Matt Hardy has resurfaced back on Monday Night Raw after a lengthy spell off television dating back to the June Saudi Arabia show Super ShowDown.
The former multi-time tag team champion has been taken off television after he and his brother Jeff vacated the Smackdown Tag Team titles following WrestleMania in April after Jeff suffered a knee injury that required surgery.
Matt recently started a Free The Delete series on YouTube, hinting that he will go back to his Broken gimmick.
Matt was on the losing end last night in a match against Buddy Murphy and then posted a photo on his social media looking in a mirror writing, “Something has to change” in all caps.
Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com is reporting that Lana has signed a new, five-year WWE deal, keeping her at least until the end of 2024. The deal also calls for time off to take on other projects outside her WWE career.
Satin adds that her husband Rusev has not signed a new deal yet and is still negotiating on a new contract. Recently, Rusev responded to someone on Twitter who told him that it’s a shame he signed a new deal and he should leave, to which Rusev replied, “Who said I’ve re signed?”
The 34-year-old, whose real name is CJ Perry, started working for WWE in 2013, first in NXT and then moving to the main roster. She disappeared from WWE TV after WrestleMania but recently returned in an angle with Bobby Lashley.
Impact Wrestling will go back in time for tonight’s episode of Impact with the inaugural Throwback Throwdown on AXS TV starting at 8PM ET.
The show, taped from Toronto’s Don Kolov Arena, pays homage to the golden age of professional wrestling with all the Impact stars carrying an old-style name and matches for the International Commonwealth Television Championship, a Loser Leaves Town match, plus a Blindfold match and a special Bodyslam Challenge.
“I’m sure Throwback Throwdown will be talked about for quite some time and perhaps become an annual Thanksgiving week tradition,” said IMPACT Wrestling executive vice-president Scott D’Amore.
Scheduled to be on the show in 80s personas are Ethan Page, Willie Mack, Eddie Edwards, Brian Cage, Tessa Blanchard, Jordynne Grace, Ace Austin, Rich Swann and others.
There will be no NXT Takeover during the Royal Rumble weekend but on the eve of the pay-per-view WWE will present Worlds Collide 2020.
Airing live on the WWE Network from the Toyota Center in Houston on January 25, Worlds Collide will feature Superstars from NXT taking on those from NXT UK. NXT champion Adam Cole, WWE United Kingdom champion WALTER, NXT Women’s champion Shayna Baszler, NXT UK Women’s champion Kay Lee Ray, The Undisputed ERA, Imperium and more are being advertised for the event.
WWE held a Worlds Collide tournament at this year’s Axxess during WrestleMania weekend but it did not air live on the Network. The event also featured Superstars from 205 Live but this time the cruiserweights are not being advertised and it’s simply an NXT vs NXT UK show.
Tickets for this event will go on sale on Friday, December 6 at 10AM at NXTTickets.com.
This year’s Survivor Series featured the inclusion of NXT for the first time ever and the third WWE brand did more than good in its first outing.
Superstars from NXT helped the brand win four matches out of seven, with Lio Rush, women’s team, Roderick Strong, and Shayna Baszler winning their respective matches. Besides winning these four matches, Adam Cole continued to cement his place as one of the best workers in the company while Keith Lee came out looking like a true Superstar in the men’s elimination tag team.
NXT coming out as the superior brand yesterday is obviously a way to continue to expose the brand to more viewers in hopes of reigning supreme every Wednesday night against All Elite Wrestling. AEW has so far won every week apart from last week when nearly two dozen of Raw and Smackdown Superstars showed up on NXT to advance the Survivor Series storyline. And even then, NXT didn’t win the viewership race by a big margin and still lost the all-important 18-34 demo.
Things should get back to normal from this week, with no more run-ins from other brands and it will be a big test for the yellow brand to see how it fares on its own after a very good weekend in Chicago.
Former WCW champion Diamond Dallas Page will be presenting the winner of the MJF vs Hangman Page match with the Dynamite diamond ring this Wednesday night on TNT.
