def. Zack Ryder by pinfall

    It’s hilarious that this aired just two days after the Breaking Ground season finale, in which Tyler’s triumphant promotion to the main roster was highlighted. What an unmitigated failure that has been. Breeze, of course, made his entrance alone here, after last week’s amicable parting of the ways with Summer Rae on Smackdown. Ugh.

    These two only get three minutes to do their thing. Breeze escapes a Broski Boot by slipping under the bottom rope, only to eat a baseball slide for his troubles. Back in, and Ryder hits a running forearm in the corner. He goes up for the ten-punch, but gets crotched, which allows Breeze to – awkwardly – tie him up for the Unprettier and the win. I absolutely hate that finish, the aptness of its name in this instance notwithstanding.

    – RAW Rebound: Focusing on the Roman/Vince developments and conveniently editing out Vince’s unbelievable botch before Scott Armstrong’s arrival on the scene.

    The Usos def. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel (w/ Heath Slater and Adam Rose)

    Jerry Lawler, who joins Rich on commentary this week, speculates that Dallas may be the leader of this motley crew, as Dallas gets beaten on by Jimmy in the early going. Hands up who isn’t surprised that Jerry doesn’t know what Heath Slater’s music sounds like? Rich corrects him, to his credit, but of course Jerry no-sells the error.

    Bo prevents getting tossed over the top rope, slipping under it limbo-style instead. He feels that this merits a well-earned victory lap. And is excitedly joined by the other three in what can only be described as a conga line of the damned. Slater air-guitars and Axel screams loudly. The crowd is silent.

    Jimmy and Jey greet the completion of said victory lap with stereo dives to Bo and Axel leading into the final commercial break. We come back with Jey as your babyface-in-peril. He gets worked on for a while, also eating a cheap shot from Heath while the referee is distracted.

    We eventually get what might charitably be referred to as a lukewarm tag to Jimmy, who cleans house with the usual samoan drop/hip attack/superkick offence. He goes up top to hit the Superfly Splash on Bo, only to get distracted by Slater’s presence on the apron. Jimmy chases him off, allowing Bo to catch him with an O’Connor Roll. Jimmy reverses it however, for the pinfall victory. So, the Social Outcasts’ unbeaten run lasts a whole 24 hours from inception, rendering Heath’s victory over Dolph Ziggler even more pointless. And tonight’s failed distraction finish makes Ziggler look like even more of an idiot for his part in the end of Monday’s match.

    Final Thoughts:

    Under ten minutes of in-ring action prior to the featured contest makes this an unusually promo-heavy edition of Main Event. The Social Outcasts opened the show with a chance to shine on the mic. They didn’t. But they did sustain their first loss as a group, only 24 hours after coalescing. 4MB it is, then. I hope Curtis, Bo and Adam have saved their money.

  • WWE Smackdown results: two title matches highlight USA Network, Mauro Ranallo debut

    – Air Date: January 7, 2015 (Jan 6 in Canada)
    – Location: Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, TX

    The Big News:

    Charlotte and Dean Ambrose are still champions and Smackdown is the same as it ever was.

    Show Recap:

    The show started with a recap from Raw, including a zoom-in on Sad Roman. Smackdown has the same crappy theme music as before and the intro, for now, includes John Cena. Byron Saxton welcomed everyone to Smackdown and Jerry Lawler plugged the two title matches. Lawler introduced the TV audience to Mauro Ranallo who called this a dream come true.

    John Cena came out and welcomed everyone to the first Smackdown of 2016. Cena also plugged the two title matches but said we were missing our “U.S.A” champion. He said it was a new year and new network, so he thought Alberto Del Rio deserved a fresh start. Cena called out Del Rio, giving him out hell of an introduction.

    Del Rio told Cena to save it because he knew that “Juan” was trying to weasel his way into a title shot that he doesn’t deserve. Cena tried to get the Laredo crowd to goad Del Rio into defending the title but he told Cena to shut up in Spanish and said he would not defend the title. Del Rio challenged anyone besides Cena to a non-title match.

