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Complete SmackDown Live Taping Results – December 29, 2018 *SPOILERS*

December 30, 2018 • Admin

Hopefully it’s a happy one. This last year has been quite a ride for WWE. From all of the awesome wrestling that was to be seen to some of the horrible depths that they reached, the company hit almost every point on the scale with Monday Night Raw tending to be on the lower and SmackDown Live on the higher side. There’s one show to go and it’s something that won’t be seen until next year. WWE taped the first SmackDown Live of 2019 on Saturday night at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The show will take place this coming Tuesday on January 1, 2019. This week’s episode will feature more build towards the Royal Rumble, which will take place at the end of January. Here are the results of this week’s show, courtesy of PWinsider.com by way of 411mania.com: * The New Day kick off the show with their New Year’s Celebration. Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston all cut promos and announce their spots in the Royal Rumble match. * Samoa Joe defeated Jeff Hardy by submission. ..

Zelina Vega Dealing With Possible Concussion

December 30, 2018 • Admin

NXT officials partnering Zelina Vega alongside Andrade “Cien” Almas changed his entire career with the company. A few months later, Almas was the NXT Champion and it was not long before the duo were on SmackDown Live. Since their debut, they’ve continued to gain momentum as a duo and Almas’ stock continues to rise with every great match. Alongside him, Zelina Vega is establishing herself as a strong personality and performer in the women’s division. She has not received a strong push on WWE programming yet, but it’s only a matter of time before Vega makes an impact in the division. It’s just going to be some time before she’s given a chance in the ring because of some health issues. Related: What Is The Relationship Between Andrade Cien Almas And Zelina Vega? According to a report from PWInsider, Zelina Vega has been dealing with a concussion problem since WWE Evolution. She took a rough bump during the Battle Royal after a botch from Nia Jax forced her to miss some time. It’s been a..

Rumor: Jinder Mahal Working Injured

December 30, 2018 • Admin

Last year, WWE officials used Jinder Mahal as the centerpiece for the company to make a major push into the Indian market. Out of nowhere, Mahal won the WWE Title and he received a strong push on SmackDown Live until it was decided AJ Styles was a stronger choice to lead the brand. As a result, Jinder Mahal was thrust back into WWE’s midcard. After the extremely lackluster feud against Roman Reigns, Mahal has been stuck in feud after feud without much momentum. Most recently, he has been featured in Christmas segments with Heath Slater. There’s nothing wrong with this role, but for someone who was the WWE Champion just a year ago, that’s a massive step down with the company. Related: WWE Officials Blame Jinder Mahal For Lackluster Roman Reigns Feud According to a report from RingSideNews, Jinder Mahal has been looking injured for a while. The injury doesn’t seem to be bad enough to put him on the shelf. However, a lot of people have noticed his work in the ring is suffering as a resu..

Why WWE Keeps Delaying Ember Moon’s Push on Raw

December 30, 2018 • Admin

Since her main roster debut, Ember Moon hasn’t been featured in a prominent role or a real feud on Monday Night Raw. She has been a strong babyface considering her limited role on WWE programming. However, the WWE Universe is wondering why the powers that be are waiting for when it comes to pushing Ember Moon to the next level on Raw. According to a recent report from PWInsider Elite, the reason why Moon remains in the midcard on Raw is that WWE officials don’t want her to get buried by Ronda Rousey. In 2018, Rousey ran roughshod over the Raw Women’s roster and the last thing the powers that be want to do is force her to job out to Rousey to make her look like everyone else. Related: Major Update Regarding Ember Moon’s Push on Monday Night Raw WWE officials believe she’s better off building her name with the WWE Universe until the time is right for her push. With WrestleMania season approaching, it’s only going to be a few more months before the opportunity arises for Ember to climb ..

Video: Top Ten Greatest Superstar Returns Of 2018

December 30, 2018 • Admin

Hello again. Wrestlers come and go from companies all the time. They might be fired, they might go to work somewhere else, or they might be leaving wrestling all together. It’s almost always interesting when they go, but it’s even more interesting when they come back. WWE knows how to handle these very well and in this case, that’s what they’re looking back at from this year. Welcome back. Check out the best returns of 2018: [This post contains video, click to play] WWE has posted a new video looking at the Top Ten Greatest Superstar Returns Of 2018. The video is pretty self explanatory, with a collection of people coming back to either WWE or NXT in one way or another. The countdown includes a variety of returns, both in WWE and NXT, as well as a special limited series. Some of these returns were only for a few weeks while others were years in the making. Opinion: These are often some of the coolest things that you’re going to get out of a WWE show, with the Royal Rumble and the ..

