The final betting odds have been released for the WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day
The card for the show that takes place this Sunday appears to be finalized as only 5 matches have been announced. It’s possible that a sixth match is added whether that be on the main card or pre-show.
So far, three titles are on the line, but none are expected to change hands. Some of the more notable odds include MSK being favored to win the Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. There isn’t a favorite for the women’s tournament just yet.
WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day Odds
As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of the show this Sunday. The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds:
WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor (-400) vs Pete Dunne (+275)
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai (-225) vs Toni Storm (+300) vs Mercedes Martinez (+500) – Triple Threat Match
WWE NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano (-225) vs Kushida (+165)
MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) -200 vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) +150 – Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals Match
Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon (-120) vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez (-120) – Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals Match
WWE held a meeting on Friday that didn’t go so well.
It was reported by Fightful Select a major meeting took place today where many employees were told that they would not be provided promotions, bonuses, or raises. The meeting ended with several employees upset.
Per the report, it was said those who attended the meeting left with low morale. Employees from production, the WWE offices and other departments were involved. However, this was not a talent or wrestler meeting.
As it stands right now, there’s no word yet on why WWE isn’t providing pay raises or bonuses. This comes at a time where the company recently announced record financial results for 2020.
Overall revenue for 2020 was at $974.2 million, which represents an increase of 1% although the revenue for the fourth quarter was down 26% to $238.2 million.
In the press release, Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon touted how WWE has continued to produce live content in new ways amid the COVID-19 pandemic and not live touring.
Davey Boy Smith Jr is currently on the free-agent market, but that could be changing soon as he has confirmed having talks with WWE regarding a return to the company.
It’s been reported that various promotions including AEW and WWE are interested in signing him after he finished up with MLW in December. The son of the late “British Bulldog” recently spoke to Metro UK. During it, he talked about having talks with WWE.
“There’s been quite a bit of interest and a little bit of back and forth talk with myself and the company.” Smith stated. “I think that the plan – or what they were hoping – was for me to come to NXT UK. But unfortunately, right now because of Covid, those doors are kind of locked, we’ll see.”
He noted that there’s been interest from WWE about him going to NXT as he already lives in Tampa. At this time, they’re talking, but he’s trying to feel things out.
‘We’re discussing and talking. I can’t exactly say anything for sure, but there’ve been talks.”
Smith also mentioned how there are other places he could sign with, but pointed out how he’s supposed to induct his father into the WWE Hall of Famer and the best decision may be to go back to WWE no matter which brand he ends up on. However, it’s just not any decision to make.
The February 10, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
MSK def. Legado Del Fantasma
Xia Li def. Cora Jade.
Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon def. Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell
KUSHIDA def. Austin Theory via DQ
Grizzled Young Veterans def. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Kushida vs. Austin Theory
Kushida vs. Austin Theory in a singles match took place.
This came after Theory had announced on his Twitter account that he would be facing Kushida in a singles match on the show to get revenge on Kushida, who is supposed to challenge Johnny Gargano for the North American Title at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. In this same tweet, it was revealed that Gargano was out of the contest.
Gargano couldn’t walk due to a broken arm. Yes, that was the storyline. He cut a promo about how when Kushida attacked him, he suffered a broken arm last week. He was in a wheelchair and said that he has four fractures in his arm. He said that he’s a power walker so he can’t use his arms to walk. He thinks William Regal should suspend Kushida for doing so. As he was talking, he was using his arm.
Regal came out and said that Gargano has been cleared to work. He told Gargano to stop this act. Regal pointed out how Gargano was using his arm and that it was the wrong x-ray. Regal told him that he could forfeit the title if he can’t wrestle. Kushida appeared and attacked Theory then they had a tug of war over the title, which resulted in Gargano holding onto the title.
This match was booked later on. It ended in a DQ when Gargano attacked Kushida. Theory was pulled from under the ring by Dexter Lumis. Kushida stood tall in the ring after putting in a submission on Gargano while Lumis locked in his submission on Theory.
Looks like AtJohnnyGargano is having flashbacks. ? #WWENXT
Finn Balor is slated to make his next title defense as the NXT Champion against Pete Dunne in the main event of Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day special.
WWE advertised that they would do a face-to-face segment on this show. Instead, a video package aired and they saved the staredown for the last seconds of the show.