    Cena said someone in particular deserved a chance, and he called out Kalisto. Kalisto grabbed the mic from Del Rio and said he would beat him right now. Kalisto sent him out of the ring and a referee jumped in to start the match.

    Non-Title: Kalisto (w/John Cena) beat U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio via pinfall

    Lawler made sure to point out that Del Rio had to bend over to hit a clothesline on Kalisto. After Kalisto spilled to the outside, Del Rio went after him and did the “you can’t see me” gesture to Cena. Cena was offended and took off his shirt. This resulted in dueling Cena chants.

    Del Rio got ready for the armbar but distracted himself by taunting Cena. Del Rio eventually went for the armbar but Kalisto reversed into a hurricanrana for the sudden pinfall win. Considering the location, I don’t think this got the reaction they wanted. Although, the crowd was quiet most of the show. John Cena’s last appearance on WWE TV for a long while will be as a cheerleader for Kalisto.

    Backstage, Becky Lynch told Jo-Jo that Charlotte was not her best friend anymore. She doesn’t want an explanation for what Charlotte did, she just wants vindication and will take the title from her.

    Up next was an awful segment. The Miz hosted MizTV and reminded everyone that the WWE Title will be defended in the Royal Rumble match. New Day interrupted. People usually pop when Big E does the introduction but they didn’t here. Xavier Woods accused Chris Jericho of stealing his light-up jacket idea and said The New Day party like it’s 2016, not 1999.

    Dolph Ziggler, with straight hair, came out next. Before he could really say anything, he was interrupted by Goldust, who threatened to give them all golden globes. Neville came out next and said Miz could borrow his accent or Slammy if he wants, as long as he promises to cancel MizTV and never talk again.

    R-Truth came out and said if anyone was going to accept Del Rio’s open challenge it would be him. Miz corrected him and Truth said “my bad.” Miz made a bad joke and New Day laughed. Truth punched Miz with the mic and the other good guys sent Kingston and Big E out of the ring. Woods was left alone so Neville kicked him out of the ring too. It’s hard to describe just how bad this segment was. Even worse, it was designed to push the Rumble, which has its highest stakes in years, but was just a joke.

    8-Man Tag Match: Dolph Ziggler, Neville, Goldust & R-Truth beat The Miz & New Day via pinfall

    The heels worked over Neville until he tagged in Ziggler, who ran wild on Miz and hit a Fameasser. Kingston broke up the cover, so Goldust gave him a powerslam, Truth sent Big E out of the ring, and Neville took out the entire New Day with a dive. This left Miz alone, so Goldust and Truth tossed him into Ziggler who hit a superkick for the win. Nothing match.  

    Immediately afterwards, Ziggler superkicked Truth and tossed Goldust over the top. This wasn’t a heel turn. Ziggler told Goldust “sorry,” it’s every man for himself at the Rumble. As this was all happening, Neville just sorta slunk away. This was all bad.

    Backstage, Ric Flair told Jo-Jo that Lynch was leeching off Charlotte. Charlotte said her and her father act like champions, and Lynch has never been champion. Flair said woo.

    Lawler told Ranallo that he name was hard to pronounce and asked if he could call him “M.R.” like he did with J.R. Ranallo seemed fine with this. Lawler then cackled when he realized that Byron Saxton was “B.S.” That part was pretty funny.

    WWE Divas Championship: Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) beat Becky Lynch via pinfall

    Ranallo said he has called big fights and this one has a big fight feel. He also mentioned calling Lynch’s matches in British Columbia when she was 18 years old. Lawler dismissed her pre-WWE experience. Lynch had control early on and went after Charlotte outside the ring. However, Flair got in her way to act as a shield, allowing Charlotte to nail her with a sloppy big boot. The referee watched this all happen and didn’t do anything about it.

