It seemed like it might be a slow news week… until it wasn’t.
Early in the week the only notable stories were the continued booking of upcoming PPV matches but then some major news about the future of WWE TV made a huge impact.
Monday Night Raw staying put
NBC Universal, the current broadcast home for both Raw and Smackdown is negotiating a huge deal to keep Raw on their USA Network for the foreseeable future. With the exception of a brief run on the network formerly known as Spike TV, USA has been the consistent home of WWE’s Monday night flagship since its inception in the early 90s. Word is that they are putting down big money to keep it that way but in the process are willing to allow Smackdown to be made available for other suitors. While having one consistent home for all WWE programming is nice it has had the effect of allowing the product to be rather homogeneous. Splitting the two big weekly shows in this way could finally allow the brand split to establish genuinely unique identities for each show which could appeal different factions of the audience in a way they don’t currently. We’ll continue to bring you more on this story as it develops.
Jax vs Rousey
An angle was filmed at the NBC upfront presentations that set up a Raw Womens Title match between current champ Nia Jax and relative newcomer Ronda Rousey. Rousey has thus far only competed in one match for the WWE and it was a tightly planned mixed tag at Wrestlemania. Critics probably see it as far too soon to put her into a title match, but it’s been reported that the company felt they had no choice. They couldn’t leave Rousey out of the booking for the MITB PPV but also didn’t want to expose her relative inexperience in the womens ladder match. They’ll have to tread lightly in the booking to avoid a fan backlash against their new megastar.
Styles vs Nakamura 3
Shane McMahon announced via social media early in the week that AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura would once again face one another for the WWE Championship at MITB. In the Smackdown Live main event this week the two faced off for the right to choose a stipulation for that match. Nakamura was victorious and is expected to announce his choice on next week’s broadcast. Early rumors have suggested a Last Man Standing match as a possibility which makes sense given how their last two title matches have ended.
Charges against Amore dropped
The sexual assault charges which led to WWE’s firing of Enzo Amore have been dropped, reportedly due to a lack of sufficient evidence. Don’t look for him to make a triumphant return to the company though. He spent much of his tenure on the main roster in hot water due to his backstage behavior and his legal problems were viewed as the last straw. It’s unlikely they would be willing to welcome that kind of drama back into the fold.
Orton Injured?
Not a lot of details are known at this point but there are rumors that Randy Orton may be dealing with a minor injury. He hasn’t been seen on television since dropping the US title to Jeff Hardy, but is expected back by midsummer to participate in the build to Summerslam.
UK Tournament 2018
WWE announced more details this week for their next UK Tournament. Eight of the sixteen competitors were announced via social media and all 16 will begin facing off in the NXT ring during the Download Festival June 8-10. The top 8 men will then finish the tournament on June 18th in London’s famous Royal Albert Hall. The winner gets a title shot against WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne on June 19th, also in the Royal Albert Hall. The eight men announced thus far are Zack Gibson, Joe Coffey, Jack Gallagher, Dave Mastiff, Kenny Williams, El Ligero, Joseph Conners, and Amir Jordan. We’ll have the remaining participants for you next week.
Money in the Bank card
Finally, here’s how the card for June 17th’s PPV is shaping up currently.
Mens MitB Match- Braun Strowman vs Finn Balor vs The Miz vs Rusev vs Bobby Roode vs Kevin Owens vs one member of the New Day (TBA) vs one more competitor TBA
Womens MitB Match- Ember Moon vs Charlotte Flair vs Alexa Bliss vs Becky Lynch vs 4 more women TBA
WWE Title Match- AJ Styles(c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura with Nakamura choosing the stipulation
Raw Womens Title Match- Nia Jax(c) vs Ronda Rousey
Smackdown Womens Title Match- Carmella(c) vs Asuka
