Fightful.com's Sean Ross Sapp and Jeff Hawkins talk WWE Monday Night Raw for April 16 2018, and the WWE Superstar Shakeup! For additional premium podcasts, the Fightful Weekender podcast, members only podcasts, outtake and behind the scenes footage, retro shows, Q&A shows, dark match commentary, early access to interviews and segments, subscribe to Fightful Select! www.FightfulSelect.com
What stars will be joining the blue-brand after an eventful night one of the 2018 WWE 'Superstar Shake-Up'? * Jeff Hardy brings the WWE United States Championship back to SmackDown Live. "The Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy became a multi-time Grand Slam champion in WWE last night on RAW as he defeated Jinder Mahal to become the new WWE United States Champion. Tonight, SmackDown Live got a rush of adrenaline as Jeff Hardy returned to SmackDown for the first-time since competing in a "Loser Leaves WWE" World Heavyweight Championship match against CM Punk in 2009. In a TWIST OF FATE, @JEFFHARDYBRAND has been shaken up to #SDLive, and he’s bringing his #USTitle with him! #SuperstarShakeup pic.twitter.com/vY1tgzQoug — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 Hardy's first appearance on the blue-brand in nine years kicked off by interrupting the former WWE United States Champion Randy Orton. Jeff breezed past Orton on his way to the ring to compete against and defeat a game Shelton Benj..
Night two of the WWE Superstar Shakeup is upon us, after the Raw brand saw over 20 superstars head to their show. Fightful.com has learned that WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy will debut for the Smackdown Live brand in a non-title match with Shelton Benjamin. Former NXT Women's Champion Asuka will appear via graphic tonight, as will Big Cass as joining Smackdown. The duo of Absolution's Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville have traded spots with the Riott Squadd, and will now appear on Smackdown Live. The GM of Smackdown Live is Paige, who was the leader of the group before her career-ending injury and subsequent retirement from the ring. In one of the bigger switches of the Superstar Shakeup, Samoa Joe will debut for Smackdown in a match with Sin Cara. Joe has only appeared on Raw since his promotion to the WWE main roster last year, and is currently embroiled in a feud with Roman Reigns. The Smackdown Live tag team division is getting a shot in the arm, as NXT's Sa..
This is the Fightful.com live coverage for tonight's episode of WWE 205 Live. Tonight 205 Live general manager Drake Maverick will address Buddy Murphy's attack on Cruiserweight champion Cedric Alexander last week, Lucha House Party take on Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa in a tornado tag match and much more so be sure to come back here at 10 PM EST after Smackdown! Live for an hour showcasing the WWE Cruiserweight brand! Mustafa Ali vs Ariya Daivari Ariya attacks Ali before the bell rings, then Ali hits a huricanrrana for a quick two count. Ariya catches Ali up top and pulls him off of the top and to the mat before starting to focus on his back. Ali comes back with a series of clotheslines, chops and elbows before going for his signature rolling neckbreaker, but Ariya counters it into a superkick. Ali dropkicks Ariya out of the ring before Ariya hits a spinebuster onto the floor when Ali goes out after him and rushes him. They get back in the ring and Ariya gets a quick two c..
The former NXT Tag Team Champions are coming to Smackdown. During Smackdown, a vignette for Sanity played which had Eric Young talking about causing "Chaos" and ended with the Smackdown logo. The video only featured Eric Young making it unclear if all the members of Sanity will be joining Young but he did use the pronoun "we." The other members of the group are Nikki Cross, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain. WWE shared the following tweet with an animated GIF from the video. Chaos is coming... #SDLive pic.twitter.com/FVng5J5cJ7 — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 Later in the show, there was a graphic aired for Sanity which had Dain, Wolfe, and Young but no Nikki Cross. Wolfe and Dain tweeted "Sanity is coming" and "Chaos is coming" during Smackdown. Prepare for inSAnitY... #SDLive #SuperstarShakeup #SAnitY@KillianDain @TheEricYoung @TheWWEWolfe pic.twitter.com/e3AJuVaglS — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 Sanity last appeared in a match on NXT in the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag T..
