Baron Corbin won the ’19 King of the Ring tournament last night on RAW
Corbin faced off against Chad Gable in the tournament finals Monday evening and picked up the victory after a hard-fought battle by hitting the End of Days.
Corbin’s King of the Ring coronation will be tonight on SmackDown Live.
Baron recently spoke about runner-up Chad Gable during an interview and said he’d try to make the wrestler his jester should he be victorious in the tournament.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee with the fallout from WWE Clash of Champions.
* The King approaches: King of the Ring Tournament Finals: Baron Corbin vs. Chad Gable
* Back on Boss Time? – Fallout from RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
* What will be the fallout from The Fiend’s ruthless assault on Rollins?
* Alexander the second? – Cedric going for AJ’s WWE United States Title after Clash loss?
Luke Harper made his long-awaited WWE return last night at Clash of Champions at the end of the No DQ match between Erick Rowan and Roman Reigns, helping Rowan get the win.
Reigns attempted to hit a massive spear on Rowan while running down the ramp, but it was stopped out of nowhere with a massive big boot by the returning Harper.
The former Bludgeon Brothers then brought Reigns into the ring and hit some tandem offense that included Harper’s signature clothesline. Rowan then hit the Iron Claw slam to pickup the win.
As you may recall, Luke Harper publicly opened up about being unhappy with his place in the company back in March. The next month he made it known that he had requested his release from WWE, but as time passed it was reported he was having trouble getting the request approved.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado
Winner: Drew Gulak
United States Championship: (C) AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander
Winner: AJ Styles
Post match – Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came down to the ring and The OC beat Alexander down.
RAW Tag Team Championship: (C) Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Winners and new RAW Tag Team Champions: Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair
Winner: Bayley
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. The Revival
Winners and new SmackDown Tag Team Champions: The Revival
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: (C) Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
Winners: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
Intercontinental Championship: (C) Shinsuke Nakamura w/Sami Zayn vs. The Miz
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
Winner: Sasha Banks by DQ – Becky Lynch still RAW Women’s Champion
WWE Championship: (C) Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton
Winner: Kofi Kingston
NO DQ: Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
Luke Harper interfered hitting Reigns with a big boot.
Winner: Erick Rowan
Universal Championship: (C) Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman
Winner: Seth Rollins
Post match – the lights went out and “The Fiend” Bray appeared. The Fiend attacked Rollins.
Reports began surfacing earlier this month of a WWE Draft taking place in October as SmackDown makes its way to FOX on Friday, October 4.
Earlier today, during the 1 pm ET NFL game on FOX it was announced the WWE Draft will begin on the October 11 episode of SmackDown and will then continue the following Monday (October 14) on RAW on the USA Network.
The 2019 WWE Draft has been confirmed to begin on the October 11 SmackDown episode, then wrap on the October 14 RAW episode.
WWE has announced that Superstars will be appearing on RAW and SmackDown along with personalities from Fox and NBCUniversal programming, who will announce the picks.
WWE issued the following press release to us this afternoon to confirm the Draft:
WWE® DRAFT SET FOR FOX AND USA NETWORK ON OCTOBER 11 AND 14
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 15, 2019 – The destiny of WWE’s Superstars will be determined during a two-night draft taking place live on Friday Night SmackDown® on October 11 at 8 pm ET on the FOX broadcast network and Monday Night Raw® on October 14 at 8 pm ET on USA Network.
On both nights of the draft, Superstars from Raw and SmackDown will appear along with personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming who will announce select picks from each brand. The draft will determine the Superstars that compete for Raw and SmackDown, which feature distinct casts, unique storylines and dedicated writing teams.
Friday Night SmackDown on October 11 will emanate from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas while Monday Night Raw on October 14 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Raw and SmackDown are the #1 and #2 longest-running weekly episodic television shows in U.S. primetime history. The programs have aired more original episodes than The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.
Raw will continue airing on USA Network while SmackDown moves to FOX beginning Friday, October 4.
September 15, 2019 at 7:00 PM ET (Preshow at 6:00 PM ET) from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina
Universal Championship: (C) Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman
WWE Championship: (C) Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton
RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair
Intercontinental Championship: (C) Shinsuke Nakamura w/Sami Zayn vs. The Miz
United States Championship: (C) AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. The Revival
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: (C) Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
RAW Tag Team Championship: (C) Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
NO DQ: Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado
It was reported earlier this summer, via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that WWE officials were having some sort of talks with the legendary CMLL (Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre) wrestling promotion of Mexico.
The original reports led to speculation on a possible talent exchange between WWE and CMLL, but the talks are actually for CMLL content to be featured on the WWE Network, according to Planeta Wrestling. WWE has reportedly approached CMLL about purchasing access to their video library.
The report from Planeta Wrestling noted that CMLL content would potentially be available under the tiered pricing system (details here and here) that will be introduced in the near future. It’s been reported that WWE will likely offer various indie wrestling content from other promotions under the tiered pricing system.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler recently spoke with Muscle & Fitness and said the NXT USA Network premiere on September 18 will be the most important day in the history of the brand. She was asked what changes she has noticed since first walking through the NXT doors in 2017.
“There’s a lot of things,” Baszler responded. “I think I got into NXT at a very historic time. And I don’t mean just the USA [Network] stuff. NXT on USA is probably the most important day in our history. We’ll look back on it as the key day, but even going back to the first ever Mae Young Classic, I’ve been such a huge part of these historic moments with NXT and WWE that I’m so excited to see what’s next.
“I was sitting [backstage] at the Mae Young Classic and was thinking to myself wow, this is a pretty historic moment, and not thinking ahead to the next historic moment. But then you know, here we are with NXT on USA and I can’t wait to see what’s next!”
Baszler also talked about previously living with fellow MMA Horsewoman Ronda Rousey, and how they helped each other out. Baszler was asked if they provided each other with support or advice when they were both active in WWE at the same time.
“Yeah, a little bit,” she responded. “Rather than giving advice, it was just nice to have someone to talk about it [being in WWE] with. So, it was like sharing in the uniqueness of what we were both going through. Then, of course, Ronda getting to the position where she was in WWE, mirrored what I was going through in NXT, where we were both kind of at the top of the division. We would get together and train, of course, and we always did that in MMA too, so it was more like getting together and just sharing in the process of it, rather than tips and tricks.”
Baszler made her WWE debut in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, losing to Kairi Sane in the finals that September. Her official NXT debut came in August, before the finals, but on October 3 it was officially announced that she had signed and reported to the WWE Performance Center. Baszler would get her first taste of gold just 6 months later by defeating Ember Moon for the NXT Women’s Title at NXT “Takeover: New Orleans” during WrestleMania 34 weekend. She held the title for 132 days and then lost it to Sane at “Takeover: Brooklyn IV” in August of last year. The Queen of Spades would go on to make history by becoming the first-ever two-time NXT Women’s Champion by regaining the title from Sane at WWE Evolution in October 2018. She has held the title ever since, for 315+ days and counting. Baszler was asked how proud she is to be the first Superstar to hold the NXT Women’s Title on two occasions.
“In my opinion, the NXT Women’s title is a very prestigious title to have,” Baszler said. “So, the fact that I’m the only person to have ever held it twice is a huge thing that I definitely add to my list of accomplishments and I am very, very proud of it.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
We’ve noted this week how there are significant changes in the works for the WWE announce teams, which goes with the plans for more brand exclusivity moving forward from October. One of those changes is rumored to be the return of the two-man booth.
It was reported this week, via @Wrestlevotes, that the working idea is to move Michael Cole from RAW to SmackDown, and move Vic Joseph from 205 Live to RAW as the lead man. There was no word on plans for Corey Graves, but multiple sources have reported that he will no longer be working two shows.
In an update, @Wrestlevotes reported today that the plan as of this Tuesday was for Graves to call the SmackDown action with Cole each Friday night on Fox. Graves will no longer pull double duty as he will be exclusive to SmackDown.
The new report does not specify if Graves and Cole will be calling SmackDown with a two-man booth. There had been talk of Renee Young becoming exclusive to SmackDown because she will be hosting the weekly FS1 WWE studio show on Tuesday nights, but if there will be a two-man booth, then we’re not sure where Renee will end up. She could still go to SmackDown to work with Cole and Graves if they keep the three-person team, which is the current RAW crew.
Graves currently calls SmackDown with Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton. We have not heard anything on where Phillips and Saxton will end up, but stay tuned for updates. It’s possible that Saxton and Phillips end up on RAW with Joseph. Joseph is currently calling 205 Live with Aiden English and WWE NXT Superstar Dino Maddin, who made his debut this week. Maddin is replacing Nigel McGuinness, who is headed to NXT full-time to call the live Wednesday night action with Mauro Ranallo and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The first WWE programming on Fox is scheduled to air on Friday, September 27 at 8pm ET.
The one-hour “SmackDown’s Greatest Hits” special is scheduled to air at 8pm ET that Friday night, on the main Fox channel, according to PWInsider.
The September 27 special is designed to be a preview for WWE coming to Fox. We noted earlier this summer that a preview special was being planned as a way to show non-WWE fans what to expect, as a way to introduce them to Superstars and the brand in general.
As noted, SmackDown will premiere on Fox Friday nights beginning with the October 4 episode. The show will then air live each Friday night from 8-10pm ET. The October 4 premiere will air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and will be the SmackDown 20th Anniversary special.
The final SmackDown USA Network episode is scheduled to air on Tuesday, September 24 in the regular time slot, which means there will be more than 7 days in between regular blue brand episodes. This September 27 special will make it so that there will be at least some SmackDown content on TV before the October 4 premiere.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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