Two weeks ago, AEW announced that a Dynamite Dozen battle royal would take place on the show where the final two would then meet a week later to battle for the ring. The 12 participants were Billy Gunn, Chuck Taylor, Hangman Page, Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janela, Jungle Boy, Kip Sabian, Marko Stunt, MJF, Orange Cassidy, Pentagon, and Sonny Kiss. MJF and Page were the last two men standing and will now go head-to-head on Wednesday.
DDP has showed up a couple of times on All Elite Wrestling shows and he shares a close friendship with the Rhodes family. He is not signed to a deal and is only paid per appearance.
DDP recently appeared on Wrestling Inc.’s WINCLY podcast and while he said he plans to help out AEW, he also wants to keep his relationship with WWE alive.
“I don’t have a contract. I’m not employed by AEW as I’m doing this for Cody. Without Dusty Rhodes, there’s no Diamond Dallas Page. I don’t have everything I’ve been able to accomplish and a lot of it had to do with The Dream giving me the opportunity,” Page said.
While wrestling is often predictable, betting on WWE is not always as predictable as it seems and oddsmakers not always get their picks 100%.
Several online betting websites offered different betting options but similar outcomes in terms of money while others will be offering deals for upcoming events such as the bet365 bonus for 2020.
But how did bookmakers do in terms of nailing the winners for the NXT Takeover: WarGames and Survivor Series events this past weekend? Let’s take a look.
The NXT women made history by participating in the first-ever women’s WarGames match. The odds, just a few hours before the show started, were 5/6 for each team, meaning there was no clear winner projected. Team Ripley eventually went on to win the match which ended in a 4-on-2 handicap match.
Pete Dunne was the favorite at 1/1 to win his triple threat match against Damian Priest and Killian Dain and the prediction was correct for Dunne. The Balor vs Riddle match had the former NXT champ with 1/4 odds as favorite and that proved to be correct as well.
There was a miss in the main event match though as The Undisputed Era were the favorites with 8/11 odds while Team Ciampa were at 1/1 to win. Team Ciampa, with the addition of Kevin Owens, won the WarGames match.
Moving on to the Survivor Series, two of the Kickoff matches were announced late and no odds were available on them. The third Kickoff match saw The Viking Raiders beat The New Day and The Undisputed Era. The Viking Raiders were 5/6 favorites and the outcome was correct.
Kicking off the actual pay-per-view was the women’s five-on-five-on-five elimination tag match. Team Raw, led by Charlotte Flair, was the favorite for this match with odds of 8/11 but that was a wrong prediction, with Team NXT winning. Team NXT, captained by Rhea Ripley, had odds of 5/2.
The triple threat match between the United States champion, the Intercontinental champion, and the North American champion had AJ Styles as the favorite with odds of 4/5 but Roderick Strong was the big upset and those who placed money on him won big with his odds at 4/1.
The NXT title match featuring Adam Cole vs Pete Dunne went according to the prediction with Cole having odds of 1/6 to win. Another easy prediction was The Fiend winning the match and retaining the Universal title against Daniel Bryan. Wyatt had 1/18 odds but a Bryan upset had a big payout of 8/1.
An incorrect prediction was the men’s five-on-five-on-five elimination tag match with Team NXT being the favorites at 1/1. While Team NXT came close with Keith Lee winning, the match went to Team Smackdown with Roman Reigns getting the final pinfall. Team Smackdown had odds of 13/8.
Brock Lesnar is typically a safe bet although the payout is small considering he’s always the favorite. This match was no different and correct in the prediction with odds of 1/3.
The main event featured the women, something that was probably not imagined when the pay-per-view started. The prediction here was also correct with Shayna Baszler as the favorite. She had odds of 10/11.
Former AEW star Kylie Rae addressed her departure from the company for the first time in a post on Instagram.
Rae was released from her contract out of the blue after only making a handful of appearances for the promotion and her removal was said to be an “out of bounds” topic, sparking many speculations over what really went down.