What Is John Cena’s Royal Rumble Status?

December 26, 2018 • Admin

So are you in? Despite not really being around much anymore, John Cena is the kind of superstar who can show up and instantly make an impact. That’s one of the most valuable things that you can have in a wrestler and Cena does it as well as almost anyone in history. With the new year coming we’re likely to see more of Cena, but what about one of the biggest matches of the year? Earlier this week, it was announced that Cena would be appearing on the first Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live of the year 2019. This brought up the question of Cena’s status for next month’s Royal Rumble pay per view and event. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Cena will likely not be in the Royal Rumble as he is starting a move on January 20, a week before the Royal Rumble. At the moment, there is no word on Cena being at WrestleMania 35 in April. Maybe we can do something like this again. Check out Cena’s incredible Royal Rumble return nearly eleven years ago: [This post contains vi..

Video: AJ Styles Lays Out A Happy Vince McMahon As A New Storyline Begins

December 26, 2018 • Admin

The ghost of storylines yet to come? Last week on Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon and the rest of his family changed the course of the company by way of taking the reins and deciding where things would be heading from now on. In this case, that means we’ll be seeing more of the McMahons in the near and far future. As it turns out, that included this week’s SmackDown Live, which featured quite the surprising ending. This week on SmackDown Live, McMahon met with AJ Styles, and asked who he was. The segment saw McMahon question why Styles wasn’t wrestling in the show if it was supposed to be the House That AJ Styles Built. McMahon then slapped Styles, who attacked him in response with agents breaking it up. With Styles pulled away, McMahon smiled to end the show. Well, I think you know what we’re doing now. Check out the segment right here: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: This didn’t feel like a heel turn and it doesn’t need to be. Instead, this came off like McMah..

It’s A Double Holiday. Title Change Takes Place On SmackDown Live.

December 26, 2018 • Admin

You better stretch the calendar. Earlier this year, there was no one hotter in WWE than Rusev. He’s one of the biggest surprises in WWE as he should have been little more than a muscular evil foreigner, but he’s turned out to be incredibly charismatic, which has put him over with the fans. That has turned him into something almost no one expected with popularity to match. As it turns out, that can mean something very good. This week on SmackDown Live, Rusev defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the United States Title for the third time in his career. Rusev was announced as the #1 contender last week after requesting a title shot for weeks. This is first title reign since 2016 and he has held the title for about nine and a half months combined over his first three reigns. There is no word on when he will be defending the title first. Well we have to look at it. Here’s how Rusev won the title: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: Good for him. A lot of people, myself incl..

Road Warrior Animal Slams Becky Lynch, Lynch Responds In A Funny Way

December 25, 2018 • Admin

When generations collide. Back in the late 1980s, almost no one was as over as the Road Warriors. Later known as the Legion of Doom, Hawk and Animal were two of the most imposing in and at times downright scary people you would ever see in wrestling. After all, there’s a reason the huge pops are known as Road Warrior pops. However, some things have changed since their day and Animal doesn’t quite seem to agree. On a recent episode of his What A Rush podcast, Animal was talking about the Women’s Revolution and Becky Lynch in particular. The discussion began focusing on Lynch’s The Man moniker and Animal wasn’t exactly a fan. Animal talked about how unrealistic the gimmick was and how wrestling needs to be as realistic as possible. Lynch quickly replied on Twitter and didn’t seem to agree. Here are Animal’s comments (with transcription courtesy of stillrealtous.com), followed by Lynch’s reply: “I would let her back off of ‘The Man’ thing and let her just be a pure white meat babyface t..

Can You Count To Thirty? First Entrant Confirmed For The Royal Rumble.

December 25, 2018 • Admin

The first of a lot. We’re about a month away from the 2019 Royal Rumble and that means things are about to get better in a hurry. One of the most entertaining times in wrestling is hearing who is going to fill out the thirty person fields in the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches. As this year comes to a close, we now have the first name announced for one of the matches. This week on Monday Night Raw, Drew McIntyre announced that he would be the first person entering the men’s Royal Rumble match. McIntyre then went on to lose in a triple threat match to Finn Balor, though Dolph Ziggler was the one taking the fall. This won’t be McIntyre’s first appearance in the Royal Rumble, as he participated in the 2010, 2011 and 2013 editions before his hiatus from the company. McIntyre had a busy night. Here’s what he was up to on Christmas Eve: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: This isn’t a big surprise as you had to know McIntyre was going to get a major role in the mat..

The Champ Is Back! John Cena Confirmed For Two WWE TV Shows Very Soon!

December 25, 2018 • Admin

A new year with an old friend. It’s been a long time since John Cena was a regular star on WWE TV. He’ll show up every now and then, but for all intent and purpose, he’s a Hollywood actor now. That’s very good for him, but can leave some wrestling fans lacking a little bit. The good thing though is that he’ll pop in every now and then, and as it turns out that’s going to be happening a little sooner rather than later. This week on Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon, dressed as Santa Claus, made a few announcements, including that Cena would be back on Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live for the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day shows. There is no word on what Cena will be doing or if he’ll be in a match. Cena’s last appearance with the company was at Super Show-Down in October. That’s quite the costume. Check out the Boss’ announcement: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: I know this is just a short term return and Cena isn’t likely to do much other than talk to someone..

Monday Night Raw Results – December 24, 2018

December 25, 2018 • Admin

Monday Night Raw Date: December 24, 2018 Location: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves We’re taped here, because thankfully USA decided the show didn’t need to be live on a night that was going to have a grand total of fourteen people watching. The big match tonight is Ronda Rousey defending the Women’s Title vs. Natalya and we’ll also be seeing the followup to the McMahon’s taking over last week. Let’s get to it. The opening video is Twas The Raw Before Christmas, set to the poem with a look at what we’ll be seeing tonight. This was released on the YouTube page a few days ago. Here’s Elias, in a Santa hat, to open things up. After saying what WWE stands for, he has a new holiday classic for us. The song is about how annoying kids can be around this time of year but when things get tough, just ask what Elias would do. When it’s bad though, just remember that you could be Bobby Lashley, and he sucks. Elias vs. Bobby Lashley M..

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships Coming In 2019

December 25, 2018 • Admin

Over the last three years, the women of WWE have broken new barriers, by being treated as equals to their male counterparts. They have competed in Hell in a Cell matches, had their own Royal Rumble match and so much more. Tonight on Raw, another chapter of this story was written. Mr. McMahon appeared in a video backstage, where he dressed as Santa Claus and said that he was going to give presents to the WWE Universe. One of those was that in 2019, there will be the creation of Women’s Tag Team Championship titles. You can see the announcement below: [This post contains video, click to play] It is unknown at this time if they will be on both Raw and Smackdown live, or just one show. We will continue to monitor this story and provide updates as they become available to us. Editor’s Opinion: I am all for women’s equality and the female superstars getting the same opportunities as the men. However, I just worry that because there are not as many female superstars on the roster as m..

They Can Fight Themselves. Video: WWE Debates Itself On The 2018 Awards

December 24, 2018 • Admin

They can be smart too. If there’s one thing that is fun to do with wrestling fans, it’s debate one thing after another. You can almost always find a fan who has a completely different story than yours and they can defend what they say with some incredible details. As it turns out, WWE actually knows how to do that as well, but they can do it with some flashy graphics. This is one of the best things WWE does. Check out the latest Head vs. Head video on the best 2018: [This post contains video, click to play] WWE has released a new video in their Head vs. Head video when two faceless people debate various topics, in this case a miniature version of the Best of 2018 (as opposed to their full version right here). In addition to the awards, there is also a rapid fire section in the middle featuring the two of them talking about various things they loved from the year which didn’t have their own categories. Opinion: These are the kind of things that WWE does infrequently and that’s prob..

Go Behind The Scenes On The Biggest Day Of Mustafa Ali’s Career

December 24, 2018 • Admin

Meet the new star. Last week on SmackDown Live, Mustafa Ali scored what was easily the biggest win of his career, pinning WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in a tag team match. That’s not bad considering he was just on 205 Live less than a month ago and now he’s likely getting a World Title shot out of this whole thing. That sounds like something worth looking at even more and I think you know what’s coming next. There was a lot going on that day and WWE was right there. Check out some of these behind the scenes clips: [This post contains video, click to play] WWE has released a mini documentary looking at Ali’s day before he defeated Bryan later in the night. The video includes him getting ready for the match, talking to some of his friends, warming up for the match, a few clips of the match itself and then the post match celebration, all with Ali talking about everything that went on. Ali talks about what was going through his head on the way to this moment. Opinion: I was thrilled when..