This was the go-home edition of NXT for this special so it would’ve been nice to have the main event stars actually do a final build. However, some could make the case that the build to this match has been done quite well.
Cameron Grimes Returns
Cameron Grimes made his return. He showed up in a fancy car then did a promo while in a suit. He talked about finding video games and walked into GameStop and bought their stock. Thus, he got rich. Then he invested in dog coins. He said now he has power and wrestles when he wants to do so.
Grimes worked his previous match against Timothy Thatcher on the December 9th episode of NXT. He had taken part in a Strap Match with Dexter Lumis at the NXT TakeOver: WarGames special.
Grimes underwent surgery in December, but at the time, it was not reported as to why he had to undergo the knife. Dave Meltzer later reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the belief was it was for minor arthroscopic knee surgery.
Semifinal match in the men\’s Dusty Classic featuring Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) took place.
WWE saved this for the main event spot. Ciampa sold his neck throughout the match. Ciampa eventually came to the rescue by getting the hot tag and cleared house. However, that didn’t last long as he ended up eating the pinfall when the heels hit their finishers.
As a result of this win, they’ll face MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) in the finals of the tournament, which will take place at the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day special.
A semifinal match in the men\’s Dusty Classic featuring MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) taking on Legado Del Fantasma\’s Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde. This was the opening contest, which was a wise choice.
They did some near falls before the commercial break, but even after, the pace didn’t stop. Those who hate spot after spot, then you wouldn’t like this match. Instead, it was a blitzing pace. The finish saw MSK hit their finisher on Wilde for the win.
They’ll face Grizzled Young Veterans in the finals of the tournament, which will take place at the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day special.
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell will also face Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon in a women\’s Dusty Classic semifinal match.
Somehow, Blackheart had been cut over her left eye and was bleeding pretty good. The heels dominated most of the match. Blackheart pinned Hartwell to pick up the hard-fought victory when Moon hit her finisher to LeRae and Blackheart took out both heels with a backsplash off the top rope. Indie tried to save LeRae from the top rope move, but it backfired.
Now, these ladies will face Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez in the finals of the tournament, which will take place at the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day special. Regal announced after the match that the winners of this match will also become the new #1 contenders for the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
The card is set for WWE\’s next NXT Takeover special, Vengeance Day. Following this week\’s episode of NXT on USA, we now know who will compete in the finals of the Men\’s and Women\’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournaments.
On NXT, three matches part of the tournaments took place. First up, is the women’s tournament, which will see Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon face Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez in the finals. The babyface went over Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell in the semifinals.
The men’s tournament will see The Grizzled Young Veterans face MSK in the finals as on this show, Zack Gibson and James Drake beat Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher to advance.
NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day Card
WWE presents NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day this Sunday, February 14th from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. The event airs live on the WWE Network.
NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Mercedes Martinez vs. Toni Storm – Triple Threat Match
NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano vs. Kushida
Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake)
Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.715 million viewers with a 0.49 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic.
This is down from last week (1.892 million viewers with a 0.58 rating) and is now the least-watched episode of Raw this year. The all-time low in the history of the show was at 1.527 million viewers in December.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:
The first hour did 1.821 million viewers and a 0.54 rating (A18-49).
The second hour did 1.735 million viewers and a 0.48 rating.
The final hour of the show had just 1.589 million viewers and a 0.44 rating.
Next week will be interesting to see what numbers Raw does as it will be the go-home edition of the red brand for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event.
WWE Raw on last night on USA Network was watched by 1,715,000 viewers. It did a P18-49 rating of 0.49 (631,000 viewers). It ranked #1 on the day on cable.https://t.co/951jpBkmqtpic.twitter.com/sF8AwRWyYz
Last night's Raw had a very unique ratings pattern. Male viewers and over 50 held up well, and teens grew during the show at a remarkable rate. But women 12-49 collapsed, 18-49 like no week I can recall. The third hour, it was women tuning out that was story.
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.257 million viewers. This is down from the 2.304 million viewers on FS1 that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.65 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from the 0.62 rating the previous week’s show. The episode drew an average of 2.126 million viewers in the overnight ratings, down from the previous week that did 2.228 million viewers.
The first hour saw it pull in 2.144 million viewers while hour two did 2.108 million viewers. The show did 2.294 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 2.161 million viewers two weeks ago.