“I don’t know many rumors and honestly try to stay away from everything, obviously. But here: nobody made me leave. AEW took my career to new levels and I’m beyond grateful for every opportunity and experience that has come along the way and wish nothing but the best,” Rae wrote.
Rae said that she always tries to be a good person but she makes mistakes along the way and needed to get her mind, body, and soul right with God. “I wish I had the answers but the truth is I don’t. We all go through obstacles in life and we may want all the answers but we don’t need them. It’s God’s plan and he has shown me what’s truly important in life and to find a blessing in every moment because in the blink of an eye, everything can be gone. So instead of bashing, let’s just love one another and appreciate what we have, or something like that lol sorry I’m awkward,” she continued.
Mauro Ranallo missed the Survivor Series after he was announced to be participating in it by Triple H on Saturday after the NXT Takeover: WarGames 2019 conference call with reporters.
While on camera Michael Cole said that Ranallo “lost his voice” and was recovering, Ranallo deleted his Twitter account after Takeover when he was told or read the tweet Corey Graves wrote during the show.
Ranallo, who suffers from bipolar disorder, was apparently offended when Graves tweeted, “Just for the record guys, I know you wouldn’t know it, but there’s actually a WWE Hall of Famer AND a former Ring of Honor Champion on commentary. I’d imagine they have a lot to offer,” during Takeover, opting to leave Ranallo out on purpose like he wasn’t part of the broadcast booth.
Frank Shamrock, who is a close friend of Ranallo, responded to Corey’s tweet saying, “Social media has made too many of you comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the mouth for it.”
The popular broadcaster originally left WWE after several bouts of bullying with then fellow Smackdown commentator John “Bradshaw” Layfield. He was brought back by Triple H to be the voice of NXT.
Cole said that Ranallo would be back on NXT on Wednesday night.
Here are the results from the Survivor Series 2019 pay-per-view which took place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
KICK OFF SHOW:
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode defeated The Revival, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, The Street Profits, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, Fandango and Tyler Breeze, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel, Heavy Machinery, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, and Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler in a tag team battle royal; Lio Rush defeated Akira Tozawa and Kalisto to retain the NXT Cruiserweight title in a triple threat match; The Viking Raiders defeated The Undisputed Era and The New Day in a triple threat tag team match.
MAIN SHOW:
Team NXT (with Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, Candice LaRae, Bianca Belair, and Toni Storm) defeated Team Raw (with Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Sarah Logan) amd Team Smackdown (with Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Nikki Cross, and Lacey Evans) in a traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match; Roderick Strong defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles in a triple threat match; Adam Cole defeated Pete Dunne to retain the NXT title; Bray Wyatt defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal title; Team Smackdown (with Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Mustafa Ali, Shorty G, and Braun Strowman) defeated Team Raw (with Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, and Randy Orton) and Team NXT (with Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle, and Walter) in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match; Brock Lesnar defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE title in a no holds barred match; Shayna Baszler defeated Bayley and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match.
The final Survivor Series tally had NXT with four wins, Smackdown with two, and Raw with one.
Hey everybody! It’s @TheMagnumDA with another PPV pick’em to decide the WOPC Championship! Tonight, Colin’s going to have to SURVIVE against Heel Turn Tom, Tricky Don, and myself! We’re going to divide the matches up into three categories: Championship Matches, Brand Supremecy Triple Threats, and the 5-on-5-on-5 Elimination Matches. Without further ado, ON WITH THE PICKS!
The Championship Matches
No Holds Barred for the WWE Championship (Raw)
Brock Lesnar (c) w/Paul Heyman vs. Rey Mysterio
Heel Turn Tom: While I see this as good match that will pull some surprises, with rumors of Rey leaving soon I see Brock still your reigning, undisputed WWE champion.
