Here’s your news for November 19, 2019
We're starting off by looking at Monday Night RAW today, as the fans
in Boston for a very special treat once the show went off the air.
In the ring, Drew McIntyre said that he wasn't afraid of anyone, and even dared
to challenge SmackDown's Universal Champion The Fiend to a fight right there.
This challenge was quickly accepted by Wyatt, as the pair met inside
a Steel Cage, once again drenched in Wyatt's eerie red light.
Though Drew got the early advantage, Wyatt proved to be invulnerable to
McIntyre's attacks and seemingly didn't get hurt by being thrown into the cage.
The ending came when the Fiend countered McIntyre's Claymore into a Mandible Claw
and after hitting Sister Abigail, went to leave the ring, only to return and hit a second sister
Abigail before departing, retaining the Universal Championship in convincing fashion.
Posing at the top of the entrance ramp with his title, Wyatt sent a message
to every WWE Superstar, and a lesson that Drew McIntyre won't soon forget.
With Survivor Series being just days away, Battle for Brand Supremacy
continued, but it feels this time, may have gone too far.
During RAW's main event, the company confirmed that nothing will actually
be on the line when RAW, Smack Down and NXT meet at Survivor Series, similar to
last year when RAW dominated SmackDown and nothing came from it.
Though the addition of NXT has made for some interesting TV, this week's
RAW saw all three brands limp to the finish line with a notceable lack of star-power.
You know it’s a bad sign when SmackDown sent over Heavy Machinery and the Lucha House
to lead the blue brand's latest invasion, and they were later joined by Dolph Ziggler
Robert Roode and Cesaro to interrupt a match between Randy Orton
and Ricochet against the Viking Raiders.
When RAW became overwhelmed, some of NXT's best confronted some of SmackDown's
worst and after Seth Rollins and the OC rushed to aid their red- brand teammates
RAW ended with Triple H daring both brands to invade NXT this Wednesday.
Over the years, there have been plenty of great inter-promotional
moments in WWE, but last night simply wasn't one of them.
During a match between Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre, the Game ended the
match abruptly, and tried to lure the Prizefighter back to the Gold brand.
Despite Owens showing no interest in returning, this didn't stop Triple H
from talking in length about how Owens never wanted to leave, and the
main roster never wanted him in the first place.
To be fair, its been an interesting theme of the Game to try and recruit former
NXT Champions, but Owens didn't have time to accept this offer, before the RAW
roster stormed the entrance ramp to attack NXT guys.
As Owens watched on, the Canadian was blindsided by the Undisputed Era, who
shared some words with the Game, though fans didn't hear what Adam Cole had to say.
It's been a few months since Owens double-crossed someone, which given
his past feels like years. Is Team RAW safe this Sunday? Tune in to find out.
We've got some CM Punk news next, as the Best in the World has shown that just
because he's back in wrestling, he's still no stranger to controversy.
In a Tweet to promote his upcoming appearance on WWE Backstage, Punk claimed
"no one is safe", and tagged both Vince McMahon, and AEW's Tony Khan.
A bold move by Punk, Khan would respond to the former Champion's claim
that no one is safe, comparing it to the recent travel issues WWE Superstars
faced after the recent Crown Jewel event.
A brazen response, especially when you consider that Punk wasn't making fun
of either WWE or AEW, Randy Orton got involved next, linking to an article
about alleged corruption by Khan's father, Shahid Khan.
The Viper's comments that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
was quickly responded to by Tony Khan, who claimed the allegations were baseless,
and referenced Orton using the N Word on Twitch earlier this year.
Despite teasing joining AEW a few weeks back, it's clear that the Viper
doesn't have plans in the new company, and after signing a new 5 year deal
with WWE, is ready to fight for the company online
Back to RAW now, and the love triangle between Rusev Lana and Lashley took an even
weirder twist this week, when the Ravishing Russian added some legal elements to the feud.
Not only did she file for divorce, but Lana also hit her husband with a restraining
order, prohibiting Rusev coming within 90 miles of her.
Fans were quick to realise that this order essentially banned Rusev from any WWE events
she'd be attending, and it was clearly a botch, as Lana corrected herself saying 90 days.
As this too was a botch, Lana eventually said the right line, claiming that Rusev
can't come within 90 feet of her in this cringe-inducing promo.
With rumors that this feud could last at least until the new year, we can't help
but wonder where this bizarre storyline will go between Lashley, Lana and Rusev.
Speaking of the Bulgarian Brute, Rusev may be part of one of the biggest
angles right now, but that doesn't mean he'll be around for much longer.
When one fan tweeted their disgust at the storyline, claiming Rusev
had made a huge mistake in re-signing, the former US Champion was quick
to call the fan out for having the wrong info.
Asking "Who said I've re-signed", Rusev is keeping his cards close to his chest,
as fans will have to see what happens with the Super Athlete.
Speaking of contracts, we already mentioned that Randy Orton has a new five-year
deal with WWE, but the company had a very interesting way of going about this process.
According to Fightful Select, Orton's contract was held up for months
with negotiations starting back in Spring, but kept being pushed back.
That same report also said that Orton's contract discussions was not a high priority
for the company, perhaps because they expected the 17-year veteran,
with 13 World Championships and two Royal Rumble wins to stay loyal.
During these negotiations, Orton had fun teasing joining AEW, but the concern
concern backstage was that if WWE were willing to push back meetings
on a megastar like Orton, they'd do it to anyone.