As expected, the top match from the Raw brand on the Elimination Chamber card will feature the WWE Title.
It was confirmed on Monday’s episode of Raw that McIntyre will defend the WWE Title against several stars at the show. Adam Pearce introduced Shane McMahon in the opening segment so he could reveal that McIntyre, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, The Miz, and Sheamus will battle it out in an Elimination Chamber Match with the title on the line.
WWE kicked off the program with McIntyre and Sheamus on the February 1st edition of Raw when Sheamus turned heel by attacking McIntyre, which came after the company had been putting over their friendship in recent months.
After the beat down, Sheamus cut a promo about how McIntyre is no longer his friend and declared that he wants McIntyre\’s WWE Championship. McIntyre retained his WWE Championship against Goldberg at the Royal Rumble.
WWE holds the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event on Sunday, February 21, 2021 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, which will air on the WWE Network.
Vince McMahon was among a few top WWE executives to buy more WWE stock in recent days.
WWE has uploaded several SEC filings to their corporate website regarding Vince, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Kevin Dunn, and WWE President Nick Khan increasing the amount of WWE stock that they own. All of the purchases were done on February 5th.
Vince has picked up 19,875 shares for a total of 89,496, which totals over $4 million.
Vince\’s daughter, Stephanie, added an additional 5644 shares of WWE to her name and has 82,042 in total stock, which is over 3 million dollars in worth.
Triple H, the son-in-law of Vince and husband to Stephanie, picked up 5644 shares, which now sees him have a total share of 87,046. His total stock is also worth a little over $4 million.
Khan also acquired 15310 shares of stock. Dunn, who is one of WWE’s longest-tenured employees, added 7552 shares bringing his total number of shares to 81,411.
This comes at a time where WWE is at its most profitable due to the increase in TV rights fees. The company has also recently signed a United States streaming deal with NBCU to move its US rights of the WWE Network to Peacock.
WWE has already locked in their plans for Roman Reigns at this year’s WrestleMania, but a future match for “The Big Dog” is still possible in the eyes of Vince McMahon.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar “is on the table” and it would have an interesting story not only due to their history but also Paul Heyman being involved but the match is likely not happening this year.
Lesnar hasn’t appeared on WWE programming since WrestleMania 36 and his contract quietly expired around that time. His current status was first revealed when the company pulled his merchandise in August.
The belief is that he will make his return once WWE is allowed to have fans in attendance at their shows going forward, which WrestleMania 37 will have, but no other events are expected to have the same until later this year.
There’s been no word yet on exactly when he’ll return. He’s also in Canada, and just like John Cena, there are travel restrictions in place that will prevent him from coming into the United States without quarantining.
Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa def. The Undisputed Era
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Edge Appearance
WWE announced in advance that WWE Hall of Famer Edge would be making an appearance on this show. However, they didn’t mention what he would exactly be doing.
Fast forward to the show, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion interrupted a promo segment between NXT Champion Finn Balor and Pete Dunne. The two NXT stars traded words as Dunne said that he would beat Balor to win the title. Balor threw out the match announcement between them for the title at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day.
Edge came out and said that he has watched NXT for years as a fan. He said that he saw hunger in the eyes of the wrestlers and this show helped him find his passion to get his career back. He brought up winning the Royal Rumble allows him to challenge for any title he wants. He put Dunne and Balor over for being two of the best in the company. He said that he sees a younger version of himself in Dunne.
He sees Balor as someone in the zone like no one else. He said that he will be watching their match at TakeOver because he’s never had the NXT Title. He said that no matter who wins at TakeOver, the fight may make him decide his choice.
The Undisputed Era vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher
The Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong, Adam Cole) vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic quarterfinal match was booked.
This served as the main event of the show and what a match it was. Throughout the match, Ciampa sold his neck, which was surgically repaired in 2019. They did some near falls towards the end of the match.
The babyfaces did some tag team moves before Ciampa hit his finisher for the win.
As a result of this win, they will move onto face The Grizzled Young Veterans in the men\’s Dusty Classic semifinals.
Pretty sure bodies aren't meant to bend like that. #WWENXT
Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik) vs. Legado del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza, Joaquin Wilde) in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic quarterfinal match was booked.
WWE saved this as the third match of the night. The heels got the early advantage. They did some near fall spots with the babyfaces as they made their comeback until the heels hit their finisher for the win.