    The crowd rallied behind Lynch as Charlotte took control. Lynch came back with a clothesline, leg lariat, forearm and Exploder suplex for two. Charlotte responded with a neckbreaker and chops but Lynch ducked a big boot and hit another Exploder. Charlotte hit a spear and went for a Figure Eight, but Lynch countered into a small package for a near fall.

    Lynch applied the Disarmer but Flair put Charlotte’s feet on the rope. Charlotte tapped but it didn’t matter. As Lynch complained to the ref, Charlotte rolled her up with her feet on the rope for the win. Lynch was livid afterwards and the referee looked like an idiot. This match was alright. Went about 11-12 minutes. The crowd was quiet all show but they liked Becky Lynch.

    Backstage, Renee Young asked Kevin Owens for a minute of his time. Owens said she had a minute and made her hold up her watch so he could keep an eye on the time during the entire interview. Owens said Ambrose might be a cockroach, but he’s had to kill a lot of cockroaches in a lot of the terrible places he’s stayed at on his road to the top. Owens said he would take his title back tonight.

    They plugged that a Raw replay would air after a commercial break. Yes, Smackdown is still the B-show. The replay was 4 minutes long.

    They showed an interview with Roman Reigns from after Raw, where he said the McMahons were trying to burn him down, but they were just firing him up, and at the Rumble he would be the last man standing.

    Backstage, Dean Ambrose told Renee that Owens has put him through tables and into steel, but he’s adjusted just fine and was ready for fight.

    Intercontinental Championship: Dean Ambrose DCO Kevin Owens

    They went to commercial a minute into the match as Owens called Ranallo a moron. They fought to the outside and Ambrose tossed Owens into the barricade twice and did a Russian leg sweep into the barricade. Owens responded with a draping DDT back in the ring and they went to commercial again. During the break, Owens nailed a running cannonball into the barricade.

    Owens missed a senton and yelled “Shut up, new guy!” at Ranallo as he slowly got up. Ambrose made his comeback but Owens kicked out after a bulldog. Owens hit a German suplex but Ambrose responded with a tornado DDT off the ropes. Owens knocked Ambrose off the top and hit another cannonball for two. Ambrose countered a pop-up powerbomb into a hurricanrana, and hit a rebound clothesline after an Owens superkick for two. Ambrose hit a suicide dive and Owens went flying over the announce table.  

    They did a spot where Ambrose was supposed to back body drop Owens into the crowd, but Owens recognized that fans were standing way too close, so he countered and they tried again – this time Ambrose just whipped Owens over the barricade. Ambrose went after him in the crowd and the referee called for a double countout.

    They fought all the way to the stage and Ambrose sent Owens face-first into the giant WWE logo. Owens attacked Ambrose with a laptop and tried for a powerbomb but Ambrose did a back body drop on top some equipment boxes. They kept brawling, ending with Ambrose sending both men through a table. The referees checked on them as the show went off the air. I enjoyed the match but the finish was obviously a let down. The brawl was… fine.

    Final Thoughts:

    I wouldn’t call this show a disappointment because I wasn’t expecting much. It became clear leading up to this show that they’d already given up on trying to push Smackdown much more than usual. John Cena’s appearance was relatively insignificant and they announced two title matches knowing neither belt would change hands.

    Also, I don’t think Lawler is turning heel, but he was sort of in the JBL role tonight. He called Kalisto lucky for beating Del Rio, dismissed Lynch’s previous wrestling experience outside of WWE, and sided with McMahon in the Reigns storyline. If they want him to say stuff like that then go ahead and make him a full-fledged heel.

    Mauro Ranallo was good but he might suffocate in this environment.

  • John Cena likely out for Wrestlemania due to shoulder injury

    Former WWE Champion John Cena will have shoulder surgery and will miss this year’s Wrestlemania according to a members-only report by PWInsider’s Mike Johnson. Via Twitter, Cena confirmed he’ll be having the surgery in Birmingham, AL, assumed to be with the famed Dr. James Andrews.

    The injury is believed to be a torn labrum, putting Cena out of action for 6-9 months. Cena didn’t add any details other than “shoulder surgery”.

