As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, the finals of the United States Title Tournament was pushed up and  took place on this week’s show instead of the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.

Dave Meltzer indicated in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that it was probably moved up because of time constraints at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Two Rumble matches are taking place on the card and those two matches combined will be 2 of the 4 hours on the show.

Meltzer also believes that there could have been a change of plans because of an injury situation and caused the company to deviate from what they originally had in mind. Meltzer didn’t elaborate on what injury could have caused a change in plans but it’s worth pointing out that there have been an abnormal amount of injuries as of late and it could have been any of those.

The post Possible Reasons Why WWE Changed the Finals of the US Title Tournament appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Bobby Roode will face Jinder Mahal on next week’s episode of SmackDown Live. The winner of that match will be crowned the new WWE United States Championship title. Roode defeated Mojo Rawley and Jinder Mahal defeated Xavier Woods to earn the opportunity at the championship.

Update: Daniel Bryan announced after Roode’s victory that the new United States Champion will be crowned on tonight’s show.

The #USTitle Tournament Finals transpiring tonight? Now, THAT calls for a YES! chant! #SDLive @REALBobbyRoode @WWEDanielBryan @JinderMahal @SinghBrosWWE pic.twitter.com/QCasK3MvAm

— WWE (@WWE) January 17, 2018

The post New WWE United States Champion To Be Determined on SmackDown Tonight appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason WWE decided on having a tournament for the United States Championship Title was an attempt to jump start Rusev’s push. While Rusev isn’t in the tournament, it’s very possible that the tournament concludes with Rusev turning babyface and possibly winning championship title.

There is also speculation that after he captures the title, he may work a program with Aiden English.

The post WWE Planning to Push Rusev & Turn Him Babyface? appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason WWE booked Dolph Ziggler to vacate the United States Championship title and seemingly “walk out” on the company’s is the latest attempt to re-boot his character again.

This attempt comes weeks after another failed attempt when he was wrote off television for a while to try to repackage him.

The post Reason WWE Booked Dolph Ziggler to Vacate the United States Championship appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Cody Rhodes recently spoke with Wrestledope.com. Here are the highlights from the interview:

Being free from WWE: “The Feeling, the sensation behind it is, it’s exciting to cherry pick and select and be your own boss and to be in control of your own brand, however it’s a lot of work.”

Wrestling Kurt Angle in UK: “To have a record crowd for What Culture, to be in there with Kurt Angle and not to be just like Kurt Angle plus garnish. For it instead to be, Kurt Angle V Cody Rhodes, our second match actually, it was very vindicating. It’s also nice, you know, the greatest revenge in all the world is success so it’s nice to be vindicated.”

British Wrestling stars working in the United States: “In America, we have “The British are coming!”, when it comes to the Revolutionary War but I always equate it to the current situation with guys like Will and Marty and Zack where they are literally like invading America with their talent and the effect and the ramifications of that so it’s cool to come over here(UK)”.

Exclusive contracts in the business: “I understand why not. But there is allot of dated minds and allot of old school mentality. It’s like were almost reverting to the most traditional which is just a dang handshake like Hey I’m glad to be here and I’m going to give you my absolute best. I worked for a big corporation for a decade for the majority of my youth. Now I really like the opportunity to essentially play my music on as many brands and stuff as I can and Ring of Honor and Impact have been exceptional. They have been exceptional about that, there has been no pushback, and it’s all lined
up exactly how we hoped.”

Impact backstage environment: “My experience was the utmost engine operating at peak efficiency. Billy and Dixie were extremely wonderful. All had feedback, creative input. My experience from the time I went and filmed with the Corvette in Nashville to when I left the tapings to come overseas was wonderful.”

Working with Billy Cogan: “I’m passed the concept of, oh he’s not a wrestler, he shouldn’t be involved in wrestling. He is an entertainer and they fall in line. An entertainer with a ton of equity, worldwide experience, proven. It’s Billy man, he’s famous!, he’s a rock star!. I thought he was wonderful, great for pro wrestling. He had some music made for me and didn’t know I wanted to use my other music. That was one of the hardest moments of perhaps my life. To see his face when I heard the music and know that I’m going to ask him to use my other music. Especially someone who is a musician. It’s a moment frozen in time. Me and Billy’s’ relationship I want to build off that moment to where we are good buds because that was a tough one!.”