Smackdown has a seven-foot tall wrestler now. Last August, Big Cass was injured during a match against Enzo Amore. The match was a Brooklyn Street Fight which was after Big Cass turned on his former tag team partner Amore. He tore his ACL which required surgery in August. Tonight on Smackdown, Daniel Bryan was speaking to Renee Young backstage when Big Cass caught his attention. Big Cass made fun of Bryan's height and left quickly. .@BigCassWWE has arrived on #SDLive, and he's wondering what the "big" deal about @WWEDanielBryan is... #SuperstarShakeup pic.twitter.com/BHErgfri4Y — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 .@BigCassWWE is BACK, and he’s on the BLUE BRAND! #SDLive #SuperstarShakeup pic.twitter.com/lXZoD4xJrV — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 During the main event match, Big Cass attacked Bryan. After the brand split, Amore and Big Cass were on Raw so Big Cass has not been on Smackdown since June of 2016. He has never held a championship in NXT or WWE but he was beating wr..
Jeff Hardy will attempt his first title defense in Saudi Arabia. On Raw, Jeff Hardy defeated Jinder Mahal for the WWE United States Championship right after Mahal joined Raw during the Superstar Shakeup. The next night, Hardy showed up on Mahal's old brand Smackdown. Randy Orton had won a number one contender's match the week after WrestleMania 34 and was supposed to face Jinder Mahal at WWE Backlash. When Hardy won the championship, some thought it meant Orton would face Hardy. But, Hardy will have to win against Mahal at The Greatest Royal Rumble event. WWE announced the United States Championship match on twitter alongside the Universal Championship match. Two HUGE championship matches are set for #WWEGRR in Saudi Arabia NEXT FRIDAY! #SDLive @WWERomanReigns @BrockLesnar @HeymanHustle @JEFFHARDYBRAND @JinderMahal pic.twitter.com/hXQuBnZh2L — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 As of right now, both of the WWE mid-card title are being contested at the event in Saudi Arabia an..
Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega are coming to Smackdown. The former NXT Champion and his business manager were featured in a video package during the Superstar Shakeup episode of Smackdown. Then WWE made it official in the following tweet. #ElIdolo @AndradeCienWWE and his business manager @Zelina_VegaWWE are heading to #SDLive! #SuperstarShakeup pic.twitter.com/CVsYBwi5lL — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 After the announcement, Almas made the following statement on Twitter. El Idolo and La Muñeca have arrived!!! #SmackdownLive ------------ — Andrade Cien Almas (@AndradeCienWWE) April 18, 2018 Almas did appear in the 2018 Royal Rumble where he lasted almost thirty minutes but went back to NXT to defend his championship. He lost that title at NXT Takeover: New Orleans to Aleister Black. The Mexican Luchador has been with WWE since 2016 and before then predominantly wrestled for the Lucha Libre promotion CMLL. Vega has wrestled in the past and on some NXT house shows but she has not..
Here's the full list of competitors who made the jump to Tuesday night's. Tonight's SmackDown Live played host to night-two of the 2018 WWE 'Superstar Shake-Up'. There were a number of major players added to the blue-brand. Also, the newly-crowned SmackDown Live Women's Champion Carmella discovered that she now has a slew of new challengers that are gunning for her title. SmackDown Live's Acquisitions: * The Miz * Jeff Hardy * Sonya Deville * Mandy Rose * Samoa Joe * Big Cass * Eric Young * Alexander Wolfe * Killian Dain * Asuka * Karl Anderson * Luke Gallows * Cesaro * Sheamus * R-Truth * Andrade "Cien" Almas * Zelina Vega Fightful did have live coverage of tonight's SmackDown Live, along with a post-'Superstar Shake-Up' podcast with our very own Sean Ross Sapp, Alex Pawlowski, and Jeff Hawkins. Also, head over to our detailed coverage of night-one of the 2018 WWE 'Superstar Shake-Up' to catch up on what ..
Who will be the first man to attempt to put an end to the "Age Of Alexander"? At WrestleMania 34 Cedric Alexander realized his dream after months of being on the hunt as he captured the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in a hard-fought battle against Mustafa Ali. Although Cedric would have liked to celebrate his championship victory, a threat to his title immediately arose in the form of "The Best Kept Secret" Buddy Murphy. Since Murphy's debut on 205 Live he has had to have this weight checked due to him barely being under the 205 weight limit. On tonight's edition of 205 Live Murphy, who was in position to challenge Alexander for the title did not make weight and will have to re-qualify at a later date to return to the brand. THE BAD NEWS: Unfortunately, @WWE_Murphy was unable to make the 205-pound weight limit; therefore, he must wait for a later date to re-qualify for in-ring competition in the #Cruiserweight division. #205Live pic.twitter.com/eTUq3teS7g — WWE (@WWE) Ap..