Post-match, MSK came out for a promo where they bragged about their fast rise in NXT and how next week they’ll win to advance in the tournament.
As a result of this win, they will move onto face MSK in the men\’s Dusty Classic semifinals.
Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Team Ninja (Kayden Carter, Kacy Catanzaro) in a Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic quarterfinal match was booked.
This was the opening match on the show and a really fun way to start things off as they had a quick pace style throughout it. At one point, Kacy did a dive off the barricade onto the heels.
Raquel hit her finisher to Kacy for the win.
As a result of this win, they will move on to the finals, which will be at the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day special where they’ll face the winners of Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon vs Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell.
NXT Cruiserweight Champion El Hijo Del Fantasma is now Santos Escobar
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar defended the title against Curt Stallion.
The story of the match was Escobar dominating and cutting off Stallion over and over. Scarlett was watching the match from the grandstands after Escobar was warned that Karrion Kross would be watching. Escobar won with his finisher.
Post-match, Kross took out Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde before having a staredown with Escobar. Kross said that they have some problems so he’s going to give him some time until the unenviable.
Leading up to this match, Stallion had been in line for a title shot once he won a number one contender\’s fatal five-way match on 205 Live in November. Escobar successfully defended his Cruiserweight title on NXT New Year\’s Evil against Gran Metalik. Last week’s show saw Escobar cut an in-ring promo Escobar cut an in-ring promo
Metalik & Dorado then ran out and brawled with Mendoza & Wilde. Once the heels had the numbers advantage, Stallion got involved and helped fight off group. Later on, in the show, Legado Del Fantasma interrupted an interview with the babyfaces and Escobar said he\’ll embarrass Stallion.
As advertised, Edge made an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT.
He did so to interrupt a promo segment at the top of the second hour involving WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor and Pete Dunne. This is where it was revealed that Balor will defend the title against the top contender at the next TakeOver special.
Edge did a promo about how he watched NXT as a fan for years and by doing so it helped him find the passion to make a return. This is where he teased challenging for the NXT Title at WrestleMania 37 as he won the Men’s Royal Rumble Match, which allows him to challenge for any title that he wants. It should be noted that WWE reportedly already has their plans lined up for him at Mania.
Also confirmed on this show was a new title match for TakeOver, which will see Johnny Gargano put the NXT North American Title on the line when he defends against Kushida as the two stars have been feuding over the past few weeks.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day event on Sunday, February 14, 2021 in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center and will air on the WWE Network.
Rapper Bad Bunny is preparing to work his first pro wrestling match.
On Tuesday, the Grammy-winning music star was training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Pwinsider.com reports that his training is for him to get ready for a proposed match against The Miz and/or John Morrison later this year at a WWE pay-per-view event.
While the expectation is that Bunny will be making his in-ring debut for WWE, it won’t come immediately. Bunny noted during an appearance on Monday’s episode of Raw during a MizTV segment that wrestling for WWE has been one of his life-long dreams.
It’s been previously reported that WWE had plans for Bunny to make more appearances and there was even an idea pitched about him being involved at WrestleMania 37 where he could potentially wrestle.
Up to this point, he’s been aligned with WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and Damian Priest in the storylines. At Sunday’s Royal Rumble, he performed his “Booker T” single before doing an angle with The Miz and John Morrison after they were eliminated by Priest in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match.
Also on Monday’s Raw, Priest then defeated The Miz in singles action. During it, the rapper dropped Morrison with a microphone shot.
WWE has revealed the new name for the next NXT TakeOver special and longtime fans may remember it.
On Wednesday, the company confirmed the name, NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. As seen below, WWE is also bringing back one of the original logos from the old WWE Vengeance pay-per-views.
The first Vengeance event took place back in 2001 and was later changed to Vengeance: Night of Champions in 2007 before it was retired only to be brought back in 2011 for a one-off. This will be the first time WWE has used the name since then.
NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day event on Sunday, February 14, 2021 in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center and will air on the WWE Network.
Only one match has been announced for the show right now, which is WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Mercedes Martinez vs. Toni Storm in a Triple Threat Match. There is speculation that the finals of the Men’s and Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classics will also take place at Takeover.
WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming days.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.892 million viewers with a 0.58 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. Last week’s show did 1.819 million viewers with a 0.52 rating.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:
The first hour did 1.981 million viewers and a 0.61 rating (A18-49).