Tricky Don: Brock Lesnar made his in-ring return at Extreme Rules 2012 in Chicago, and the crowd went crazy for that match. Rey and Brock will put on a match for the ages. The only guarantee is a record-breaking suplex for the longest distance. Chicago will change its name from the Windy Cindy to Suplex City for this weekend, as Brock will retain.
Colin: The “No Holds Barred” scenario provides a better opportunity for Mysterio to win here as in a simple one-on-one match, Rey Rey got no chance. I totally see interference from Cain Velasquez here but will it be enough to dethrone the champ? I don’t know. I hope Rey gets suplexed through the crowd for the holy shit moment of the night. Haha! BAROOOOOCK LESNAR wins.
Magnum: The question, for me, is…where would they go from here? In my mind, this is the end of the whole Cain/Rey/Brock ordeal, and I think they’re going to move forward with Brock still champion. I’d be positively surprised if Rey won, and I’m sure it will be some kind of effort. Miracle or Massacre? It could be both! In the end, I’m thinking Massacre. Brock retains.
NXT Championship
Adam Cole (c) vs. Pete Dunne
Heel Turn Tom: Adam Cole Bay Bay is too over to have him lose. With NXT takeover and Survivor Series, Cole will have the best weekend and get the most shine form the shows. Adam Cole retains.
Tricky Don: I am sure everyone will pick Adam Cole, and you would have to be crazy not to. I think Adam Cole has been the break out star for the viewers who do not have the WWE network, since the NXT debut on USA. With the Wednesday Night War heating up, I have to go with Pete Dunne. This will set up a rematch on USA for Adam Cole to get his title back, and NXT can score a second win in the ratings battle.
Colin: Of last night’s Triple Threat competitors, Dunne is the only one who can give Cole one of his biggest matches here. Two great workers who will certainly tear the joint down. But Adam Cole (BAY BAY) will walk out still with the title.
Magnum: I’ve gotta think that they are going to keep the title on Adam Cole (BAY BAY!) until next year’s TakeOver before WrestleMania. Dunne should give him a hell of a match, but Cole retains.
WWE Universal Championship (SmackDown)
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Heel Turn Tom: I think Bryan will put on a better match with the Fiend than Rollins did, but I still see “The Fiend” as the WWE Universal Champion after the night is over.
Tricky Don:Bray was able to recruit Daniel Bryan to join the Wyatt Family, before the YES movement set him free. I have a feeling the Fiend has some more mind games planned, which will lead him to victory.
Colin: They would be super, super, super stupid to take the title away from Wyatt this early. No way Bryan is winning this one and Bryan shouldn’t be the one who takes down the immortal Wyatt. And certainly shouldn’t happen at the Survivor Series. Easy decision here, Wyatt retains.
Magnum: Yeah, this is such a weird one. It doesn’t feel like Bryan is all the way back as a face, so I’m not sure how the crowd dynamic is going to come into play. I think Wyatt’s all over the WrestleMania poster, right? He’s going to hold the title for a while. Wyatt retains.
Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Lineup:
AJ Styles (United States Champion) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Roderick Strong (North American Champion)
Heel Turn Tom: The only one that makes sense to win this match is the one with the best story out there and currently that is the Original Club. AJ and Raw get the win.
Tricky Don: AJ Styles all the way on this one, and he will get his first Survivor Series victory.
Colin: This is the match I’m looking forward to the most. Three of the best in the business and I hope Nakamura goes in this match using his old style. These three will kill it and I will be really bummed if they don’t. AJ Styles to win this match.
Magnum: I’m going to roll with AJ Styles – I don’t think Raw’s going to win a lot of matches, and AJ’s on a roll with The OC, so let’s give him the match.
Becky Lynch (Raw Women’s Champion) vs. Bayley (SmackDown Women’s Champion) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Champion)
Heel Turn Tom: This is a tougher one to pick. I don’t think Bayley will win. Becky seems like the easy choice. But I have seen some stories of Ronda Rousey is done with the company to go have a family. Which that desire may be true, I see it as a swerve and Ronda helps Shayna Baszler and NXT get this win.
