Last night WWE RAW opened with Vince McMahon and the RAW roster out on the stage to honor Bruno Sammartino, who passed away last Wednesday at the age of 82, with a 10-bell salute and a special video package.
RAW Preview 4/23/18
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis with the final build for Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia.
Booker T will be filling in for Jonathan Coachman on commentary tonight. Coach will be back next week.
* The Conqueror cometh
* Superstar Shake-up aftermath
* Will Stephanie McMahon continue to overrule Kurt Angle’s decisions?
* Could we soon have “Woken” Raw Tag Team Champions?
How Long Is The WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Scheduled To Run?
The WWE Greatest Royal Rumble will take place on Friday, April 27 in Saudi Arabia and will air on the WWE Network beginning at 11am ET with a one-hour Kickoff. The Greatest Royal Rumble main card will begin at 12pm ET and is scheduled to run for five hours. In total, this is one hour shorter than WrestleMania 34’s main card and Kickoff.
It will feature a 50-Man Royal Rumble and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar facing Roman Reigns in a steel cage.
Below is the current card for the show:
Steel Cage Match for the WWE Universal Title
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz
Match for the Vacant RAW Tag Team Titles
Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy vs. The Bar
SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs. The Usos
WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
Cedric Alexander (c) vs. TBA
WWE Title Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE United States Title Match
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Jinder Mahal
50-Man Royal Rumble Match
Daniel Bryan, Braun Strowman, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Elias, Baron Corbin, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Bray Wyatt, Kane, Apollo, Titus O’Neil, Shelton Benjamin, Chad Gable, Sin Cara, Goldust, Mojo Rawley, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, TBA
Casket Match
The Undertaker vs. Rusev
John Cena vs. Triple H
Source: WrestlingINC
Impact Wrestling ‘Redemption’ Results 4/22/18
Aerostar vs. Drago – Winner: Aerostar
Impact World Tag Team Championship: (C) LAX vs. Eli Drake & Scott Steiner – Winners and new Impact World Tag Team Champions: Eli Drake & Scott Steiner
Ishimori vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Brian Cage vs. DJZ vs. Trevor Lee – Winner: Brian Cage
Tessa Blanchard has signed with Impact and joined the announce table for the next match
Taya Valkyrie vs. Kiera Hogan – Winner: Taya Valkyrie
Impact X-Division Championship: (C) Matt Sydal vs. Petey Williams – Winner: Matt Sydal
House of Hardcore Rules: Tommy Dreamer, Eddie Edwards & Moose vs. oVe – Winners: oVe
Post-match, Edwards attacks Callihan and digs away at his forehead with the barbed wire bat, busting him open. Edwards then grabs the duct tape and tapes Callihan to the top rope. Callihan spits at Edwards, and gets kicked between the legs. He wipes Callihan’s blood on his face and swings away with a kendo stick. First in the legs, right over the head, the shoulder, and then the ref! Dreamer comes in and tells him to back off, Edwards shoves him down, and hammers Callihan right over the head! He smacks down Jake and Dave. Out comes Alisha Edwards to stop him and Edwards whacks her too! Dreamer and Edwards check on her as a medical team comes down to check on her. Referees finally free Callihan who is a bloody mess. (transcript via WrestlingINC)
Impact Knockouts Championship: (C) Allie vs. Su Yung – Winner: Allie
Post-match, Yung is not happy. Sutter gets on the mic and says he knows how to fix this. He gets on one knee and proposes to her (much like Laurel and Allie). Yung rubs his face and spits red mist in his face and then gives him the mandible claw (she had a weird glove on for most of the match). (transcript via WrestlingINC)
Impact World Championship: (C) Austin Aries vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix – Winner and new Impact World Champion: Pentagon Jr.
Post-match, Pentagon celebrates with the title. Aries is still out on the floor. Fenix walks up to his brother and finally gives him a hug. Pentagon celebrates some more. (transcript via WrestlingINC)
Impact Wrestling Unveils All New Title Belts (Photos)
Before last night’s Redemption pay -per-view, Impact Wrestling revealed all new title belts.
Impact first teased fans via Twitter this afternoon by writing, “So we’ve heard you’d like to see some new title belts.” The company then tweeted photos throughout the day of their new Tag Team, X-Division, Knockouts and World championships.
