Here’s your news for November 6 2019
We're kicking off today with former Universal Champion Seth Rollins
who has once again made headlines thanks to his presence on social media
On this week's RAW, Rollins faced NXT Champion Adam Cole in the main event
and after a hard fought match that ended in a DQ finish, took the time
to praise the Undisputed Era star on Twitter.
Describing Cole as the Real Deal, The Beast Slayer promised it wouldn't be
the last time the two competed, and also gave a mention to Triple H,
who tried to recruit the inaugural NXT Champion back onto the Gold brand.
Whilst this tweet was innocent enough, Rollins would follow this up with a
scathing comment about Dave Meltzer, saying that the Wrestling Observer
veteran was at best a purveyor of misinformation, and at worst a vindictive liar.
This outburst on social media seems to stem from a report where Meltzer
claimed that the Architect gave an awkward "rah-rah" speech to the locker room
about keeping their personal views, especially of what happened after the recent
Crown Jewel event, off of social media.
Of course, this would be very ironic if the awkward speech turns out to be true,
but given that Rollins is straight up calling Meltzer a liar, it was unclear who to believe.
When Rollins flat out denied the claims of the talk backstage, Meltzer retracted
his claim of the talk and apologised to Rollins, as it seems
the Observer veteran got things wrong on this occasion.
Speaking of Crown Jewel, more stories have come out about the show, as the majority
of Superstars were forced to miss SmackDown because of conflicting reports.
This of course, wasn't good for Superstar morale, as Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar
were able to leave on time, but one Superstar who turned down
this chance was the Beast's opponent Cain Velasquez.
According to reports, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion
was given the offer to leave on time, alongside the company's top stars,
but turned it down to stay with the roster and crew in Riyadh.
This sign of humility was well received by the roster, as it seems Velasquez
is already making friends in the company, mere weeks after his debut on the
premiere of SmackDown on FOX last month.
This is very different from Lesnar, who is known to keep to himself backstage and
leave shows before they're finished, in what is seen as a highly disrespectful act.
As fans know, Velasquez came up short against the Beast in mere minutes at the Pay Per View
thanks to an injury limiting what Velasquez could do, but fans should expect
the former UFC star to be on the hunt for Lesnar once he has recovered from surgery.
Whilst the former UFC Heavy weight Champion came up short when he
faced Brock Lesnars in Riyadh, the same can't be said for Tyson Fury, who won
his match via count out against Braun Strowman.
A match that stemmed from the pair's collision on the premiere of SmackDown on FOX
Fury avoided using his fists for the majority of the match, but eventually
hit a devastating right hand that kept the Monster Among Men down.
Now, the lineal Boxing champion will return to the Blue brand this Friday.
It's unclear what the Gypsy King will have to say, as we previously reported
that Fury had no plans in WWE after Crown Jewel.
All we do know is that the WWE must be paying quite a large sum of money
to keep Fury around, and fans will have to tune in to Friday Night
SmackDown to see what the Boxing star has planned.
Whilst Velasquez and Fury may be two of the newest faces on WWE TV,
they aren't the only people to recently commit to the company.
Yesterday, WWE confirmed the signing of four new Superstars to their
Performance Center, including Scarlett Bordeaux, who recently worked for Impact
Wrestling and had a tryout with the company in September this year.
Fans may also remember seeing the self-professed smoke show job to Nia Jax
on the Boxing Day 2016 edition of RAW, and it'll be interesting to see whether Bordeaux's
character of bringing sexy back to wrestling will play out in the WWE's PG product.
Bordeaux wasn't the only signing to the company however,
as Shotzi Blackheart has also joined the WWE.
Fans may remember Blackheart's hard hitting performance in a No Disqualification
match at EVOLVE's 10th anniversary show that aired on the WWE Network
and Shotzi was personally presented with a WWE contract by NXT General Manager
William Regal at a recent EVOLVE show in Atlanta, Georgia.
Australia's Indi Hartwell also signed with WWE and the Impressive
One has been living up to her nickname in her brief career.
The 22 year old has cited Sasha Banks and Bayley's battles in NXT as part
of the reason she became a wrestler, and after racking up championships in her home
country as well as in promotions like Shimmer, will look to do the same in WWE.
Though no male Superstars were signed to a contract, the WWE did pick up
Referee Stephon Smith, a graduate of Ohio Valley Wrestling who recently
officiated in Evolve, before making the switch to WWE.
From four new faces in WWE to arguably its biggest face of all time now,
as Hulk Hogan is set to bust out his acting chops very soon on ABC's The Goldbergs.
The popular sitcom is set in the 1980s, when Hulkamania was at it's peak,
and will be a special Wrestle Mania themed episode, with three of the show's
main characters trying to get in to the showcase of the Immortals.
Hogan won't be the only Super star to make his presence felt in the wrestling themed episode,
as former WWE Intercontinental Champion Carlito will also appear, though in an unspecified role.
With a name like The Goldbergs, fans may have expected a certain
other former World Champion to show up, and yes, WWE's Goldberg
has made appearances for the show over the years.
From one former Universal Champion to another now, as the new holder of the red
strap Bray Wyatt has made his first appearance with the title on WWE Backstage.