Tricky Don: I am going to go on a limb and pick Shayna Baszler. I have a feeling she will win Survivor Series and dominate the weekend.
Colin: This is an interesting one as I’m torn between Becky and Shayna winning. Shayna is portrayed as a monster in NXT but Becky is the man around here. They can keep Shayna strong by having Becky beat Bayley and I’m going down that route.
Magnum: I think Becky and Shayna are going to really focus on each other, and Bayley is going to take advantage and get the victory. I’ll say this – Becky and Shayna is only getting started. This could go all the way to Mania.
The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) (Raw Tag Team Champions) vs. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (SmackDown Tag Team Champions) vs. The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) (NXT Tag Team Champions)
Heel Turn Tom: WWE has been pushing the Viking Raiders too hard for it to end tonight. So Raw and the Viking Raiders are the best tag team tonight.
Tricky Don: The Revival was my original pick, but the New Day knocked them out. So, unless the Revival can sneak back into this match, Viking Raiders need a win as they grow and build momentum as a tag team.
Colin: This is one match I totally see NXT winning. Fish and Reilly are one of the best tag teams on the planet. I’m sick of The New Day and they need to go away for a bit, kinda like The Usos did. Maybe one or two of them should get a DUI or something LOL! The Undisputed Era wins.
Magnum: I like the Viking Raiders getting the victory here. I think Raw’s going to come up short in the 5-on-5-on-5 matches, so AJ and the Viking Raiders will represent the Monday Night brand with a couple of victories.
Brand Supremacy 5-on-5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Matches:
Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Sarah Logan) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, and Nikki Cross) vs. Team NXT (???)
Heel Turn Tom: Since we don’t know who Team NXT is, I can’t pick them. So of the remaining two teams Team Raw looks too good. I see Charlotte as the sole survivor. This will give Raw three wins and the win for the night assuming the matches are in this order.
Tricky Don: Teams of 5 strive to survive! With the addition of NXT, the original line for survivor series still works with three teams. Just like the tag team the Jumping Bomb Angels were the sole surviving tag team from the original survivor series, this match will also have a sole survivor. I’ll pick NXT – this will help build a new star in the women’s division.
Colin: I just realized none of my picks have a SmackDown winner. Based on that, I’m giving this to SmackDown. I know, shit reasoning, but they have to win one of these cross-branded matches, right?
Magnum: Since I wrote the article, I can announce that the NXT team is officially Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Toni Storm and Rhea Ripley. Pretty stacked! That said, I still think SmackDown is going to reign supreme. I’ll take Sasha and Lacey as the sole survivors.
Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Ricochet) vs. Team SmackDown (Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali, Braun Strowman, King Corbin, and Shorty G) vs. Team NXT (???)
Heel Turn Tom: A lot of in fighting on both Team Raw and Smackdown. Still don’t know who NXT is, so they won’t win. I am seeing Mustafa Ali, Shorty G, and then King Corbin get eliminated. With their backs against the wall Reigns and Strowman will beat the odds and take out both Raw and NXT to be the survivors. SmackDown wins. At the end of the night it will be Raw with 3 wins, SmackDown with 2, and NXT with 1.
Tricky Don: This match will have Orton, Owens, and Rollins be the first three eliminated. Drew and Ricochet will beat the odds and eliminate the entire team of SmackDown. Raw wins.
Colin: Not sure why they never announced any of the five NXT men…but I’m thinking someone will turn. Will it be Owens, or will it be McIntyre? Or maybe they throw a curveball and have someone else turn and join NXT? Just because I think there will be a turn, it will be NXT who wins this one. I guess Ciampa, Riddle, Lee and maybe someone from NXT UK roster will get the spotlight here. WALTER? Or Tyler Bate?
Magnum: I’m aware that Shawn Michaels has announced the NXT Team: Matt Riddle, WALTER, Keith Lee, Damian Priest, and Tomasso Ciampa. That’s an awesome, awesome team. Combine that with in-fighting amongst Raw and SmackDown, and it’s going to be NXT’s match to win.
