Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa as the Road to WrestleMania 34 continues.
* Reigns battles Wyatt in Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
* Which Superstars will compete in the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber Match?
* What’s next for The Miz?
* The Bar is raised
* “Top Guys” finally live up to their nickname
Last week, a change was made to the Raw announce team with Jonathan Coachman coming in and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T being moved out. WWE said Booker T would remain with the company to work Kickoff panels, as well as making occasional Raw appearances and serving as a WWE Ambassador. On his podcast ,Heated Conversations, Booker T spoke about why he was moved off the team and blamed Corey Graves and the jabs that have been thrown by both announcers.
“If I got Corey Graves into a fisticuffs, I would beat him down like he stole something,” Booker T said. “I would be whoopin’ his ass all day long. My thing is this, I’m a nice guy, until you get on my bad side. Corey Graves, I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s on my bad side right now, but he’s the reason that I’m not on Monday Night Raw right now. Lot of people in the company thought I was going to jump on him. I was gonna do something bad to him. I was gonna drag him. I was gonna take him out to the woodshed. I was gonna beat that man so bad that he was going to say ‘Please, please, just don’t beat me anymore.’ That’s how hot I was getting, that’s how close I was getting.”
According to Booker, WWE wanted him to cool off and did that by moving him back to the Kickoffpanels and away from Graves.
“So, they said ‘Hey, Book, step back a second, alright? We’re gonna regroup, press the rewind button. We’re gonna send you back to the Kickoff show, SmackDown and Monday Night Raw PPVs and cool ya down for a second. Because we don’t want you to do anything to Corey Graves.'”
Booker T continued that if he catches Graves out and about, he’s going to “do something” to the Raw Announcer.
“If I catch Corey Graves on the street, I’m gonna do something to him,” Booker T said. “I ain’t gonna do it at the office or the airport, but if I catch Corey Graves on the street, you see that little bouffant hairdo he got? I’m gonna rearrange it for him.”
Wrapping up, Booker said he didn’t like his money being messed with and outright challenged Graves to a fight.
“Everybody knows my reputation, I get mean, if you mess with my ‘green,'” Booker responded. “And right now, my ‘green’ is being messed with. Is WrestleMania coming up, right? There’s room for one more match at WrestleMania. Right now on my show, I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight. Not a match. Not a pre-show pose down or anything like that. I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight. I’m talking man-to-man. Mano-a-mano. You and I.”
Transcript via WrestlingINC
Seth Rollins is currently dealing with a bad back, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. No word yet on if Rollins will miss any ring time but it looks like he’s working through the injury. Rollins’ partner Jason Jordan is dealing with a neck injury, not a back injury as previously reported. Jordan is said to be having issues with his grip, which could indicate a very serious injury. WWE has been trying to protect Jordan by having him do as little as possible in the ring as of late.
Source: WrestlingINC
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia with the fallout from Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view as the road to WrestleMania has begun.
* Will Raw get “Rowdy”?
* Can The Miz carry the Intercontinental Title all the way to WrestleMania?
* How will Seth Rollins respond to last night’s defeat?
* What havoc will Braun Strowman wreak?
WWE has announced that Jonathan Coachman signed a new deal to return to the company. He will join Michael Cole and Corey Graves as the new RAW announce team beginning tonight in Philadelphia. WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will resume his duties as a panelist on WWE’s pay-per-view Kickoff broadcasts and will continue to make appearances on Raw and beyond as a WWE ambassador.
WWE issued the following on Coach’s return:
Jonathan Coachman signs with WWE, joins Raw announce team tonightLadies and gentlemen, “The Coach” has returned.
Jonathan Coachman, a longtime WWE interviewer and broadcaster and former ESPN personality, has signed with WWE to once again be part of the Raw announce team, WWE.com can confirm.
Coachman’s TV announcing duties will officially begin tonight, when he joins Michael Cole and Corey Graves at the Team Red announce desk.
Meanwhile, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will resume his duties as a panelist on WWE’s pay-per-view Kickoff broadcasts and will continue to make appearances on Raw and beyond as a WWE ambassador.
The Coach began appearing on WWE television as an interviewer in 1999 during The Attitude Era as a frequent foil of The Rock, later expanding his role to include tenures as Raw commentator, Interim Raw General Manager and even as an in-ring competitor on multiple occasions.