Watch John Cena Admit That The Rock Was Right All Along And Call Himself Selfish

December 24, 2018 • Admin

These two just never stop. Back in 2011, John Cena and the Rock had one of the best feuds of the modern era, spending over a year arguing with each other before we FINALLY got to the match, which was exactly what we were waiting on. The crux of the argument was Cena saying that Rock abandoned WWE, though now Cena could be accused of doing the exact same. You kind of have to talk about that one. Cena was recently a guest on the Gorilla Position podcast and talked about his feud with the Rock and all of the things that he said. During the interview, Cena admitted that he was absolutely wrong about everything that he said about Rock, even saying that he was “foolish, selfish and arrogant”. The interview included Cena apologizing to Rock profusely. Here are some highlights, with transcription courtesy of Wrestlinginc.com: On Apologizing to Rock: “I’m sorry and I was wrong. That’s the best thing I can do. I think my gripes were legitimate inside the WWE Universe. The WWE Universe is so de..

The Best Of The Biggest. WWE Announces Best Of 2018 Awards.

December 24, 2018 • Admin

So who do you have? It’s the end of the year and that means it’s time to look back on everything that has happened in 2018. Some things were good and some things were bad, but what’s the point in saying what worked or what didn’t if you can’t list them as the best or the worst? That means it’s time for some Best of 2018 Awards and WWE is so out in front that they didn’t even wait for the end of the year. WWE has posted its winners of the 2018 Awards to its Instagram page. While you have to be logged in to see the post, there were sixteen awards given with all of them being positive. Keep in mind that these are from the WWE’s perspective, meaning that some of them might be a little bit shaky as opposed to the picks that you might have made. Here are the results: * Male Superstar: Braun Strowman * Female Superstar: Becky Lynch * Best Tag Team: The Bar * Hottest Rivalry: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar * Best Match: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte at WWE Evolution * Return of the Year: Dean Amb..

Rumor: Andrade Cien Almas Reportedly Not Happy With Position In WWE

December 23, 2018 • Admin

Can you blame him? Earlier this year, Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega were still down in NXT, where Almas was defending the NXT Title against Johnny Gargano at Takeover: Philadelphia in an instant classic. The call to the main roster came a few months later just after WrestleMania 34, but it hasn’t exactly gone well since then. As it turns out, Almas has noticed what’s been happening. According to a report by Super Luchas by way of Wrestlingnews.co, Almas isn’t happy with his current placement in WWE. Almas was called up to the main roster in early April but didn’t wrestle on SmackDown Live for over a month. In his time on the main roster, he has wrestled less than twenty times on television with no title shots and hasn’t won a match since September 11, when he defeated R-Truth on SmackDown Live. Rush, a current star in Mexico, was offered a WWE contract and turned it down due to what has happened to Almas in WWE. Yeah there’s no way to use this guy. Check out this great match wit..

They’ve Done It Again. Check Out This Awesome Twas The Night Before Raw Preview.

December 23, 2018 • Admin

Well now that it’s Sunday. WWE’s production staff really is one of the best of all time. They know how to put things together that almost no other wrestling company can, partially because they have more resources than few others could ever hope to have. That allows them to pull off some absolutely incredible stuff, and the fact that it’s the holiday season makes it all the better. This is just great. Check out what WWE can do when they put their minds to it: [This post contains video, click to play] WWE has released a new video previewing this week’s Monday Night Raw, but with quite the twist. In this case, the preview is set up as a new version of A Visit From St. Nicholas, better known as Twas The Night Before Christmas. The video uses clips and rhymes about Monday Night Raw to preview next week’s show, all in a rhyming scheme. Almost every major story on the show is covered, plus a few bonuses. Opinion: This is just cool and something that you don’t get to see often enough. It ..

Video: Top Ten Shocking Moments Of 2018

December 23, 2018 • Admin

I can believe it! With just over a week to go in 2018, it’s time to start looking back at the goods and bads of the year. The year has certainly had its share of good and bad moments, but the better ones often stand out about the rest. There’s probably a lot of stuff that you’ve forgotten about in that time, but that’s where WWE is there to pick up the slack just a little bit. Surprise, kind of! Check out some of the most shocking moments of 2018 in another great countdown: [This post contains video, click to play] WWE has posted a new video looking at the Top Ten Most Shocking Moments of 2018. The video is exactly what it sounds like, with a look back at some of the moments that took a lot of fans by surprise. The entries included on the list range from surprise appearances to people turning on someone else to out of nowhere title changes. There are moments from both television and pay per view included. Opinion: As is almost always the case, some of these are much better than ot..