There you have it! Thank you so much for reading – enjoy the Survivor Series, and have a great Thanksgiving! @TheMagnumDA signing off.
The Survivor Series is back tonight on the WWE Network and as for every pay-per-view, we will present the full betting odds for tonight’s broadcast.
These odds are likely to change by the time the show goes on the air so please always be careful when betting real money or looking for the best live betting.
In the WWE title match, the current champion Brock Lesnar is at 1/3 to retain while Rey Mysterio is at 9/4 for the upset in the no holds barred match. Lesnar is very rarely the underdog in bets and this month it’s no different. A Bray Wyatt win tonight is looking like a no-brainer as Wyatt is at 1/18 to retain the Universal title and his challenger Daniel Bryan is at a very, very distant 8/1. The NXT title is also on the line with Adam Cole the clear favorite at 1/6 to win against Pete Dunne who is at 7/2.
In the women’s triple threat match, Shayna Baszler is currently the favorite with 10/11 odds while Bayley is 9/4 to win and Becky Lynch is at 5/2. Another triple threat match sees The Viking Raiders at 5/6 favorites against The Undisputed Era who are at 13/8, and The New Day at 9/2. Things are also looking good for AJ Styles who is 4/5 to win his triple threat match against Shinsuke Nakamura and Roderick Strong who are at 7/4 and 4/1 respectively.
The final two matches are the traditional five-on-five-on-five elimination matches. The men’s NXT team is at 1/1 to win the match with Team Smackdown coming second at 13/8 and Team Raw at 10/30. The women’s elimination match has Team Raw the favorites with odds of 8/11, Team NXT with odds of 5/2, and Team Smackdown at 3/1 to win.
Stone Cold Steve Austin returns to the WWE Network starting tonight with a brand new original series titled The Broken Skull Sessions, premiering immediately following the end of the Survivor Series broadcast.
The first guest of the show is The Undertaker and the two will have a two-hour sit-down interview where Austin digs deep into the history of one of the greatest gimmicks in the world of professional wrestling. Taker rarely gives any out-of-character interviews but judging from the previews posted, this will totally lift the lid behind the man who portrays the character.
This will be a monthly series produced by Steve Austin at his Broken Skull Ranch in Los Angeles, California.
His previous original series – The Stone Cold Podcast – was the most-watched show on the WWE Network apart from the monthly pay-per-views.
Live from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, WWE presents the 2019 Survivor Series on pay-per-view and WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio in a no holds barred match for the WWE title; Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan for the Universal title; Adam Cole vs Pete Dunne for the NXT title; Becky Lynch vs Bayley vs Shayna Baszler in a triple threat match; AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs Roderick Strong in a triple threat match; The Viking Raiders vs The New Day vs The Undisputed Era in a triple threat tag team match; Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, and Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, King Corbin, Mustafa Ali, and Shorty G vs still-to-be announced Team NXT in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match; Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Sarah Logan vs Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, and Nikki Cross vs Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Toni Storm in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match.
In the post-Takeover conference call with the wrestling press, Triple H addressed AEW’s Britt Baker appearing on camera and Mauro Ranallo mentioning her name and her relationship to Adam Cole.
Fightful.com’s Sean Sapp quizzed Triple H on the decision they made and the NXT boss said that the director in the truck had “no idea” who she was as he was looking at the most concerned look in the crowd after the crazy bump. HHH said that as soon as they cut to her, someone next to him told him who Baker was and they immediately changed the shot.
“I don’t have a problem with it in any way, shape or form. Then, to not address it, it’s the elephant in the room that you don’t address. Now, it’s weird, right?” Triple H said. “I would never want to put a talent in that position. I get why she’s here. I get who she’s here with. I would never want to put her in a position where I took a shot of her and it gets her heat or it gets her to have a problem with her employers and what she’s doing. I wouldn’t want that to be a problem for her, and it very easily could be.”
