Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona with the fallout from the Royal Rumble.
* The Kingslayer celebrates Royal conquest
* The “Rowdy” Road to WrestleMania
* The Beast triumphant
* Where will the new WWE Superstars wind up?
As we previously reported, Abyss and Sonjay Dutt left Impact Wrestling last week and will be starting with WWE in a backstage capacity.
Wrestling Inc. reports that former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Shane Helms will be returning to the company as a backstage producer. Helms had been working with Ring of Honor since this past June.
Helms brings nearly 20 years of experience in the business on a national level, dating back to his signing with WCW in 1999. His biggest career run came when he started dressing as a superhero named “The Hurricane” in the WWF in 2001.
During a recent media call, Paul “Triple H” Levesque discussed the company increasing their efforts in hiring talent in backstage roles.
“We’re always on the lookout for talented people that can contribute to the product and to the WWE as a whole,” Levesque said. “It doesn’t matter where they’re from, the quality people that are talented, that have a passion for this and want it to go to the next level and succeed, I’m always looking forward to those people.”
Helms is expected to begin with WWE today. Wrestling Inc. has learned that Abyss and Dutt are believed to start their new roles by mid-February. Levesque indicated that their roles are not yet fully defined.
“Sonjay coming in here, Abyss coming in here [in] behind the scenes roles, we’re going to see where that best fit is for them,” Levesque said. “I’ve heard of them, I know of them.
“So many people speak highly of them and their jobs over the years, from a talent standpoint and other standpoint, so, I’m looking forward to working with them and seeing where they best fit through all of this, as we all are. Everybody here will determine where they fit, what they want to do, and how they can help contribute in the best way to the product going forward.”
Source: WrestlingINC
(Kickoff) RAW Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable vs. Rezar & Scott Dawson – Winners: Roode & Gable
(Kickoff) United States Championship: (C) Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Winner and new United States Champion: Shinsuke Nakamura
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(Kickoff) WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Buddy Murphy vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami – Winner: Buddy Murphy
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SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Asuka vs. “The Man” Becky Lynch – Winner: Asuka by submission
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SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) The Bar vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon – Winners and New SmackDown Tag Team Champions: The Miz & Shane McMahon
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RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks – Winner: Ronda Rousey
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30-Women Royal Rumble Match:
Entry Order:
Hornswoggle made an appearance. Zelina Vega was hiding under the ring but so was Hornswoggle, He chased her into the ring, she was eliminated and he chased her to the back.
Winner: Becky Lynch
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1089712583316201472
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WWE Championship: (C) Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles – Winner: Daniel Bryan
Erick Rowan came out and choke slammed AJ to help Bryan win.
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Universal Championship: (C) Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor – Winner Brock Lesnar
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30-Man Royal Rumble Match:
Entry Order:
Winner: Seth Rollins
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https://twitter.com/WrestleMania/status/1089748351103324160
Shawn Michaels announced during the Royal Rumble pre-show that next Sunday during halftime Super Bowl LIII, WWE will air a 6-Man Tag Match – Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream & Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa & Adam Cole.
From people very close to the situation, the strong expectation is that AJ Styles is staying with WWE when his contract expires this April, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer mentioned how it is an incredibly opportunistic time for Styles to have his contract ending because he is good friends with people like All Elite Wrestling Executive Vice Presidents, The Young Bucks. Despite that, the situation is that Styles is reportedly staying with WWE.
AJ Styles takes on Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WWE Royal Rumble, taking place tonight at Chase Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona.
Source: WrestlingINC
NXT Tag Team Championship: (C) Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) vs. War Raiders – Winners and New NXT Tag Team Champions: War Raiders
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Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno – Winner: Matt Riddle
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NXT North American Championship: (C) Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano – Winner and New NXT North American Champion: Johnny Gargano
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NXT Women’s Championship: (C) Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca Belair – Winner: Shayna Baszler
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NXT Championship: (C) Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black – Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
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After the match, as Ciampa was exiting, Johnny Gargano came out on the ramp meeting Ciampa and the looked at each other, Gargano raised his newly won NXT North American Championship belt up and Ciampa raised up his NXT Championship belt.
On the NXT TakerOver: Phoenix pre-show the2018 NXT Year-End Award winners was announced.
