Here is NEWS for October 26 2019
We're starting today with last night's edition of SmackDown as Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez
didn't dissapoint in their latest encounter.
Velasquez, joined by Rey Mysterio taunted Lesnar with the fact that he defeated the Beast in UFC,
whilst Mysterio thanked the fans for their support for his son Dominick
who is doing much better after being mauled by The Beast.
Appearing on the Titantron, Lesnar and Paul Heyman revealed that Brock wouldn't be meeting face-to-face with Velasquez,
but instead took their frustration out backstage on Dominick, assaulting the young man which caused Rey and Cain to run backstage.
Returning from commercials, fans saw Dominick laid out on a stretcher and tended to by Rey and Cain,
who were interrupted again by the Beast, who brutalized both men with a garbage can.
With Crown Jewel less than a week away, it's clear that the Beast will do anything to retain his title in Riyadh,
and more importantly, get his win back from his old nemesis.
This week's show also saw a special preview of the Team Hogan Vs. Team Flair match at Crown Jewel,
as Shorty G, Roman Reigns and Ali defeated King Corbin and Shinuje Nakamura, who teamed with Cesaro.
Despite being the butt of short jokes recently, Gable was the clear MVP of the match,
holding his own against the Team Flair members, and things came to an end when the Big Dog was tagged in.
Attempting a Superman Punch, Reigns was countered into a spinebuster and Cesaro Swing
and may have lost the match if not for the timely interference of Ali.
As Corbin and Nakamura entered the ring, it was Gable who was able to hold them off long enough
to allow Roman to hit the Superman Punch on Nakamura, followed by a second on the King.
A flip from Ali off the top rope sealed the deal for team Hogan, giving the Hulkster and his men
the psychological advantage going into next week's match, which will have much higher stakes.
This week's SmackDown also saw Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode defeat the New Day,
whilst Lacey Evans made quick work of local competitor Cameron Conners.
After Drew Gulak presented some slides of why Braun Strowman will lose to Tyson Fury at Crown Jewel,
the former Cruiserweight Champion was mauled by the Monster,
leaving Gulak easy pickings for Kalisto, who defeated the powerpoint-powerhouse.
In Women's division action, Nikki Cross picked up a win over Mandy Rose,
building momentum to her eventual title match against SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley,
whilst Daniel Bryan was given a strange proposition by Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn.
After claiming the new Daniel Bryan fans saw this year was the real Bryan,
Zayn offered an invitation to join himself and Nakamura, and whilst the fans were clearly against the idea,
Bryan didn't say no before walking away.
From SmackDown to RAW now, as the love triangle between Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley
will once again take centre stage on next week's show.
Yesterday, WWE announced that the unhappy couple will be part of a divorce court edition of
Jerry Lawler's King's Court after Rusev had a brush with the law last week.
When Rusev returned to RAW a few weeks ago, Lana also returned but with Lashley,
which started an on-screen romance between the two.
This romance led to Rusev storming a Cleveland restaurant on the October 21s show,
which caused him to get in-story Arrested, and he's since been released from custody.
In a tweet, the former US Champion said he's still California dreamin',
but he won't be so happy on next week's RAW, when he confronts his wife and her lover.
Speaking of the new power couple, WWE.com has also released a special photo gallery dubbed "Sorry Rusev",
which features the first Lashley and Lana joint photoshoot since making it official in WWE.
If Divorce Courts aren't your thing, next week's RAW will also feature a special Champion Vs Champion match,
as RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch will face WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane.
This will be the start of a busy week for the Pirate Princess, who will travel to NXT on October 30th,
as she and Asuka will defend their titles against Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox.
The pair earned a shot at the Kabuki Warriors by winning a recent number 1 contenders match on NXT,
but given that both Asuka and Sane are former NXT Women's Champions,
defeating them will be easier said than done.
Whilst next week's edition of WWE TV is shaping up to be a huge seven days for fans,
the same can't be said for the recent WWE 2K20 game, which continues to be haunted by bad graphics,
glitches and other issues that make it nearly unplayable.
In fact, most fans panned the game before it was even released and Playstation
are even giving out refunds to those who bought the game digitally without any hassle.
This week, the official WWE Games twitter responded to claims by fans that they sold a broken game, saying:
"We are listening closely to the feedback that's been shared regarding WWE2K20 and are aware of the concerns some players are reporting.
We're working hard to investigate these concerns and address them as necessary. We expect to have an initial patch ready in the next two weeks,
with others to follow. Stay tuned to WWEGames social media channels for more information."
Hopefully, these patches will come soon and fix things, as it seems the recent hashtag #FixWWE2K20 worked like a charm.
As we mentioned, next week will see WWE host Crown Jewel in Riyadh,
and this is the fourth show of a decade-long deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In preparation for the huge night, the WWE wisely set up a big booth at the Riyadh Games Festival as part of Riyadh Season,
where the set up a little ring, other displays and a gaming section, though we hope fans got to play 2k19, and not 2k20.
No WWE Superstars were present at the event, but we got plenty of photos from Ring Rules,
the latter of whom will face Cesaro at Crown Jewel after winning the Biggest Battle Royal earlier this year.
The Undertaker, Seth Rollins and AJ Styles were also there in cardboard form
as the show seemed to be similar to WrestleMania Axxess, but for Crown Jewel.
