Here is your news for February 25th 2020
We’re starting today with news from WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, as
though last year’s show featured the first-ever women’s match in the country, it
was the trip home that got people’s attention.
Whilst a mechanical issue was blamed for the Superstars being stuck in the
Middle-Eastern nation for an extra day, it was later reported that issues between
Vince McMahon and the Saudi Royal Family, as well as the airplane staff needing
to go to sleep as they reached their limit of working hours were also a factor.
Whatever the real reason is, it was clear that the Superstars weren’t happy about
what happened, and on this week’s Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alverez
commented on Superstars not making the trip this time, saying:
“Far less people are going to Saudi Arabia which means the last time they went to
Saudi Arabia — remember the last time they went to Saudi Arabia and they had
that issue where they were stuck for 28 straight hours and a bunch of the wrestlers
talked about how they’re never gonna go back and I listened to people go ‘It’s just
a mechanical issue, it’s not a big deal — nothing’s wrong EVERYTHING IS OKAY!’
Well, here we are it’s the next Saudi Arabia show and coincidentally a bunch of
those people who one of whom’s wife used the words ‘hostage situation’ to
describe it they low and behold aren’t going back, but hey — it was just
mechanical issues, everybody.”
It was Karl Anderson’s wife who described what happened as a hostage situation,
which may be a factor why the former RAW Tag Champion isn’t making the trip this time.
In addition to Anderson, his OC partner Luke Gallows also won’t be attending, and
neither will big names like The Revival and Mustafa Ali.
Aleister Black also won’t be attending the show, as some of his tattoos, which are
of a religious nature may not go over well with the Saudi crowd, and both Sami
Zayn and Kevin Owens also won’t be attending.
Whilst Randy Orton won’t be attending Super Showdown this week, it won’t be
because he has any issues flying out, as the Viper doesn’t have any problems
competing in Saudi Arabia, but his limited schedule means he won’t be competing.
Once again, the WWE’s deal with Saudi Arabia is making headlines for the wrong
reasons, and whilst the show now allows female matches, the controversial deal
continues to cause plenty of bad press.
One name who will be competing at Super Showdown is Goldberg, who will take
on the Fiend for the Universal title this week, but he might already be looking at
the end of his career.
Despite their being rumours of a WrestleMania match for the Hall of Famer,
nothing has been announced yet, and Goldberg himself has spoken about a
possible retirement match, outside of the U.S
Speaking on the Total Slam Podcast, Goldberg, who is of Jewish faith, said he
wants to have his final match in Israel, a nation that has huge significance to him. He said:
“I’m considering my retirement match in Israel. As a matter of fact, my agent and I
talked about that a minute ago and that’s a big topic of conversation right now, so
its something we’re going to consider.”
Given that WWE doesn’t travel to Israel for shows, it’s likely that Goldberg’s final
match might happen somewhere else, but for now, fans will have to wait and see
just when the Hall of Famer’s last match will actually be.
Speaking of Goldberg, one man who certainly isn’t a fan of the former universal
Champion is Matt Riddle, who has continued to troll the WCW star online.
After Goldberg recently compared the King of Bros to a booger stuck in your nose,
Riddle returned in kind on Twitter, sarcastically wishing the Hall of Famer luck in
his upcoming Super Showdown match, and described himself as his Booger Bro.
Although there was a time that it looked like this real-life beef was going to lead to
a match, there’s been no reports on this potential encounter for quite some time,
as Riddle recently captured the NXT Tag Team titles with Pete Dunne.
Goldberg isn’t the only veteran that Riddle has targeted, as he’s also spoken about
wanting to retire Brock Lesnar, but it may be best for the Original Bro’s career if he
keeps quiet, as these comments have reportedly drawn the ire of Vince McMahon
From one name of NXT to another now, as Beth Phoenix has done big things on
the Gold brand’s commentary desk, but now the Glamazon is making her return to RAW.
On next week’s show, Phoenix will return to the red brand to give an update on
her husband Edge, who is recovering after taking a Conchairto from Randy Orton
on the January 27th RAW, which followed the 2020 Royal Rumble where Edge
came out of retirement.
The Rated-R Superstar himself is set to appear on the March 9th episode of RAW
which will emenate from the Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC, where he will
also give an update on his condition.
As always, the card is subject to change, but next week’s show will also feature the
return of United States Champion Andrade after his 30-day Suspension, as he will
team with Angel Garza to face Humberto Carillo and Rey Mysterio.
The four stars are certainly no stranger to each other, as it was Andrade who won
the US title from Mysterio last year, whilst Garza defeated Carilla on Monday’s RAW.
Also on this week’s show, Aleister Black was able to defeat Erick Rowan for the
second straight week, despite a pre-match attack by AJ Styles.
This attack clearly angered the former NXT Champion, as Black will face Styles on
next week’s show, giving fans plenty of reasons to tune in.
Before next week’s RAW though, the WWE will host Super Showdown this
Thursday, but the company has made a slight change to the show.
During this week’s RAW, the commentators promoted the upcoming gauntlet
match, and whilst Rusev was shown in the graphic, Tom Phillips made sure to
mention Rey Mysterio instead of the Bulgarian Brute.
It seems Rusev has been pulled from the match, though the WWE’s graphics team
didn’t have the time to fix the picture before it was put out on live TV.