    The 38-year-old Cena’s injury is just the latest in a string of injuries to top WWE stars (Seth Rollins, Randy Orton) and mid-level talents like Cesaro in recent months, thinning out the roster and leaving WWE to focus on talents like WWE Champion Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Dean Ambrose, The New Day, and Kevin Owens to help carry things. Brock Lesnar returns this Monday on RAW and Chris Jericho just returned Monday to help add some part-time depth.

    Cena just returned from a short absence off TV as he was filming a reality series for FOX. He was expected to continue his feud with U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio, but didn’t appear on this week’s RAW.

    We’ll add more details on this story as we get it and will discuss it more on tonight’s Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave and Bryan.

  • Ratings disappointing for WWE RAW with no competition

    January 4th’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw did what has to be considered a disappointing number given it was the first week since September that they were without any NFL competition.

    The show did 3.57 million viewers, even with the advertising of Roman Reigns defending the WWE title against Sheamus with Vince McMahon as referee. Worse, even with no football to blame, the second and third hours dropped from the second strongest first hour since April. The number is lower than what the show had been doing in the summer.

    The rating is almost identical to last week when Raw went against the highest rated NFL game of the season, and it’s usually normal to expect a 10 percent increase just based on no NFL competition alone. It is up from the football season average, but given the ratings the first two McMahon appearances drew, it was down from the first and the same as the second without the competition.

    Raw was the highest rated show on cable for the night, however, slightly ahead of The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News.

    The three hours were:

    • 8 p.m. 3.71 million viewers
    • 9 p.m. 3.52 million viewers
    • 10 p.m. 3.50 million viewers
  • Smackdown spoilers 1/5: Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens, Charlotte vs Becky Lynch

    Smackdown spoilers from tonight in Laredo for the first show on the USA Network Thursday night:

    The announcing team was Mauro Ranallo, Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton.

    John Cena came out and issued a challenge to Alberto Del Rio for the U.S. title, coming off the finish of their Raw match last week.  Del Rio refused to give Cena another title match.

    Kalisto pinned Del Rio in a non-title match.  Said to be really good.

    The Miz had a Miz TV segment.  The New Day came out and they started complaining about Chris Jericho.  Dolph Ziggler then came out and was backed up by Goldust, R-Truth and Neville.

    This led to an eight-man tag where Ziggler & Goldust & R-Truth & Neville beat The New Day & Miz.

    Charlotte beat Becky Lynch to retain the Divas title due to outside help from her father.

    Dean Ambrose went to a double count out to retain the IC title in a match with Kevin Owens.

  • NJPW stars Nakamura, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson headed to WWE

    In a surprise move Monday, former IWGP and TNA Champion AJ Styles, former IWGP Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson gave notice to New Japan Pro Wrestling and will be heading to WWE, discussed by Dave Meltzer on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio after news broke today on Court Bauer’s MLW Radio.

    The story goes is that the four went to Gedo, the current booker of NJPW, at this morning’s WrestleKingdom 10 event and said that they would be finishing up. It’s not known when any of these four will start with WWE, but it was said that Nakamura would not be leaving quickly. He is currently the IWGP Intercontinental champion, and it’s said to be a scenario opposite of current WWE U.S. Champion Alberto del Rio where he’ll most likely drop the title before leaving.

    Anderson was also apparently close to coming to TNA, but the story goes is that once the WWE deal came, things changed.

    In terms of contract situations, New Japan has a one year contract system that usually expires in January, so them giving notice coincides with that. Styles did not have a New Japan contract. 

    Nakamura, Anderson and Gallows are all expected to honor their Ring of Honor dates next month in Las Vegas. Dave also reported that AJ Styles was likely done with Ring of Honor going forward.