The "dream match" will have a sequel. Since falling short to AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34 Shinsuke Nakamura has been on a tirade of handing out "low-blows" to "The Phenomenal One". The sneak attacks continued last night on SmackDown Live as Nakamura delivered another cheap shot to AJ Styles while Styles' attention was locked in on the action in the ring while he was standing on the ring apron during a tag team match. There will be no more room for "low-blows" come April 27th as "The King Of Strong Style" looks to become WWE Champion. WWE announced via Twitter that at the 'Greatest Royal Rumble' event at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, AJ Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. #WWEChampion @AJStylesOrg defends his title against @ShinsukeN in a #WrestleMania rematch at #WWEGRR on April 27! https://t.co/zVHUOB2j54 — WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018 Fightful will have live coverage of the 'Greatest Royal Rumble..
Tuesday's edition of the WWE Superstar Shakeup saw plenty of changes, and within storyline made Paige look like a GM prodigy. While I'm pretty sure Vince McMahon thinks he stacked the Monday Night Raw roster, Smackdown has all of the potential in the world to be an all-time great television show over the next year. Many expected Finn Balor or Seth Rollins to be the major acquisitions, but what the brand ended up getting has them set up for success. Much like I did with Raw, let's take a look at what Smackdown Live was able to pull in for Tuesday nights. The Miz & Maryse- Announced on WWE Raw this week, The Miz is a bonafide main eventer on Smackdown Live, and is where he made his resurgence. Once Daniel Bryan was cleared, WWE had to put Miz on the same brand. There was no other option. The low depths that Miz was able to shovel himself out of to become an indispensable commodity is nothing short of amazing, and Maryse helped add a ton to that act. She may very well be..
Goldberg says he has to be smart about returning to WWE. Before entering the WWE Hall of Fame, Goldberg came back to WWE in 2016 to feud with Brock Lesnar. He appeared in the Royal Rumble and had three singles matches which lasted less than five minutes each including winning the WWE Universal Championship in a match against Kevin Owens. In an interview with New York Post, Goldberg said he does not need another return match in WWE. “If I never stepped in the ring again, I’m content, dude. I’m completely at peace. I really am. Would I like to do it again? Who knows. It would have to be the right fit. I’d love to do it again for my son. Let’s be honest. Everybody knows that. But at the end of the day, you have to be smart about it," said Goldberg. If the match was not the perfect situation, Goldberg said it may devalue what he has accomplished in the WWE including being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. The full interview with Goldberg can be found at the New York Pos..
The Book of Booty reflects the New Day's in-ring antics. Earlier this year, New Day released a new book called The Book of Booty. It is a book for all ages that follows the New Day through their WWE careers so far. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Kofi Kingston said they had thought about a book before being approached by someone else about it. “We’ve always talked about having a book, detailing our journey, and that’s before the title streak. Then someone came to us and said ‘We want to do a book on you guys,’ and we immediately wondered if we’d accomplished enough to have a book written about us. But the way it came out was amazing," said Kingston. Even though the book follows the history of New Day, Kingston said it does so in unique way. “Our book is not your standard wrestling book or your standard documentation of our history. It’s all in there, but we do it in a real fun way. That’s what we do when we’re in the ring, so this book embodies the New Day," said ..
Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer Gail Kim recently appeared on the WPW Podcast. You can see highlights below, and the full show above. Gail Talks About Women Wrestlers Getting Paid Equally: They put their bodies through the same thing the guys go through. These girls should be getting paid equally. Everyone is an independent contractor, so everyone gets paid differently. So, we don’t really discuss those things amongst ourselves because money is kind of a taboo subject to this day. But, I think if there are two girls that are going to main event a pay-per-view, they should be getting paid the same amount as two guys main eventing. I mean, they are obviously important enough to main event and they are good enough to main event… so they should be getting paid. Gail Talks About Who She Like To Dream Matches With: I would have loved to have a proper feud with some of the girls now, Allie, Rosemary, Taya, there are so many great girls. But, of course, you know Charlotte is an amazing a..
