Rusev defeated Jinder Mahal, Kofi Kingston and Zack Ryder to earn a shot against Bobby Roode’s United States Championship on next week’s episode of SmackDown Live.

Mark your .

NEXT TUESDAY is #RusevDay as @RusevBUL will challenge @REALBobbyRoode for the #USTitle on #SDLive! pic.twitter.com/XLUZRThiel

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 31, 2018

Also confirmed for next week’s show is Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn with the winner getting an opportunity at the WWE Championship Title at WWE Fastlane.

The post Another Match Set for Next Week’s SmackDown appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

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.

WWE heads to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ for tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live. Here are the highlights from tonight’s show:

Daniel Bryan opens the show talking about the Women’s Royal Rumble match. Bryan talks about the main event of tonight’s show before Shane McMahon comes out. Shane talks about what transpired at Sunday’s WWE Clash of Champions where Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn one their match with the assist from Daniel Bryan. Bryan said he did it to protect Shane from himself. Bryan and Shane talk about the vision for the SmackDown brand. Bryan says if he has a problem, he can fire him. Bryan says he doesn’t want Shane to turn into Vince McMahon. Shane says he turns Bryan before telling him “Good luck with the show tonight.”

Bryan and Shane talk about the vision for the SmackDown brand. Bryan says if he has a problem, he can fire him. Bryan says he doesn't want Shane to turn into Vince McMahon. Shane tells him Good luck.#WWE #SDLive Results – https://t.co/o5468sCc7H pic.twitter.com/V3wCOSBPNc

— Ringside News (@RingsideNewscom) December 20, 2017

Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin defeat The Usos.

Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin defeated The Usos#WWE #SDLive Results – https://t.co/o5468sCc7H pic.twitter.com/klvLIyITab

— Ringside News (@RingsideNewscom) December 20, 2017

Charlotte in-ring promo. She talks about her win at WWE Clash of the Champions and the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. Charlotte says she will be waiting to defend her championship to whomever wins the Women’s Royal Rumble. Naomi comes out and announces herself as the first women in the Women’s Royal Rumble match. The new NXT rookies come out and Naomi calls them “chicken heads.”

Naomi & Charlotte defeated Sarah Logan & Ruby Riott.

Backstage segment with The New Day, Rusev Claus and Aiden English. Rusev Claus puts everyone on the naughty list before a challenge is issued. The New Day accepts.

Dolph Ziggler in-ring promo. Ziggler talks about all the championship titles he had won. He then drops the United States Championship Title and walks to the back. It appears that he just forfeited the title.

"YOU'RE NOT WORTHY OF MY PRESENCE!" –@HEELZiggler pic.twitter.com/0yXxtBbzeH

— WWE (@WWE) December 20, 2017

(Note: Ziggler’s contract was rumored to be expiring. We will keep updated)

The New Day defeat Rusev & Aiden English.

Randy Orton, Nakamura & AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn.

Goodnight, @SinghBrosWWE!#SDLive @RandyOrton pic.twitter.com/G7T4C7dvgL

— WWE (@WWE) December 20, 2017

The post WWE SmackDown Live Highlights – December 19th, 2017 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

On today’s show former ECW, WCW and WWE Superstar, Big Vito and Jeff Lane will discuss Survivor Series.

Vito points out that WWE brought Kalisto into 205 Live to get good, entertaining matches out of Enzo Amore. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened and the experiment has failed big time. He says that Kalisto has definitely taken himself out the Title picture for an extended period of time.

He says that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn definitely did something to piss people off because they went from the main event picture to being placed into the ‘Ha Ha spot’ with Breezango at Survivor Series. He thought this was a terrible match, and these two kickoff show matches really started the show on a poor note.

Lane points out that NXT: War Games didn’t sell out, and the crowd arrived late for Survivor Series. He wonders if four nights of wrestling in a row is becoming too much for fans. Vito says that NXT lost a lot of big stars recently before they had the proper people ready to replace them. He suggests that maybe WWE should consider rotating a few talents back and forth from NXT and the main roster.

Vito thought Survivor Series’ 5-man booth had way too many voices. He also thought that Shawn Michaels had a poor showing on the kickoff panel. He says that he has no heat with Michaels but he made no sense whatsoever on that panel, and the other panel members had to bail him out on several occasions. He points out that when you’re not cutting promos on a consistent basis there’s going to be some rust.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Survivor Series Analysis, Owens & Zayn’s Backstage Heat, Kurt Angle Looking ‘Stiff’, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Photo: WWE

Changes keep coming for WWE shows. The Times Of India is reporting that one show for the upcoming WWE India Tour has been canceled. The December 9th show in New Delhi has been canceled, and the December 8th show is now being called a “Supershow”.

In response to the changes, WWE says:

“To meet the requests of WWE fans in India, and deliver the biggest main event in the country’s history, WWE is combining two nights of family-friendly action into a one-night only, exclusive Supershow.”

The fans who bought tickets for the show on December 9th can either exchange their tickets for the show on the 8th, or they can get a refund.

Also of note is that Kevin Owens has been taken off the card completely. He was originally scheduled to take on Jinder Mahal in the main event, but he’s been replaced in that match by Triple H. Whether this is in response to his being sent home from the recent European Tour or it was due to poor ticket sales for the India shows is unknown.

