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  • 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.

  • January 4, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Business year in review, Rock at Wrestlemania 32, tons more.

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  • Smackdown New Year’s Eve edition spoilers, Reigns and Ambrose vs. Sheamus and Owens

    Smackdown New Year’s Eve edition spoilers – 12/31 (taped Tuesday 12/29)

    By John Athridge

    The crowd is pretty full for a Smackdown. The hard camera side is basically full at least.  I missed the first two matches, but I was told that Darren Young beat Curtis Axel in the dark match.

    Main Event

    R-Truth beat Heath Slater. 

    Titus O’Neil beat Adam Rose.

    ‎Jack Swagger submitted Stardust with the ankle lock in about 10 minutes.  They worked awfully hard for a Main Event match.

    Smackdown

    ‎Show opened by replaying the Vince arrest angle from last night.  They announced the main event of Reigns and Ambrose vs. Sheamus and Owens.

    New Day came out to celebrate New Year’s Eve. They said their New Year’s resolution was nothing because they are perfect. They said the people needed to change because they didn’t vote for the New Day for the Slammies. They read a list of resolutions for the people so they’d finally appreciate the New Day. Mildly funny.  ‎The Lucha Dragons came out.  They argued and challenged the New Day for a match even though Sin Cara is injured. The Dragons then brought out the Dudleys for a 6 man match.

    The Dudleys and Kalisto beat the New Day when Kalisto pinned Kofi. The Dudleys then put Xavier Woods through a table with “Happy New Year” spray painted on it.  

    During the commercials, they played New Year’s wishes from various wrestlers.

    Tyler Breeze (w/Summer Rae) beat Goldust in a short match. Summer then said they had a huge New Year’s announcement. Tyler said that starting in the New Year, the two of them would be going their separate ways. But they left the crowd with one last “Gorgeous Selfie”.

    Backstage, Bo Dallas was giving out New Year’s Re-Bo-lutions (including telling Curtis Axel to start wearing deodorant). He ran into Dolph Ziggler. After a few insults back and forth, they announced a match between them later. 

    Braun Strowman and Luke Harper (w/Erick Rowan) beat the Usos. Strowman got the submission after some quick interference from Rowan.  

    They announced John Cena’s return to Smackdown for next week.  

    Alicia Fox and Brie Bella ‎beat Tamina and Naomi when Brie pinned Naomi after a couple of minutes.

    They announced that there will be a house show in DC on Sunday March, 27th. Thought we were getting the go home Raw before Wrestlemania here, but apparently not.  

    Dolph Ziggler beat Bo Dallas with a superkick after selling for a few minutes. Not much else to it.

    Reigns came out to a decent reaction, but nothing spectacular. Ambrose seemed to get louder cheers.

    Reigns and Ambrose beat Sheamus and Kevin Owens by DQ when Owens pulled Reigns out of the ring and crotched him on the ring post after about 10 minutes. Owens and Sheamus beat down Reigns and then Ambrose. Owens was about to powerbomb Ambrose through the announce table when Reigns recovered to give them both Superman punches. Reigns and Ambrose then posed on the announce table. Got a decent reaction, but not much of a main event.  

  • WWE RAW live results 12-28: The return of John Cena and Vince McMahon, plus pre and post Raw live resutls

    The Big Takeaway: 

    As the company has done so often since 1999 in an attempt to build a new babyface, Roman Reigns is now being booked like Steve Austin. Vince McMahon got arrested. Reigns was the last man standing in the end. Then Vince came out at the end of the show to announce that Reigns would defend the championship against Sheamus next week with a special referee: Vince McMahon. It was a two segment show and the rest was boring. 

    Show Recap:

    Vince McMahon started the show with Tony Chimmel doing the ring announcing. McMahon claimed he had to undergo dental surgery after the Superman’s punch that Roman Reigns delivered two weeks ago. He ordered Reigns to come out. 

    McMahon told Reigns that he practically incapitated HHH and disrespected Stephanie McMahon. Vince said HHH would get revenge on Reigns when he least expected it. And he said Reigns literally kicked him out of his own ring. McMahon said he owns his ring, he owns the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and sooner or later Reigns will understand he owns Reigns. Reigns responded that the fans own the WWE World Championship. Crowd started a “Daniel Bryan” chant which McMahon ordered them to shut up. Then they started a “CM Punk” chant as the two talked over them. 

    McMahon brought up Reigns’ predecessors the Wild Samoans. Hardly anyone knew that in the crowd. McMahon reminded Reigns he was one generation away from having a bone through his nose. McMahon said he made Reigns’ uncle Afa wrestle every night of the week and there was nothing left of him once it was over. Then there was Reigns’ father Sika, which McMahon claimed to have used him up. McMahon said paid Sika with Reigns dead peanuts. No one really reacted because they didn’t remember Sika. Plus, when did the Samoans become the Road Warriors at the gate? 