Chris Jericho found out about his Casket Match with little notice. Last week, Rusev was removed from his Casket Match against the Undertaker and replaced by Chris Jericho who has not wrestled in WWE since last July. In an interview with Still Real To Us, Jericho said he found out about the change to the match around the same time it was announced by WWE and said sometimes he has to be ready for such changes in his career. “I mean that’s kinda how it is when you work in WWE and the wrestling business. The entertainment is all...you learn to roll with the punches and sometimes things that are planned for six-months fall apart. Sometimes things that you never expect to happen with a week’s notice,” said Jericho. The Casket Match will take place at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia. The event will include seven championship matches, a Steel Cage match, and a 50-man Royal Rumble. Fightful Wrestling will have live coverage and a recapping podcast after the Greatest Roya..
This is the Fight Size Update for the evening of April 16th. - In the video above, Pro Wrestling Unlimited discusses some emerging details about why Nikki Bella and John Cena broke up. - Fightful Select is currently offering dark match commentary from Sean Ross Sapp on a Vic Grimes and Crash Holly match. - Mike Rome reveals the entire Smackdown roster is backstage at Raw ahead of the Superstar Shakeup in the following WWE.com exclusive. - Mike Rome also interviewed Finn Balor about how the Superstar Shakeup can affect him. - Xavier Woods held a live stream in a charitable effort for the Make-A-Wish foundation. Tune in LIVE NOW on the #UUDD YouTube channel! #worldwishday @MakeAWish @XavierWoodsPhD @NatbyNature @SinCaraWWE pic.twitter.com/70466GQkBS — UpUpDownDown (@UpUpDwnDwn) April 16, 2018 - WWE is heading to Norway for some Live Events in November. -WWE uploaded this clip which previews the WWE Ride Along episode with New Day. - On Thursday, Nigel McGuinness welcome..
Welcome to Fightful's live coverage and discussion for Monday Night WWE Raw!! Join us for live coverage, and comment on our boards below, or our forums by registering for FREE at fightful.com. Raw post-show podcast: - Raw GM Kurt Angle makes his way to the ring and he has a microphone in hand, Angle welcomes everybody to Monday Night Raw. Angle talks about the Superstar Shakeup before getting interrupted by Sunil Singh, Singh introduces WWE United States Champion Jinder Mahal as the newest member of the Raw roster. Mahal makes his way to the ring and he has a microphone in hand, Mahal congratulates Angle for bringing him to Raw. Mahal argues with Angle over his transportation to the arena, Mahal states that he is better than all the other Raw stars. Angle says that Mahal should prove that he is the best on Raw, Angle says that Mahal will defend the WWE United States Title against whomever wants to face him and Jeff Hardy answers the challenge. WWE United States Title Match ..
Rusev is apparently back in the match with the Undertaker Last week, Rusev was announced as being in a Casket Match against the Undertaker at the Greatest Royal Rumble event on April 27th. He did an interview with TMZ Sports saying he would bury the Undertaker and said the Undertaker was past his prime unlike Rusev. Then WWE announced he was taken out of the match and replaced by Chris Jericho because Rusev's wife Lana did not want him in a match with that stipulation. Today, Lana tweeted the following which was retweeted by WWE. After much thought, I have notified @WWE officials that I have changed my mind. @RusevBUL will celebrate #RusevDay by burying The Undertaker in the sands of Saudi Arabi and will win the Casket Match at #WWEGRR ! #RusevCrush ! Have a Happy Rusev Day ! — CJ (Lana) Perry (@LanaWWE) April 16, 2018 WWE then announced Rusev was back in the match with the Undertaker. The following is an excerpt from the press release at WWE.com. In a stunning turn of e..
Fightful.com's Sean Ross Sapp and Alex Pawlowski talk WWE Monday Night Raw for April 16 2018, and the WWE Superstar Shakeup! For additional premium podcasts, the Fightful Weekender podcast, members only podcasts, outtake and behind the scenes footage, retro shows, Q&A shows, dark match commentary, early access to interviews and segments, subscribe to Fightful Select! www.FightfulSelect.com