Here is your news for December 10, 2019
We're starting off today with news from Monday Night RAW, as the WWE
finally pulled the trigger on Seth Rollins' heel turn.
This week's show centered on Kevin Owens, who was hunting the AOP after
the pair assaulted him last week, and whilst at one point it looked like the
Prizefighter was going to confront Rollins, Akam and Rezar showed up just in
time before anything got physical.
Backstage with Charly Caruso, Owens said he blames Rollins for the AOP
attacking him last week, claiming that he was the only member of the roster to
speak up against the self- professed locker-room leader.
After bumping into Rey Mysterio, the United States Challenge offered his
homie to help back Owens up, and that homie was the steel pipe he used to
level Brock Lesnar last month.
On his search, the former Universal Champion even shared the screen with
Mojo Rawley, and asked the hype man if he'd seen Akam and Rezar.
When Mojo couldn't decide which way he saw the Tag Team go, this didn't sit
well with Owens, who slapped Rawley hard in the face to help him remember.
Later in the show, Rollins interrupted the Viking Raiders, which led to Owens
coming out to attack Mojo, who was aligned this week with Sami Zayn, who
described himself as the former Hype Bro's liberator.
On Twitter, Mojo addressed the attack by Rollins, claiming that the former NXT
Champion will need a lot more steel pipe shots to try and slow him down.
Later in the show, the steel-pipe- wielding Owens made a beeline for the AOP's
van, but was shocked by a mysterious figure in the back, and was quickly
attacked outside of the vehicle by the former RAW Tag Team Champions.
That mystery man turned out to be none other than Rollins himself, and after a
Curbstomp by the Beast Slayer, this heel turn was confirmed, complete with
Rollins walking away with his new partners.
Following a commercial break, Rollins told the WWE Universe how he had done
everything right for them, including competing every night and wrestling
through injuries, only to be booed by the crowd and would go on to berate the
live crowd in South Carolina.
This explanation is a great story, as its no secret that the fans have turned on
Rollins in 2019, and the best heels are the ones who think they're actions are
justified, and it's obvious that Rollins thinks he is in the right.
Time will tell what happens next with the Architect, but the fact that fans on
social media are now praising Rollins for his actions this week, despite
lambasting him over the past few months, only gives credence to what the
BeastSlayer is saying.
In more RAW news, the red brand got their first confirmed match for this
Sunday's TLC event, as Aleister Black will go one on one with Buddy Murphy.
The match was confirmed on the go-home-show for the Pay Per View, as a
promo from Murphy claimed that the Australian was better than the
Dutchman, though Black made a statement of his own by defeating Akira Tozawa.
Black and Murphy have been feuding since the final RAW before Survivor
Series, as when Black didn't immediately fight Murphy after the former
Cruiserweight Champion knocked on his door, Murphy said the gothic
Superstar was all hype.
More matches were added to this Sunday's Pay Per View, as the WWE has
confirmed that Rusev and Bobby Lashley will face off again.
We're now two months into the Rusev/Lana/Lashley love triangle, and whilst
fans haven't been thrilled at the story, it has allowed all three consistent
booking on RAW.
On this week's show, the unhappy couple of Rusev and Lana confirmed their
on-screen divorce by signing papers, though the Bulgarian Brute did add a
clause saying that to confirm their divorce, Lashley will have to meet him in the
ring on Pay Per View in a tables match
This is certainly an odd way to stick it to Lana and Lashley, who will now receive
a bonus for appearing on the Pay Per View, but after months of awkward
booking, and a fall from grace considering how over Rusev Day was last year, it
seems this angle is finally coming to a close.
More news for TLC now, as the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Asuka
and Kairi Sane will take on Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, in the first ever
Women's Tag Team Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.
