Here's your wrestling news for December 4th 2021
And your headlines for today include
HUGE Title Match Set For WWE Day 1 On Latest Smackdown !
Why Is WWE WASTING Two Former World Champions In Filler Feud?
NXT Call-Up Confirmed For Next Week’s Smackdown !
Charlotte And Andrade Call Off Engagement! What Happened?
WWE Has No Plans For Former Champion After Getting Rid Of His Gimmick !
Former NXT Superstar Makes AEW Dark Debut !
Bryan Danielson Reveals Terrible Ring Name WWE Almost Gave Him !
Steel Cage Match Announced For Next Week’s Monday Night RAW !
Current WWE Superstar To Wrestle Outside WWE In Massive Anniversary Show ! And More !
We’re kicking off today with WWE SmackDown, as Brock Lesnar made his return to the show as advertised.
The Beast wasted no time, as he opened up the show, but it wasn’t Roman Reigns or Adam Pearce who interrupted him.
Instead, Lesnar was interrupted by Sami Zayn, the number one contender for the Universal title, and in an unsettling move, Brock was far friendlier
with Zayn than we’ve ever seen him. Lesnar’s chummy behaviour was all a ruse, as after Zayn said he was going to challenge
Reigns at WWE Day 1, Lesnar heavily pressurised the former Intercontinental Champion to have the match on SmackDown instead.
Zayn wasn’t ready, but the Beast went so far as to go backstage with him, before Sonya Deville confirmed that the title match would happen that night.
This pleased Lesnar, who wanted revenge on Roman Reigns, and the Beast Incarnate proposed to be ringside for the main event.
At this point, it was confirmed that the winner of the main event would face Lesnar at Day 1, and while the result was never in doubt, how Zayn
lost the Universal title match didn’t go as fans expected. After being friendly all night, Lesnar gave Zayn
a beatdown, taking him to Suplex City and ensuring Reigns arguably the quickest defence in his 461 days as Universal Champion.
As for why Lesnar would make the Universal title match just to cost Zayn, it makes sense that the Beast wants revenge on Reigns, and the last
thing he’d want is for the Tribal Chief’s tenure with the gold to end at anyone’s hands other than his own.
As for Sami, it’s safe to say that a true injustice was committed, and that his conspiracy isn’t just a conspiracy anymore.
After over four years as a heel, WWE might finally be in the process of turning Zayn face again, in what would be possibly the most unexpected
turn in the ongoing saga between the Head of the Table and the Beast Incarnate.
SmackDown also saw another appearance from Drew McIntyre, who is continuing to go misused ever since moving to the blue brand.
Sure, we understand that McIntyre shouldn’t be in the Universal title picture yet, as fans saw plenty of that in 2020 and early 2021, but he
should be doing more than this ultimate filler feud with Happy Corbin.
The same can be said for Jeff Hardy, who remains popular with fans despite bad booking, and who last week had a tease of being the number one
contender for the Universal title before Sami Zayn took it away. A three-time former World Champion, Hardy could
make a great filler opponent for Roman Reigns ahead of WrestleMania 38, where it’s expected that the Tribal Chief will take on Brock Lesnar.
Instead, Jeff and McIntyre are feuding with Corbin and Madcap Moss, who were once again cracking jokes on last night’s show, but were silenced by a
double Twist of Fate by Hardy, and McIntyre’s Claymore kick on Moss. Next week, Hardy will face Corbin, in a match
that could go either way, but the fact that this match could go either way is a sign that WWE is fine with having this filler feud conclude 2021
for some of SmackDown’s biggest names.
One name fans haven’t seen in person on SmackDown is Xia Li, who was called up in the 2021 WWE draft, but her absence on the blue
brand will end next week. During this week’s SmackDown, WWE made a point to hype up Li’s upcoming debut, and another
vignette for the former NXT Superstar promised that she’ll make her debut next week in Los Angeles. Xia Li’s story has been told through a comic book,
and we can only hope that WWE’s first female Chinese signing can give the SmackDown Women’s division a much needed boost.
Now, for years, Charlotte Flair and Andrade El Idolo were inseparable, but this powerful duo are no longer an item.
Bodyslam.net reports that the pair have split and called off their engagement, and that this wasn’t a mutual break-up. They write:
After speaking with multiple sources I can confirm that the two are no longer together. Sources indicated that the break-up did not appear to be
mutual and that it was Charlotte who ended the relationship. I was not given any details as to why the relationship came to an end, only that
the two are officially done as of a couple weeks ago. Signs of problems between the two have been
known for weeks, as on November 23rd, we reported that the pair were at odds, and were staying in different hotels even when they were in the same city.