    Reigns shoved McMahon down. McMahon started claiming he had a neck injury in the most phony tone possible. Stephanie came out to check on him with police officers in tow. Stephanie ordered Reigns arrested. One of the detectives refused saying they were there to provide security, not be Stephanie’s personal police department. Damn, I wish somebody had told that to the police in the late 90s. Depending on the city, the show and the superstar, police were more involved in wrestling angles than actual police work some weeks.  

    Stephanie started to get in the detectives’ face until he ordered her to step back or else she would be arrested. Vince tried to smooth things over, but next things you know Vince started to get in the detectives’ face. Stephanie reminded her father to sell his neck again. Finally, three officers came in the ring and put the handcuffs on McMahon.

    The detective then read Vince his rights, complete with the line “If you can’t afford an attorney…wait, that doesn’t apply to you.” Vince was led through the crowd with Stephanie protesting the whole way as Reigns smiled and help up his belt. 

    Vince was shoved into a police cruiser with Stephanie screaming about how she was going to sue the police damage. Michael Cole speculated Vince could be charged with assaulting an officer. 

    Neville defeated Kevin Owens (:21)

    Neville escaped a Pop-Up Power Bomb and pinned Kevin Owens with a victory roll. Wrong crowd to pull this upset because the fans chanted for Owens before the match. The pin was booed. Owens attacked Neville afterwards. 

    As Neville was being helped to the back, Owens ran back out to clothesline Neville into oblivion. He was about to power bomb Neville onto the apron when Dean Ambrose ran down for a pull-apart brawl.

    The official announcement that the Rock was coming to WrestleMania was made. Byron Sexton started to do the “Can you smell” line, to which Cole ordered him never to do again. 

    Jojo interviewed Becky Lynch, who was jumped by Team BAD while Charlotte wrestled on Smackdown. Charlotte tweeted earlier that she wouldn’t appear tonight on Raw, but Lynch said she wasn’t worried or angry about it. She spoke about coming to Brooklyn when she was penniless and now she was on Raw. 

    Sasha Banks did prematch mic work putting over Boston to get heat. Naomi said Brooklyn was a garbage-filled, overrated, overpopulated, polluted stank dump. 

    Sasha Banks defeated Becky Lynch (15:40) 

    Banks won with a cradle following a series of reversals after Banks hit the Bank Statement. Lynch attempted to clamp on Disarm-her, but Banks escaped. They tried to have a match with rest holds to build heat, but this crowd wasn’t playing along. It got “boring” chants, which seemed to throw them off their game because they weren’t on the same page in certain spots. An average match. 

    Renee Young was outside the police station where Vince’s mugshot was posted. She confirmed that Jerry McDevitt was at the jail and Stephanie had shown up with high-profile attorneys. 

    The New Day pranced down with Xavier Woods talking about winning the World Tag Team Champions in Brooklyn in August. It was the very building where the trombone made its debut. Kofi Kingston teased singing a new song, but Woods heard the trombone (named Franchecha) that the fans didn’t vote for them to win a Slammy. Kingston said everytime the New Day comes out, it’s an OMG moment. For instance, for all the parents at home has their children misbehave, they should call the New Day because the New Day will fight their kids. Woods said “Oh my God, Kofi, aren’t you a father?” Kingston said “Exactly! OMG!” 

    Kalisto defeated Kofi Kingston (2:45)

    Kalisto pinned Kingston with a huracanrana. Before the finish, Kalisto dropkicked Woods off the apron, but Big E. Caught him. Sin Cara ran off the steps and gave both men a crossbody. 

    This led to Woods challenging Cara to face Big E. Immediately. 

    Big E.defeated Sin Cara (4:36) 

    Cara legitimately injured his shoulder after taking a bump to the floor off the apron, and the doctor had to stop the match. While this was going on, the fans started a dual chant of “We Want Cena” “No We Don’t.” After the stoppage, Woods screamed the Rocky IV line “It was supposed to be an exhibition!”  From the Ill-fated Apollo Creed-Ivan Drago fight. It was a gutsy performance from Cara, especially when he gave Big E. A rolling senton off the top rope. After Kingston and Woods got involved, Big E. Won with the Big Ending.  

    Cena is on the cover of Muscle & Fitness Magazine. 

    MizTv started to do a year-in review which was quickly interrupted by Ryback, who said 2016 would be the year of the big guy. Golddust came out and wondered if this was the year the Miz would win a SAG Award, an Oscar, or some Golden Globes. Then Zack Ryder came out to a big pop. Ryder claimed that Brooklyn was “New Zack City” and said 2016 would be the year of Ryder. Miz started to talk about how he tried yoga in January when R-Truth came out. R-Truth said when fans cast their ballots for Superstar of the Year, cast their vote for the Truth. Miz reminded Truth that the Slammys were last week. Then Heath Slater showed up and said he had a lot to say. Before he could start, the Big Show walked down. Slater said nobody cared what Show had to say. Slater managed to block the subsequent right hand with his chin. 