    Nakamura has been working with New Japan since his debut in 2002, rising up the NJPW ranks quickly, winning the IWGP championship one year after his debut. His popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, developing a more charismatic character and can be attributed to NJPW’s recent success. Styles had been working with New Japan since 2014, delivering a number of excellent performances, including one with Nakamura this morning. Anderson has been a part of New Japan since 2008, teaming with various people over the years including Giant Bernard (the former Albert/A-Train/Tensai, now head coach of NXT), Hirooki Goto and Doc Gallows, who started partnering with him in 2013.

    If there’s more news on this situation, it will be discussed on the late Monday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

  • Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper talk to Chad Dukes at Smackdown

    Last week on CBS Radio from Washington DC, Chad Dukes interviewed Dean Ambrose and Luke Wyatt before the Smackdown tapings for the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show. The show airs live at 7pm on Wednesdays on 106.7 The Fan Washington DC and the full show is also available as a podcast on iTunes, Play.it, and chaddukeswrestlingshow.com

    Luke Harper on his career ambitions and the opinion that the Wyatt Family “doesn’t need championships”:

    I want to win every title that this promotion has. I want to be the World Heavyweight Champion, on my own, I want to be the Intercontinental Champion, want to be the U.S. champion, wanna be a Tag Champion, I personally want all of that for myself. But at the same time, I have brothers at arms that we are very successful together and I understand that part of it too.

    I don’t know why I would be here if I didn’t want a championship. We’ve dominated lots of people, we’ve beat up lots of people, we’ve sent a lot of messages, we’ve been successful, but there’s another level of success that we have yet to attain and that we want to attain.

    Dean Ambrose on his current role in WWE:

    Lenny Harris was a utility player for the [Cincinnati] Reds, he’s on my favorite players because he literally played every position on every night he played a different position. First base, short stop, whatever, but he was a beloved guy because he was always there and could do anything.  I think I’m one of the only guys here, I mean we have so much great talent here, but I can do anything.  I can literally do anything. That’s not me being like, “oh I’m so great,” I’m just like. I know what I’m doing.  I’m not some schmuck they just hired and threw down in the Performance Center and gave him an entrance or anything that like.  I’ve been around enough and have enough experience, I know what I’m doing pretty much.  I like to think I’m a good mechanic for the company. “Oh well, we sprung a leak? Call Ambrose, throw him in there.” I like that because I think it has really upped my value with the company and I think that they realize nowadays too another Dean Ambrose isn’t going to walk through the door anytime soon or ever. So. I kind of exist in my own little space, I kind of got my own little corner of the room carved out for myself which I like.

    Dean Ambrose on comparisons to Roddy Piper and his favorite Piper moment:

    I don’t know how you can not take it as a compliment. I was able to have a lot of good conversations, spend a good amount of time with him through the last couple years which was, that’s a rare opportunity and I don’t think a lot of guys got that.  Me and him really just kind of clicked because he just kind of sensed that we had a similar outlook on stuff.  The thing I like about him, I’ve been asked about him since he passed away a few times, the thing I always say is my favorite Roddy Piper moment was one of the nights he was wrestling Hogan it was in WCW. He’s wrestling Hogan and he’s the big hero finally going to go up against the NWO or whatever and just the entrance makes you go, “Man, that’s what wrestling, that’s where you captivate people.”  ‘Cause they just went out there and back raked each other for fifteen minutes, they’re both like fifty five by that point, but the entrance he just walks down, Roddy Piper music, and he just walks to the ring, down the ramp, with like this death stare at the ring, like this thousand yard, like he’s in a different mental place. He’s doing nothing but doing everything. The way he walks the ring, you know that Roddy Piper is ready to die in the ring fighting the NWO that night, he does not care, he will fight to the death. This is the end of the world fight.  It’s so hard to capture that anymore because it’s such a fun, entertainment thing nowadays. We have so many shows and so much content.  When is there an end of the world fight to the death anymore?

  • WWE RAW live results 1/4: Roman Reigns vs Sheamus and the possible return of Jericho

    The Big Takeaway: Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a match where Vince McMahon was special referee. Of course, it wasn’t Vince who counted the pinfall. Afterwards, Vince announced that Reigns would defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Royal Rumble match itself. It’s the first time since 1992 that the championship will be on the line in the Royal Rumble match. Chris Jericho returned in a disappointing segment with New Day. Brock Lesnar returns next week. 