The Pay Per View itself will take place on October 31st at 1pm Eastern, and whilst a lot could change between now and then,
one thing we do know is that there'll be no women's match.
One of the most controversial parts of the Saudi deal is that WWE aren't allowed to host a women's match
and despite rumors of a match taking place at June's Super Showdown event,
with Alexa Bliss and Natalya even being flown out to the conservative nation, the contest didn't occur.
Now, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE haven't received any hope of a women's match this time, saying:
“Unlike the last show, where the government gave WWE the impression they would allow women on the show,
to the point the Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss match was quietly booked and both were flown over,
and the rug was pulled out, we’ve heard nothing in that direction so far this time.”
With this being year two of the ten-year- deal, there's always a chance that fans will see a women's match eventually in Saudi Arabia,
but in the meantime, it's not happening. Over to the world of MMA now,
and whilst AEW star Jake Hager remains undefeated in Bellator,
the Inner Circle member faced the most adversity he's seen in the cage yet, but thanks to his own doing.
Hager's fight at Belltor 231 was ruled a no contest, due to a number of fouls that rendered his opponent Anthony Garrett unable to continue.
This is the first time Hager has failed to earn a victory in his young MMA career, as early in the fight,
the former WWE World Champion worked the clinch, and later busted open his opponent,
before delivering a swift knee to Garrett's groin.
The second knee dropped Garrett into the cage wall, and as it became apparent that he wasn't getting up, the match was stopped.
Despite the fouls, Hager remains undefeated in his three professional MMA fights,
and with the fight behind him, may now finally start having matches in AEW as part of the Inner Circle.
Some good MMA news now as Randy Couture is expected to make a full recovery
after suffering a heart attack earlier this week during a workout at Unbreakable Performance in West Hollywood.
A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Couture had fans worried after checking into the Cedars Sinai Hospital
with an apparent Heart attack on October 23rd, and these worries were only strengthened when he was moved to intensive care
In a frankly badass move, the 56-year- old Couture somehow walked his way to the emergency room and checked himself in,
and is now making a speedy recovery. In a statement, Couture revealed that he hasn't kicked the bucket yet, saying:
"I am alive and well. Special thanks to the amazing staff at Cedars Sinai Hospital.
From the ER to cardiac ICU thanks for taking care of me.”
“I’m one of those people that has crazy thick blood and nominally high bad cholesterol.
.Unfortunately, those 2 factors combined to create a nice clot including my diagonal artery.
The (catheterization laboratory) at Cedars got right on it, cleared it out and placed a stint in its place.”
“Thanks to all of you out there expressing your concern. Your love and support mean the world to me and my family.
Live your lives to the fullest. You never know when you’ll draw that last breath in!”
In even better news, ESPN's Ariel Helwani is reporting that Couture has already been discharged from the hospital after just two days
proving that it's gonna take a lot more than a heart attack to keep the Natural down.
More medical news next but this time form WWE, as Xavier Woods will be on the shelf for quite a while
after suffering an Achilles Tendon tear during an Austalian house show.
This is obviously bad news for the New Day, though Woods is keeping positive
saying that he plans on doing plenty of live streaming, and uploaded a video about his condition shortly after the surgery.
In the video, the former Tag Champion admitted he has no idea how long he'll be out for,
but also said that because he just woke up from surgery,
he probably won't remember the video at all, saying "I’m pumped full of all, all of the good stuff."
On Twitter, the SmackDown Superstar was his humorous self, saying that the injury actually
came from falling out of his treehouse when someone yelled his epidermis was showing,
a reference that only die-hard fans of The Simpsons will recognize from being from Season 6 episode 'Bart of Darkness'
where Bart breaks his leg in the same manner. Whilst he may be gone from the ring,
Whilst he may be gone from the ring, Woods is clearly taking things in his stride,
and has said that he's pumped to be able to spend Halloween with his kids and keep busy on Twitch.
Though Woods may be feeling good now, he'll soon be in a lot of hurt when the medication wears off,
and during WWE Backstage, host Booker T teased that the New Day star may never wrestle again,
but as bad as an Achilles Tear is, it was clear that Booker was just having fun at his friend's expense.
Woods may be gone for the time being, but one Superstar who is doing great is Bayley,
who has a brand new shirt out to show her new change in behaviour.
The shirt, which documents the murder of the Bayley Buddies from the October 11th edition of SmackDown,
shows Bayley's emoji-self with a pink axe, surrounded by popped inflatable friends, all with Xs over their eyes.
With the phrase "Bayley is my role model" written on it, the shirt is definitely one of the most interesting designs
WWE Shop has made recently, and whoever designed it should receive some major credit.
Since turning heel, the former Hugger has done a complete 180 with her character,
and after capturing the SmackDown Women's title from Charlotte Flair, now has the shirt to match her title.
And finally today we're ending with some more T-Shirt news,
as Jim Ross is set to make some serious dough from his recent comments.
As previously reported, the AEW commentator recently spoke about Seth Rollins,
criticizing the Architect for describing AEW as the minor leagues, and in one particularly biting comment,
wondered if Rollins will be ever as over as his fiancee Becky Lynch.
On ProWrestlingTees now, fans can get a shirt of the infamous line, which reads "Maybe One Day You'll Be As Over As Your Girlfriend",
as Rollins has learned not to mess with arguably the greatest commentator of all time