    Ryder and Golddust were also knocked down. Truth punched himself in an attempt to knock himself out. Show gave him a choke slam. Ryback and Big Show squared off, with Show tossing Ryback over the top rope. 

    Crowd chanted “Please Retire” at Show. Instead, he said he was going to enter himself into the Royal Rumble and would accept position number one. 

    Ryback defeated The Big Show by countout (2:53)

    As Ryback was about to deliver a meathook clothesline, Show rolled out of the ring and walked out. A totally meaningless segment, and the same can be said of the last 45 minutes of this show. 

    Sheamus came out and debated the crowd for cheering Vince’s arrest and vowed to carry out a beat down on Ambrose and the Usos tonight. 

    The League of Nations defeated the Usos and Dean Ambrose (16:50) 

    Sheamus pinned Jey Uso with the Brogue Kick. Jey was about to give Sheamus a splash when Rusev held his leg, giving Sheamus time to get his knees up. A double hot tag match that lost the crowd early . Fans chanted “This is Boring” with Sheamus in there. Jimmy Uso did a tope spot onto Rusev. Crowd chanted for Lana, who again was missing with no explanation. She’s really someone who would give the League of Nations the right spice. 

    Post match, Owens ran out of the crowd to attack Ambrose. It led to a camera shot worth it’s weight in gold where Owens power bombed Ambrose off the announcers table onto another announcers’ table. Pieces of the table flew everywhere and you’ll likely be seeing replays of that spot on opening vignettes for years to come. Ambrose sold it great acted like he was in convulsions and had to be carried out by referees. Owens feels like the most over heel on the roster in terms of getting a reaction, albeit a heel that fans want to like. But as we saw in Philadelphia two weeks ago, he knows how to turn a crowd. 

    Vince, Stephanie and someone trying to be McDevitt stormed out of the police station without taking questions from reporters who were standing by. It’s amazing how the company can be so meticulous in its planning for angles regarding the owner, but can’t figure out where Lana is. 

    Cena made his return to the usual chorus of people hating him. He pointed out a guy who wore a t-shirt with “Cena” crossed out. He ran down Alberto Del Rio for not defending the U.S. Championship once on Raw since he won it at Hell in a Cell. Del Rio came out with the rest of the League of Nations and said “The Champ is Here.” He said Brooklyn didn’t deserve to have a U.S. Championship match. Cena did a speech putting over Brooklyn. The jibber-jabbered back and forth with Cena trying to goad him into defending the championship. Del Rio refused to put the belt on the line. Cena called him a one-hit wonder who lost his manhood. Del Rio said he was going to send Cena home tonight for good, then finally agreed to put the title on the line. 

    Cole and JBL did a tribute to Lemmy of Motörhead, who passed away this afternoon after a brief illness. It was impressive they had a video package put together so quickly regarding his life because his death was announced just a few hours ago. If you haven’t, check out the documentary on Lemmy that aired on VH1 Classic, a great tribute to a great performer. 

    John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio (C) by DQ, so Del Rio retains the U.S Championship (14:04) 

    The only match on the show worth anything. Del Rio clamped on the armbar, but Cena made the ropes. Cena went for the AA, but there was a ref bump as Del Rio kicked the referee. Rusev and Sheamus ran down. Rusev hit Cena with a thrust kick. Del Rio covered him, but Cena kicked out. With the referee still down, Sheamus tried to give Cena a Brogue Kick, but Sheamus hit Rusev. Cena gave Sheamus the AA, but Del Rio gave Cena a back stabbed and a superkick that he used to beat Cena in October, but Cena again kicked out. Del Rio went for the arm breaker, but Cena hit the AA. Rusev )(shook off that Brouge Kick fast) and Sheamus ran in for the DQ. 

    Sheamus gave Cena the Brogue Kick. The Usos ran down for the save but they were quickly disposed of. 

    Reigns came down for the save, giving Rusev a spear on the floor and Del Rio a superman punch. Sheamus and Reigns had a staredown. Sheamus entered the ring with a chair, but Reigns gave him a Superman punch and a chair shot across the back.  

    Vince McMahon came out and said he was going to sue the city of New York. Vince said Reigns would face Sheamus for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship next week. The special referee would be Vince McMahon, and Vince kept repeating “Happy New Year” to end the show. 

    The Big Takeaway:

    Part of the problem with booking Vince McMahon to appear on these shows is he’s one of the few larger than life personalities the company has left. Once he appears in the opening segment, then leaves and goes away for two-and-a-half hours, the crowd heat has nowhere to go but down. It was capitalized with some poorly booked segments, namely MizTv. Reigns was received very well. 

    RAW: Additional live Brooklyn notes  

    From Mike Omansky

    The Barclay Center was sold out and WWE announced a return date of Monday, March 28th, the RAW before Wrestlemania.

    Presale on Ticketmaster…code: RAWISBK

    Pre-“RAW” – SUPERSTARS

    DARREN YOUNG W ADAM ROSE, finisher and pin. Not much at all.

    JACK SWAGGER & MARK HENRY W ASENSCION, when Henry pinned Conor after the world’s strongest slam. Decent match. Swagger worked most of it; got beaten down; made the hot tag; over shortly after that.

    Post-“RAW”

    A “massive” 6 man tag had been advertised on local TV spots in the past 2 weeks, but it didn’t take place. After it went off the air, we got the usual skit in lieu of a match.  League of Nations members attacked Cena; Reigns helped Cena and Cena finally got the AA on Del Rio.  In the process, Cena teased a turn on Reigns (had a chair in hand), but that was momentary.

  • WOL 11/18: Charlotte promo, John Cena’s whereabouts, Les Thatcher talks Bockwinkel and more!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today after a disastrous storm in Seattle to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA, everything from the Charlotte promo on Raw to Emma’s cooking show and the whereabouts of John Cena. Les Thatcher also joins us to talk Don Fargo, Nick Bockwinkel and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WWE: Brock Lesnar returns to the ring in mid-December

    Former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will be wrestling on a major house show on Dec. 19 at the Forum in Los Angeles, CA.

    The match is part of his new contract where, besides a few PPV and television shows, he agreed to work scattered house shows. In the past, all of his house show appearances (July at Sumo Hall in Tokyo against Kofi Kingston and October in Madison Square Garden against Big Show) also became WWE Network live special events.

    WWE has not run the Forum in recent memory as the L.A. Sports Arena, Honda Center and Staples Center have been the venues of choice in the Los Angeles and Orange County area over the last two decades.

    There is advertising out listing both John Cena and Lesnar for the 12/19 date, indicatating Cena will be returning a week before his prior first advertised date of Dec. 26 as MSG, making this a pretty big house show.

  • FREE SHOW! Observer Live 10/27: Raw fallout, Roman Reigns, John Cena’s return

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling coming off a really fun Raw show. Where is the company going with Roman Reigns? How could this play into WrestleMania? John Cena’s future and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

    This is a FREE SHOW so please spread the word! We air FREE every day at noon Pacific/3 ET on Sports Byline USA, TuneIn Radio, iHeart and more, plus replay at 5 PT/8 ET! Sign up at wrestlingobserver.com for daily commercial-free replays, daily bonus subscriber-only shows, plus over 7,000 archived shows dating back to 2005!

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  • Samoa Joe eliminated as mystery opponent for John Cena

    We’ve had confirmation minutes ago that those in NXT have said Samoa Joe is scheduled to wrestle on one of the two shows in Sacramento today, which would eliminate him from speculation as far as being John Cena’s opponent in the U.S. title match.

    As noted on the audio last night, there was a rumor in Los Angeles regarding Joe in that spot, but that made no sense to me because I didn’t think they’d have him work an NXT show yesterday if that was the case. Last night we were told by someone close to the situation that Joe was never scheduled for the spot.

    We have a correspondent in Sacramento who said that he hasn’t seen Joe personally, but was told he is scheduled to wrestle and was still in Sacramento.

    Tyler Breeze, another name speculated about online in recent days, is also currently in Sacramento at an autograph signing.

  • Who is John Cena’s mystery opponent at Hell in a Cell?

    The identity of John Cena’s mystery opponent at Sunday’s Hell in the Cell pay-per-view tonight is still unknown.

    While we don’t know the identity, names such as Tyler Breeze, Samoa Joe and James Storm were all denied from different sources last night, either by people within the company or those would have knowledge of the goings-on.

    Joe was in Sacramento on Saturday for the NXT shows, working the afternoon show in beating Baron Corbin.  He did not work the Saturday night show. As he was In Los Angeles the last few days, Joe’s name was rumored, but that seemed unlikely because he was working the NXT shows, although Sacramento is a short flight.

    Because Breeze just debuted, and a Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler program has already been set up, his name was was also speculated.

    Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, and Braun Strowman were all taken off the card when Randy Orton suffered a shoulder injury and their match was replaced by a six-man tag. Sheamus’ name has been rumored since Cena vs. Sheamus was announced for holiday house shows when Cena returns.

    Sunday’s HIAC event is the last one Cena is advertised on until the 12/26 Madison Square Garden event.