Below is the full list of 2018 NXT Year-End Award winners and nominees:
Female Competitor of the Year
* Nikki Cross
* NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler
* Kairi Sane
* Ember Moon
* Bianca Belair
Winner: Kairi Sane
Male Competitor of the Year
* NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa
* Johnny Gargano
* NXT North American Champion Ricochet
* Aleister Black
* The Velveteen Dream
* Andrade
* Adam Cole
* WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
Overall Competitor of the Year
* Tommaso Ciampa
* Nikki Cross
* Johnny Gargano
* NXT North American Champion Ricochet
* NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler
* Aleister Black
* Kairi Sane
* The Velveteen Dream
* Andrade
* Ember Moon
* Adam Cole
* WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne
* Bianca Belair
Winner: Kairi Sane
NXT Tag Team of the Year
* NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era
* The War Raiders
* The Street Profits
* Heavy Machinery
* Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
* Moustache Mountain
Winners: The Undisputed Era
NXT TakeOver of the Year
* Takeover: Philadelphia
* Takeover: New Orleans
* Takeover: Chicago II
* Takeover: Brooklyn IV
* Takeover: War Games II
Winner: New Orleans
NXT Match of the Year
* WarGames – WarGames Match (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (NXT Championship Match, TakeOver: Philadelphia)
* Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed ERA (NXT Tag Team Championship Match, NXT TV, July 11, 2018)
* Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Unsanctioned Match, TakeOver: New Orleans)
* NXT North American Championship Ladder Match (TakeOver: New Orleans)
* Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Championship Match, TakeOver: Brooklyn IV)
* Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream (TakeOver: Chicago)
* Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT Championship Match, NXT TV, July 25)
* Pete Dunne vs. Zack Gibson (WWE U.K. Championship Match, NXT TV, Aug. 22)
* Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole (Extreme Rules Match, TakeOver: Philadelphia)
* Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly (WWE U.K. Championship Match, NXT TV, June 13)
* Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs. Undisputed ERA (TakeOver: Chicago)
* Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair (NXT TV, Sept. 12)
* Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne (NXT North American Champion vs. WWE U.K. Champion Match, NXTTV, Sept. 19)
* Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole (NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match, NXT TV, Oct. 10)
Winner: Gargano vs. Andrade in Philadelphia
NXT Rivalry of the Year
* Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa
* Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler
* Aleister Black/Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa/Nikki Cross
* Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade
* Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed ERA
* Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler
* Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream
Winners: Gargano vs. Ciampa
Breakout Star of the Year
* Bianca Belair
* Lacey Evans
* Rhea Ripley
* Dakota Kai
* Lars Sullivan
* NXT North American Champion Ricochet
* The War Raiders
* EC3
Winner: Ricochet
Future Star of NXT
* Matt Riddle
* Keith Lee
* Mia Yim
* The Forgotten Sons (Jaxson Ryker, Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake)
* Dominik Dijakovic
* Io Shirai
* Candice LeRae
* Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir
* Kona Reeves
Winner: Io Shirai
Matt Sydal’s contract with Impact Wrestling ended on January 1, 2019, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer reports that Sydal is now a free agent and has contract offers from both All Elite Wrestling and WWE. There’s apparently no word yet on Impact Wrestling coming to terms on a new contract with Sydal.
Matt Sydal was taken out of the Warrior Wrestling event earlier this month due to a knee injury. Sydal announced he scheduled knee surgery to repair some torn cartilage, however, Sydal later tweeted out that the original date of the surgery was postponed because of insurance issues. In another tweet, Sydal noted that he should be back in the ring by March or April.
Sydal has seen success in wrestling promotions all around the world, including the WWE. In 2007, Sydal introduced himself as “Evan Bourne” and showed off his impressive high-flying offense to the WWE Universe. He teamed up with Kofi Kingston in 2011 and “Air Boom” would eventually become WWE Tag Team Champions. Sydal also won Championship gold in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. In Impact Wrestling, he is a former Impact Grand Champion and Impact X Division champion.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE Royal Rumble – January 27, 2019 – Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona – 7 ET / 4 PT – Kickoff 5 ET/2 PT
Universal Championship: (C) Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor
WWE Championship: (C) Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles
Men’s Royal Rumble: R-Truth (at #30), Drew McIntyre, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Seth Rollins, Jeff Hardy, Dean Ambrose, Samoa Joe, Bobby Lashley, Elias, Baron Corbin, Andrade, Jinder Mahal, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, Apollo Crews, Titus O’Neil, Randy Orton, Braun Strowman & TBA
Women’s Royal Rumble: Carmella (at #30), Ember Moon, Natalya, Bayley, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Alicia Fox, Zelina Vega, Naomi, Mickie James, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Charlotte, Tamina, Dana Brooke, Lana, Nia Jax, Nikki Cross, Alexa Bliss, Lacey Evans & TBA
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Asuka vs. “The Man” Becky Lynch
RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) The Bar vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon
(Kickoff) Rezar & Scott Dawson vs. RAW Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable
(Kickoff) United States Championship: (C) Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
(Kickoff) WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Buddy Murphy vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami
NXT TakeOver – January 26, 2019 – Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona – 7 ET / 4 PT
NXT Championship: (C) Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black
NXT Women’s Championship: (C) Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca Belair
NXT Tag Team Championship: (C) Undisputed ERA (Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) vs. The War Raiders
NXT North American Championship: (C) Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano
Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno
