Here's is your news for October 14, 2019
We're starting with some news from the WWE draft, as some of the Superstars were left as free agents
after SmackDown have finally be assigned a roster.
Fans will now be able to catch EC3, Eric Young and Sin Cara on RAW, while Drew Gulak, Heath Slater,
Tamina, The B-Team and Apollo Crews will be heading to SmackDown.
Interestingly, Crews was the only Superstar on that list who wasn't deemed a free agent after night one
of the draft, as he was supposed to be a part of night two during tonight's RAW. Here are the updated rosters:
Out of those who have been eligible to be drafted so far, Akira Tozawa, Cesaro, Chad Gable and
Humberto Carillo remain undrafted from the night one draft pool, and
and as of this video, continue to be free agents.
Speaking of tonight's RAW, the show may have already undergone a major change, as RAW Women's
Champion Becky Lynch was supposed to take on SmackDown's Sasha Banks, with the winner getting the
very first draft pick for their brand.
Whilst this match was announced during last week's SmackDown, which was night one of the draft,
that may no longer be the case, as according to the PW Insider, Banks suffered a tailbone injury at Hell in
a Cell, and wasn't cleared to compete on last week's RAW.
Now, the company are advertising a match between Lynch and SmackDown's Charlotte Flair,
and though this should be an epic encounter, it has left fans wondering
about how long the Boss may be out of action.
Banks has been one of WWE's top women since returning to TV in August, and the last thing she
needs now is to be gone for another lengthy absence.
As of right now, the match remains to be The Man Vs. The Queen, though as always the card is subject to change.
There'll be plenty to talk about during tonight's edition of RAW, but we're
back to last week's SmackDown, as the viewing figures are in.
The second episode of the blue show on FOX did 2.89 Million viewers, according to ShowBuzz Daily, a
25% drop from the season premiere, which did 3.88 Million.
The show did win the 18-49 demographic though, averaging a 0.95 rating over the two hours,
knocking Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods whi did a 0.7 during the same time.
For contrast, Monday Night RAW's post-Hell in a Cell show drew an average 2.33 million,
down from the Season Premiere the week prior, that did 2.57 million.
One Superstar who has been kept busy on SmackDown recently is Kevin Owens, though he, much like
many other Superstars, were not told ahead of time about the plans for them in the draft.
During last week's SmackDown, the Prize fighter was drafted to RAW in the third round,
something Owens wasn't happy about.
On Twitter, the former Universal Champion said how he had given an interview about how he felt being
drafted in the third round, but given his anger, the company chose not to air it.
Fans can hardly blame Owens for being angry, as it was earlier this month that the Canadian defeated
Shane McMahon in a gruelling ladder match to keep his spot on SmackDown,
a match that wrote the Best in the World out of storylines, at least for the time being.
According to company sources, Owens is in line to get a big push on the red brand and a fresh rivalry,
as the RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman is a big fan of him.
Remember that within a month of the 2016 Brand extension which saw Owens drafted to RAW,
the Prizefighter had captured the Universal Championship,
a title the Canadian Superstar will be hoping to reclaim very soon.
Speaking of champions, new WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley turned heel in a big way last
week, much to the shock of fans, and the emotionally scarring of some children.
During her entrance for her match against Charlotte Flair, the former hugger destroyed her Bayley
Buddies, and now has a new entrance to go with her new attitude.
At a WWE Live event in Odessa, Texas, Bayley debuted her new heel ring entance,
with no wacky-waving tubemen in sight.
The entrance starts as normal, so fans know it's Bayley coming out, but then the music fades,
and the lights go out before much heavier music starts.
Those fans with a sharp ear will have heard the new theme after Bayley's title win on SmackDown,
and whilst there isn't a video package to go with the new song yet, expect that to come later.
Well, last week's first night of the draft saw plenty of surprises, but perhaps none was more shocking
than Bray Wyatt being moved to SmackDown in the very first round
The Fiend didn't wait long to make his presence felt on the blue show though, as during the first match,
Wyatt emerged from under the ring to terrorize Seth Rollins, causing the Architect to win via DQ against Roman Reigns.
The ever-cryptic Wyatt has now taken to Twitter in a very bizarre Tweet that has left fans wondering
who his next target will be now that he is on a different show to the Universal Champion.
The WWE Title picture is pretty full at the moment, with champion Brock Lesnar set to battle Cain
Velasquez at Crown Jewel, but placing the Fiend against either UFC star could make for a brilliant main event.
For now, fans can only wait to see what happens next, as the entire SmackDown roster may soon
find themselves guests, in the Firefly Fun House.
