While speaking to Between the Ropes, Chris Jericho discussed the original plans for WrestleMania 33 and revealed that at one point the plan was for him to face Nakamura on the card.

Jericho explained, “After we went to Japan in June or July I remember coming back and talking to Vince, and I said you’ve got to bring this Nakamura guy up to the main roster. I wanna work with him. Let’s debut him at WrestleMania. I said I’ll stay until WrestleMania if I can work with Nakamura. Vince said okay. Then about a month later, I said that I actually think me and Kevin Owens could work at WrestleMania.”

You can listen to Jericho’s remarks below:

The post Chris Jericho Reveals Original Plans for WrestleMania 33 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Daniel Bryan announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that the Usos will defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Titles against Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin at the Royal Rumble event in 2 out of 3 falls match.

Here is the updated card for the event:

WWE Universal Title Triple Threat Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Kane vs. Braun Strowman

WWE Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

WWE RAW Tag Team Title Match
Jason Jordan & Seth Rollins vs. The Bar

WWE US Title Tournament Finals
Jinder Mahal or Xavier Woods vs. Bobby Roode or Zack Ryder or Mojo Rawley

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: 2 Out 3 Falls
The Usos vs. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin

Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Participants: Elias, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, John Cena, Finn Balor, Baron Corbin, 24 other wrestlers TBA.

Women’s Royal Rumble Match
Participants: Asuka, Naomi, Ruby Riott, Natalya, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Paige, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Carmella, Tamina Snuka, Lana, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, 16 other wrestlers TBA. (The only women who have not yet officially declared who are on Raw or Smackdown are: Nia Jax and Dana Brooke)

The Royal Rumble will take place on January 28, 2018, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As always, we will have live play-by-play coverage of the event.

The post New Match Announced for The Royal Rumble appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As previously reported, The Undertaker, John Cena and other legends have been confirmed for the upcoming 25th Anniversary of RAW show on January 22nd, which is the go-home show for The Royal Rumble.

Bryan Alvarez discussed the event on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Live and speculated that The Undertaker will tease his retirement on that episode of RAW. Cena would then come out to the ring as The Undertaker is retiring and challenge The Deadman to one final match at this year’s WrestleMania event.

Alvarez explained that he’s been told there is a “big plan” for Cena at this year’s WrestleMania and it’s “bigger than the championship matches” on the card. That doesn’t leave a lot of options.

The post Possible Spoiler on The Undertaker vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 34 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Triple H revealed during a recent conference call that NXT will be taping television at the Center Stage in Atlanta on January 4th, February 1st and February 2nd. The reason the company is doing this has to do with scheduling and lack of availability at Full Sail University. Full Sail will still remain the home of NXT after these set of tapings.

Speaking of NXT tapings, the tapings in February will get NXT through either WrestleMania or right before WrestleMania. This means the card for the NXT Takeover during WrestleMania weekend will pretty much be a lock by February 2nd.

The post Reason NXT Is Taping Outside of Full Sail University Next Year appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Ahyessir, we’re getting closer and closer to Survivor Series. Did you know that it’s the one time of the year where Smackdown and Raw compete head to head? That’s what everyone on the show’s been saying.

You know what, that idea is alright and all, but it could be so much better than that. Survivor Series used to have stakes. There used to be a reason you wanted to survive. Nowadays, that reason’s a lot less clear. Why exactly do they want to beat the other team so badly? Pride? Bragging rights? Do they all get a bonus in their paycheck or something?

Basically, the whole “brand warfare” shtick has run its course for now.

It Doesn’t Really Make That Much Sense

Remember how the New Day were on Raw last year? Remember how they were an integral part of Raw last year? So why in the blue hell are they suddenly taking a collective dump over the Red brand? Is Raw really that bad?

And then there’s Rusev, the number 10 pick in last year’s Draft.. He, too, was moved in the Shakeup to Smackdown. Suddenly he reacts like a bull when he sees the color red. Isn’t this all just a tad bit strange? It’d make sense for guys like Dolph Ziggler, AJ Styles, or Baron Corbin, who were Team Blue from the start, but for New Day, Rusev, and even Charlotte to suddenly act like Crips when there are Bloods around is really bizarre.

I get that there’s sort of a precedent for this. In the NBA, people get drafted to new teams all the time. In football, people get bought and sold in every transfer window. Still, I’m pretty sure that Kyrie Irving doesn’t suddenly hate the Cleveland Cavaliers. I’m pretty sure Neymar doesn’t just really hate Barcelona now. Sure, if they face their old teams, they work with the new team and try to win, because duh. They’re a team.

That excuse doesn’t work for Survivor Series. This is the only time of the year where the members of the brands team up against each other. Meanwhile, people who are otherwise teammates in November beat each other up for a living. It’s absurd. Why are they so concerned with brand supremacy when they can’t stand half of the people on their own roster?