One week after defeating the Queen in handicap action, Asuka and Sane took
on Becky Lynch, and though The Man got the win via Disqualification, she
certainly didn't look like a winner to the steel-chair-wielding Asuka and Sane
gave a flying elbow off the top rope through a table to add insult to injury
Before the match, Flair had even offered to be in Lynch's corner, which the
RAW Women's Champion refused, but now the longtime friends and enemies
will team up, after the Kabuki Warriors laid out the challenge for TLC.
Though Lynch has beaten practically everyone there is to beat this year, she is
yet to get the big win over Asuka, and after losing to the Empress at the Royal
Rumble, The Man is still hungry to get her win back.
We're taking a break from WWE now to focus on former Superstar Big Cass, as
fans will remember his incident this year with AEW's Joey Janela.
After an unfortunate set of incidents earlier this year, Cass and Janela got into a
fight at an indie show, but Janela chose not to press assault charges on the
Seven-foot-star, who was going through some mental health issues at the time.
Yesterday afternoon though, Cass tweeted something that was quite
concerning, claiming that he would end Janela's life if the AEW Bad Boy
mentioned him again.
This tweet was quickly deleted, but not before plenty of fans shared
screenshots, as given Cass' mental health issues in the past, as well as the
threatening tone of the tweet, many people called the Certified G out on it.
Defending the deleted tweet, Cass sent out a second, claiming that it was just a
work and called the fans morons, but Janela fired back, saying that the only
person Cass was working was himself.
In a follow-up statement, the Bad Boy of AEW elaborated on his point, saying
that Cass shouldn't be making threats and then trying to cover them up, adding
that he gave Cass the benefit of the doubt before, but sees him as a moron now.
It's still concerning after the WrestlePro event in September that saw the police
involved, that Cass is still making headlines for all the wrong reasons, and
whilst Janela has previously started he's pulling for Cass to turn his life around,
we can't help but wonder how the AEW star feels now.
We're not sure what prompted Cass to threaten Janela, but we still hope that the
the former WWE Superstar gets the help he needs, because he still has a lot to
offer in the wrestling business, if he decides to stay in the industry.
Back to WWE now and though WrestleMania 36 may be months away, the
company has already confirmed it's first wave of Hall of Fame inductees, as the
NWO and Batista will be joining the elite group.
These inductions will mark the second induction for each member of the NWO,
as the group will be represented by Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and
X-Pac, and the first induction for the Animal.
Speaking to ESPN, Hogan described the group as guys who went at Vince
McMahon as a shoot, saying:
"You’ve got four guys that were basically going at Vince as a shoot, pushing
hard to actually try to take over. Not put him out of business but basically take
his spot and be the No. 1 company. All of a sudden, you’re inducting four guys
in the Hall of Fame that 20 years ago were trying to stab you in the back. It’s
like Vince says: In the WWE, never say never.”
It's very interesting that the company opted not to include Eric Bischoff, who
was such a large part of the team back in WCW, but after Bischoff's disastrous
run as the Executive Director of SmackDown, it's not hard to see why.
For Batista, his induction was reported by People Magazine, who got the
chance to speak to the Animal about the upcoming ceremony in Florida. He said:
“As soon as I hung up the phone, I was … and excuse my language, I was like,
‘Sh*t, I gotta give a speech.’”
“And that is what I’ve been stressing about since
I don’t think it’s sunk in,” he says. “And I was thinking about it because I mean,
it seems like a long journey, but it also feels like yesterday when I started my
career. And it also feels.because I’m still working so much, it doesn’t feel like
an end of a journey.”
Since joining the WWE main roster in 2002, its no secret that Batista's career
was a whirlwind of success, and he has transitioned nicely out of the ring into a
profitable career in Hollywood, including roles in Blade Runner 2049, the James
Bond movie Spectre and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Speaking about how he received the news, the Animal revealed that he heard it
from the main man himself, stating:
“Vince [McMahon] called me personally to ask me, I was just … I wasn’t
surprised, but I was pretty happy, It's a good feeling, it’s a really great feeling.”
Later on in the day, when the news was doing the rounds, SmackDown
Superstar and Batista entrance enthusiast Xavier Woods got involved, claiming
that a member of Evolution or Reverent D-Von should induct the Animal,
though Batista has somebody else in mind.
A person that nobody would have predicted, Batista has publicly requested Fit
Finlay to do the honours next year on the night before WrestleMania, as the
Irishman who a key part in helping the Animal backstage.
Time will tell whether the company gives Batista what he wants, as most fans
probably expect someone like Triple H to induct him, but with the Guardian of
the Galaxy making his choice so publicly known, it may be hard for them to
deny his request.
Back to RAW now and after months of being absent from TV, Liv Morgan is
officially on her way back to the ring.
During this week's show, the WWE aired a promo for the returning Morgan,
showing several highlights from her career, before promising a Makeover for
the pink-haired powerhouse.
Though fans speculated that Morgan was going to become the human vessel
for Bray Wyatt's Sister Abigail, it looks like the company has different plans, and
the commentators, especially Jerry the King Lawler, shared their excitement to
see the return of the Riott Squad member.
Though fans can expect to see Liv Morgan back in the ring relatively soon, one
star they shouldn't expect is Lars Sullivan.
According to reports by the Wrestling Observer, Sullivan is only halfway
towards making a return, after requiring knee surgery that has kept him out of
action for the majority of the year.
It's been an awkward year for the Freak, who suffered an anxiety attack shortly
before making his main roster debut, and was fined $100,000 by the company,
for racist, homophobic and offensive comments he made earlier in his life, both
before and during he was signed with WWE.
It's unclear just how much longer Sullivan will be out for, but hopefully his
return will give him a more sustained run on the main roster, after a difficult 2019.
And finally today we're wrapping up with the results from RAW that we haven't
been able to cover so far.
In the first match of the night, Matt Hardy took on Drew McIntyre, but the
experience of the former ECW Champion was no match for the Scottish
Psychopath, who levelled Hardy with a Claymore to get the win.
The RAW Tag Team Champions the Viking Raiders were able to retain their
titles, when their open challenge was accepted by the Street Profits, and in a
shocking upset, Humberto Carillo got the win over Andrade.
After the match, Andrade was quick to blame his manager Zelina Vega for the
loss, as the former NXT Champion accidentally knocked her from the
ring-apron, and it seems there may be some serious issues for El Idolo and Vega.
Ahead of his match against Aleister Black this weekend, Buddy Murphy was
looking to prove himself in the ring, and did just that with a victory over Zack Ryder.
Pinning the former Intercontinental, US and Tag Champion, Murphy sent a
clear message to the gothic Dutchman, who we expect was watching intently
behind the scenes.
Erick Rowan's path of rage continued again this week, with a victory over a
local competitor, though this match didn't end by pinfall, submission,
Disqualification or countout.
Instead, the match was stopped prematurely after the local star grabbed
Rowan's beloved pen he's been carrying, and placed it at the top of the ramp.
Three Iron Claws later and the ref had no choice but to call the match off, but
as Rowan screamed at the jobber for trying to hurt someone he loves, we may
finally be starting to get answers to what's in the pen.
And in the main event, Rey Mysterio was able to retain the US title against AJ
Styles, thanks once again to Randy Orton.
Distracting the Phenomenal One at ringside after the OC had already been
dispatch by Mysterio, Orton's intervention was just enough to throw Styles off
his game, and a quick rollup by Rey was all it took to retain the gold.
Things would go from bad to worse for Styles and the OC after RAW went off
the air though, as the trio were dispatched of by Humberto Carillo, Orton and
Mysterio, and Styles himself suffered a 619/RKO combo, to send the crowd
home happy.
This was certainly a night that the Phenomanal former champion would like to
forget, but with Styles seemingly out of the title picture for now, it'll be
interesting to see who steps up next to face Mysterio, but who do you think
Rey should challenge next? Leave a comment below and as always
Thanks for watching.