Nia Jax’s return at the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event doesn’t appear to be a one-off, with a new piece of merchandise being released for the former RAW Women’s Champion.
Jax returned to WWE as the #30 entrant in this year’s Women’s Rumble match, after being released from the promotion in November 2021.
After her shocking return, WWE released a new shirt for Jax, using her moniker as the ‘Irresistible Force.’
Source: eWrestlingNews
WWE color commentator Pat McAfee made his return last night during the 2023 Royal Rumble. He joined the commentary team which featured Corey Graves and Michael Cole.
30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Entry Order:
Winner: Cody Rhodes
MOUNTAIN DEW PITCH BLACK MATCH:
Bray Wyatt def. LA Knight
After the match, Wyatt then ends up with some form of mask on his face with a completely different look than before, and he stalks Knight. He uses the kendo stick to hit Wyatt on the head but he just walks through it as the blows don’t register. Wyatt eats a trio of shots to the head but he doesn’t flinch as hey head through the fans, and Wyatt grabs Knight and locks in the Mandible Claw.
Uncle Howdy is then shown above Wyatt on a platform, and he launches himself off the top of the platform, crashing through Knight underneath as the area explodes. Above him are the puppet characters who look down and watch everything.
RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
Bianca Belair (c) def. Alexa Bliss
After the match the lights flicker and a playground is shown with various Wyatt related logos. Uncle Howdy asks her if she feels in charge, and Bliss is then shown looking scared inside the ring.
30-WOMAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Entry Order:
Winner: Rhea Ripley
UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Roman Reigns (c) w/Paul Heyman and Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens
After the match, all of The Bloodline appear. Jey Uso wants to honor him but Reigns says no and he wants them to attack Owens more which The Usos do as they beat down on Owens, hitting the 1D. They then trap Owens’ head into a chair as Solo Sikoa charges into the corner with a hip attack. The Usos then handcuff Owens to the top rope, leaving him helpless as they continue the attack with superkicks.
Reigns then gets set to hit Owens with a chair but Zayn gets in the way and he tells Roman it is beneath him as it is enough. Instead, Reigns hands Zayn the chair himself, and he then steps infront of him and Zayn teases hitting Roman but he doesn’t. Reigns then pushes Zayn several times as he screams in his face, but Zayn then uses the chair…on Reigns! He apologizes to Jey, and then Jimmy Uso nails him with a superkick and begins a beatdown himself. Sikoa then hits the Samoan Spike to him as Reigns instructs them to keep attacking him and they beat him down as Jey watches on. They hen want more Jey to get involved, but he simply leaves the ring as he cries and walks away from The Bloodline. Reigns then takes out his frustration with a chair on Zayn himself.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX, and emanate from the Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas. This is the go-home show for this Saturday’s Royal Rumble.
Date: January 28, 2023
Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
CARD
30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Participants: Austin Theory, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Gunther, Karrion Kross, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Santos Escobar, Seth Rollins, Sheamus, Omos, Dominik Mysterio and TBD
30-WOMAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Participants: Candice LeRae, Emma, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Rhea Ripley, Shayna Baszler, Zelina Vega and TBD
MOUNTAIN DEW PITCH BLACK MATCH:
Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight
UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Earlier this month, Stephanie McMahon stepped down as Chairwoman and co-CEO of WWE. The news came just days after her father, Vince McMahon, reinstated himself to WWE’s Board of Directors after retiring last summer amid multiple sexual misconduct allegations. More details have now emerged regarding Stephanie’s resignation.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Stephanie was “about to be demoted” following her father’s return, so she ultimately decided to completely step away from the company with the knowledge that she didn’t require the job — or its paycheck — moving forward. Of course, Stephanie began a sabbatical last year, but was brought back into the fold when the allegations against Vince were made public by the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, WON notes that her departure signaled “a lot stronger move,” instead of resuming her leave of absence and remaining on WWE’s Board.
Stephanie, who became a full-time employee of WWE after graduating from Boston University in 1998, posted a statement online revealing her resignation and clarified that she would still support WWE “from the other side of the business.” Meanwhile, her husband, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, remains in charge of WWE’s creative as Chief Content Officer, despite Vince’s comeback. Her father, now serving as Executive Chairman once again, is seeking out “strategic alternatives” for the promotion regarding upcoming U.S. media rights negotiations and a potential sale of the company. WWE has brought financial experts JP Morgan on board to assist the sale process, with several suitors reportedly interested in buying the organization, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The WWE Royal Ruble 2023 PLE has broken the record for the live gate of any U.S.-based event that isn’t a WrestleMania.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that with a live gate of over $7 million, the show has beaten any non-Mania event in the U.S. and has surpassed most WrestleManias.
WWE was hoping that the gate would surpass $8 million, which would have seen the show surpass Clash at the Castle for the largest non-WrestleMania live gate in wrestling.
It was reported last November that the show had reached the highest live gate of any Royal Rumble event.
WWE is off to a strong start for next year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event as the company announced in a statement to Pwinsider that the event has broken the largest gate in the history of the event. The statement reads as follows,
“WWE Royal Rumble 2023 – slated for Saturday, January 28 – has broken the company’s record for largest gate in the event’s 36-year history.
Over the weekend, Royal Rumble surpassed the $5M mark and previous record holder from 2017 – the last time the event was held at San Antonio’s AlamoDome.
This carries a 2022 trend into 2023 where WWE set gate records for many of its events, including WrestleMania, Extreme Rules and Crown Jewel.”
The Observer adds that WWE is expected to announce an attendance figure in excess of 50,000 since they’ve already used that number on television.
Source: eWrestlingNews
Major League Wrestling has sent a cease and desist letter to WWE, according to Dave Meltzer.
The issue stemmed from WWE reaching out to several contracted MLW wrestlers to appear on the Raw 30th anniversary show this past Monday.
Meltzer said,
“One would think it would have been members of the Anoa’i and Fatu family for the planned family acknowledgment ceremony, which ended up falling through. MLW sources have said Court Bauer told the talent to have WWE reach out to them directly, and didn’t say he wouldn’t allow them to appear, just to go through him. They never did and the segment ended up being canceled for the reasons noted earlier. WWE didn’t respond to questions regarding the cease and desist or the claim.”
Source: eWrestlingNews
Tonight’s WWE NXT airs on USA Network, continues build for NXT Vengeance Day 2023.
* NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (c) vs. Alba Fyre
* Tiffany Stratton vs. Indi Hartwell
* Fallon Henley & Kiana James vs. TBA
* Women’s Title Summit with Roxanne Perez, Gigi Dolan, and Jacy Jayne
* Thea Hail Award Ceremony
Fans looking forward to the Steel Cage Match between bitter rivals Bayley and Becky Lynch on “WWE Raw is XXX” were left puzzled as the match ended abruptly, with the referee never calling for the bell.
According to Fightful Select, WWE called an audible on the Bayley vs. Lynch bout due to the earlier “Tribal Court” segment featuring The Bloodline going longer than planned, which meant that “several segments needed to be trimmed” through the rest of the show.
Fightful added that the original plan was for “the match and entrances to get two segments,” which would have typically meant a 10-14 minute match at the least. Once the opening Bloodline segment ran too long, WWE felt it made sense to “work an angle to set up to a full on match” at a later date, rather than having a short cage match lasting barely a few minutes. WWE obviously had a ton of segments already planned for the rest of its 30-year anniversary edition of “Raw.”
The angle in question was set up after Bayley and Lynch got their entrances, following which Damage CTRL’s IYO SKY and Dakota Kai jumped “The Man” and launched her into the wall of the cage with a double-team flapjack. Thereafter, Kai once again smashed Lynch’s back against the cage before locking the cage to deny WWE Official Adam Pearce and others entry into the cage. Following a moonsault from Kai, Damage CTRL hit a triple-team move planting Lynch face-first to the mat.
Eventually, Pearce used a boltcutter to enter the ring, but Lynch was deemed unable to compete. The segment ended with Damage CTRL posing atop the cage.
Both Bayley and Lynch are confirmed entrants in Saturday’s Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Lynch has the opportunity to win the annual battle royal for the second time in her career, following her victory in the second-ever Women’s Royal Rumble in 2019, meanwhile, Bayley has never won the Rumble.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The Bella Twins were originally scheduled for an appearance on RAW Is XXX, but the Hall of Famers didn’t show up at the venue. In fact, Nikki and Brie Bella seem to have an issue with how WWE didn’t acknowledge the Women’s Revolution during the 3-hour special.
Pwinsider reports that Nikki and Brie Bella flew out to the northeastern US this weekend. However, instead of appearing on RAW Is XXX, the twin sisters attended a Broadway show instead.
The Bella Twins went live on Instagram to express their disdain for WWE not addressing the Women’s Revolution on the 30th anniversary of Monday Night RAW. They also noted how WWE refrained from mentioning Mercedes Mone or Saraya among those (including them) responsible for the Women’s Revolution. The Bellas were briefly mentioned in Charlotte Flair’s promo on RAW Is XXX.
Source: eWrestlingNews
