media

AJ Styles dropping the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan on SmackDown Live this week was a surprise. Most people expected the title change at Crown Jewel, but Bryan didn’t go to Saudi Arabia and the rumor is that WWE officials just pushed their plans back a bit. However, it turns out there’s more happening with Styles behind the scenes.
According to a report from DirtySheets, the company didn’t want to book Styles to lose against Brock Lesnar for the second straight year. The problem behind the scenes has been the contract negotiations between Styles and WWE have dragged on for months with the two parties being unable to agree on some major details of a new contract.
Related: Why Did AJ Styles Lose The WWE Championship? The Phenomenal One is looking for a three-year deal with a reduced number of dates on the road to spend more time with his family. WWE officials want to lock him down for 5 years. The odds are high this next deal will be AJ’s last full-time contract with the company. T..

The opening match at NXT Takeover: War Games II was a “surprise” bout between Matt Riddle and Kassius Ohno. The match didn’t last long. In fact, it was over in the blink of an eye with Riddle knocking Ohno out cold in seconds. The NXT Universe was surprised by the match because it was advertised to be a part of the taping for next week’s show.
Related: Does Matt Riddle Already Have Backstage Heat In NXT? According to a report from RingSideNews, Triple H and other NXT officials did not want to advertise Ohno vs. Riddle because the planned finish was a knockout for Riddle. NXT officials didn’t want to get the fans hopes up for a 5 second match. It was a better idea to have the match be a “surprise” for the Los Angeles crowd to see Matt Riddle in action.
After Takeover: War Games II, The Game had high praise for Riddle. Obviously, Riddle is expected to receive a huge push in NXT moving forward. The knockout of a veteran like Ohno is a huge win to put him over. Over the next few months, ..

On NXT, Lars Sullivan’s run as a monster heel has been successful. He’s been featured as a heel against Aleister Black and other stars for the brand. Sullivan hasn’t recorded a lot of big wins over his NXT tenure, but he’s found some success and WWE officials believe he could be a big player in the years to come. It might be a lot sooner than we thought.
According to a report from RingSideNews, WWE is expected to begin running vignettes for Lars Sullivan after Survivor Series and his main roster debut could be happening in the next few weeks. The company is looking to make some moves after Roman Reigns’ leukemia diagnosis and it seems that Sullivan is much a part of their upcoming plans.
Related: WWE Considering Moving Lars Sullivan to Main Roster
Most fans will question why Sullivan is getting a chance on the main roster over several other NXT Superstars. His run with the brand hasn’t been anything special and his role as a monster heel hasn’t been overly dominant either. However, ..

The Velveteen Dream is one of the most interesting gimmicks on all of WWE television because almost no one thought it would work in the beginning. The NXT Universe has embraced the gimmick. “The Dream” put on a great performance and almost captured the NXT Championship from Tommaso Ciampa during NXT Takeover: War Games II.
At 23 years old, the sky is the limit for the young performer that most people are calling a “prodigy.” However, there’s a lot of concern regarding how The Velveteen Dream will be used on the main roster eventually. In particular, some people are very concerned if Vince McMahon will provide him the opportunity to connect with the WWE Universe.
Related: Velveteen Dream “Too Small” to Be A Top Guy in WWE According to a new report from DirtySheets, Vince McMahon is actually a big fan of The Velveteen Dream. For decades, The Boss has been trying to figure out a “Little Richard” type character and Dream could be the answer. It’s fair to assume that McMahon will be hands..

Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey was arguably the most anticipated match heading into the Survivor Series PPV. The WWE Universe is excited for Charlotte vs. Ronda, but WWE officials have been saving that match for WrestleMania 35. Depending on the events of Charlotte vs. Rousey, WWE might book a Triple Threat Match for WWE’s grandest stage.
In the short term, The Lass Kicker is sidelined with a broken nose and concussion after a stiff punch to the face from Nia Jax. Following the botch, Lynch’s stock is at an all-time high with the WWE Universe. However, it isn’t known when the SmackDown Women’s Champion will be able to return to action and news has been quite scarce on the matter.
Related: Backstage News Regarding Becky Lynch’s Potential Babyface Turn According to a recent report from RingSideNews, Becky Lynch is scheduled for another medical evaluation very soon and could even be before Survivor Series. Lynch won’t be given the green light to wrestle, but she may be cleared to get invo..

At NXT Takeover: War Games II, Aleister Black defeated Johnny Gargano. The NXT Title remains on Tommaso Ciampa’s shoulder after he beat The Velveteen Dream later in the night. By all appearances, Black vs. Ciampa is the plan for the NXT Championship after the event. However, it’s unclear where Gargano fits into the NXT Title picture as a heel.
According to a report from PWInsider Elite, NXT officials could be looking for Gargano to remain a heel while Black remains the No. 1 Contender. It’s also been rumored that a ‘DIY’ reunion could happen soon while both Gargano and Ciampa are heels. The angle is going to come down to how NXT officials want to book Johnny Wrestling going forward.
Related: Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa to Reunite ‘DIY’ On paper, Gargano’s attack on Black was wanting to have Ciampa to himself. As long as Ciampa is the NXT Champion, it’s not logical for anyone but Gargano to take the title off him. A short reunion of DIY to feud with Aleister Black would work thr..

For the past few months, the WWE Universe has been wondering about Pete Dunne’s condition. There have been rumors that he’s been injured for quite some time and if he would need to drop the United Kingdom Championship soon. Despite the injuries, Pete Dunne has continued to wrestle and it’s unclear if his injury was just some speculation.
According to a report from RingSideNews, Triple H revealed that Dunne was working through a broken bone in his foot. He’s been resting for the past few weeks and he was a part of the War Games Match on Saturday. The expectation is he won’t need time off, but he was noticeable limping during the match so he’s likely on a limited schedule.
Related: Is That A Bruise…Er….Wait….Pete Dunne Injured And Missing Ring Time Since the UK series on the WWE Network has filmed its episodes so far in advance, it’s going to be interesting to see if Dunne needs to drop the UK Championship as the result of an injury. The Game claims that Dunne is “good to go” moving fo..

I think he’ll be fine. Brock Lesnar doesn’t exactly follow the standard path for wrestlers. He only wrestles a few times a year, rarely wrestles a long match, and seems to get to do whatever he wants. This rarely goes beyond F5’s and German suplexes because he’s so dominant with them that he doesn’t need to do anything else. However, some of those moves are so devastating that they don’t work on everyone, and that can become a problem.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is believed to be backstage heat on Lesnar for his beatdown of Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers on this week’s Monday Night Raw. During the segment, Lesnar threw the Brothers with some very hard German suplexes with the ones to Sunil Singh being considered to be too intense. The heat is said to be from the members of the locker room rather than management. At the moment, there is no word on Sunil being injured by the incident.
Here’s what made the locker room angry:
[This post contains video, cl..

It doesn’t look good either way. Earlier this week, Becky Lynch was ruled out of Sunday’s Survivor Series due to a broken bone in her face and a concussion, both of which were suffered on Monday Night Raw. On Monday’s show, Nia Jax punched Lynch in the face during a brawling segment, injuring her to the point where she had to go on the shelf. It was pretty clear that backlash was coming and it’s hitting Jax from two directions.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is backstage heat on Jax due to the injury. In this case, the heat is worse because this isn’t the first time that Jax has injured someone, including both Zelina Vega and Alexa Bliss. At the same time, Chris Jericho mentioned the situation on a recent episode of his Talk Is Jericho podcast. Jericho discussed the situation and thought the punch was even worse than previously described. Here are his pair of comments, with transcription courtesy of WrestleZone.com:
“If you see the punch she [Becky Lynch] took,..