    Show Recap: 

    Stephanie McMahon started to come out but Roman Reigns’ music played as she was making her entrance. So they were in the ring together. Reigns said they didn’t need her out there, it was about Vince McMahon, who he called out. Stephanie said Vince wasn’t in the building yet, and the odds weren’t in his favor tonight. Reigns said the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was his life because it’s how he supports his family. Stephanie said no one competes with Vince McMahon and wins in the end. She mentioned the charges against Vince from last week have been dropped because you can’t keep a good billionaire down. Well, multi-millionaire. 

    Stephanie said once Reigns loses the championship tonight, she’ll use him over and over until his body wears out. Reigns said if Vince screws him over tonight, Stephanie won’t be picking him up from jail, she’ll be picking him up from the hospital. 

    Dean Ambrose came out to do commentary for the match with Kevin Owens and Neville. Reigns waited through a video package to slap hands with him, which may be foreboding the Ambrose turn we’ve waited months for. 

    Brock Lesnar is back next Monday in New Orleans. Another example of buidling things a week in advance. Next week is also the College Football Playoff National Championship game with Clemson vs. Alabama. Considering how disappointing the CFP semifinal ratings were, it’ll be interesting to see how much of a hit Raw will take. 

    Kevin Owens defeated Neville (9:13) 

    Solid match. Kevin Owens won after he crotched Neville on the top rope. He finished Neville off with the Pop-Up Power Bomb. Neville did a 450 from the apron to the floor. Neville is still carrying around his Slammy for Newcomer of the Year. Strikes me as odd since that was usually a heel move in the past, namely with Owen Hart. JBL compared Neville to Too Cold Scorpio and Owens to Otto Wanz in the span of 30 seconds. 

    Owens tried to attack Neville afterwards, but Ambrose stopped it with a tope. Well, it was a tope that he largely whiffed on. They fought to the announcers table, where Owens teased power bombing Ambrose through the table again. Instead, Ambrose turned the tables and gave Owens an elbow drop off the barricade through the table. 

    Vince walked out of a limousine where Jojo stopped him. Vince said the charges against him were dropped because he has a good attorney. The irony of it all is last week he was arrested by the law, and this week he is the law. 

    They showed a vignette to promote the Taratino movie The Hateful Eight counting down the eight superstars people love to hate. Number three was Owens. Number 2 was the New Day (?). And tops was Sheamus. Only if Vince was doing the countdown, which may have been the case. 

    Titus O’Neal defeated Stardust (4:14) 

    Titus O’Neal won with the Clash of the Titus. Of all the matches I’ve seen, this was the most recent one. 

    Charlotte approached Becky Lynch backstage. The two are wrestling tonight and Charlotte wasn’t happy about it. She asked Lynch if she asked for the rematch. Lynch said she didn’t, but she was excited about it. Charlotte said she had already beaten Lynch once on Raw. They agreed to meet again tonight in the spirit of competition. Ric Flair came up from behind Lynch and made her jump when he yelled “Whoo!” I don’t want to ask why Flair would have been waiting behind Lynch for so long, but I can speculate. 

    Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte (C) in a nontitle match (10:45) 

    They teased the finish from November where Flair tried to trip Lynch, leading to Charlotte winning via schoolgirl cradle. Except this time, Lynch escaped the cradle and pinned Charlotte with a Oklahoma Side Roll while holding the trunks. To complete the heel turn, Charlotte attacked Lynch in the postmatch, giving Lynch a spear and laying the boots to her. Flair cheered her on. They wrestled scientifically until Charlotte leveled Lynch with a punch. Charlotte was a straight heel from that point forward. 

    McMahon talked with Sheamus backstage to explain prefight instructions. No biting, no outside interference, no low blows and to obey his commands. McMahon added with a grin “may the luck of the Irish be with you.” 