There Are Better Stories to Be Told

At Hell in a Cell last month, Sami Zayn shocked the world by saving his former best friend and bitter enemy and now current best friend Kevin Owens from certain demise. Now 5 weeks later, neither of the men are even on the card of Survivor Series. Sure, they’ll interfere in a meaningless “Brand Supremacy” match, but it’s kind of a waste. Why not have a Team Sami & Kevin v. Team Shane? That makes much more sense. Owens, Zayn, and other disgruntled heels who have beef with the Commissioner can all team up against him. Imagine a match of Owens, Zayn, Rusev, Aiden English, and Dolph Ziggler taking on a team of Shane McMahon, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Bobby Roode? Now realize that half of those people aren’t even on the card.

Raw also had a prime opportunity to do something. Imagine the Shield and Braun Strowman taking on The Miz, Kane, and The Bar in a 4-on-4 traditional Survivor Series elimination match. That could have been all types of awesome. Shield and Strowman? That’s a wrecking crew right there. I’d love to see them team up.

Hopefully next year, WWE moves past the gang mentality for Survivor Series. There is so much more that can be done. There’s so much more to this than that.

The post Survivor Series Could Be More Than Just “Brand Warfare” appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

It was previously announced on WWE programming that Asuka will be making her debut at the upcoming WWE TLC event.

Dave Meltzer mentioned in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that her opponent on the show could either be Nia Jax, Emma or Alicia Fox. Meltzer speculates that if WWE doesn’t put her in a singles match, she could end up teaming with Sasha Banks and Bayley to take on the team of Nia Jax, Emma and Alicia Fox on the card.

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs takes place at the Target Center in Minneapolis on October 22nd. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.

The post Possible Opponents for Asuka’s Debut Match appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

X-Pac opens today’s show by discussing last Sunday’s No Mercy PPV. He says he attended this event live and was in the Gorilla Position with Triple H and Vince McMahon when Cesaro went face first into the corner ring post. He says Triple H was actually speaking to him about something when that happened, and Vince McMahon immediately started screaming at Triple H to get on the headset and figure out a way to get through the match with Cesaro bleeding everywhere.

X-Pac thought that tag team match was the best match on the card, and he was terribly dissapointed by the main event match between Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar. He thought WWE threw this big-time match down the drain in an underwhelming 8-minute match, and blew a chance to draw big money at a PPV down the road.

He also wasn’t a fan of the way the finish was booked because although it’s never a bad idea to give Lesnar a convincing win, Strowman shouldn’t be the guy to put Lesnar over convincingly.

X-Pac thought John Cena and Roman Reigns had a great match, but he feels that both men had more to give. He says that both Reigns and Cena have had several incredible matches over the duration of their careers, and he thinks these two guys can get to another level if they’re given another opportunity to work together.

The post X-Pac 1, 2, 360 Recap w/ Nick ‘Magnus’ Aldis – No Mercy Analysis, TNA World Championship Reign, Will He Work in WWE? More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

WWE has confirmed that the Rock ‘N Roll Express will face Gallows and Anderson at Starrcade. Here is the updated card for the event:

* WWE Championship Steel Cage Match: Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

* SmackDown Women’s Championship Steel Cage Match: Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair

* United States Championship Triple Threat Match: AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Rusev

* SmackDown Tag Team Championship Texas Tornado Match: The New Day vs. The Usos

* Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Rock ‘N Roll Express

* Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

* Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler

* Breezango vs. Aiden English & Mike Kanellis

The event is not currently planned as a WWE Network special and will be simply a higher-profile house show.

The post New Match Announced for WWE Starrcade appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Dolph Ziggler accepted Bobby Roodes challenge to a match at the upcoming WWE Hell in a Cell event, here is the updated card for the show:

Hell In a Cell Championship
Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens

WWE Title Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal

WWE United States Championship
Baron Corbin vs. AJ Styles

SmackDown Women’s Championship
Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Hell In a Cell Tag Team Championship
The Usos vs. The New Day

Dolph Ziggler vs. Bobby Roode

WWE Hell In a Cell takes place on October 8th from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.

The post Another Match Added to WWE Hell in a Cell appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Blocks 1 & 2:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about last night’s No Mercy PPV. He thought the show started off hot and it flowed pretty well, however the main event was some what lacklustre in his opinion.

Taz thought John Cena and Roman Reigns had a terrific match last night, but he was somewhat surprised to see Reigns shake Cena’s hand at the end of the bout. There were a number of big bumps and good false finishes in this match, but he thinks WWE missed the mark by having these two guys shake hands at the end.

He thought this handshake felt hokey and lame, and he would have much preferred to see Reigns give Cena the middle finger when Cena presented his hand to him. Taz thinks this would have been a career defining moment for Reigns and it would have made fans feel some sort of emotion for him, either good or bad.

Taz also thinks WWE needs to be careful with how they book their matches moving forward. There were a number of similar spots utilized in a lot of last night’s matches, and although false finishes are good, you have to be careful not to over-utilize them by having performers kick out of finishing moves. Taz thought the main event between Strowman and Lesnar felt flat because there were so many false finishes throughout the entirety of the card.

The post The Taz Show Recap – No Mercy Analysis, Abusing False Finishes, Why Did Cena & Reigns Shake Hands? More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.