It’s unclear why Rusev was pulled from the match, though there have been plenty
of reports saying that the former US Champion and the WWE have been disputing
his contract, though there is time for him to re-sign before his current deal expires.
With that said, it’s possible that Rusev is one of the names who are refusing to
travel to Saudi Arabia, and given the issues from last year’s trip, it’s hardly
surprising why the Bulgarian, as well as plenty other Super stars, are hesitant to return.
We’ve got some Hall of Famer news now, as Sunny hasn’t had a great time lately,
as she’s been incarcerated since March 2019 following a bench warrant connected
to a DUI arrest.
It’s been previously reported that Sunny’s attorneys were petitioning the court for
a release, and according to the PW Insider, these attempts have been successful.
At this time, the original Diva is slated to be released from jail on March 25th, over
a year after her incarceration, and hopefully this time behind bars will encourage
the Hall of Famer to make better life choices from now on.
Now, last week’s SmackDown saw plenty of action during the two-hour broadcast,
but one star who was left hurting was Shinsuke Nakamura.
Competing in the Symphony of Destruction match, the King of Strong Style
required staples after being slammed onto a grand piano by Braun Strowman, but
according to Bryan Alverez, Nakamura wasn’t the only star who left the match
worse for wear. He said:
“Well, [Nakamura] was bleeding everywhere and got stitches. You know
that all four of the guys in that match — I don’t wanna say hurt — but,
banged up — maybe I can say hurt, but not injured I forget what the
terminology is. All four guys had something bad happen to them in that
stupid match.”
Whilst WWE’s gimmick matches can sometimes be unpredictable, the company
should have probably predicted that grand pianos aren’t built to be used as
weapons, a lesson that Shinsuke Nakamura has learned the hard way.
Onto WWE mechandise news now, as the WWE has had countless items for fans
of all ages to buy, but not every piece of merch is a winner.
Recently, a WWE child’s costume of Brock Lesnar made the rounds online, as fans
were quick to point out that the Beast’s sword tattoo on the tiny foam body
looked a lot more phallic, than the company probably wanted.
Whilst the costume set used to come with a replica WWE Championship, the title
is now gone, and former 24/7 Champion Alundra Blayze quickly asked her
followers on Twitter if they saw what she could see.
In response, Heath Slater agreed that he got what she meant, and the One Man
Band wasn’t the only person to notice what Blayze was saying.
Hopefully, the WWE will think more carefully on their merchandise next time, or
they’ll risk more kids dressing up in costumes this Halloween, which adults won’t
exactly want to see.
From RAW to NXT now, as Finn Balor has done some big things since turning heel
and rejoining the gold brand, and the former NXT Champion recently reunited
with another ex-holder of the gold.
On Twitter, the self-professed Prince of NXT tweeted out a picture of himself with
AEW Superstar Pac, who fans will remember as Adrian Neville in WWE.
Together, the pair were part of the formative years of the gold brand, and whilst
PAC remains in AEW, this picture will no doubt lead to speculation that Balor could
be joining the All Elite company in the future.
And finally today we’re ending with the results from Monday Night RAW, as the
road to Super Showdown and WrestleMania 36 ran through Winnipeg.
Returning to his home country, Kevin Owens opened the show up by confronting
Randy Orton following the attacks on Edge and Matt Hardy, and though the WWE
were reportedly concerned of the Winnipeg crowd chanting for Chris Jericho,
Owens and Orton got the crowd being vocal for the Rated-R Superstar, setting up
a match later that evening between Orton and the Prizefighter.
After Angel Garza defeated Humberto Carrillo and Ricochet defeated Luke
Gallows, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar appeared alongside Paul Heyman, who
spoke about the Beast’s match with the highflyer this Thursday at Super Showdown.
Up next, Aleister Black was able to defeat Erick Rowan despite the OC’s pre-match
attack, whilst Bobby Lashley returned to his winning ways by defeating R-Truth,
just days before both men enter the Tuwaiq trophy Gauntlet match.
During the Women’s Elimination Chamber match contract signing, RAW Women’s
Champion Becky Lynch had plenty to say about all 6 of her potential WrestleMania
opponents, leading to a brawl with Shayna Baszler, who has been a pain in the
neck for the Man, literally, since her RAW debut.
When Angelo Dawkins faced RAW Tag Team Champion Murphy, it was Seth Rollins
who gave Dawkins the DQ win thanks to his interference, but Montez Ford got in
on the action, defeating the Monday Night Messiah in a singles match of their own.
And in the main event, Randy Orton picked up the win over Kevin Owens, though
it was ultimately the referee who was the deciding factor.
Fast-counting Owens’ shoulders to the mat, it was later revealed that the ref in
question is a disciple of Seth Rollins, though this faith in the Monday night
Messiah didn’t cause Rollins to save him from a beatdown.
Instead, Owens nailed the ref with a Stunner and drove him through a table, as
the referee will probably think twice about who he puts his faith in from now on.
Though this is when the cameras stopped rolling, the action didn’t win in the Bells
MTS Place, as Drew McIntyre competed in the show’s dark match.
Defeating Seth Rollins in singles action, the 2020 Men’s Royal Rumble winner also
delivered a passionate promo that got the fans behind him, as the Scottish
Superstar continues to send a clear message to his opponent at WrestleMania 36,
whoever that will be after Super Showdown.