Week in Wrestling - Friday, February 3, 2017
30-man Royal Rumble match
As we reported last week, the word going around was that Randy Orton was going to win the Rumble, and that's in fact what happened. It came down to Orton and Roman Reigns, of all people, and Orton eliminated Reigns to move on to the Main event of Wrestlemania.
The match was great, full of action, and built well for the big superstars like Lesnar, Goldberg, Strowman, and the Undertaker to be showcased. Lesnar came out and was dominant, setting up the showdown we all were waiting for between he and Goldberg. And once again, Goldberg got the best of Brock and threw his ass out in short fashion. Great booking.
Other highlights included Strowman destroying guys left and right, Elsworth almost dying, and Tye Dillinger coming out at #10 and the crowd going crazy.
The match was great, full of action, and built well for the big superstars like Lesnar, Goldberg, Strowman, and the Undertaker to be showcased. Lesnar came out and was dominant, setting up the showdown we all were waiting for between he and Goldberg. And once again, Goldberg got the best of Brock and threw his ass out in short fashion. Great booking.
Other highlights included Strowman destroying guys left and right, Elsworth almost dying, and Tye Dillinger coming out at #10 and the crowd going crazy.
Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship
They pulled out every damn stop there is on the book and this was crazy good. What a damn spectacle. When Owens went through the chairs on the floor, I thought he was going die. Got damn. The frog splash off the top through the table on the floor. Smh. The right call was made for Owens to retain. Loved Stroman coming out and destroying Reigns as well. Great booking.
AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship
I know a great match when I see it and this was a great match. AJ Styles is the best wrestler in the business, period. The match was fantastic and these two have great chemistry. Cena comes with his A game in big matches and I really enjoyed this one. AJ had a hell of a run as champion and will be back. Cena has been away from the title long enough that it was time for a win.
Cesaro & Sheamus (c) vs. The Club for the RAW Tag team Championships
New champs was the right move. I like the chemistry these two teams have and Cesaro makes every match he's in better. Should be a program.
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
Exactly what I expected. A match that wasn't that good and Charlotte wins. I'm just not a Bayley fan, at all. Right person won.
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
Smh. Poor Sasha. At last years Wrestlemania she was prime and set to capture the title on the biggest stage. Then they snatched that away and have botched her left and right ever since. Yea, she's won the title on RAW a few times, but when it comes to the big match on PPV, she's beaten every time. And then she was squashed here. Smh.
Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville Cruiserweight Title
I liked the match these two put on once it got going, but following that blow away Universal title match, the they needed to cut back on some of those long submission restholds. When many think of a Cruiser match, they expect high flying, high paced, exciting action. You have to hook interest the crowd or they will kill even a match.
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Becky, Nikki & Naomi
vs. Alexa, Mickie and Natalya
Why this was on the pre show, I have no clue. You debut Mickey James in surprise fashion a few weeks ago and then put her in a six man on the pre show when the crowd isn't all in the building. Alexa is talented and she's the pretty blonde they like to feature, clearly, but Naomi deserves a run with the title. She looked great here and is next up.
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Seth Rollins Injured
Samoa Joe made his main roster debut in the final segment of the show doing an attack on Seth Rollins just when it appeared Rollins and HHH were going to go at it. The plan was to set up Rollins vs. Joe at the Fast Lane PPV (2/22 in Milwaukee) and for that to lead to Rollins vs. HHH. Joe threw Rollins around outside the ring and more inside the ring. The injury, believed to be a torn MCL, happened as Joe took Rollins down to deliver his choke finisher and Rollins legs were flailing around rather than planted and his right knee went out. That was the same knee that he had reconstructive surgery on in 2015.
Samoa Joe made his main roster debut in the final segment of the show doing an attack on Seth Rollins just when it appeared Rollins and HHH were going to go at it. The plan was to set up Rollins vs. Joe at the Fast Lane PPV (2/22 in Milwaukee) and for that to lead to Rollins vs. HHH. Joe threw Rollins around outside the ring and more inside the ring. The injury, believed to be a torn MCL, happened as Joe took Rollins down to deliver his choke finisher and Rollins legs were flailing around rather than planted and his right knee went out. That was the same knee that he had reconstructive surgery on in 2015.
Rollins was getting an evaluation on the knee on 2/1 in Birmingham and the early word was that he’d be out about eight weeks, meaning that Mania was possible but not definite. Obviously he’ll want to do it under any circumstances when it’s that close of a call but WWE these days, for legal reasons, is far more cautious about throwing talent back into the ring before they are ready than has been the case historically.