    Ryback and the Big Show went to a no contest (1:04)

    Ryback was tossed over the top rope by the Big Show when the Wyatt Family appeared. Braun Strowman put Ryback out with the choke. Then the Wyatts surrounded the ring on Show, who clotheslined Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Strowman had a staredown with Show that was supposed to generate heat, but didn’t. The three heels jumped Show from behind and Harper left Show laying with a superkick. Looks like another babyface turn for Big Show, who has to hold the all-time record by now. 

    Rusev and Alberto Del Rio defeated the Usos (13:21) 

    Alberto Del Rio pinned Jimmy Uso with the top rope stomp. Very good match. Earlier, Del Rio had Jey Uso set up for the stomp, but somehow missed. Jimmy followed with a top rope splash that was broken up by Rusev in the first of several good near falls. Rusev gave Jey Uso a belly-to-belly superplex for the heat. Again, no Lana and no mention of her, except by the crowd. 

    Heath Slater pinned Dolph Ziggler (4:37) 

    Heath Slater was joined by Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose. Can someone explain where Damien Sandow is and why isn’t he on my TV? Slater, who has a haircut, won after Rose and Axel distracted Dolph Ziggler, and Slater won with a rollup. 

    Postmatch, Rose, Axel, Slater and Dallas cut promos invidually. They’ve now started a group called “Social Outcasts.” 

    Ziggler cut a inset promo about being in the Royal Rumble. For a better promo, search “Josh Norman” under Youtube. The sad part is Josh Norman is not a pro wrestler. He’s a cornerback for the Carolina Panthers who cuts better promos than anyone in pro wrestling aside from Paul Heyman. That’s exhilarating and depressing all at once. 

    Steve Austin will have Flair on his podcast next week. 

    Vince approached Reigns backstage. Vince, again playing the role of John McCarthy, had a rules meeting with him. Vince didn’t wish him good luck as he left. 

    The New Day, which has a new video that features them in animated form riding unicorns with rainbows in the background, came out. Big E. laughed over Mike Tyson falling down while riding a Hoverboard. Then they pointed to the TitonTron, where they started to have a countdown. But the countdown was interrupted by Chris Jericho’s countdown, who came out to a good, but not great, pop. 

    No one remembered Jericho going heel at Night of Champions on Ambrose and Reigns. He did various catchphrases before Xavier Woods stopped him saying they’ve already saved the WWE in 2015. Jericho said live attendance, ratings and WWE Network numbers need a boost. That was weird. He called them Green Day and tried to get fans to chant “Rooty Tooty Booty.” That sounded cringeworthy but the fans chanted it as long as New Day was out there. Jericho announced that he would be in the Royal Rumble.  Of all the Jericho returns, this was easily the least remarkable and felt flat. Feels like New Day needs a new spark because they’ve hit a dry spell.  

    The New Day defeated The Dudley Boyz and Kalisto (16:36) 

    Big E. pinned Devon Dudley after the Midnight Hour. Your weekly six-man match that went too long. Bubba Ray Dudley threw Kalisto onto all three members of New Day outside the ring. Kalisto was taken out by Big E. at ringside. The Dudleys tried to set up Wazzup on Kofi Kingston, but Woods broke it up by dumping Devon to the mat. 

    Vince came out where the tightest referee t-shirt imaginable for any 70-year-old that has the physique that he has. Apparently, he’s not counting on Al-Jazerra calling anytime soon. He did look a little skinnier. Somebody had a “Cranky Vince” sign that lasted about as long as one of Kim Kardashian’s undershirts. That twitter account hasn’t been updated in over two years. 