Appearing on last night's episode of the show, Wyatt hosted a special edition
of the Firefly Fun House, and showcased his new Universal championship
which includes portraits of the Fiend on the side plates
These plates are much different than what Wyatt had when he captured the
WWE Championship in 2017, as the title is more focused
on the Fiend character which debuted earlier this year.
Over the past few days, there had been speculation of Wyatt debuting
an entirely new championship belt as the Red title is now on Team Blue
but it seems that isn't the case for the time being.
Speaking of Wyatt, the eater of worlds may have taken his title to SmackDown,
but did have one final match on RAW after the show before departing for the Blue brand.
Facing Seth Rollins inside a steel cage, this match marked Wyatt's first title
defense since becoming Universal Champion at Crown Jewel, and the company
once again used the red lighting for the two like they've done in the past.
After a back and forth bout, the finish saw Rollins deliver several stomps in the center
of the ring, but was prevented from escaping the cage by Wyatt, who dragged
him back to the center, Instead of escaping though, the Fiend would hit the Sister
Abigail on Rollins to get the pinfall victory, and after the lights went out, Wyatt
reappeared on the stage, raising the title in the air to send the fans home
Whilst Wyatt had a fitting send off this week on Monday Night RAW, the same can't be said
for Adam Cole, who is reportedly working through an injury according to the PW Insider.
A report by NXT's weekly injury report has said, Cole has been working with a right arm
fracture since the September 25th edition of NXT against Matt Riddle, and worked
through the injury both on RAW and last week's Smack Down against Daniel Bryan.
Though this report is often used by storylines, the Insider is stating that Cole
is suffering from a legitimate fractured wrist, and it's unclear whether Cole
will need to take time off, or will continue to work through it.
Given the focus that NXT has been under recently, with their move to USA and
their invasions of RAW and SmackDown, the last thing the company
needs is for Cole to be forced to vacate the NXT Championship, but of course
his safety come before anything else.
Speaking of injuries, one woman who knows all about them is Alexa Bliss,
who is reportedly dealing with some pain herself.
According to the PW Insider, Bliss is currently out with a shoulder injury,
which explains why she hasn't been seen on WWE TV in quite a while.
The last time fans saw the Petite Powerhouse compete, was when
she and Nikki Cross lost the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships to the Kabuki
Warriors at Hell in a Cell, and its currently unclear just how long she'll be out for.
Bliss is sadly no stranger to injuries, as her career nearly came to an end
due to a series of concussions around this time last year, before she made
her return as part of the 2019 Women's Royal Rumble.
One Superstar who isn't going anywhere anytime soon how ever is
Randy Orton, who recently signed a new contract with the WWE.
A 13 time WWE World Heavy weight Champion, most expected the Viper to re-sign
rather than head to AEW, but that didn't stop Orton from jumping ship a few weeks ago.
On Twitter, the Legend Killer confirmed his new contract will last for another
five years, and said he was looking forward to annoying the fans with his actions.
As a 17 year veteran of WWE TV, it's hard to say whether Orton will be an active
Superstar for the next five years, as others from his class in OVW such as Batista
and John Cena have both stepped away from the ring.
If the Viper did choose to retire though, there'd almost certainly be a position
for him backstage, as given his success in the company and his family credentials
Orton could make a valuable asset as a backstage producer.
We're looking back at this week's RAW now as the red brand saw a slight
increase in viewers, with 2.135 million homes tuning in.
According to Show buzz Daily, this figure is an improvement on last week's
2.133 million, with the hours being broken down as follows.
In the first hour, an average the show garnered an average 2.35 million
which dropped to 2.27 million in hour two, and eventually 1.84 million in hour three.
It'll be interesting to see what figures the red brand will get in the
coming weeks, as all three brands continue to build to Survivor Series.
We've got some AEW news for you next, as the company's executive
Vice President Cody Rhodes recently spoke about running the company.
Rhodes, who will face AEW World Champion Chris Jericho this Saturday
at Ful Gear, spoke to ESPN about the success of the show, and admitted
that he often has to disengage from being a fan, saying:
" I have to stop being a fan on a regular basis when it comes to Dynamite itself
when it comes to TV, I’m honored everything that happens. I’m honored that I have
a chair for myself in the go position, that I have my own headset, I’m honored that I have
my own office, all these little things, I have to stop caring about, and just say, ‘Ok, cool,
that’s great, now let’s validate why these things exist.'”
It's no secret that Dynamite has been a huge success since its launch in October, consistently
beating WWE NXT, and it seems Rhodes has big things planned for the new company in 2020.
And finally today we're looking at some rumors for Survivor Series as the
Wrestling Observer has hinted at more tri-branded matches for the show.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, it was revealed that there were plans for a
triple threat match between the secondary champions, pitting United States Champion
AJ Styles against Inter continental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and
NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong.
The report did suggest that a title change for the US or Intercontinental title
could happen before the Pay Per View, and also claimed that Nakamura
isn't expected to hold the white strapped title for much longer.
Since capturing the Inter continental Championship from Finn Balor, its true that Nakamura
has done little with the gold, and it seems his reign may soon be coming to an end.
On the show, it was also claimed that a one on one match between Rusev
and Bobby Lashley was planned for the Pay Per View, which will hopefully
be the final collision between the two after months of feuding.