Cena vs AJ Steals the Show
Cena won his 16th “world” title in what can be argued was the best company match in several years and one of the best ever. It immediately brought up the natural comparisons to the Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega match at the Tokyo Dome. It’s all opinion but to me this was a great match, and you could go five stars (my reaction when it was over was ****3/4 or *****, and when that’s the reaction, it’s ****3/4 because ***** has to have no doubt when it’s over and I didn’t think it was the best Styles match I’d seen in the last few years (his G-1 match with Tanahashi brought the crowd to an emotional level far above this one, and in technical aspects it was better, although overall this match was in the same ballpark as that one), it didn’t have the emotion of the Cena vs. Punk match which to me was Cena’s best match. (Dave Meltzer's Thoughts)
Cena won his 16th “world” title in what can be argued was the best company match in several years and one of the best ever. It immediately brought up the natural comparisons to the Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega match at the Tokyo Dome. It’s all opinion but to me this was a great match, and you could go five stars (my reaction when it was over was ****3/4 or *****, and when that’s the reaction, it’s ****3/4 because ***** has to have no doubt when it’s over and I didn’t think it was the best Styles match I’d seen in the last few years (his G-1 match with Tanahashi brought the crowd to an emotional level far above this one, and in technical aspects it was better, although overall this match was in the same ballpark as that one), it didn’t have the emotion of the Cena vs. Punk match which to me was Cena’s best match. (Dave Meltzer's Thoughts)
The Current WrestleMania lineup with notes
*Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal title. Goldberg should win the title at Fast Lane, the next show he’s appearing on. WrestleMania is the final match of Goldberg’s current contract, but given that he’s been a big success so far, there is no reason that can’t be renewed. Nevertheless, given the way the build has gone, one would expect Lesnar to come out as champion. And if that’s the case, the speculation would be on who he loses it to, with the latest pushes indicate Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman leading the pack.
*HHH vs. Seth Rollins. Obviously this is in jeopardy right now.
*Also rumored but not confirmed is A.J. Styles vs. Shane McMahon.
*Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal title. Goldberg should win the title at Fast Lane, the next show he’s appearing on. WrestleMania is the final match of Goldberg’s current contract, but given that he’s been a big success so far, there is no reason that can’t be renewed. Nevertheless, given the way the build has gone, one would expect Lesnar to come out as champion. And if that’s the case, the speculation would be on who he loses it to, with the latest pushes indicate Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman leading the pack.
*HHH vs. Seth Rollins. Obviously this is in jeopardy right now.
*Also rumored but not confirmed is A.J. Styles vs. Shane McMahon.
*Undertaker vs. Reigns. They shot the angle in the Rumble, where Reigns eliminated Undertaker. As noted before, Reigns will be booed out of the building against Undertaker. It was noted to us that Vince McMahon had been wanting to make this match for some time. With Undertaker’s condition the way it is, this could have been the last chance to do it. There is the idea of a generational passing of the torch.
That could mean a Reigns win and a heel run with the idea the fans turned on him, since long-term the goal is still to be the face of the company. It could mean an Undertaker win as a way to humanize Reigns, and get endorsed by Undertaker. Undertaker was clearly not in shape in the Rumble. From what we understand, even though he did very little in the match, his hip was hurting badly after his recent surgery.
That could mean a Reigns win and a heel run with the idea the fans turned on him, since long-term the goal is still to be the face of the company. It could mean an Undertaker win as a way to humanize Reigns, and get endorsed by Undertaker. Undertaker was clearly not in shape in the Rumble. From what we understand, even though he did very little in the match, his hip was hurting badly after his recent surgery.
*Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title. The first part of the planned set up came through with Orton winning. Wyatt is scheduled to win the Elimination Chamber match and win the title at this stage I can’t see that changing. Orton is to be the babyface in this program. Either way, it’s likely the two will continue their program after WrestleMania, which also takes A.J. Styles out of the title picture for now.
*Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens. No word if the U.S. title will be at stake. Jericho’s run was supposed to originally end a long time ago, but things worked out well for him and he’s inked new short-term deals. He does have some concerts scheduled for 5/27 to 6/9, but that’s it, so it’s not a lock he’s leaving after WrestleMania as it once appeared.
We will know a lot more about these matches after the next two PPV's.
*Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens. No word if the U.S. title will be at stake. Jericho’s run was supposed to originally end a long time ago, but things worked out well for him and he’s inked new short-term deals. He does have some concerts scheduled for 5/27 to 6/9, but that’s it, so it’s not a lock he’s leaving after WrestleMania as it once appeared.
We will know a lot more about these matches after the next two PPV's.
*John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse. This is notable in a lot of ways. When this match came out, a ton of people internally were rolling their eyes about it. On one hand, it does feel like a waste for Cena, who was originally to face Undertaker, and there was also talk of Samoa Joe and others. But there is also a lot of talk that it would be Nikki Bella’s last match (there are reports of that but nobody we’ve asked about it internally confirmed it).
If so, you can see her wanting to go out with her boyfriend at WrestleMania and see him maybe wanting that as well. Miz has done a great job of late and the Miz & Maryse couple are a near main event level act. With the storyline where Natalya pushed that “John will never marry you,” I keep thinking this could lead to a proposal, and if that’s the case, in the big picture, this match makes sense. I don’t know that’s the case.
If so, you can see her wanting to go out with her boyfriend at WrestleMania and see him maybe wanting that as well. Miz has done a great job of late and the Miz & Maryse couple are a near main event level act. With the storyline where Natalya pushed that “John will never marry you,” I keep thinking this could lead to a proposal, and if that’s the case, in the big picture, this match makes sense. I don’t know that’s the case.
*Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal. It really doesn’t matter what they do here. O’Neal should lose since it’s not like he’s coming back and Show is, but in these types of situations, the rule of thumb is to put the celebrity over because it’s all about the post-show coverage, and to the real world, clips of Shaq winning play better than Show winning. Show is 45 years old and his winning or losing means nothing in the long run.
*Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title. They are pushing the Charlotte PPV winning streak hard. WrestleMania would be the time to lose it. Bayley is obviously the person to win it. To me, that’s actually too soon for the story, but WrestleMania is so obviously the place to do it. Plus it would enable a Bayley vs. Banks match at SummerSlam in Brooklyn. I just don't like the idea that the Women's title wouldn't be featured at Mania.
*Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title. They are pushing the Charlotte PPV winning streak hard. WrestleMania would be the time to lose it. Bayley is obviously the person to win it. To me, that’s actually too soon for the story, but WrestleMania is so obviously the place to do it. Plus it would enable a Bayley vs. Banks match at SummerSlam in Brooklyn. I just don't like the idea that the Women's title wouldn't be featured at Mania.
Roode Wins NXT Title at Takeover
NXT Takeover on 1/28 in San Antonio was a very good show where Bobby Roode beat Shinsuke Nakamura to win the NXT title. The match was easily Roode’s best performance since coming to NXT, and Nakamura did such an amazing sell job that people actually thought he was hurt. The knee injury cost Nakamura the title.
It appears the storyline will lead to a rematch at the Takeover in Orlando, and after that, hopefully Nakamura goes to the main roster. But NXT does need to step up on the face side for opponents. On this show, the only face underneath who won was Roderick Strong, who is a great wrestler, but hasn’t been pushed to that top level yet.
NXT Takeover on 1/28 in San Antonio was a very good show where Bobby Roode beat Shinsuke Nakamura to win the NXT title. The match was easily Roode’s best performance since coming to NXT, and Nakamura did such an amazing sell job that people actually thought he was hurt. The knee injury cost Nakamura the title.
It appears the storyline will lead to a rematch at the Takeover in Orlando, and after that, hopefully Nakamura goes to the main roster. But NXT does need to step up on the face side for opponents. On this show, the only face underneath who won was Roderick Strong, who is a great wrestler, but hasn’t been pushed to that top level yet.
Elimination Chamber
Next up is the Elimination Chamber show on 2/12 in Phoenix. The main event is the six-way Chamber match for the title with Cena, Styles, Wyatt, Corbin, Miz and Ambrose. Logic would have it that Cena gets screwed out of the title by Miz & Maryse, leading to involvement of Nikki. Other matches announced are Nikki Bella vs. Natalya, Alexa Bliss vs.. Naomi for the women’s title, and a tag team turmoil (the gauntlet match series they’ve been doing at the house shows) with American Alpha defending against The Usos, Heath Slater & Rhyno, The Vaudevillains, The Ascension and Tyler Breeze & Fandango. Since that takes up five matches and has to go long, and the main event Chamber match has to go 30 minutes or longer, there isn’t a ton of time left. The only other matches earmarked right now are Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper and Dolph Ziggler vs. Apollo Crews. They could also put Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James or a women’s tag match in a pre show slot.