The second hour did 1.885 million viewers and a 0.57 rating.
The final hour of the show had just 1.811 million viewers and a 0.55 rating.
This was the post-show edition of Raw for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, which is traditionally the second or third highest rated Raw of the year. Next week will be more interesting to follow as there will not be the same intrigue like this.
This same episode last year did 2.402 million viewers while the 2019 edition did 2.703 million viewers.
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.304 million viewers. This is down from the 2.383 million viewers on FS1 that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.62 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from the 0.63 rating the previous week’s show. The episode drew an average of 2.228 million viewers in the overnight ratings, down from the previous week that did 2.282 million viewers.
The first hour saw it pull in 2.294 million viewers while hour two did 2.161 million viewers. The show did 2.284 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 2.280 million viewers two weeks ago.
There has been a lot of speculation as to who will be challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 37. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports that that Royal Rumble winner Edge will be Reigns\’ opponent.
\”Not sure when this will be officially announced, but Roman Reigns vs. Edge is the planned main event at WrestleMania,\” Meltzer wrote. \”The Bianca Belair match isn\’t 100 percent right now.\”
The WWE Hall of Famer worked his first match in months at Sunday\’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event by entering the Men’s Royal Rumble Match at number one. He lasted more than 58 minutes and last eliminated Randy Orton to win the event.
At the Royal Rumble, Reigns successfully retained his Universal Championship against Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing Match.
Edge had been on the sidelines when he ended up tearing his triceps last June. It also marked the second straight year that Edge made his return at this event. Last year, Edge made his surprise return to the ring since being forced to retire in 2011.
It is unclear at this point who Women\’s Rumble winner Bianca Belair will be challenge at WrestleMania.
WrestleMania 37 takes place across two nights on April 10 and April 11 in Tampa, FL.
Cesaro has a decision to make about whether or not he wants to stay with WWE. Wrestling Inc reports that his contract with the company expires after WrestleMania 37, which will take place over the course of two nights on April 10th and 11th. There’s no word yet on exactly which date his contract expires.
Cesaro is currently on the SmackDown brand and lost a match on last Friday’s episode of the blue brand where he teamed up AJ Styles and Sami Zayn to Big E, Daniel Bryan, and Shinsuke Nakamura.
During an appearance on Talking Smack this past week, he noted that if he should win the Men’s Royal Rumble Match then he would want to challenge WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns for the strap at WrestleMania 37 due to Reigns’s recent actions towards Shinke Nakumra as they’re past tag team partners.
Cesaro, who is 40-years-old, started his pro wrestling career in 2000 and joined WWE in 2011 where he started working in FCW and later was called up to the main roster the following year.
During his time with WWE thus far, he won the United States Title once, Raw Tag Team Titles five times, SmackDown Tag Team Championships twice, and was the inaugural Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2014.
Christian was the big surprise appearance in this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble Match at Sunday’s WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event and now fans are wondering what his future exactly holds.
PWInsider.com reports he will be making future appearances and the belief is that he\’s working a part-time schedule. However, as of this afternoon, he was not scheduled to appear on tonight\’s episode of Raw from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The report goes on to state the story making the rounds backstage after the Royal Rumble was he secretly got cleared a week before the Rumble after a visit to Pittsburgh.
It was added that up until he started to warm up for the appearance, his return was kept quiet from everyone backstage beyond a very small amount who were aware ahead of time.
Christian’s career in the pro wrestling business ended due to his history of suffering concussions in 2014. However, in a situation like Daniel Bryan, who also had a history of concussions, he was medically cleared years after he was told that he couldn’t wrestle again.
Before the Royal Rumble, the closest he came to wrestling again came back on the June 15, 2020 edition of Raw where he had an unsanctioned match with Randy Orton.
The winner of this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match is Edge. The former WWE Champion outlasted the likes of Seth Rollins, Christian, and Braun Strowman in the Final Four at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
He has earned the right to be in one of the main events of WrestleMania 37 and will have his choice to go after one of the top titles in the company, as a result of beating out 29 other stars.
Some notable entrants include the likes of Carlito, The Hurricane, Christian, who hasn’t worked an actual match since 2014 due to a history of concussions, and Seth Rollins, who has been gone since Survivor Series.
