Two former WWE Superstars, one of which is a recent Hall of Famer, have returned to WWE to work full-time as producers backstage at shows.
Jeff Jarrett, who on Sunday made a surprise entry at the Royal Rumble, is one of those two reports PWInsider.com. The fact that Jarrett is back working full-time with the company is astonishing to say the very least considering the bad blood there was between the two parties in the early 2000s. But as they say, time heals everything, and Jarrett, after having a major part of his career with TNA and Impact Wrestling, is now back on WWE’s books.
The other individual is former Cruiserweight champion Hurricane Shane Helms. Helms had been working for Ring of Honor for the past several months and also had a similar role with Impact Wrestling. The news was originally reported by WrestlingInc.com yesterday.
The hiring of former talent to work as producers and help backstage was emphasized by Triple H last week during a conference call with the Internet wrestling press. Sonjay Dutt and Abyss, the two former Impact talent, have also been signed to a similar deal and Dutt was backstage at Raw helping out already. Triple H acknowledged that both Dutt and Abyss would have backstage roles.
Two big main events were announced for WrestleMania last night on Monday Night Raw as both Royal Rumble winners decided for which titles they’re going after.
Becky Lynch, who on Sunday tapped out to Asuka but later won the Rumble after taking Lana’s spot, decided to go after Ronda Rousey and the Raw Women’s title. Lynch and Rousey had a face-to-face on the show with both women dissing each other and Lynch telling her that she’s going to prove to the world that Ronda is not the baddest woman on the planet.
Meanwhile, Seth Rollins also chose the Universal title currently held by Brock Lesnar. Rollins’ night didn’t go as smooth as Lynch’s though as Lesnar hit a whopping six F5’s on the Rumble winner to end the show. It was Rollins who threw the first punch though after Heyman advised Seth or anyone else not to get in a fight with the Universal champion.
The two matches were highly expected to happen as they have been rumored for a while.
UNICEF Kid Power and WWE today announced a new partnership that will help give kids the power to save lives by connecting their everyday activity to real-world impact. This school year, UNICEF Kid Power and WWE will work together to reach at least 7,000 classrooms across the United States with WWE Superstars featured in a special collection of Kid Power Ups, which are short, interactive videos designed to get kids moving, playing and learning. With each Kid Power Up, students work together and improve social-emotional skills, and with every ten Kid Power Ups, a classroom unlocks a packet of therapeutic food.
“We’re incredibly excited to grow our UNICEF Kid Power family by partnering with WWE,” said Caryl Stern, President and CEO, UNICEFUSA. “Around the world, UNICEF empowers young people to create solutions to real-world problems, and UNICEF Kid Power gives that same opportunity to children in the United States. Together, we can ensure every child is empowered to take action.”
“WWE is proud to partner with UNICEF and leverage our platforms to help kids combat malnutrition the world over,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “Through a series of videos with WWE Superstars, kids will be encouraged to dance and think about their personal values, goals and challenges and how they can help save other children’s lives.”
It’s a big day for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his Seven Bucks Productions company as the movie Fighting With My Family, the biopic focusing on WWE Superstar Paige and her family, makes its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival today.
Johnson, Dany Garcia, Paige, Zelina Vega, and Paige’s entire family will be in attendance for the screening. Vega played the role of AJ Lee in the movie.
MGM has the global rights to distribute the movie, which was filmed in association with WWE Studios. It set to be released nationwide on February 14.
Sundance is the largest independent film festival in the United States and will run from January 24 to February 3.
There is a video and photos floating around of a WWE security guard making a fan sitting in front row removing his All Elite Wrestling t-shirt at the Royal Rumble yesterday.
The fan was sitting by the aisle which means that he would have been visible most of the time on camera and WWE didn’t want to give free advertising to another promotion.
The unlucky individual didn’t protest the request and agreed to remove the t-shirt. Thankfully, he had another shirt underneath, probably realizing that it was a likely scenario that they would make him remove it.
In the past, if you were wearing a t-shirt that WWE doesn’t want on camera, they would have made you turn it inside out or else hand you over a free shirt. Failure to comply would probably mean you get ejected from your seat.
The attendance inside Chase Field was 48,193. This was the first WWE PPV inside a baseball stadium since WrestleMania 19 which had 54,097 fans. It’s the third biggest Rumble in terms of attendance behind Royal Rumble 1997 with 60,477 fans and Royal Rumble 2017 with 52,020. Both were inside the Alamodome.