Over to AEW now, and a special guest has been announced for the latest edition of AEW Dark
On Twitter, AEW VP Cody Rhodes confirmed that Tazz will be a guest broadcaster for the show,
which will air live on AEW's youtube channel at 7 pm Eastern time on October 22nd.
Tazz, a former two-time ECW World Champion, has done commentary for both WWE and TNA,
and recently revealed his displeasure with not being invited back for the premiere episode of SmackDown on FOX.
Most recently, the Human Suplex Machine has hosted the Taz and the Moose morning show on CBS Sports Radio.
AEW Dark, the sister show to AEW Dynamite, debuted on YouTube this past Tuesday,
and feature four matches taped in Washington DC on the night of the Dynamite premiere.
In Boston this past Wednesday, three matches were taped and these will air this coming Tuesday on October 15th.
AEW certainly seems to have done everything right since the launch of Dynamite a few weeks ago,
and AEW Dark seems to be a great way to make sure fans get to see as many stars as they can.
Back to WWE now and given that there have been plenty of shakeups in WWE recently,
a few people have been left out in the cold on TV.
Last week, the decision was made to move Michael Cole and Corey Graves to Friday Night SmackDown,
which has left fans wondering on the fates of the men they replaced: Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton.
For now, it looks like Saxton will be calling matches for WWE Main Event
as the commentator posted a photo of himself, Mickie James and Dio Maddin on Instagram together.
James, a former WWE Women's Champion, has been calling Main Event matches in recent weeks,
and there has been talks of her taking a role backstage as a coach for the company.
Meanwhile, Phillips has been moved to 205 Live, where he has been working alongside Aiden English,
and recently joined NXT UK, where he's been calling matches with Nigel McGuiness.
These changes seem to be sticking for now, but that doesn't mean Phillips and Saxton
are gone from SmackDown completely,
as their have been talks of a third hour of programming on Fox Sports 1 after SmackDown,
and according to reports, both men are being considered for a role if this third hour is confirmed.
We're looking at one of the biggest sports personalities in the world now,
as boxing champion Tyson Fury is set to take on Braun Strowman in his first WWE match at Crown Jewel later this month.
Fury, who got into an incident with the Monster Among Men on the pilot episode of SmackDown on FOX,
certainly seems confident going into the match, but the same can't be said for Frank Warren,
his promoter, who admitted the match was very risky.Speaking to the UK's Metro newspaper, Warren said:
"His profile gets bigger every time and he’s doing us promoters a real favour by going on WWE,”
he said. “But truthfully, I don’t like the risk of his cut opening up. Tyson’s a law unto himself.
It’s risky though, no doubt about that." Warren would go on to say "In an ideal world I’d prefer he didn’t do it,
but it’s all about the bigger picture for him. He’s a natural wrestling star."
Despite Warren's concerns, Fury has shown no sign of backing out of the match,
so fans can expect an all-out war on October 31st at WWE Crown Jewel.
We've got some news from the upcoming WWE 2K20 game now,
as the company has revealed some of the characters in-game ratings, which have gotten a lot of Superstars talking.
One Superstar who isn't pleased at all is Sasha Banks, who has been rated an 80
ten whole points behind her rival Becky Lynch.
In a tweet, the Boss said the rating was why she didn't do a commercial for the game,
but she seems to have ticked off Carmella, who was an 80 in last year's game.
Replying to Banks, the former 24/7 Champion said that she was overjoyed when she was an 80,
and felt the need to remind her that it's just a game.
With these two being on the same show now thanks to the draft, could this be building to a feud between the two?
Whatever happens, it's clear WWE 2K20 is continuing to get big coverage, even if it's because people are complaining.
And finally today we're looking at last Friday's draft,
which saw plenty of cameo appearances from stars across the sporting world.
When representatives of Fox Sports were asked who their favourite Superstars are,
the answers they gave weren't exactly great, as names like Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long were mentioned,
as well as other stars who are either no longer wrestling, or no longer alive.
Now, Wrestling News is reporting that the current-day Superstars aren't exactly happy with this,
and one anonymous Superstar even said it made them cringe:
"[WWE] can’t help themselves. It always makes me cringe when you see them trying so hard to show
everyone how mainstream they are. It actually makes the company look worse because it is so obvious
to the people watching at home that the NFL guys being asked to talk about WWE don’t know anything
about current wrestling. We’ll never shake off the stigma with mainstream media
if Vince keeps scripting silly stuff on the shows."
With night two set to take place on tonight's show,
it'll be interesting to see who the company have planned to appear
and whether any cameos will convince fans to tune in to the red brand to see how the 2019 WWE draft wraps up.