This week’s news is almost entirely of the PPV variety, and since (at the time of publishing) the Kick Off portion of Crown Jewel is under an hour away let’s get crackin’!
Crown Jewel
Although the real reason for his absence was ignored on TV Monday night, John Cena is definitely NOT going to Saudi Arabia on Friday. Acting GM Baron Corbin gave his spot in the World Cup tournament to Bobby Lashley in a way that gives the writers the option of having Cena eventually return with heat against either man. Perhaps he’ll even come back at Survivor Series for the rumored Team Corbin vs Team Angle match as an Angle ally.
The bracket for the World Cup has been revealed. On the Raw side, round one will feature Rollins vs Lashley and Angle vs Ziggler. On the Smackdown side we’ve got Hardy vs Miz and Mysterio vs Orton.
Also confirmed to NOT be attending Crown Jewel is Daniel Bryan. Smackdown started by having the scheduled Bryan vs Styles WWE title match a few days early to take care of that obligation. Following the match, Samoa Joe returned to TV attacking both men. Joe will now get another shot at Styles’ title in Saudi Arabia.
In a last minute addition, Shinsuke Nakamura will defend his US Title against Rusev.
The show starts at 12pm EST today with a preshow kicking things off an hour earlier.
Final Announced card:
Universal Title (currently vacant): Braun Strowman vs Brock Lesnar
Tag Match: DX (HHH & HBK) vs The Brothers of Destruction (Taker & Kane)
World Cup Tournament: *Bobby Lashley, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler, Miz, & Rey Mysterio
WWE Title: AJ Styles© vs *Samoa Joe
Smackdown Tag Title match: The Bar© vs New Day
US Title Match: Shinsuke Nakamura© vs Rusev
NXT News
NXT stars are now doing more than making the occasional promotional appearance at Evolve events. This past weekend the Street Profits captured the Evolve tag titles and Fabian Aichner became the new Evolve Champion. All 3 are now being advertised to continue appearing at upcoming Evolve events.
Shayna Baszler deafeated Kairi Sane at Evolution to become the first ever 2-time NXT Women’s Champion. Unfortunately she seems to have injured her ankle during the match. The severity of the injury is unknown, but Shayna was seen using crutches during her post-PPV travels. Takeover is only about 2 weeks away, so hopefully it’s nothing serious enough to keep her from participating in that show.
Nov 17: NXT Takeover Wargames:
The card for Takeover Wargames came together quickly this week with the announcement of the following matches:
NXT Championship: Tomasso Ciampa© vs Velveteen Dream (there seems to be a chance Lars Sullivan gets added to the mix here as well)
Aliester Black vs Johnny Gargano (after months of mystery it was finally revealed that Gargano is the man who put Black on the shelf, and Black wants revenge)
Wargames: Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) vs War Raiders, Ricochet & Pete Dunne)
Though not yet officially announced, Kairi Sane will likely get a Women’s Title rematch against Shayna Baszler. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sane enlisted the help of her best friend and MYC runner up Io Shirai to help neutralize the interference of Shayna’s friends Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir.
Nov 18: Survivor Series
It looks like they’ll be going with a brand feud again for at least part of Survivor Series this year. The 1st official match announced is a champion vs champion battle featuring Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch. Given that Lynch is far more technically skilled than most of the opponents Rousey has had thus far in her short time as a sports entertainer, this has the potential to be a fantastic match.
If they rumors of a Team Corbin vs Team Angle bout are true, the pieces are beginning to fall into place regarding potential team members. It’s early yet, but I predict Cena, Balor, and Elias will be on Team Angle. Lashley and Mahal seem likely for Team Corbin thus far.
Then again, they may be sticking with the Raw vs Smackdown theme for the entire show. Smackdown Live’s announcers seemingly teased a match between United States Champion Shinsuke nakamura and Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins. SDL General Manager Paige also asked Charlotte Flair to captain the Smackdown Women’s team. Presumably this means there will also be mens teams for each brand.
Announced:
Raw Womens Champ Ronda Rousey vs Smackdown Womens Champ Becky Lynch
Rumored:
Team Corbin vs Team Angle for control of Raw
Team Raw vs Team Smackdown, both men and women
US Title vs IC title
Dec 16: TLC
Much could change between now and Dec 16, but current booking and rumors seem to point toward at least 3 matches being fairly set at the moment. Seth Rollins is likely defending the IC title against Dean Ambrose, Nia Jax will likely get the title shot she earned at Evolution against Ronda Rousey, and should Braun Strowman capture the Universal Title at Crown Jewel he will most likely defend it against Drew McIntyre come December.