Ranallo was told to acknowledge Baker by name to avoid the awkwardness of what went down but he never mentioned All Elite Wrestling where she works. Triple H continued to say that he’s happy for Baker and “she’s killing it” at the moment with what she’s doing.
“I don’t want to put anybody like that in a position where that could be problematic. It doesn’t need to happen. I don’t have a problem with or it being on camera or saying her name. I just would never want it to be problematic for anyone else. I’m happy for her. She has a good thing going on, she’s killing it. I certainly wouldn’t want that to interfere with what she does.”
This was the second time Baker was shown on camera at Takeover, having previously sat down next to Stephanie McMahon at ringside at NXT Takeover: XXV but she was never acknowledged on camera.
WWE yesterday announced that the next NXT Takeover will take place on Sunday, February 16, 2020 from Portland, Oregon.
Since Takeover started airing on the WWE Network, it’s always been held on a Saturday and this is the first one that will air on a Sunday. The UK Takeover: Blackpool II will also take place on a Sunday on January 12.
There will be no Takeover during the Royal Rumble weekend as WWE looks like it is setting the NXT schedule on its own, not always coinciding with the big four pay-per-views although it’s likely that moving forward, Takeover will still be part of WrestleMania and SummerSlam weekends.
No arena was named as to where the actual show will be held and no ticket information was provided either.
The five NXT women who will be participating in tonight’s Survivor Series elimination tag match were announced during the Facebook Live stream yesterday following the conclusion of NXT Takeover: WarGames.
Captained by Rhea Ripley, the other four joining her will be Candice LaRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and former NXT UK Women’s champion Toni Storm. All of them, apart from Storm, will be pretty sore coming off last night’s WarGames match but as they say, there’s no rest for the wicked!
The five NXT women will take on Team Raw – captained by Charlotte Flair along with Kairi Sane, Asuka, Natalya, and Sarah Logan – and Team Smackdown – captained by Sasha Banks and featuring Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, Carmella, and Dana Brooke.
The NXT men’s Survivor Series team has not been announced yet.
Kevin Owens returned “home” to NXT last night and was unveiled as the fourth member of Team Ciampa for the WarGames match against The Undisputed Era.
Owens wasn’t originally introduced with the rest and after the clock ran down for the final member to enter the match, no music hit, leaving the impression that this would be a four-on-three match. But after a delay of a few more seconds, his theme song hit and the crowd blew the roof off the Allstate Arena.
Sporting his old KO NXT t-shirt, the former NXT and Universal champion marched down and beat up on The Undisputed Era as Mauro Ranallo screamed, “Holy bleep! Holy bleep!” Earlier this week on Raw, The Undisputed Era attacked Owens as Triple H tried to recruit him back to NXT.
A few months ago, Owens tweeted “14-24-20” which was quickly decoded with each number representing a letter of the alphabet – NXT. Owens did the same tweet again yesterday after Takeover but this time adding his KO logo that was used throughout his NXT run.
Owens is part of Team Raw tonight at the Survivor Series and it’s not clear at this point if he will be returning to the brand full-time like Finn Balor, although his tweet clearly suggests where his future will be.
Triple H hinted on Wednesday that the fourth member will be “epic” and one that fans will certainly like. And he wasn’t wrong.
Here are the results from the NXT Takeover: WarGames 2019 event which took place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
Angel Garza defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott in the Kickoff show; Rhea Ripley, Candice LaRae, Dakota Kai, and Tegan Nox defeated Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Kay Lee Rae in a WarGames match; Pete Dunne defeated Damian Priest and Killian Dain in a triple threat match to become the number one contender for the NXT title; Finn Balor defeated Matt Riddle; Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and Kevin Owens defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly in a WarGames match.
Smackdown did 2,600,000 viewers this week for the final episode before the Survivor Series off hours 2,701,000 and 2,500,000. The show had 250,000 more viewers than last week’s broadcast. Smackdown tied first in the 18-49 demographic but only beat The CW in the viewers among all networks. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
