Ed Boston Podcast Network presents The Wrestling News Blog Podcast!
Ed Boston and Vanessa Vasquez discuss Vince McMahon’s huge XFL announcement and give a preview of NXT Takeover Philidelphia and the WWE Royal Rumble.. Which will feature a Women’s Rumble match for the first time ever!!!
According to PWInsider, The Undertaker and Michelle McCool were both seen in Philadelphia, the site for Sunday’s Royal Rumble. McCool initially showed interested in participating when the Women’s Royal Rumble match was announced last month. According to the report, WWE did reach out to her about an appearance.
In regards to The Undertaker, no word on if he’s there for an appearance of his own or just traveling to see his wife potentially be in the Women’s Rumble. Undertaker did participate in last year’s Rumble, entering at number 29, tossing out four Superstars (including Goldberg) before being eliminated by Roman Reigns. Undertaker would lose to Reigns at WrestleMania 33 and most recently cut a promo at the Manhattan Center for RAW 25 earlier this week.
Here’s a photo and short video of Undertaker in Philly, both taken earlier today.
Source: WrestlingINC
30-Man Royal Rumble Match: John Cena, Finn Balor, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Elias, Baron Corbin, Matt Hardy, Bray Wyatt, Aiden English, Rusev, Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods, Tye Dillinger, The Miz,
Universal Championship: (C) Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane
WWE Championship – 2-on 1 Handicap Match: (C) AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match: Naomi, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Asuka, Natalya, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Carmella, Tamina, Lana, Mickie James, Nia Jax, Becky Lynch, Dana Brooke, Alicia Fox
RAW Tag Team Championship: (C) Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan vs. Sheamus & Cesaro
SmackDown Tag Team Championship- 2 out of 3 falls: (C) The Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable
(Kickoff) Bobby Roode’s United States Championship Open Challenge
(Kickoff) Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Revival
(Kickoff) Six Man Tag Team Match: Kalisto, Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik vs. TJP, Jack Gallagher & Drew Gulak
Ronda Rousey has been subject to a lot of speculation as she’s currently the betting favorite to win the Women’s Royal Rumble match. However, Rousey herself spoke with TMZ and said that she will not be in Philadelphia this Sunday, as she has plans.
She said: “I’m actually leaving to Colombia right now to finish shooting ‘Mile 22’ and won’t be back until mid February.”
She added that even though she recently had a dinner with Triple H, there is still no deal in place between herself and WWE.
Source: 411Mania
We will know for sure this Sunday. She says she won’t be there but remember Jeff Hardy said he and Matt wouldn’t be at WrestleMania last year and we all know what happened then.
The first-ever WWE Women’s Royal Rumble match will feature a special addition to the announce team — Stephanie McMahon.
Stephanie tweeted on Wednesday saying, “Announcing the first-ever women’s #RoyalRumble match was one of my all-time favorite moments in @WWE… And now I’m proud to share that I’ll be joining the Announce team for this historic match this Sunday! #RumbleForAll.”
Only eighteen of thirty participants have been confirmed at this point, so it’ll be interesting to see if more announcements are made before this weekend’s event.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
It was revealed today that the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble will be held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona on January 27th, 2019. This is the first time the Rumble will be held inside a Major League Baseball stadium. The company is expecting more than 40,000 fans for the Rumble. There will also be a NXT Takeover event that Saturday, plus RAW and SmackDown events in Phoenix at the nearby Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Below is WWE’s official announcement on the 2019 Rumble Weekend:
Phoenix to Host 2019 WWE® Royal Rumble® Weekend01/24/2018 STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that Chase Field in Phoenix will host the Royal Rumble on Sunday, January 27, 2019. This marks WWE’s debut at Chase Field, and the first time the Royal Rumble has ever been held at a baseball stadium. In addition, as part of Royal Rumble Weekend, Phoenix will host NXT®TakeOver®, Monday Night Raw® and SmackDown® Live at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
2019 Key Dates:
* Saturday, January 26 – NXT TakeOver at Talking Stick Resort Arena
* Sunday, January 27 – Royal Rumble at Chase Field
* Monday, January 28 – Monday Night Raw at Talking Stick Resort Arena
* Tuesday, January 29 – SmackDown Live at Talking Stick Resort Arena
Additional details, including ticket availability and travel packages, will be announced in the near future.
Royal Rumble 2018 takes place this Sunday, January 28 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The event, which streams live around the world on WWE Network, will feature a 30-Man Royal Rumblematch, and for the first-time in WWE history, a 30-Woman Royal Rumble match, with the winners of both matches receiving Championship opportunities at WrestleMania 34 on Sunday, April 8, 2018 in New Orleans. Other matches include Brock Lesnar™ defending his WWE Universal Championship in a Triple Threat match against Braun Strowman® and Kane®; WWE Champion AJ Styles™ in a 2-on-1 handicap match vs. Kevin Owens® and Sami Zayn®; Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins® and Jason Jordan™ vs. Sheamus® and Cesaro®; SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos™ vs. Chad Gable® and Shelton Benjamin®.
Daniel Bryan’s odds of winning the men’s Royal Rumble match have been skyrocketing over the past few weeks.
Bryan went from not being in the top 10 of the most favored participants in late December to being tied as the sixth biggest favorite in the match earlier this week. The latest odds from PaddyPower now have Bryan tied with Dolph Ziggler as the third biggest favorite at 4/1. Shinsuke Nakamura remains the biggest favorite for the match at 6/4, followed by Roman Reigns at 5/2.
It should be noted that the smart money is clearly not in right now. Before last year’s Rumble, eventual winner Randy Orton was the fourth biggest favorite days before the show, while The Undertaker, Goldberg and Braun Strowman were the top three, in that order. Once the smart money came in before the show, Orton became an overwhelming favorite.
Here are the current top 10 favored wrestlers for this year’s men’s Royal Royal match:
1) Shinsuke Nakamura (6/4)
2) Roman Reigns (5/2)
3) Daniel Bryan & Dolph Ziggler (4/1)
5) John Cena (9/2)
6) Braun Strowman (11/2)
7) Finn Balor (7/1)
8) Randy Orton & Baron Corbin (10/1)
10) Seth Rollins (16/1)
Source: WrestlingINC
Former WWE wrestler Kharma aka Awesome Kong would LOVE to take part in the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble, but she says no one has called her yet to make it happen.
Kong — better known now by real name Kia Stevens due to her role on GLOW — called in this week to Wrestling Sheet Radio and told the guys that she believes the fans deserve one final appearance from Kharma in the Rumble so she can gain closure on her WWE story.
When asked whether WWE has made contact yet, Stevens replied, “Not so far, no.”
For those who don’t recall … Kharma is one of three women who’ve compete in the men’s Royal Rumble. She made an appearance in the 2012 Rumble match and was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler.
Check out THE FULL INTERVIEW to hear her initial reaction to the Royal Rumble announcement, who she’d like to face-off against in the match and more (including GLOW S2 tidbits).
For now though, listen to the clip below.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
WWE has contacted former Women’s Champions Molly Holly and Michelle McCool about competing in the 30-Woman Over-The-Top Royal Rumble Match, according to PWInsider.
McCool has not yet agreed to compete in the Royal Rumble Match as it was only noted that she spoke to WWE officials about it. During a recent interaction with SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair on Twitter, McCool indicated that she would be interested in returning for a match after retiring from the squared circle in 2011.
Source: PWInsider
A secret dinner session between Ronda Rousey, her agent and Triple H reportedly went down last night in Los Angeles … adding further speculation to a women’s Royal Rumble appearance.
TMZ published video which claims to show Triple H sneaking out of Republique around 8:30 pm. Ronda and her agent were next to leave, but neither were looking to reveal much.
When asked about Ronda’s future in WWE, however, the agent gave one big shoulder shrug.
As we previously reported, Rousey is scheduled to be filming a Mark Wahlberg movie in Colombia while the Rumble is taking place. However, our report noted that a deal being worked out at the last minute was possible and a meeting during SmackDown Live on the other side of the country would seem to indicate that they’re at least trying to book her for something.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
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