Seth Rollins lasted the longest in the men’s Rumble match, going for a total of 43 minutes and then winning it all. Nobody else came closer to his time, in fact, he lasted almost twice as longer as the next guy, who was Samoa Joe with 23 minutes and 43 seconds on the clock. No Way Jose was this year’s Bushwhacker Luke, with only two seconds in the ring before he got thrown out. Xavier Woods had three seconds, Titus O’Neil had five seconds, and Bobby Lashley had 13 seconds for the shortest times.
Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman had the most eliminations with four each. Rollins was second with three eliminations and 13 men had no eliminations at all to their name.
Jeff Jarrett was the surprise entrant this year, coming in at #2. Only two NXT and one NXT UK stars were part of this Rumble.
In the women’s match, two women went to distance with over 50 minutes each, with Natalya clocking in 55 minutes and 58 seconds followed closely by Ember Moon who did 53 minutes and 10 seconds. They were eliminated by Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss respectively. Liv Morgan was the quickest one out of the match with just eight seconds.
Charlotte Flair had the most eliminations with five while 13 women had none. Ruby Riott, Rhea Ripley, and Nia Jax were second with three eliminations each.
There were no former WWE Superstars who participated in this match unlike last year but there were five from NXT and one from NXT UK.
Nia Jax became the fourth women in WWE history to enter the men’s Royal Rumble match following in the footsteps of Chyna, Beth Phoenix, and Kharma.
Jax attacked R-Truth, who came in at #30, while he was rapping in the middle of the aisle and then took his place in the match. Jax immediately went to work and eliminated Mustafa Ali and attacked Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio as well. But things eventually turned around and she received a super kick from Dolph Ziggler, a 619 from Mysterio, and an RKO from Randy Orton.
Orton and Mysterio then threw her over the top rope but she hung on until Rey Mysterio followed with a baseball slide to push her off the ring apron.
Here are the results from the 2019 Royal Rumble which took place from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
KICKOFF SHOW: Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defeated Scott Dawson and Rezar; Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rusev to become the new United States champion; Buddy Murphy defeated Akira Tozawa, Kalisto, and Hideo Itami in a fatal 4-way match to retain the Cruiserweight title.
MAIN SHOW: Asuka defeated Becky Lynch to retain the Smackdown Women’s title; Shane McMahon and The Miz defeated The Bar to become the new Smackdown Tag Team champions; Ronda Rousey defeated Sasha Banks to retain the Raw Women’s title; Becky Lynch won the 30-woman Royal Rumble match; Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE title; Brock Lesnar defeated Finn Balor to retain the Universal title; Seth Rollins won the 30-man Royal Rumble match.
WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH ORDER OF ENTRANCE
1: Lacey Evans; 2: Natalya; 3: Mandy Rose; 4: Liv Morgan; 5: Mickie James; 6: Ember Moon; 7: Billie Kay; 8: Nikki cross; 9: Peyton Royce; 10: Tamina; 11: Xia Li; 12: Sarah Logan; 13: Charlotte Flair; 14: Kairi Sane; 15: Maria Kanellis; 16: Naomi; 17: Candice LaRae; 18: Alicia Fox; 19: Kacy Catanzaro; 20: Zelina Vega; 21: Ruby Riott; 22: Dana Brooke; 23: Io Shirai; 24: Rhea Ripley; 25: Sonya Deville; 26: Alexa Bliss; 27: Bayley; 28: Lana (replaced by Becky Lynch due to injury); 29: Nia Jax; 30: Carmella.
MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH ORDER OF ENTRANCE
1: Elias; 2: Jeff Jarrett; 3: Shinsuke Nakamura; 4: Kurt Angle; 5: Big E; 6: Johnny Gargano; 7: Jinder Mahal; 8: Samoa Joe; 9: Curt Hawkins; 10: Seth Rollins; 11: Titus O’Neil; 12: Kofi Kingston; 13: Mustafa Ali; 14: Dean Ambrose; 15: No Way Jose; 16: Drew McIntyre; 17: Xavier Woods; 18: Pete Dunne; 19: Andrade; 20: Apollo Crews; 21: Aleister Black; 22: Shelton Benjamin; 23: Baron Corbin; 24: Jeff Hardy; 25: Rey Mysterio; 26: Bobby Lashley; 27: Braun Strowman; 28: Dolph Ziggler; 29: Randy Orton; 30: R-Truth (replaced by Nia Jax after she attacked him).
