Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island with fallout from WWE Money In the Bank.
* The New Day present Big E’s Welcome Back Celebration
* What will SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley say in exclusive interview?
* Roman Reigns and Elias clash in a WWE Money in the Bank rematch
* Who will bring the 24/7 Championship to SmackDown LIVE?
* Will Daniel Bryan’s tag team revolution continue?
WWE made some changes to the look of the third hour of RAW last night.
As seen in the video above, Mick Foley announced that starting this week, the third hour will be getting “downright mean and nasty” and a “little bit dirty.” As he said that, the bright red and white logo on the tron switched to a more basic red logo on a black background. The house lights were dimmed and the LED lights were turned off on the ring posts.
You can see the visual changes occur at the 1:30 mark in the video below.
When RAW first moved to three hours weekly in 2012, the third hour was the highest rated hour for the first several weeks. That quickly started to change, and the third hour is now almost always the least watched hour. Over the past four weeks, the audience has dropped an average of 19% from the first hour to the third.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Last night on WWE RAW, Mick Foley unveiled the newest WWE Championship – the 24/7 title.
Foley kicked off the segment talking about how RAW has lost something. He then pulled out the green-strapped 24/7 Championship and explained that the belt has the same rules as the old Hardcore title.
This means the champ has to defend the belt at all times as long as a referee is present.
Mick claimed the third hour of RAW every week will start to get “downright mean and nasty” and a “little bit dirty” and that whoever could grab the belt from the center of the ring would be the first champion. This ended up being Titus O’Neil, then was pinned by Robert Roode. Throughout the show, Roode was running and hiding from a group of wrestlers coming for the title. Later R-Truth helped him hide in the trunk of his car as Truth sent the others in the wrong direction. Truth let him out and Roode opened the car door and a referee got out and truth pinned Roode to become the new 24/7 champion and drove off.
Competitors from RAW, SmackDown, 205 Live, NXT, NXT UK and WWE legends are eligible to compete for the new title.
This brings the total number of main roster titles to 11.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Times Union Center in Albany, NY will fallout from Money in the Bank.
* Welcome to the era of “Mr. Money in the Beast”
* WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley to unveil a new WWE Title
* Uso Rules – The Usos weigh challenge from The Revival and non-title win over SmackDown Tag Team Champions Rowan and Daniel Bryan
* Becky One Belt – It seems Becky vs. Lacey is about to start a furious second act
Lana is claiming WWE’s creative team is stealing her ideas.
The WWE Superstar took to social media late Sunday night / early Monday morning to call WWE out for taking an idea she pitched to creative for herself and giving it to another Superstar to use.
“I love watching shows and seeing stories I wrote and pitched given to other people,” Lana wrote. “This might be the 10th time this has happened in the past year.”
Lana added, “Good to know I’m really creative that my ideas are given to others.”
She did not elaborate on which storyline idea she was referencing.
Brock Lesnar made a surprise return at the WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view and won the men’s Money In the Bank Ladder match main event. WWE did an angle earlier in the night where Braun Strowman took out Sami Zayn, leaving spot open for Lesnar to return.
Lesnar was hidden away from most everyone else in the backstage area, according to PWInsider. There had been some rumors earlier in the day of Lesnar appearing, but no one could confirm he was there. Only a small group of people were aware of Lesnar’s return before he appeared backstage in the Gorilla position with WWE officials.
None of the men’s MITB Ladder Match competitors in the match were aware of Lesnar’s return ahead of time. PWInsider reports that the competitors were told that there would be a spot at the end of the match where Ali would be standing on top of the ladder, and would be tipped over. They were not told who would be coming out to do the spot.
There was also talk throughout the day that Ali would be winning the match, another sign that WWE took extreme measures to keep Lesnar’s return a secret.
Lesnar was never seen on Sunday until he came to the Gorilla Position towards the end of the main event.
Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins has been rumored for WWE’s Super ShowDown event from Saudi Arabia on June 7, but there’s no word yet on if this will be his MITB cash-in. WWE will be announcing more Super ShowDown matches on RAW.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
(Kickoff) Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. The Usos – Winners: The Usos
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130243585784238080
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1130244572787892224
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Dana Brooke vs. Nikki Cross vs. Bayley vs. Mandy Rose vs. Carmella vs. Ember Moon – Winner: Bayley
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1130249685115924480
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https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130254730775523329
United States Championship: (C) Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio – Winner and new United States Champion: Rey Mysterio
Controversial finish. Joe’s shoulder was obviously off the mat.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130255896959832064
After the match. Joe attacked Mysterio has he celebrated with his son Dominic
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1130256322442584064
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Steel Cage Match: Shane McMahon vs. The Miz – Winner: Shane McMahon
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Backstage – Sami Zayn was found hanging upside down
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Tony Nese vs. Ariya Daivari – Winner: Tony Nese
https://twitter.com/WWE205Live/status/1130266300947652608
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130266731014893568
RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans – Winner: Becky Lynch
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1130271201543086080
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1130271212066680832
https://twitter.com/WWENetwork/status/1130271583019212800
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair – Winner and new SmackDown Women’s Champion: Charlotte Flair
Lacey Evans interfered hitting Becky with a Women’s Right
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1130273549447356416
Lacey & Charlotte beat down Becky. Bayley came to the rescue.
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1130274155746668545
Bayley cashes in Money in the Bank briefcase on Charlotte.
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley – Winner and new SmackDown Women’s Champion: Bayley
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130274340010729473
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Roman Reigns vs. Elias – Winner: Roman Reigns
The bell rang and Roman Reigns immediately nailed a Spear on Elias, and covered for the pin to win.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130277679851134976
Universal Championship: (C) Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles – Winner: Seth Rollins
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Lucha House Party was in the ring for a 6-Man Tag Match. Lars Sullivan came out and destroyed them.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130287022638227456
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WWE Championship: (C) Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens – Winner: Kofi Kingston
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130290504904482816
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Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor vs. Ricochet vs. Andrade vs. Ali vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar (Didn’t enter the match until at the end) – Winner: Brock Lesnar
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1130298093893607426
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As we previously reported, Alexa Bliss was pulled from tonight’s Money In The Bank ladder match. Bliss is reportedly out of action with a concussion. Dave Meltzer stated on Wrestling Observer Radio that Bliss was throwing up after a bad bump that she took in a match.
WWE has not provided an official reason for Bliss being out of action. Bliss’ injury is listed as “undisclosed” internally, which is becoming the common term for concussions. Bliss has suffered several concussions recently, however Meltzer noted that WWE had expected her to be cleared for tonight’s show and pulled her due to the bout being a ladder match.
Bliss has not wrestled since she faced Naomi on the April 29th episode of RAW. Nikki Cross will be replacing Bliss in tonight’s match. Ember Moon, Bayley, Naomi, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Carmella and Mandy Rose are also scheduled for the bout.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE Money in the Bank, this Sunday beginning at 7 ET / 4 PT. Pre-Show (Kickoff) at 6 ET / 3 PT. XL Center, Hartford, CT.
Universal Championship: (C) Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans
WWE Championship: (C) Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Sami Zayn vs. Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin vs. Ali vs. Randy Orton vs. Andrade vs. Finn Balor
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Dana Brooke vs. Nikki Cross vs. Bayley vs. Mandy Rose vs. Carmella vs. Ember Moon
Steel Cage Match: Shane McMahon vs. The Miz
Roman Reigns vs. Elias
United States Championship: (C) Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Tony Nese vs. Ariya Daivari
(Kickoff) Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. The Usos
In addition to SmackDown’s move to FOX this fall, WWE will also be getting an additional hour of programming. A WWE-themed studio show will air on FS1 and WWE Co-President George Barrios spoke more about it during a fireside chat at the 47th Annual J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference in Boston.
“We’re thrilled. We’ve seen around the world the value of these…clip shows, magazine shows, highlight shows. We’ve seen the value of shows like that to continue to drive engagement, not dissimilar to what we do on social platforms. We’re continuing the storytelling and try to do it 24/7 although Vince keeps reminding us we’re missing 10 minutes here and there,” stated Barrios.
“I think the FS1 show will be something similar where we will continue the excitement. I think people are gonna love it and FOX is gonna do an amazing job with it as obviously they have a lot of expertise doing shows like that. I think it’s gonna be great for fans.”
That FS1 show is expected to be in addition to the six hours of live programming that WWE already does every week. With three hours of Raw and two hours of SmackDown, currently that sixth hour is devoted to 205 Live.
Barrios was asked about WWE’s priorities when it comes to allocating content for that sixth hour.
“To your point, for a long, long time we have created live in-ring content across six hours on Monday and Tuesday. It used to be that Raw and SmackDown were two hours and the other two hours went to either ECW, the precursor to the current NXT, Main Event, WWE Superstars. So, this is not something new as we’ve done it forever,” said Barrios.
“Last year, to your point, it was primarily 205 Live, Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook for 20 weeks. So for us, when you say ‘What’s the focus?’ Our content is always one of three things: we’re trying to drive engagement, trying to drive some level of direct monetization or drive some level of indirect monetization as a promotional platform. That doesn’t change so we’re thinking for that sixth hour, across those three parameters what’s the best structure for the content? It’s not a new thing and is something we’re always working through.
“Right now it’s 205 Live… but we’ll see where we come out on that.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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