Following nearly a decade as an on-air personality at ESPN — which included coverage of WWE with his “Off the Top Rope” segment — Coachman is back to call the action on Monday Night Raw.
Don’t miss The Coach’s return to Raw commentary tonight, beginning live at 8/7 C on USA Network.
Raw 25 only had minimal action at the Manhattan Center, causing fans in attendance to convey their anger by chanting “bullsh*t” and “refund.”
Besides what was shown on TV, the MC show also featured two cruiserweight matches for the live audience. When the second ended in no contest, the crowd finally lost their patience … which can be seen in the video below.
Things calmed down after Woken Matt vs. Bray Wyatt, but it’s clear they weren’t happy about watching most of the action on a giant screen.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Tonight WWE RAW celebrates 25 years. RAW will take place from two New York City locations tonight – the Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom and the Barclays Center in Houston.
* Roman Reigns defends the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz
* WWE Legends take over Monday Night Raw
* John Cena and SmackDown LIVE Superstars drop by Team Red
* How will Brock Lesnar and Kane respond to Braun Strowman?
* History in the making: the Women’s Royal Rumble
Below is a list of names scheduled to appear tonight, including SmackDown Superstars:
* MVP
* William Regal
* Harvey Wippleman
* WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel
* Lilian Garcia
* Jonathan Coachman
* Daniel Bryan
* Shane McMahon
* AJ Styles
* Charlotte Flair
* The Usos
* The New Day
* Randy Orton
* Jinder Mahal
* Natalya
* Mark Henry
* Christian
* The Hardys
* WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus
* Chris Jericho
* The Brooklyn Brawler
* WWE Hall of Famer Jackie Moore
* Terri Runnels
* Torrie Wilson
* Maria Kanellis
* Michelle McCool
* Kelly Kelly
* WWE Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund
* Eric Bischoff
* WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long
* WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather
* Brother Love
* The Boogeyman
* WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter
* John Laurinaitis
* Sean “X-Pac” Waltman
* WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase
* Free agent John Cena
* WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar
* The Undertaker
* WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
* WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall
* WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair
* The Bella Twins
* JBL and WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons
* The Dudley Boyz
* WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin
* DX: WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, Triple H and The New Age Outlaws
The Empire State Building in New York City will light up with red colors later today to celebrate 25 years of WWE RAW. As seen below, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and WWE Ambassador Dana Warrior were with Make-A-Wish President David Williams and Wish Kid Abel at the Empire State Building earlier today:
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE Champion AJ Styles, WWE Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns, RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair were at the New York Stock Exchange for the opening bell this morning.
Charlotte posted the photos below on Twitter saying “Kicking off RAW 25th Anniversary at the NYSE ringing the bell with champs!”
WWE has announced MVP, Harvey Wippleman, WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel, NXT General Manager William Regal, Lilian Garcia and Jonathan Coachman for Monday’s RAW 25th Anniversary show in New York City.
WWE announced today that several SmackDown Superstars are now confirmed to appear at Monday’s RAW 25th Anniversary show in New York City – SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, WWE Champion AJ Styles, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos and The New Day. Other blue brand Superstars advertised for Monday include Randy Orton, Jinder Mahal and Natalya.
Below is the updated line-up of names:
* MVP
* William Regal
* Harvey Wippleman
* WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel
* Lilian Garcia
* Jonathan Coachman
* Daniel Bryan
* Shane McMahon
* AJ Styles
* Charlotte Flair
* The Usos
* The New Day
* Randy Orton
* Jinder Mahal
* Natalya
* Mark Henry
* Christian
* The Hardys
* WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus
* Chris Jericho
* The Brooklyn Brawler
* WWE Hall of Famer Jackie Moore
* Terri Runnels
* Torrie Wilson
* Maria Kanellis
* Michelle McCool
* Kelly Kelly
* WWE Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund
* Eric Bischoff
* WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long
* WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather
* Brother Love
* The Boogeyman
* WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter
* John Laurinaitis
* Sean “X-Pac” Waltman
* WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase
* Free agent John Cena
* WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar
* The Undertaker
* WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
* WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall
* WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair
* The Bella Twins
* JBL and WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons
* The Dudley Boyz
* WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin
* DX: WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, Triple H and The New Age Outlaws
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