    Roman Reigns (C) defeated Sheamus to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with Vince McMahon as special referee (18:17) 

    Vince played heel ref from the start, trying to fast count Reigns. Sheamus threw Reigns into the ring steps, then threw the steps at him. He later suplexed Reigns onto the announcer’s table. Sheamus used a Rolling Senton for a two count. When Reigns covered Sheamus after a Samoan Drop, Vince counted slower than the Great Kabuki’s ring entrance this morning. Then Reigns had the cover with a Backland lift, but Vince faked an eye injury. Reigns hit the Superman punch, but Vince didn’t even count. He was still faster than Bronco Lubich. Reigns told Vince “Watch this.” He teased giving Sheamus the Superman punch, but instead he punched Vince. Then Reigns speared Sheamus and pinned him, but no ref. 

    An incensed Reigns threw Sheamus over the announcer’s table as Vince recovered. Vince try to scramble away but Reigns threw him down and told him Vince was screwing with his life. Stephanie came out. Reigns threw Vince into the ropes, and Stephanie wound up rebounding into the ring. Reigns stalked over her but she got out of the ring. Reigns teased spearing Vince, Sheamus came back in the ring and hit Reigns with two Brogue kicks. For some reason, Vince didn’t count Sheamus out. Instead, Scott Armstrong ran out. It was explained that Armstrong was a heel referee who had worked with the Authority for years. Who remembers that? He hasn’t been on TV in years. Reigns kicked out. 

    Armstrong then held Reigns up for Sheamus to Brogue Kick him again. But Reigns sidestepped him, hit Armstrong with a Superman’s punch, flattened Sheamus with another Superman’s punch. Referee John Coleman (they actually identified him on TV) ran down and counted the pin for Reigns. 

    Vince knocked down Coleman. Vince’s physique looks great. As for his punches, all I can say his physqiue looks great. Afterwards, he announced that Reigns would defend the title in the Royal Rumble match against 29 other men. 

    SUMMARY: Since the horrendous show a month ago when I said that Reigns wasn’t the guy, the WWE has booked him very well. He’ll be the first man ever to defend the WWE Championship in a Royal Rumble. If he emerges with the belt, it’ll make him all that much stronger. Not sure what other option makes sense. A pretty good show. 

  • Chris Jericho making return to WWE?

    Chris Jericho is expected back tonight at WWE RAW

    Jericho was in San Antonio last night, the site of Raw. It’s also being reported he is backstage at the show. Jericho had said that he wasn’t coming back on Twitter, but he does stuff like that every year, whether he does or doesn’t.  A key is that there are no touring dates for Fozzy listed going forward.

    Jericho’s wrestling schedule is usually built around his touring dates and if he’s got nothing scheduled for months, unless there is another entertainment gig, it would be expected he’d return in some fashion.  His last few returns have been specifically for house shows only, but if he’s backstage, that would mean a return as a regular television character, perhaps coming off his walking off on Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose when he was a mystery partner at the Night of Champions show on 9/20 in Houston with them against The Wyatt Family.

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    Signup now!  Dave Melzer and Bryan Alvarez will be back tonight to talk the Chris Jericho news and tonight’s WWE RAW.  

  • WWE announces February NXT tour dates & WrestleMania AXXESS details

    On Monday, WWE announced its non-Florida February NXT touring schedule with tickets going on sale on Friday:

    • February 4 in Memphis at the Minglewood Hall
    • February 5 in Nashville at the Auditorium
    • February 6 in Indianapolis at the Old National Centre Egyptian Room
    • February 18 in Philadelphia at the Tower Theater
    • February 19 in Asbury Park, NJ at Boardwalk Hall
    • February 20 in Albany, NY at the National Guard Armory

    ​*****

    The company has also announced details of WrestleMania AXXESS in Dallas, held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the same site as the NXT show on Friday night.

    There will be activities on Thursday, March 31, from 6-10 p.m.; Friday, April 1 from 5-9 p.m., and three Saturday sessions from 8 a.m. to Noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The latter session goes head-to-head with the Hall of Fame ceremony. There is also a Sunday event from 8 a.m. to Noon.

    The events are in direct competition with a ton of other indie shows that will be held in the area as well as Jim Ross one-man show events. There is also a Sunday event from 8 a.m. to Noon.