A notable spot in the match was Orton getting helped to the backstage arena after an attack by Edge with a chair. The final five were Strowman, Rollins, Edge, Orton, and Christian. When it looked like Edge was the last man standing, Orton came from nowhere to hit an RKO. However, when it looked like Edge would be eliminated, he countered an irish whip and sent Orton to the floor.
He will have to decide whether he’ll challenge for the Universal Title, which is held by Roman Reigns, who successfully retained the title over Kevin Owensror the WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, who worked Goldberg in the opener.
The third and likely final match for the foreseeable future between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens was memorable.
Reigns put the Universal Title on the line against the SmackDown star in a Last Man Standing bout. at the Royal Rumble. The match saw Reigns toss him off the platform with all of the screens through tables. Owens crawled to the backstage area, but Reigns ran him over in a golf cart. Owens climbed a forklift and hit a swanton bomb off it.
Owens handcuffed him to the stage support beam, but Reigns shoved the referee into the beam. Moments later, Paul Heyman came out to let Reigns free. Reigns locked in the guillotine choke to make Owens pass out for the win.
Their first match took place at last month’s TLC pay-per-view event where “The Big Dog” walked out victorious. The rematch took place on the December 24th edition of SmackDown inside a Steel Cage that also saw Reigns retain the title.
It appeared that WWE was moving on from this feud, but that wasn’t the case. WWE held a Gauntlet Match on the January 8th edition of SmackDown that featured Daniel Bryan, King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, and Rey Mysterio.
It was later revealed that WWE agent Adam Pearce would be the final competitor after Paul Heyman pulled some strings so that way he could face Nakamura. The plan went accordingly as Uso and Reigns beat down Nakamura, which allowed Pearce to win and become the #1 contender to the Universal Title.
A few weeks passed by that eventually led to Owens replacing Pearce and he was declared as the new challenger.
What are your thoughts on Roman Reigns retaining the Universal Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
The winner of this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match has been revealed and it\’s Bianca Belair. Now, her journey to WrestleMania 36 begins.
A cool spot saw Naomi get tossed to the floor, but landed on her back and wasn’t eliminated. Naomi lasted 47 minutes.
Belair outlasted the likes of Rhea Ripley, Natalya, and Charlotte Flair in the Final Four at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. Ripley fought Belair in the final two.
With her beating out 29 other stars, she has earned the right to be in one of the main events of Mania and will have her choice to go after one of the top titles in the company.
The decision for her comes down to the Raw Women’s Title, which is held by Asuka. The other option is challenging SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks, who also defended her championship against Carmella on this show.
Royal Rumble List of Entrants
Here’s a list of the entry of superstars who competed in this fan-favorite match:
Bayley
Naomi
Bianca Belair
Billie Kay
Shotzi Blackheart
Shayna Baszler
Toni Storm
Jullian Hall
Ruby Riott
Victoria
Peyton Royce
Santana Garrett
Liv Morgan
Rhea Ripley
Charlotte Flair
Dana Brooke
Torrie Wilson
Lacey Evans
Mickie James
Nikki Cross
Alicia Fox
Mandy Rose
Dakota Kai
Carmella
Tamina Snuka
Lana
Alexa Bliss
Ember Moon
Nia Jax
Natalya
THE ROYAL RUMBLE-EST! THAT'S RIGHT! The EST of WWE is headed to #WrestleMania!
What are your thoughts on Belair winning this match and being placed in the main event scene at WrestleMania 37? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
The big clash between Drew McIntyre and Goldberg took place at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. This is where McIntyre put the WWE Title on the line against the WWE Hall of Famer.
The match featured a hot start as before the match even started, McIntyre hit a spear to the legend only to have Goldberg spear McIntyre through the barricade moments later. They hit their finishers for near falls once the match started. The finish had Goldberg miss a spear and McIntyre hit the Claymore Kick for the win.
It went about 2 and half minutes. Post-match, Goldberg told McIntyre that he passed the test and they shook hands.
This was Goldberg’s first match of 2021, which means he’s slated to compete at least one more time as his current WWE contract calls for him to work two matches per year. He hadn’t wrestled since WrestleMania 36 last April where he dropped the Universal Title to Braun Strowman.