Next up is the Elimination Chamber show on 2/12 in Phoenix. The main event is the six-way Chamber match for the title with Cena, Styles, Wyatt, Corbin, Miz and Ambrose. Logic would have it that Cena gets screwed out of the title by Miz & Maryse, leading to involvement of Nikki. Other matches announced are Nikki Bella vs. Natalya, Alexa Bliss vs.. Naomi for the women’s title, and a tag team turmoil (the gauntlet match series they’ve been doing at the house shows) with American Alpha defending against The Usos, Heath Slater & Rhyno, The Vaudevillains, The Ascension and Tyler Breeze & Fandango. Since that takes up five matches and has to go long, and the main event Chamber match has to go 30 minutes or longer, there isn’t a ton of time left. The only other matches earmarked right now are Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper and Dolph Ziggler vs. Apollo Crews. They could also put Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James or a women’s tag match in a pre show slot.
Fast Lane
For Fast Lane, they are playing off storylines we saw at the Rumble and Raw the next night. But the main event has not begun building yet, and its supposed to Goldberg challenging Owens for the Universal championship.
The card as is planned right not has Owens vs. Goldberg for the Universal title, Reigns vs. Strowman, Jericho vs. Sami Zayn for the U.S. title, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for the tag titles (unless it turns into a multiple team match, although the multiple team match for Raw is better saved for Mania), something for Charlotte and the women’s title for her to get a last win, whether Bayley, Jax or a multiple person match, and a cruiserweight title defense for Neville (the guys being pushed for the slot are Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander).
For Fast Lane, they are playing off storylines we saw at the Rumble and Raw the next night. But the main event has not begun building yet, and its supposed to Goldberg challenging Owens for the Universal championship.
The card as is planned right not has Owens vs. Goldberg for the Universal title, Reigns vs. Strowman, Jericho vs. Sami Zayn for the U.S. title, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for the tag titles (unless it turns into a multiple team match, although the multiple team match for Raw is better saved for Mania), something for Charlotte and the women’s title for her to get a last win, whether Bayley, Jax or a multiple person match, and a cruiserweight title defense for Neville (the guys being pushed for the slot are Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander).
Finn Balor Update
Regarding Balor and talks of him being in the Rumble, he had an evaluation over the past week and was not cleared. I don’t know that he was ever considered for the Rumble in the first place as his target return was always said to be late February or more likely early March. But he expected to be on the WrestleMania show in some form. Balor’s list of injuries from the power bomb into the barricade against Rollins at SummerSlam was a labrum tear, a torn biceps, a torn pec, shoulder cartilage damage and a fractured glenoid neck socket. At this point, I have no clue who his Mania opponent should be.
Regarding Balor and talks of him being in the Rumble, he had an evaluation over the past week and was not cleared. I don’t know that he was ever considered for the Rumble in the first place as his target return was always said to be late February or more likely early March. But he expected to be on the WrestleMania show in some form. Balor’s list of injuries from the power bomb into the barricade against Rollins at SummerSlam was a labrum tear, a torn biceps, a torn pec, shoulder cartilage damage and a fractured glenoid neck socket. At this point, I have no clue who his Mania opponent should be.
Royal Rumble 2018 in Philly!!!
The 2018 Royal Rumble will headline a four-event weekend at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The decision to go back to an arena format for the Rumble was notable after doing the stadium this year. The schedule is NXT on 1/27, the Rumble on 1/28, Raw on 1/29 and Smackdown on 1/30 all in the same building.
The Center is a big building for NXT, as well as for Smackdown as a fourth show in four days, but the city is also centrally located for travel, being one of the strongest WWE markets on its own, and its proximity to New York, Baltimore and Washington, DC. I for one know I will be in attendance.
The 2018 Royal Rumble will headline a four-event weekend at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The decision to go back to an arena format for the Rumble was notable after doing the stadium this year. The schedule is NXT on 1/27, the Rumble on 1/28, Raw on 1/29 and Smackdown on 1/30 all in the same building.
The Center is a big building for NXT, as well as for Smackdown as a fourth show in four days, but the city is also centrally located for travel, being one of the strongest WWE markets on its own, and its proximity to New York, Baltimore and Washington, DC. I for one know I will be in attendance.
Highlights
- HHH made his first Raw appearance since August 29, supposedly to accept the many times Seth Rollins had challenged him for a fight.