Ultimately, things all worked out, as Orton is officially with WWE
until at least 2024, and fans shouldn't expect the Legend Killer anywhere else.
Back to RAW now and Becky Lynch finally got herself some action after issuing an open challenge.
When the Man was looking for a fight, it was The IIconics who answered, as the
Australian pair were still fuming from being left off the RAW Women's Survivor Series team.
All this frustration didn't mean much though, as after Lynch was joined by Charlotte Flair
the two WrestleMania main event stars defeated the IIconics in minutes
who sufered an even worse fate after the bell.
As the IIconics were reeling, the pair were easy prey for NXT's
Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, who also beat down on Flair
and Lynch when they returned to the ring.
When Baszler and her crew bounced, they trio were able to escape thanks
to some local Boston security getting in the way of Flair and Lynch, but The Man responded
with punching the security man square in the jaw.
This epic punch was noticed by Nia Jax, who fans will remember put an end to Lynch's Survivor Series
plans last year with a similar punch, and commented about the attack on Twitter.
Jax, who is still out after double knee surgery, is expected back in the first quarter of 2020
so its good to see she's keeping track of current WWE events.
We're heading back in time to January last year now, as then WWE
Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore was publicly fired from the company.
Accused of sexual assault that was dropepd due to insufficient evidence
the company said the reason for Amore's firing was that he didn't make the company
aware of the allegations, ahead of them going public.
Enzo, who maintains that he didn't know about the accusations until they went
public, spoke to Hannibal TV recently, where he spoke about his departure.
When asked if he's considered any legal response to WWE's actions, the Certified G said:
"Absolutely not [have I ever considered a lawsuit]. You have to understand
the gratitude that I have for the opportunity I was given and when you join
the Mob you don’t talk about the Mob, man.”
“I did nothing wrong. The world knows it, the police report says it. You fired me based on a tweet so
here’s me firing back. Now I’m not gonna sit down and be no bitch about my brand
and what it is that I bring to the table as a pro wrestler. At the same time I’ll play the game
It’s a game, man. It’s pro wrestling. It’s a work it’s not real life.”
Despite his departure, Amore hasn't been forgotten by WWE, as the former
Champion made a spectacle of himself at the 2018 Survivor Series event,
and discussed rumors of a possible return to WWE.
Enzo said that those rumors were being started by WWE, and went on to explain, saying:
“I didn’t start any rumors, let’s just be clear about that. I do have confirmation
that it was not obviously me — it was someone in their organization. So, my phone’s been ringing
I’m not saying it’s WWE. I’m not saying it’s the other organizations. I’m just saying
that I’m a free agent in the pro wrestling world.”
The former 205 Live star will be performing at the world-famous Comedy Store
on November 23rd, and whilst we can never rule out a WWE return,
it seems he's having plenty of fun on the indies.
From one Cruiserweight to another now, as Humberto Carillo will receive
one more shot at AJ Styles on next week's RAW.
On the November 25 edition of the show, Styles will defend his US title against Carillo,
who got a ringing endorsement from Rey Mysterio, who hopes the 24-year-old wins.
This isn't the first time Carillo has competed for the star-spangled strap, as he unsuccessfully
challenged AJ at Crown Jewel, but is hoping this time will be much different.
Before Styles can focus on Carillo though, he needs to look to Survivor Series, as he will take on
SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, and NXT's
North American Champion Roderick Strong in non-title action.
Also at Survivor Series, Rey Mysterio will take on WWE Champion Brock Lesnar,
and the match has had a special stipulation added.
After Mysterio using a pipe on the leg of Lesnar on a recent edition of RAW, Paul
Heyman confirmed that the match will now be a No-Disqualifications match this Sunday.
As if Lesnar wasn't already dangerous enough, giving him a weapon only makes the Beast
more deadly, but it seems Mysterio with the steel pipe was able to cut him down to size.
Who will walk away from Survivor Series as the WWE Champion? Only time will tell.
And we're finishing today with a recap of the RAW results we haven't covered yet
as Humberto Carillo was able to build momentum to next week's title match
with a win over AJ's Good Brother Karl Anderson.
Bobby Lashley continued his dominane by defeating No Way Jose in mere minutes
whilst Erick Rowan also made quick work of local competitor Alex Malcom.
With his spot as RAW's Team Captain on the line, Seth Rollins was able to get a DQ
win over Andrade, thanks to the odd interference of the Lucha House Party
who struck the Architect at the right moment to secure him the win.
In Cruiserweight action next, Buddy Murphy was able to topple Akira Tozawa
but this wasn't the end of the night for the Australian Superstar.
Post-match, Murphy would goad Aleister Black for a fight, and whilst the Dutchman is
already on the hunt for new foes, it seems their future match will happen on his terms.
In the first-ever singles meeting between the two, Natalya and Asuka unsurprisingly put on a
great match, but it was the Kabuki Warrior who got the win thanks to her partner Kairi Sane.
It was some sweet payback for the Empress, who lost on last week's show to the Canadian
as Asuka proved that whilst she can stomach losing, losing twice is a different story.
In the main event, the Viking Raiders were supposed to defend their RAW Tag Titles
against Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, but when they were ambushed by the AOP
the WWE's resident figure collectors were replaced by Randy Orton and Ricochet.
This match however, didn't last long either, as NXT and Smack Down quickly
caused the DQ, as its clear the road to Survivor Series is nearly at an end.