WWE set up this match on the January 4th edition of Raw, which was a special Legends Night episode after McIntyre had successfully retained the title over Keith Lee in the main event. Goldberg accused McIntyre of looking down on various legends and he was here to step up and put an end to it. After an insult by McIntyre, Goldberg pushed him down and the show went off the air.
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler have captured the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship for a second time.
It happened when they dethroned Charlotte Flair and Raw Women’s Champion Asuka at the Royal Rumble. The match finish saw Ric Flair and Lacey Evans come out. After multiple instances of interference from Evans, it led to her hitting Flair in the face with what looked like brass knuckles. Thus, this allowed Jax to hit a leg drop to Flair for the win.
This was a rematch from last month’s WWE TLC pay-per-view where Asuka and Flair dethroned their opponents to become the champions. WWE had just announced this match last week on Raw. On the show, Jax, Baszler & Lacey Evans defeated Charlotte, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke in a six-woman tag match. Before this, in the same episode, Charlotte vs. Baszler took place but ended in a disqualification as Jax attacked Charlotte as she was going to put Baszler in the Figure Eight.
Charlotte, Jax, and Baszler declared for the women\’s Royal Rumble match so they all ended up pulling double duty at the PPV. WWE played this up leading into the Royal Rumble as there had been dissension between Jax and Baszler over them both being entrants in the Royal Rumble.
What are your thoughts on Nix Jax and Shayna Baszler winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
CM Punk is getting back into a wrestling ring but it’s not to get ready for another run. Instead, it’s the latest Hollywood role for him.
Actor Stephen Amell took to Twitter today in order to welcome the former WWE star to the Starz series, Heels, as Punk will be on the show and making a return to the squared circle.
Amell wrote, “Please welcome @CMPunk to @HeelsSTARZ — He was a little rusty in the ring yesterday, but I assured him it was just like riding a bike.”
Pwinsider.com reported after the photo was posted that the former WWE Champion is currently filming for the show after being in Atlanta for several weeks. He mentioned on social media that he was quarantining in advance for a work-related thing, which turned out to be this show. He’s slated to be a rival of Amell in a potential recurring role.
Punk impressed casting directors for the role of Jack Spade back in 2017, but never got the role because the project was put on hold. Amell later filled that role so now Punk will be portraying his adversary.
After dealing with injuries and not wanting to wrestle anymore, Punk decided to walk out of WWE on the Monday following the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in 2014. He recently celebrated the anniversary on social media.
The card for this year’s (Sunday, January 31, 2021) WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event has been updated.
The company hasn’t officially announced the pre-show match for the event, but fans can get hyped before the main card with a two-hour Kickoff Show.
FS1 aired a special edition of WWE Backstage on Saturday night to preview the event. On the broadcast, Natalya defeated Tamina to become the #30 entry in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match.
As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 5 PM EST.
Final WWE Royal Rumble Card
Here is the final card for the show:
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens – Last Man Standing Match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg
Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis, The Miz, Jey Uso, Cesaro, Jeff Hardy, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E, John Morrison, Sheamus, Mustafa Ali, Edge, King Corbin, Dominik Mysterio, Rey Mysterio, Braun Strowman, 9 mystery entrants – Men’s Royal Rumble Match:
Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, Bayley, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Peyton Royce, Shayna Baszler, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Tamina, 17 mystery entrants, Natalya (entering at #30) – Women’s Royal Rumble Match
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Carmella
Braun Strowman has made his return to WWE television after being on the sidelines due to a storyline suspension while also recovering from a real-life injury.
Friday’s episode of SmackDown featured an unexpected match between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. WWE set it up in the opening segment. During the match, Sami Zayn walked out to ringside during the match because he wanted to protest, which led to Big E walking out and a brawl broke out with Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro also involved. Once Zayn attacked Bryan, it caused a DQ.
A six-man tag team match featuring Big E, Bryan, and Nakamura against Cesaro, Zayn, and Styles was booked, but that contest also ended in a DQ because of an attack on Big E by The Miz and John Morrison.
Thus, it turned into a 5 on 4 handicap match with Otis, The Miz, and Morrison added to the match. However, it turned into a 10-man tag once Sheamus was added a few minutes later to score the win by pinning Zayn. Post-match, a brawl broke out with Strowman making his return.
WWE wrote him off television in November after he lost his cool and head-butted Adam Pearce during an angle on Monday Night Raw. Strowman had been dealing with a leg injury.
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