Here is your news for November 27, 2019
We're starting off with some news from the building feud between Seth Rollins
and CM Punk, as it seems fans shouldn't expect a match between the two.
As of this video, there have been no talks between Punk and WWE management about an
in-ring return, despite Rollins acknowledging CM Punk chants on the latest episode of RAW
and saying that the former World Champion is sitting behind a desk
in Los Angeles, because he's afraid to make changes
This ad-libbed line didn't go down with Vince McMahon, who was reportedly furious according
according to Wrestling Observer Radio, as the Boss doesn't want to give fans the impression
impression that Punk will wrestle again, and neither he nor Triple H
have discussed this with the Best in the World.
There's a very slim chance that Rollins and McMahon were working folks backstage
but if they were, that means Punk must be in on their plan.
The chances of this all being a work seems very slim indeed, as the Punk comment was edited
out of the YouTube video of the Town Hall meeting, where Rollins
teased a heel turn by criticising the RAW roster.
Speaking of RAW, Becky Lynch took to Twitter on Tuesday morning, to reveal
that she has now become the longest-reigning RAW Women's Champion.
Breaking Ronda Rousey's record of 232 days, The Man joked that she was more than happy to be
a part of the Women's Tag Team Division, as it means fewer
singles title matches and thus a longer record.
Since capturing the title at Wrestle Mania, Lynch has defeated every one put in her way, and rumors
persist of the Man going for the WWE Women's Tag Team titles
possibly with her friend and foe Charlotte Flair.
From RAW to NXT now and the post-Survivor Series edition of the show
has had two huge title matches announced.
Fresh off a dominant night on Pay Per View for the entire brand, NXT's Tag Team Champions the
Undisputed Era will defend their titles against Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic on tonight's show.
Lee and Dijakovic were part of team Ciampa at War Games, and defeated
the Undisputed Era in the titular match, whilst Lee was also part of team NXT at
Survivor Series, last being eliminated by SmackDown's Roman Reins.
Akira Tozawa will also have the chance to regain the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
tonight when he takes on Lio Rush during the show.
Rush retained the title on the Survivor Series pre-show against both RAW's Tozawa
and SmackDown's Kalisto, pinning the latter to win the match.
Rush's win was one of the four brands vs. brand vs. brand matchesthat NXT won at
at Survivor Series, crushing Smack Down who got two, and RAW who got one, so expect
everyone to be in a good mood tonight when NXT airs on the USA Network.
After defeating AEW Dynamite in the ratings last week, NXT will be hoping
to keep this going, and having two huge title matches already announced
for the show is certainly effective to get fans to tune in.
We've looked at RAW and NXT so far, and now it's time for some SmackDown
news, as it seems a new character is on their way to join Bray Wyatt.
On Twitter, WWE wardrobe stylist and designer Erica Gimbel posted a video
of herself drawing an outfit for a female character and added the text "Let Her In".
WWE has also been teasing a new character for the next installment of the Firefly Fun House for
SmackDown, and there have been hints given that
this new disciple of the Fiend may be Liv Morgan.
On social media, Morgan has teased going in a darker direction when she returns, and this has
sparked speculation that the Riott squad member will be the oft alluded to Sister Abigail.
Moran hasn't been seen on WWE TV since July, and after so long away,
the Pink-haired powerhouse has promised to be her real self when she returns.
Since Wyatt returned as the Fiend at Summerslam, the crowd have adored the reigning
Universal Champion, with many considering him the main reason to watch WWE.
Interestingly, much of what fans have seen from Wyatt are his own ideas,
and its clear that the Fiend takes home the prize for comeback of the year, after
resurrecting his career, and becoming one of WWE's top stars.
Back to RAW now and it was bad news in the ratings, as the show averaged just 2.11 million viewers.
The second-lowest non-holiday number of the modern era, this week's RAW was down one
percent from the prior week, though in a sense this is worse because of two factors.
Not only should RAW have gotten a significant bump as being the post-Survivor Series show
but the Baltimore Ravens blow out win over the Los Angeles Rams, where they won 45 to 6
led to a 13% decline in viewers for the NFL, many of whom could have come to watch RAW instead.
This week's three-hour show finished tenth overall on cable but was dominant in the
demographics beating everything but ESPN Football in the battle for the 18-49-year-olds.
In this age group, RAW brought in a respectable 0.71, up from last week's 0.68.