As for the current card…well, it’s always subject to change.

WWE India Tour Match Card (December 8th)

• Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil vs Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
• Elias vs Jason Jordan.
• Sasha Banks vs Alexa Bliss.
• Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt.
• Kalisto vs Enzo Amore.
• Kane vs Braun Strowman.
• The Shield vs Samoa Joe, Sheamus, and Cesaro.
• Jeet Rama and Kishan Rafter vs Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas.
• Triple H vs Jinder Mahal.

The post WWE India Tour: One Date Canceled, Kevin Owens Removed From Shows, Jinder vs Trips Confirmed appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

WWE heads to the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC for tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live. Here are the focus points for the show:

* Charlotte Flair to challenge SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya tonight on SmackDown LIVE

* Sin Cara challenges Baron Corbin for the United States Title tonight on SmackDown LIVE

* The New Day face Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn tonight on SmackDown LIVE

* Daniel Bryan returns to SmackDown LIVE

Check back here at 8PM ET for our live play-by-play coverage.

The post What to Expect on the November 14th Episode of SmackDown Live appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As previously reported, both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were both kicked off the on-going UK Tour and sent back to the United States.

In an update, PWInsider reports that both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are currently scheduled to be at this Tuesday’s SmackDown Live event according to several sources close to the situation. We will keep you updated if that status changes.

The post Backstage Update on Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn’s Status appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Photo: WWE

More Details Emerge About Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens Situation

As we reported yesterday, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were sent home from the current WWE European Tour after the SmackDown Live tapings from Manchester on Tuesday. The story seems to keep changing a bit every time someone adds to it, but basically, the new information stays in line with them not doing what they were supposed to do after Sami’s match with Kofi Kingston.

Dave Meltzer is reporting that it was the fact that Owens and Zayn left immediately following the match instead of staying around to get beat up by The New Day that caused the issues. The two men were told to leave the arena, go back to the hotel, and return to the US. Meltzer says that some sources are saying it was a simple case of miscommunication.

The status of the two men is up in the air right now. Neither has a role for Survivor Series as of yet, and they could be back as soon as SmackDown Live on Tuesday. We will just have to wait and see if anything else happens.

Roman Reigns Return Update

It’s being reported that Roman Reigns is cleared to return to action and will be at RAW on Monday. It’s expected that WWE will announce The Shield vs The New Day for Survivor Series on Monday, as well.

The post More Info On Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens Situation; Roman Reigns Return Update appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

There appears to be a couple of inaccurate reports regarding the situation with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn being sent home after Tuesday’s SmackDown Live tapings.

Dave Meltzer mentioned on the F4WOnline message board that reports of Owens being mad on the tour bus after the tapings are not true because he’s not even on the bus after the tapings. Additionally, Meltzer mentioned that this situation has nothing to do with the departures of Neville or Jimmy Jacobs.

Here is an excerpt of what Meltzer wrote:

“There’s a lot of untrue info.

For one, the story of Owens being mad on the tour bus after the tapings isn’t accurate. He was not even on the bus after the tapings.

The finish of the match was exactly as it was supposed to be. The post-match is a story that is being told different ways depending on how you hear it but that is the point of contention.

But that is the thing, any other stories are not accurate as it pertains to them being sent home.

None of this has to do with Neville, Jimmy Jacobs, etc.”

When asked about Owens & Zayn being brought back to television next week, Metlzer mentioned that it’s all up to Vince.

“It’s all up to Vince. He’s he guy who suspended Titus for 90 days for nothing. Trying to predict his reactions are a waste of time because they are often contradictory and make no sense. Neither is looking to leave.”

The post Details of Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Being Sent Home Reportedly Inaccurate appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Photo: Impact

Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Update

As we’ve been reporting today, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were sent home from the current WWE European Tour after last night’s SmackDown Live taping. The first round of stories contributed the duo’s removal to the tour to “conduct detrimental to WWE” during the tapings, along with them going into business for themselves during the show.

Now, it’s being reported that the problem wasn’t the promo the pair cut to open the show, but their actions after Sami Zayn’s match with Kofi Kingston. Apparently, Owens and Zayn were supposed to “feed” for New Day at the end of the match, but instead, the pair just left the ring and went backstage.

In wrestling terms, “feeding” refers to the heel(s) going at the babyface(s) numerous times only to be fended off. Instead of Owens and Zayn doing that, Owens attacked as soon at the bell rang, and New Day was not able to get any “comeuppance” due to the pair immediately backing up the entrance ramp.

This wasn’t what creative had planned for them to do, so Vince McMahon approved them being taken off the tour and sent home.

It’s also being reported that the pair have been unhappy and somewhat difficult to work with recently, with one report stating that Kevin Owens was complaining loudly on the tour bus last night after the tapings in what many saw as the last straw after almost a week of touring. If the stories of their discontent is true, it wouldn’t be surprising, seeing as how close the pair was/is to former WWE writer Jimmy Jacobs and former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville, who both have left the company recently under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Rockstar Spud WWE Bound

As we reported last week, Rockstar Spud parted ways with Impact Wrestling, and it looks like he is headed to WWE. According to reports today, Spud will be signing with WWE shortly and debut in the Cruiserweight Division for 205 Live, bypassing any time in “developmental” in NXT.

The post Update On Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Being Sent Home; Rockstar Spud Update appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.