Leaving WWE: “I did make every effort I possibly could. It just was a matter of, no faith in me at a certain juncture turns around well you know what I don’t have faith in you guys either. But let’s not end on such a sour note. It’s rather dramatic and seems sourer than it really is. It’s not, the Rhodes in WWE have a wonderful history. I’m glad they let me go, they are the house that built me and you never now I might be there again one day”.

The post Cody Rhodes Says He May Return to WWE Someday appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

NJPW announced that Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12 will now be a no disqualification match.

【緊急発表】ケニーvsジェリコの王座戦は反則裁定なしのノーDQマッチ！Codyvs飯伏はROH世界王座戦からスペシャルシングルマッチに変更！【WK12】 https://t.co/gUsEsvI3td #njpw #njwk12 pic.twitter.com/98r1LR5QfV

— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) December 18, 2017

Here is the updated card for the show:

IWGP Championship
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito

IWGP United States Championship
Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho

IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Marty Scurll vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yo) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson)

Cody Rhodes vs. Kota Ibushi

IWGP Tag Team Championship
The Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA)

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship
SANADA & EVIL & BUSHI vs. Bad Luck Fale & The Guerrillas of Destiny

WrestleKingdom 12 takes place on January 6th, 2018 on AXS TV.

The post Stipulation Added to Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho WrestleKingdom Match appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Austin is joined on today’s show by Anderson and Gallows, The Club.

Austin asks Karl Anderson about his experience training in the Dojo in Japan. Anderson says he had been working some indie shows for 4-5 years locally in the United States before considering a move to Japan. He wishes he would have made that move to Japan two years earlier because he learned a lot very quickly in Japan.

Anderson says that he initially met Shinsuke Nakamura during his time at the Dojo and he had some terrific matches with Nakamura. He believes the only way to improve is to work with people who are at or above your technical level, and working with Nakamura really helped him.

Austin mentions that working in Japan can be a terrific experience but you’re simply punching the clock, working your matches and earning your money. In WWE things are different because you still get paid to wrestle, but you also get the national exposure that accompanies working for the largest wrestling company in the world.

Anderson agrees, but mentions that he began to notice a difference in Japan during his last couple of years there when The Bullet Club started picking up steam. They really became a mainstream news story over there at that time and PPV shows were selling out 10,000 seat arenas, so he got a little taste of what that kind of exposure felt like but he knew he’d have to work for WWE to really understand it.

The post The Steve Austin Show Recap w/ The Club – Working in Japan/TNA, Origins of the ‘Festus’ Character, Developing The Bullet Club, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Below are the early betting odds for Sunday’s Survivor Series event, courtesy of Bet Wrestling. These numbers will change multiple times between now and the event.

Note: For the favorites, the number represents the amount of money you would need to risk to win $100. For the underdogs, the number represents the amount of money you would win if you risk $100.

5 on 5 Survivor Series Match (Men’s)
Team Smackdown -167 vs Team Raw +120

5 on 5 Survivor Series Match (Women’s)
Team Raw -295 vs Team Smackdown +200

Champion vs. Champion
Brock Lesnar -500 vs AJ Styles +300

Champion vs. Champion
Charlotte Flair -155 vs Alexa Bliss +110

Tag Champions vs. Tag Champions
The Usos -250 vs Cesaro & Sheamus +175

Intercontinental Champion vs. United States Champion
The Miz -139 vs Baron Corbin +100

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Enzo Amore -225 vs. Kalisto +155

The Shield -500 vs. The New Day +300

The post Early Betting Odds for Sunday’s WWE Survivor Series Event appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

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. While Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the decision had to do with the Owens & Sami refusing to “feed” for the New Day, it appears there is more to the story than that.

PWInsider reports that there was also an an incident on the our bus with Kevin Owens. Apparently Owens was complaining loudly on the bus after the taping and this didn’t sit well with individuals on the bus. This was “the last straw following a long few days of touring.”

Another individual who was on the bus said that Owens was “just venting” and that it wasn’t a major issue, but that the situation at television tapngs may have exacerbated the situation, forcing WWE’s hand.

The post Kevin Owens Allegedly Obnoxious on WWE Tour Bus Prior to Being Sent Home appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.