Flair and Andrade were very close, and Charlotte’ father Ric also took a liking to Andrade, and accompanied the man who was going to be his
son in law at AAA TripleMania 29 In August. After Ric’s departure from WWE earlier this year, it was rumoured that the Nature Boy would be
managing Andrade in AEW, but between the Plane Ride from Hell controversy, and Andrade and Charlotte breaking up, that definitely won’t be
happening now.
Earlier this year, WWE began airing vignettes of Elias, which showed him burning his guitar and a grave bearing his name.
Despite it now being months since those vignettes first aired, there’s been no sign of the former 24/7 Champion on TV, with his last match being a loss
to the since released Jaxson Ryker on the July 19th RAW. Over the past few months, fans have speculated
about what kind of rebrand these vignettes are leading to, but it turns out that we’ll be waiting quite a while before we see the Drifter.
Wrestle Votes reports that when WWE filmed those vignettes, there was no end plan of the segments, and they were solely filmed to make fans know
that they were killing off the music gimmick. WrestleVotes also reported that Elias’ new gimmick featured a colourful attire and beard, but that it
was rejected by Vince McMahon for its resemblance to Macho Man Randy Savage.
However when Ringside News asked about this new look, they were told it was “false information,” and that Elias had been seen backstage a few
weeks ago, with short hair and no beard. They added that the comparison between Elias and the Macho Man were funny, because many
in WWE thought he looked Savage-like with the beard, but he’s now clean-shaven. WWE didn’t have plans for Elias past burning his
guitar, and we may not see him for months, but if this hiatus continues, the only people walking with Elias may be those who are the
next to be released in WWE’s never-ending budget cuts.
Elias is hoping to avoid a similar fate to Marina Shafir, who was released from WWE in June this year.
A member of MMA’s four-horsewomen, Shafir only had a handful of televised matches for the company, but has now found herself in AEW.
Shafir was present and competed at this week’s AEW Dark tapings, and while we won’t spoil the result of the match, we know she faced off against Kris Statlander.
It’s unclear when this match will air on Dark, but this marks Shafir’s debut for the company, and we’ll have to see if she fits in to Tony Khan’s plans to build
AEW’s women’s division. Shafir’s last match before this week was on the on October 22nd, where she defeated Masha
Slamovich at GCW Bloodsport 7, and after being under utilised in WWE, the MMA fighter now has a chance to prove herself in AEW.
Bryan Danielson has certainly proved himself in AEW, after joining the company in September at All Out.
Danielson’s debut came after over a decade of working in WWE as Daniel Bryan, but that wasn’t the original name the company had planned for him.
Speaking to TV Insider this week, Danielson revealed other names WWE pitched to him when he joined WWE, before they settled on Daniel Bryan:
People who were on the independents knew me as Bryan Danielson. It was better than some of the other names I pitched, like Buddy Peacock.
Bryan explained that when he first joined WWE, some fans struggled to move on from the Bryan Danielson name that he used on the independents
but now fans have struggled to stop calling him Daniel Bryan. Whatever name he goes under, Danielson
continues to prove himself as a fantastic wrestler in every company he works in, and we’re thankful he never had to work under the name Buddy Peacock.
Over to RAW now, as next week’s show will see WWE pull out all the stops, with two huge matches confirmed.
We already know that RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will put her title on the line against Liv Morgan, but now a huge non-title match
between WWE Champion Big E and Kevin Owens has been announced. That match will happen inside a steel-cage,
which will hopefully keep Seth Rollins away from his opponents at Day 1, and we’ll have to see who builds momentum ahead of the colossal triple
threat title match on January 1st next year.
And we’re ending today with WALTER, who has been the dominant force in NXT UK, holding their championship for a record 870 days.
Lately, it's been rumoured that the Austrian will soon be joining the main roster, as he's now split from his wife, who was adamant against him
going to the United States. We’ll have to see where WALTER ends up, but we know where his next match will be, and it
won’t be in WWE. Instead, WALTER will wrestle at the upcoming wXw 21st anniversary show, and will face
Cari Noir in on December 18th in Oberhausen, Germany. This will be WALTER’s first wXw match since
March 2020, and is possible thanks to a working relationship between the German wrestling promotion and WWE.
WALTER’s hasn’t been on WWE TV since Summerslam weekend, where he lost the NXT UK Title to Ilja Dragunov, and even if his
main-roster call-up happens, the Austrian powerhouse has work outside WWE to take care of first