- Samoa Joe made his long-awaited WWE debut, attacking Rollins and choking him out with the Kokina Clutch.
- Kevin Owens defended the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman, which ended when Roman Reigns did a run-in laying out both men.
- Brock Lesnar, through his mouthpiece Paul Heyman, challenged Goldberg to one final match at WrestleMania.
- Goldberg will appear next week in Portland for a rebuttal.
Highlights
- John Cena will defend the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match against AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Baron Corbin and Bray Wyatt.
- They hinted at Styles still getting a one-on-one rematch.
- AJ Styles pinned Dean Ambrose in a non-title match.
- Naomi once again pinned Alexa Bliss in a tag match.
- Randy Orton also pinned John Cena in a tag match, and the two will have a singles match next week.
- They also announced Natalya vs. Nikki Bella at Elimination Chamber.
- They are setting up a multi-team match for the tag titles at the Chamber.
NXT News -
- Paul Levesque did a conference call before the show, and said that due to scheduling changes and with the holidays and having taped arena shows for a few weeks, that the buildup to this show wasn’t at the level he would normally hope for.
- But in the end, they did sell out the Coliseum with more than 7,000 fans.
- WWE flew out everyone under contract in Orlando for the Rumble weekend. Almost all of the Performance Center wrestlers were brought out to watch Tye Dillinger get his reaction at the Rumble show.
- On the U.K. front, originally they were going to bring five wrestlers in, but it ended up being Wolfgang and Tyler Bate, who both worked this show.
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New Japan Pro Wrestling News -
- Kenny Omega pretty much made his decision last week to stay with New Japan, for a number of reasons. He hasn’t signed at this point but is going to Japan in mid-February with the idea of working out all the terms of the deal, which looks to be a one-year contract. He’s hopeful of also working for ROH during 2017 between tours and then I guess early 2018 we’ll be back doing this again.
- He said at one point while in England that if he was offered A.J. Styles at WrestleMania, that would have been difficult to turn down. He also made the comment to us that a good friend of his turned down the WWE in hopes they could do something together this year. That would likely be a reference to Kota Ibushi.
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Ring of Honor News -
- Rolling Stone spoke to Kyle O’Reilly, who said, “As of right now, we don’t really have anything confirmed (about his future). To be honest, I don’t know what the future for Kyle O’Reilly holds. I’m looking at taking a bit of time away and re-evaluating things.
- He said that he and ROH couldn’t come to an agreement on terms. The ROH offer was believed to be in the $85,000 range, what one year ago would have been considered a great offer by ROH standards but standards have changed.
- Legitimately, for him, everything is still in a state of flux but in leaving ROH, the destination is expected to be WWE, and that is not definite.
A lot of guys, including Ray Rowe, Donovan Dijak and perhaps one or two others (Bobby Fish is on a temporary contract) are kind of sitting and waiting at this point. WWE has signed none of them right now, but that would be the likely destination for all since Anthem hasn’t been earmarking money to sign significant free agents, in particular for O’Reilly since it’s well known New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani loves him as a performer. If O’Reilly does go to WWE, it’s also a very major sign regarding the size of the company that someone who stylistically is made for New Japan and New Japan likes and likes Japan himself is still leaving.
TNA News -
- The Crash announced Jeff & Karen Jarrett on the 2/25 show in Tijuana, which seems to say that if Jeff Jarrett does get power in TNA, that Crash and TNA will forge a working relationship.
- A Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb match was announced for the Wrestlecon show, which would be a Flo Slam show in Orlando over Mania weekend, on 3/31. That show had already announced the Hardys vs. Fenix & Pentagon Jr.
- The company is doing a new digital TV series called “A Day in the Life,” with shows on 2/1 with Robbie E, 2/8 with Moose, 2/15 with Allie and 2/22 with Eddie Edwards.
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Lucha Underground News -
- The new episodes will start airing again on 5/31. The key to this is that would peg the end of the season at 10/18. The contracts actually specify a six month lag after the final episode of the season ends for the talent to be free, which would put the time frame at April 2018. Feeling is that could be challenged and they could be free in October.
- Right now WWE is very conservative about signing talent until completely free and clear. The two key contracts are Prince Puma (Ricochet) and Rey Mysterio. Puma is gone for sure, but he’s concentrating on New Japan for now, but there is certainly a strong feeling he’ll wind up in WWE.
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By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Friday, February 3, 2017
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Friday, February 3, 2017
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter