NEWS

Main Event
Date: March 7, 2019
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Renee Young, Percy Watson
Things started happening in a hurry last week as WWE suddenly remembered that they needed to set up Fastlane outside of the big matches. That made for some eventful stuff this week and hopefully that translates to this show as well. I’m not sure if I should believe that to be the case or not, but you have to have hope. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Apollo Crews vs. EC3 Rematch from last week. EC3 takes him down with a quickly broken headlock as Crews fights up with a dropkick and armdrag. Crews gets stomped down in the corner for a bit and we hit the reverse chinlock. A clothesline cuts off Crews’ comeback but Crews gets in one of his own. That’s enough to head up top, only to get crotched back down. The 1%er finishes Crews at 5:25.
Result: EC3 b. Apollo Crews – 1%er (5:25)
From Raw.
Here’s Roman Reigns to open things up to another sol..

Now this could be interesting. As you probably know, SmackDown Live is moving to the FOX Network later this year, giving WWE their biggest platform for television in decades, if not ever. It means that things could be changing in a hurry, and it’s not clear just how much those changes are going to mean. If FOX has its say though, it could mean one of the biggest changes of all.
According to Rajah.com, FOX may be looking for WWE to stop being as politically correct and moving towards an edgier product. While no specifics are being given, it seems that FOX wants things to be a bit more adult, which could include a variety of things that are closer to the Attitude Era than the current PG style. WWE set themselves up as a PG promotion, meaning the only thing that would need to be done to change things is a self imposed change.
It could be an interesting mixture of both eras. Check out this very cool SmackDown Live Attitude Era intro with modern stars:
[This post contains video, click to..

Former WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was recently interviewed by Sky Sports. This followed the WrestleMania 36 press conference earlier this week. During the interview, Reigns discussed why he believes the women deserve to close WrestleMania 35 this year.
Seth Rollins defeated 29 other men in the Royal Rumble men’s match to earn the right to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania. This has led a number of fans to predict and hope that those two performers close out the show.
It seems more possible now, more than ever, that women could close out the show. Becky Lynch faces Charlotte Flair this weekend at Fastlane- and a victory there, as predicted by most fans, would result in a triple threat between those two performers and RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey for the Championship.
For more information on that, check out the very short WWE Now clip below:
[This post contains video, click to play]

In his interview with Sky Sports, Reigns noted that..

It’s not exactly 2K. Wrestling and video games go hand in hand like mittens in mittens. Fans are going to want to play a game as their favorite wrestlers that they see on TV and that makes for a long list of combinations. Today’s games have more details than you could ever possibly complete but that wasn’t always the case. As it turns out, there’s a brand new way to see what wrestling games used to be like.
According to a new article on WWE.com, YouTuber Archon1981 recently purchased a review copy of an unreleased WCW video game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, dated from 1989. The game is titled UWC, which likely means Universal Wrestling Corporation, which served as the original name for World Championship Wrestling when Ted Turner bought the company in 1987. Some names included were the Road Warriors, Sting, Ric Flair, Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane.
Like any video game, there is a way to see the game. Check out some game play footage:
[This post contains video, click t..

The rosters on RAW and SmackDown Live are undoubtedly more packed and full with incredible talent than ever before. This includes 2018 NXT call-up No Way Jose.
Jose was called up during the post-WrestleMania edition of RAW. Defeating John Skyler in his debut, Jose quickly educated the audience on what he is about. Sadly, Jose was soon relegated to the bottom of the card.
In the video we’ve included below, Jose takes on Skyler in his debut match back on April 9, 2018:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Taking to his Twitter account, Jose shared a picture of himself. The photo shows him with a very different hairstyle- something that would likely cause him to get noticed. The WWE Universe, in fact, are taking notice of this on social media.
His hair is braided and partially colored a neon green and light yellow, with a mixture of black throughout.
Check out the changed look below:
Change pic.twitter.com/7Eoz0I6q5A
— No Way Jose (@WWENoWayJose) March 8, 2019
It is unknown..

Add them to the list. One of the biggest stories of the year so far has been the amount of people to either leave or try to leave WWE. While some of them seem to be wanting to head to AEW or elsewhere, there are others who just seem to want to leave the company to find better luck anywhere else. We now have some new names on that list and they’re both former champions.
According to PWInsider.com, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson recently turned down multi-million dollar deals to stay with WWE. The two are said to not be happy with the way they have been used on television, where they have only had one match this year and only five since the beginning of last July. Their WWE Network series Botch Club was dropped after a single episode for no explained reason. Gallows and Anderson’s deals are said to expire in late September and there is no definitive word on where they would wind up, though AEW and Japan are both possibilities.
It seems so long ago. Check out one of the team’s most rece..

Following the WrestleMania 36 press conference yesterday, former WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns had the chance to speak with TalkSPORT about The Usos and Dean Ambrose potentially leaving WWE.
As we know, Reigns recently returned to the squared circle after his battle with leukemia. His in-ring return will officially take place this Sunday as he teams with Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose in a reformation of The Shield against Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin.
[This post contains video, click to play]

To begin with, Reigns noted that he actually found out about Ambrose leaving through an article online. Despite being friends with the Superstar, he was not informed that Ambrose was to leave the company.
On a conference call with Roman Reigns. He says he found out about Dean Ambrose leaving the company in an article online. Did not get the heads up.
— Alex McCarthy (@AlexM_talkSPORT) March 7, 2019
On the matter, Reigns had the following comments:
“He’s kind of always..

Rumors can’t always be believed, so please keep that in mind throughout this article.
WWE commentator Jim Ross is finishing up his duties with the company. On March 29, the legendary figure will be a free agent once again. It now seems as though AEW could be taking advantage of this.
Rajah is reporting that Ross could be signing a multi-year contract with AEW. He would reportedly earn almost a million dollars annually as part of the contract.
So…hearing JR is going to be signing a multi-year contract worth close to a million annually with AEW. https://t.co/URD7EMAeF4
— Rajah.com (@RajahNews) March 7, 2019
It is not specifically known what role Ross would have in the company. Based on his history with professional wrestling, there are a number of positions he could take up.
The most likely position is either acting as a General Manager for the weekly show the company will produce, or possibly, and probably more likely, will work as a commentator for the weekly show.
It is importa..

Does it count if you don’t tell them? We’re less than two days away from Fastlane and, in theory at least, the card is set for the show. That’s never stopped WWE from adding things at the last minute before and that’s what they’ve done with another Kickoff Show match. This time around though, there’s a detail that they seemed to leave out and it’s kind of an important one.
WWE.com has announced a new Kickoff Show match featuring the team of Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura facing Big E. and Xavier Woods of the New Day. While that doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, Woods took to Twitter to mention that WWE didn’t actually tell him he would be having a match on the show. According to Woods, he only found out about it by reading the news on Twitter.
Glad I opened twitter today or else I wouldn't have known that we have a match this Sunday https://t.co/VlqGQ8BxsI
— ??Smooth Pen ?? (@XavierWoodsPhD) March 8, 2019
They certainly did what they promised. Check out what New Da..

Welcome home. Last month at Elimination Chamber, Sasha Banks and Bayley made history by becoming the first WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. The move came with a bit of a surprise, as Bayley and Banks promised to defend their titles against anyone, either on Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live or NXT. They even showed up on a recent episode of NXT, and now they’re going a step further.
They’re NXT legends for a reason. Check out the Boss N Hug Connection back where it all started:
[This post contains video, click to play]

WWE has posted a video of an NXT live event from earlier this week where Banks and Bayley were in attendance in Largo, Florida to watch a women’s tag team match featuring the Sky Pirates (Io Shirai and Kairi Sane) vs. Aliyah/Vanessa Borne vs. Rhea Ripley/Reina Gonzalez. The match ended in a no contest with the Sky Pirates being quadruple teamed. Bayley and Banks ran in for the save and posed with the Sky Pirates after the match.
Opinion: This is the kind of surprise t..

There is a boom in the wrestling industry right now. Competitors from around the world are being signed to promotions, as others make their exits.
Former ROH star ACH made his NXT debut at the NXT live event this Thursday in Largo, FL at the Minnreg Hall. The show saw ACH compete under his real name of Albert Hardie.
During the show, the former ROH star competed against Raul Mendoza in the opening match. Unfortunately for ACH, he came up short in the bout.
If you’re new to ACH, you can check out 55 of his greatest moves in the entertaining video we’ve provided below:
[This post contains video, click to play]

The tweets below showcase the former ROH star in action as he takes on Mendoza:
#NXTLargo The WDW Army Report! 1st bout: @RaulMendozaWWE vs. ACH pic.twitter.com/SJDKnQxfXi
— Jeff Reid (@JeffReidUP) March 8, 2019
@WWENXT is officially #SUPER?? pic.twitter.com/LeIqXn2ALc
— A.C.H.™ (@GoGoACH) March 8, 2019
It was during this same show that WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The..

WWE has a 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority. The partnership started last year- which saw WWE host The Greatest Royal Rumble and Crown Jewel in the country.
In particular, the event in November was extremely controversial. Many fans may remember that this was due to the government of Saudi Arabia ordering for the murder of a journalist- Jamal Khashoggi. It has since been called a planned and “brutal” murder by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has now reported that WWE has secured the dates for the second year of their partnership. As part of the ongoing agreement, WWE will hold two shows in Saudi Arabia this year.
In fact, you can see a highlight from WWE’s first Saudi Arabian show in the short video below:
[This post contains video, click to play]

According to Meltzer, the dates for the two shows are May 3 and November 1. This is fairly similar to the schedule they had in 2018 for their two shows…