Impact Wrestling Redemption 4/22/18
Impact World Championship: (C) Austin Aries vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix
Impact Knockouts Championship: (C) Allie vs. Su Yung
Impact X-Division Championship: (C) Matt Sydal vs. Petey Williams
Impact World Tag Team Championship: (C) LAX vs. Eli Drake & Scott Steiner
House of Hardcore Rules: Tommy Dreamer, Eddie Edwards & Moose vs. oVe
Ishimori vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Brian Cage vs. DJZ vs. Trevor Lee
Aerostar vs. Drago
Booker T Returning To WWE RAW Commentary?, Jonathan Coachman Responds To Criticism
It looks like WWE Hall of Famer Booker T could be returning to WWE commentary on Monday’s RAW from St. Louis.
As seen in the video below, Booker spoke with co-host Brad Gilmore on Houston radio this week and made the announcement when asked about a possible return.
Booker has been off regular RAW commentary since Jonathan Coachman was brought back in late January. There’s no official word yet on if Booker will be taking his old spot filled by Coachman.
On a related note, Coach recently took to Twitter and responded to some of the criticism he’s received since returning to WWE, noting that he’s hiring an assistant to help him research topics. You can see the exchange below:
https://twitter.com/BillyWescott/status/986991120541470720
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE ‘Greatest Royal Rumble’ Ticket Sales And Seating Upsets Many Fans
The 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble special is scheduled to air on April 27 at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In addition to the battle royal, every major title is scheduled to be on the line, with the exception of the women’s championships. Undertaker is also scheduled to compete against Rusev in a Casket Match, and John Cena is scheduled to compete against Triple H. The winner of the Greatest Royal Rumble will receive a trophy.
The tickets were originally scheduled to go on sale a month ago, but were delayed. According to the The Wrestling Observer, the process of ticket sales and seating has been a disaster.
In an attempt to sell out the stadium, which has reportedly never been done before with other sports, WWE is selling tickets between $2.70-$5.30 USD. There is also a VIP low-level seating area that is selling at about $80 USD, but these seats are only allowed for Saudi General Sports Authority President Turki Al-Asheikh and his colleagues.
In addition, there are only two ticket options: one for bachelor men, and another for families. For the family option, it must include a female attending. The bachelor tickets are at the top of the stadium and are sold out, leaving only the family option. As a result, irate fans have emailed WWE with their frustrations. There is a possibility for more singles tickets to be released before the event occurs.
A fan on Twitter recently vented his frustration on the seating arrangement. He stated that he booked single tickets, but there was a rearrangement in the seating positions. Now, his old seats are in the families section, which he is not allowed to enter. He did not receive any email to clarify what happened to his booking, or where his new seats are going to be.
The Greatest Royal Rumble event is scheduled to air live at 7:00 pm in Saudi Arabia on April 27, which is 12:00 noon US Eastern Time. As always, we will have live coverage of the event.
Source: WrestlingINC
Vader Back In The Hospital Just Days After His Initial Release, Diagnosed With Pneumonia
Leon White, known to wrestling fans as Vader or Big Van Vader, is back in the hospital just a few days after announcing he was released. Vader underwent successful open heart surgery last month and was in the hospital until April 13 of this month.
Vader announced on Twitter yesterday that he was hospitalized due to pneumonia. In the tweet, Vader mentioned that his pain is through the roof and cannot breath.
Brief timeline of Vader’s recent health issue:
Less than two years ago, Vader revealed that he had congestive heart failure and said that he had two years to live. Vader is now 62 years.
On March 26 2018, Vader’s son, Jesse announced on Twitter that Vader had underwent open heart surgery and has a long road to recovery.
Just a few days on, on April 13th, 2018, Vader announced that he was released from the hospital.
April 19, 2018, Vader is back in the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was experiencing a lot of pain and difficulty breathing.
https://twitter.com/itsvadertime/status/987098714123767809
Source: WrestleView
John Gaburick Back Working With WWE, Update On Local Advertising For Greatest Royal Rumble
John Gaburick back working with WWE
John Gaburick, who recently finished up with Impact Wrestling at the end of 2017, is now back in a new role with WWE according to a report by PWInsider.com.
Gaburick is reportedly in Saudi Arabia right now working on pre-production for the WWE’s upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble special taking place next Friday.
Gaburick was a big part of the early years of the “Tough Enough” series and would later take on a production role with TNA/Impact Wrestling. His responsibilities with the company would increase, including a role with talent relations and then taking on bigger management role after the Anthem purchase and parting ways with Jeff Jarrett.
Update on local advertising for Greatest Royal Rumble
The Great Khali is expected to take part in the 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble match next Friday in Saudi Arabia. Khali was featured in advertising on the WWE Network.
Local advertising is listing Bobby Lashley for the previously announced ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Unless plans change, it is likely that match will now become a five way involving Lashley, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, The Miz and Samoa Joe.
Source: WrestleView