Former Smackdown Tag Team title holder Erick Rowan returned on WWE television after five months on the sidelines due to a torn bicep.
Rowan interfered in the Bryan vs Styles title match and helped Daniel Bryan win the match while the referee was down. Before the injury, Rowan was part of the Bludgeon Brothers tag team with Luke Harper. This was somewhat of a reunion as Bryan was part of The Wyatt Family for a short time in late 2013 and early 2014.
Rowan last wrestled two nights after SummerSlam where he and Harper lost the Smackdown Tag Team titles to The New Day. It looks like now he will be part of a new stable or serving as Bryan’s bodyguard moving forward.
WWE announced that Halftime Heat is coming back next Sunday with a six-man tag team match featuring NXT.
The six-man tag match will have Aleister Black, Ricochet, and Velveteen Dream taking on Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, and Adam Cole, all of whom were involved in the big brawl after NXT Takeover: Phoenix went off the air last night.
Halftime Heat will air on the WWE Network, WWE.COM, YouTube, and all other WWE social media accounts during the Super Bowl halftime.
This special broadcast will coincides with the 20-year anniversary of WWE’s inaugural Halftime Heat, which aired on January 31, 1999. On that day, WWE’s Sunday Night Heat program aired during the Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999 on USA Network and was renamed Halftime Heat. The pre-taped special featured The Rock defending the WWE title against Mankind in an empty arena match.
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, now a trainer at the WWE Performance Center and one of the key men helping running NXT, will be doing commentary for this match.
Braun Strowman has just been announced as entering the Royal Rumble, replacing the injured John Cena who will not be part of the show whatsoever.
Strowman was originally supposed to wrestle Brock Lesnar for the Universal title today but a creative change led him to step aside and he got replaced by Finn Balor. In November, Strowman underwent elbow surgery that kept him out of action for two months and he only just returned to in-ring action on Monday Night Raw earlier this week in a match against Balor.
With Strowman now in the match, that puts the total number of entrants back to 20 which means there are 10 more mystery entrants.
Hey everybody! It’s @TheMagnumDA and we’re BACK for the 2019 PPV Pick’em season. We’re only going to do select shows throughout the year, so stay tuned for more reports throughout the year!
Now, last year we had two winners…and if the 1994 Royal Rumble taught me anything, it’s that two winners doesn’t work. So this year, we will have an UNDISPUTED Pick’em Champion, the rightful holder of the CAPTAIN LOU CUP. We’ve got a few new members of the Pick’em Crew, so let’s introduce The Renegade and Brother Bull! They showed up a few times during the season last year, but this time they’re playing for keeps. ON WITH THE PICKS!
Pre-Show: WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami vs. Kalisto
WWE Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Bálor
Heel Turn Tom: Finn Balor (as The Demon)
Tricky Don: Brock Lesnar
Colin: Brock Lesnar
MagnumDA: Brock Lesnar
The Renegade: Finn Balor
Brother Bull: Brock Lesnar
WWE Championship
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles
Heel Turn Tom: Daniel Bryan
Tricky Don: Daniel Bryan
Colin: Daniel Bryan
MagnumDA: Daniel Bryan
The Renegade: Daniel Bryan
Brother Bull: Daniel Bryan
2019 Women’s Royal Rumble match
30-woman Royal Rumble match for a women’s championship match at WrestleMania 35
Bonus Point Opportunity #1: 1 Point Per Correct Pick
1. Who’s the Marathon Woman (stays in the longest)?
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations?
Heel Turn Tom: Becky Lynch wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Woman (stays in the longest)? Charlotte
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Nia Jax
Tricky Don: Becky Lynch wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Woman (stays in the longest)? Charlotte
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Charlotte
Colin: Becky Lynch wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Woman (stays in the longest)? Alexa Bliss
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Nia Jax
MagnumDA: Becky Lynch wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Woman (stays in the longest)? Charlotte
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Charlotte
The Renegade: Becky Lynch wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Woman (stays in the longest)? Sasha Banks
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Nikki Cross
Brother Bull: Charlotte wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Woman (stays in the longest)? Bayley
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Charlotte
2019 Men’s Royal Rumble match
30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 35
Bonus Point Opportunity #2: 1 Point Per Correct Pick
1. Who’s the Marathon Man (stays in the longest)?
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations?
3. Crazy Entrant Bonus Pick
Heel Turn Tom: Seth Rollins wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Man (stays in the longest)? Seth Rollins
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Drew McIntyre
3. Crazy Entrant Bonus Pick: The Rock
Tricky Don: Seth Rollins wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Man (stays in the longest)? Andrade
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Drew McIntyre
3. Crazy Entrant Bonus Pick: Carlito
Colin: Seth Rollins wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Man (stays in the longest)? Seth Rollins
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Drew McIntyre
3. Crazy Entrant Bonus Pick: Bully Ray
MagnumDA: Seth Rollins wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Man (stays in the longest)? Rey Mysterio
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Braun Strowman
3. Crazy Entrant Bonus Pick: Becky Lynch (hey, why not?)
The Renegade: Seth Rollins wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Man (stays in the longest)? Seth Rollins
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Braun Strowman
3. Crazy Entrant Bonus Pick: The Sandman
Brother Bull: Seth Rollins wins the Rumble
1. Who’s the Marathon Man (stays in the longest)? Drew McIntyre
2. Who will have the most Rumble Eliminations? Braun Strowman
3. Crazy Entrant Bonus Pick: Chris Jericho
Alright, that’s going to do it for the Pick’em Crew! We hope you enjoy tonight’s Royal Rumble. See you next time! @TheMagnumDA signing off.
John Cena will not be competing in the Royal Rumble and the news was confirmed by WWE.COM today. The website is citing an ankle injury as the cause of the change.
Cena suffered the apparent ankle injury on the January 14 episode of Raw and re-injured it the next day when he was in the gym. While he looked like he was favoring the left ankle after the show went off the air, nothing was made of it until WWE.COM ran a story a few days later saying that Cena is questionable for the show due to the injury.
When the list of dates of his appearances were published last month, he was never advertised for the Rumble in the first place and the last performance for WWE for now was the January 14 show. Cena is in Vancouver filming a new movie.
His removal from the Rumble match now means that there are 11 Superstars left to be announced for the men’s match.
The Royal Rumble takes place tonight and with nine matches on the card there’s plenty of offers and betting odds for the show. Today we take a look at all the matches and who’s the favorite to win.
In the men’s Royal Rumble Match, the odds pretty much stayed the same with Seth Rollins still favorite at 4/9, followed by Braun Strowman at 11/4, Drew McIntyre at 4/1, and John Cena at 20/1. Kenny Omega and The Rock have odds of 25/1 and 33/1 respectively of winning even though the likelihood of that happening is pretty much close to 0%.
Charlotte Flair remains the favorite as well from yesterday to win the women’s Royal Rumble match, with her odds at 5/6. Becky Lynch follows at 6/4, Ember Moon at 9/1, and Alexa Bliss is at 14/1. Stephanie McMahon and Paige both have 100/1 odds which compared to Omega and The Rock, it’s even more of a remote possibility.
Daniel Bryan is at 1/4 to retain the WWE title over AJ Styles who is at 11/4 while Brock Lesnar is also the favorite at 4/9 to retain the Universal title against Finn Balor who is at 13/8.
Ronda Rousey is the overwhelming favorite at 1/9 to retain the Raw Women’s title and Sasha Banks is at a distant 5/1 for the upset. Banks’ fellow 4 Horsewomen member Becky Lynch is also the underdog with odds at 6/4 as Asuka is the favorite to retain the Smackdown Women’s title with 1/2 odds.
In the other three remaining matches, Shane McMahon and The Miz are favorites to win the match but not necessarily the Smackdown Tag Team titles at 1/2 while The Bar are at 6/4 to retain. Rusev is at 1/5 odds to keep his United States title over last year’s Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura who is at 100/30 to regain. Buddy Murphy is also favorite at 4/6 to retain the Cruiserweight title with Hideo Itami at 2/1, and Akira Tozawa and Kalisto at 9/1.
Episode three of season four of Total Bellas airs tonight on E! head-to-head with the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The episode for tonight is titled Troublemaker.
The synopsis reads, “A newly free and single Nicole is determined to break the rules and revamp her lifestyle with sexy Ferraris, cigars, a beach house, and a secret date with an old dancing partner, concerning both her sister and her mom. While Brie is worried her sister is having a mid-life crisis, she is also faced with the emotional challenge of leaving Birdie for the first time to go on the road with Bryan for their new WWE storyline.
Live tonight from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, WWE presents the Royal Rumble on pay-per-view and the WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
30-men over-the-top rope Royal Rumble match; 30-women over-the-top rope Royal Rumble match; Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor for the Universal title; Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles for the WWE title; Ronda Rousey vs Sasha Banks for the Raw Women’s title; Asuka vs Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women’s title; The Bar vs The Miz and Shane McMahon for the Smackdown Tag Team titles; Buddy Murphy vs Akira Tozawa vs Hideo Itami vs Kalisto in a fatal 4-way match for the Cruiserweight title in the Kickoff show; and Rusev vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States title in the Kickoff show.
The 2019 Royal Rumble is free for first-time subscribers to the WWE Network. To begin your 30-day trial, go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk.
A huge brawl broke out after NXT Takeover: Phoenix went off the air last night.
After Ciampa and Gargano celebrated at the top of the ramp with their respective titles, Velveteen Dream came up to “congratulate” the duo but a war of words turned physical with Ricochet, Adam Cole, and Aleister Black all getting involved as well.
The melee continued into the backstage area as several WWE officials tried to break them up but it was only after Triple H showed up that things calmed down.
There are still 17 WWE Superstars yet to be announced for both Royal Rumble matches – 10 in the men’s match and seven for the women’s match.
The men’s Rumble match so far has Andrade, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Big E, Bobby Lashley, Dean Ambrose, Drew McIntyre, Elias, Jeff Hardy, Jinder Mahal, John Cena, Kofi Kingston, Mustafa Ali, R-Truth, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Titus O’Neil, and Xavier Woods.
10 Superstars are from Smackdown, nine are from Raw, and one – Cena – is not tied to any brand. Speaking of John Cena, his involvement is still up in the air and he might not be appearing on the show at all.
Meanwhile, over in the women’s match, confirmed are Alicia Fox, Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Billie Kay, Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke, Ember Moon, Lacey Evans, Lana, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Naomi, Natalya, Nia Jax, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Sonya Deville, Tamina, and Zelina Vega.
Nine women are from Smackdown, 12 are from Raw, and two – Cross and Evans – are without a brand so far. Last year, nine former WWE Divas and two NXT stars entered the match but surprises this year will be even less with only seven spots available.
Speaking to Sporting News before his fight, Jake Hager said that he hopes that by the time the second fight comes around, he will be using his old wrestling name of Jack Swagger rather than his real name.
Hager explained that WWE doesn’t have a trademark on it and he’s in the process of owning the name through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He did say that there’s another Jack Swagger name registered for musical performances but feels confident that since he’s not in the music business, he will get it.
Hager also said that he still has a good relationship with WWE which is why they allowed R-Truth to perform his entrance last night. “I thought that was a very good sign from them. It’s a little bit of writing on the wall from them,” he added. Swagger spent 11 years with WWE, from developmental in 2006 through his exit in 2017. He won the ECW title, United States title, and the World Heavyweight title during his time there as well as being Mr. Money In The Bank in 2010.
And just to show you how much Hager is personally liked by his peers, several WWE Superstars posted photos and videos on Twitter last night showing their support, including recording themselves watching the fight backstage and messages from The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Big E, Rusev, and others congratulating him for the win.
In an interview with Emmy winning entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet, WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler confirmed that he is currently on hiatus from WWE.
“We have a handshake agreement which is different from what’s on paper. I have given everything and we’ll see if there is more for me to give. I’ll be happy to be a part of it,” Ziggler said, also confirming that he is still under contract.
He said if he were to stay on with the company, it would have to be as a wrestler as he is not interested in taking a backstage role for the time being, but maybe 10 years down the road it would be a different story. “It’s a great thing and there are a lot of people who are good at teaching and giving back and I love pulling people aside or if they come up to me at work.”
Van Vliet also asked him if he would jump ship to All Elite Wrestling if the opportunity presented itself. Ziggler said he would be a big signing for the newly-created promotion but he has other things at the moment so it’s not in the pipeline. “But that should always be an option for anybody especially someone like me who has been around for a long time and as Drew McIntyre says, maybe I was riding his coattails and I gotta get the hell out of here,” Ziggler said.
Despite that, he acknowledged that signing with AEW “would be great” and he would be a great addition to a company “which seems to be for true wrestlers who love the sport and the business.”
Ziggler also confirmed that he will not be part of the Royal Rumble.