It was the usual pattern for RAW's falling viewers, as the show start with 2.24 million,
which fell to 2.19 million in hour two, before the sharp decline to 1.9 million in hour three.
In the demographics from hour one to hour three, there was a 15% decline with women 18-49
a 22% fall with men of that same age, a three percent drop with teenage girls,
2% with teenage boys and 14% for fans over 50
The numbers in the arena weren't much better, as the WWE had to bring out
extra tarps for the show, to cover the rows upon rows of empty seats.
For this fourth straight WWE Chicago show, it seems fans were exhausted
from so much wrestling in such a short period of time, and when you include AEW Dynamite
happening from the Sears Center, that was 5 days of wrestling in less than a week.
The photos of the empty seats and tarps tell a worrying story about the attendance
figures, as whilst Survivor Series may have been a sell-out, fans didn't stick around.
Now, WWE owns the ECW Library, and it turns out that the company may be
ready to bring back some of the extreme promotion's old Pay Per Views.
According to the PW Insider, WWE recently filed for a trademark on Barely
Legal and CyberSlam, and these two shows could shake up the company's
Pay Per View schedule depending on how they're used
The legal documents for the trade mark say how the names have been trademarked
for use in both wrestling news and broadcast media, including TV and online
distribution, adding speculation that the shows will be Pay Per Views next year.
Both Barely Legal and CyberSlam have a lot of history in the wrestling business
so it'll be interesting to see what McMahon has planned.
Back to RAW now, and whilst Humberto Carillo has had a nice little push since
coming to the red brand, it seems that these big wins are over for now.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alverez said how Vince McMahon
has ran out of patience with Humberto, saying:
“Vince is done with Humberto Carrillo for the time being. He’s giving him the ‘Cedric Alexander.’
Like you’re still gonna see him on TV. I’m sure he’s gonna win here and there,
but like it’s exactly like Cedric Alexander. He got a few weeks, Vince thought
he wasn’t getting over, so he’s just — he’s done.”
It's clear that getting attacked before a US title match isn't a good look for Carillo, and it's
a real shame that his push has stalled, but not too
surprising when you consider the Chairman's track record.
We've got some good news now though, as although a series of poorly timed injuries
have kept Alexa Bliss out of action, it seems Nikki Cross is soon getting her partner back.
The team of Bliss and Cross have been announced as one of the eight teams for this Sunday's
Starrcade event, where they will hope to regain the Women's Tag Team titles.
The odds aren't good for the Kabuki Warriors, who currently hold the gold
as they will face Bliss and Cross, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, as well as Sasha Banks
and Bayley in a match brimming with star power.
Win or lose, the match can already be considered a victory for Bliss,
who is finally able to get back in the ring after so long away.
Alexa Bliss may be returning to the ring this Sunday, but she may not be the only Superstar
planning a comeback, as Tyson Fury has commented about returning to the WWE.
Fresh off his Crown Jewel victory over Braun Strowman, Fury sat down with the True Geordie
podcast this week, where he was asked about a potential match against Brock Lesnar. He said:
"Yeah, I fancy a fight with Brock, for sure. I watched a few of his fights
(He’s) pretty handy, but I can flatten him. In a WWE match or in a proper fight
I can flatten Brock Lesnar in 30 seconds.
The Gypsy King certainly impressed many backstage with his performance against
the Monster Among Men earlier this month, so time will tell whether the undefeated
undefeated boxing champion will ever go toe to toe with the Beast Incarnate,
possibly with the WWE Championship on the line.
And finally, today we're looking back at RAW, and though Seth Rollins
started off his heel turn, his old foe Randy Orton pulled off a big babyface move.
After Humberto Carillo was blind sided by the OC before his United States title match
against AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio got the shot instead, and after
an assist by Orton, is now the new US Champion.
Unsurprisingly, this didn't sit well with the Phenomenal former champion, who put out
a simple tweet that said "Randy. Orton." as though Mysterio may be the champion,
it seems Styles' main issue is with the WWE's resident Apex Predator.
Orton himself weighed in on the situation on Twitter, and congratulated
Rey on the US Title win, but also told him he's welcome.
Not only that, but Orton also claimed that Mysterio owed him one, as it seems the Viper
is much more focussed in winning his second US title, than dealing with Styles.
We'll have to see where this story line ends up, but it's very likely that a WrestleMania 35
rematch may be around the corner, but what do you think of this feud and
Rey's win? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, thanks for watching.