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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 2/13): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

By Zach Graham, PWTorch Contributor

February 10, 2019

Former champion reportedly returning to WWE
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.

•Top Stories of the Week

  • WWE Announced on Twitter that the next Superstar Shake Up will take place on Raw on April 15 & Smackdown on April 16.
  • WWE is now locally advertising a Dean Ambrose vs. Nia Jax match for a WWE Live Event on Feb. 22 in Jonesboro, Ark. SOURCE
  • The WWE Performance Center announced twelve new wrestlers joining them on Monday this week. Rachael Ellering, Trevor Lee, ACH, Jonah Rock, Karen Q, Samuel Shaw, Scott Jagged Parker, Big Magic, Elliot Sexton, Nick Comoroto, Ricardo Miller, and Omari Palmer were all listed. LINK
  • WWE announced three matches for Elimination Chamber this Sunday on social media ahead of Raw and Smackdown this week. Over the weekend they announced Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott for the Raw Women’s Championship, then on Monday afternoon they announced the Intercontinental Championship match as well as the Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin match
  • Vince McMahon announced on Raw that he has suspended Becky Lynch 60 Days in storyline for “her attitude” and “thinking she’s bigger than WWE” and that suspension runs out five days after WrestleMania. Vince then announced that Charlotte would be replacing Becky in the WrestleMania match with Ronda Rousey.
  • The Revival won the Raw Tag Team Championships this week on Raw
  • WWE shared a phone recorded video from Kevin Owens, who announced he will be returning from injury in about one month. Owens recorded the video while bowling with his family and it had a baby face feel to it as he laughed and talked about spending time with his family. Owens did say he does not know which brand he will be on when he returns. The video ended with Owens laughing at himself after bowling a ball directly into the gutter.
  • WWE announced on Tuesday that Mustafa Ali will not be competing at the Elimination Chamber due to injury. Kofi Kingston will be his replacement.

•WWE Weekly Event Results

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) 2/8/19

(1) Bayley, Dana Brooke, & Natalya beat Alicia Fox, Mickie James, & Nikki Cross
(2) EC3 defeated Dean Ambrose
(3) The Ascension beat Zack Rdyer & Curt Hawkins
(4) Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush beat Finn Balor in a Handicap match to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(5) Drew McIntyre defeated Elias
(6) Bobby Roode & Chad Gable (c) defeated The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(7) Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a Street Fight

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Dekalb, Ill.) 2/9/19

(1) Shelton Benjamin beat Tye Dillinger
(2) Naomi vs. Mandy Rose ends in a No DQ after Sonya Deville interferes. Carmella comes down to help Naomi and a tag match is booked.
(3) Naomi & Carmella beat Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
(4) Mustafa Ali defeated Samoa Joe
(5) Asuka beat Charlotte to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Becky Lynch attacked them both after the match
(6) Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Lana) beat The Usos and The New Day
(7) R-Truth (w/ Carmella) defeated Andrade Cien Almas
(8) Jeff Hardy & The Miz beat The Bar
(9) A.J. Styles defeated Randy Orton

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) 2/9/19

(1) Bayley, Natalya, & Dana Brooke beat Nikki Cross, Alicia Fox & Mickie James
(2) EC3 defeated Dean Ambrose
(3) The Ascension beat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
(4) Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ Lio Rush) beat Finn Balor to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(5) Drew McIntyre beat Elias
(6) Bobby Roode & Chad Gable (c) beat The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(7) Braun Strowman defeated Baron Corbin in a Street Fight

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Fort Wayne, Ind.) 2/10/19

(1) Asuka (c) beat Sonya Deville to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Becky Lynch attacked them both after the match
(2) Jeff Hardy & The Miz beat The Bar
(3) Naomi beat Mandy Rose
(4) R-Truth (c) defeated Andrade Cien Almas to retain the United States Championship
(5) Tye Dillinger & Mustafa Ali beat Shelton Benjamin & Samoa Joe
(6) Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura beat The Usos & The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E)
(7) A.J. Styles beat Randy Orton

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Saginaw, Mich.) 2/10/19

(1) Bayley, Natalya, & Dana Brooke beat Nikki Cross, Alicia Fox & Mickie James
(2) EC3 defeated Dean Ambrose
(3) The Ascension beat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
(4) Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush beat Finn Balor to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(5) Ronda Rousey (c) defeated Nia Jax to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(6) Drew McIntyre beat Elias
(7) Bobby Roode & Chad Gable (c) beat The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(8) Braun Strowman defeated Baron Corbin in a Street Fight

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Canton, Ohio) 2/11/19

(1) Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura beat The Usos & The New Day
(2) Naomi defeated Mandy Rose
(3) Shelton Benjamin beat Tye Dillinger
(4) Asuka beat Sonya Deville to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship
(5) R-Truth (c) beat Samoa Joe & Andrade Cien Almas
(6) Jeff Hardy & The Miz beat The Bar
(7) A.J. Styles defeated Randy Orton

SOURCE

If you attend a live event, please send results to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!

•WWE TV Match Results

Monday Night Raw TV Results 2/11/19

(1) Nia Jax & Tamina defeated Bayley & Sasha Banks and Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan when Jax pinned Bayley. With the loss, Sasha Banks & Bayley will now start the Elimination Chamber match.
(2) Finn Balor beat Drew McIntyre via DQ after Bobby Lashley attacked Finn
(3) Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, & Kurt Angle beat Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, & Bobby Lashley (w/ Lio Rush) when Balor pinned Lashley
(4) Ruby Riott beat Nikki Cross
(5) Dean Ambrose defeated EC3
(6) The Revival beat Bobby Roode & Chad Gable to win the Raw Tag Team Championships

Smackdown Live TV Results 2/12/19

(1) Naomi & Carmella beat The IIconics and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville when Naomi pinned Mandy Rose. With the loss, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville will start the Elimination Chamber Match
(2) Randy Orton won a Gauntlet match to be the last entrant into the Elimination Chamber match

Order of Eliminations:

– Kofi Kingston beat Daniel Bryan after hitting the Trouble in Paradise
– Kofi Kingston beat Jeff Hardy after hitting the S.O.S.
– Kofi Kingston beat Samoa Joe after countering a Coquina Clutch into a surprise pin. Joe put Kofi in the Coquina Clutch after the loss until A.J. Styles came down to stop it.
– A.J. Styles beat Kofi Kingston with the Calf Crusher after Kofi refused to stop the match following Joe’s attack.
– Randy Orton beat A.J. Styles with the R.K.O. from Styles’ blindside for the win in about five seconds

205 Live Results (Aired on WWE Network) 2/12/19

(1) Jack Gallagher beat Lince Dorado
(2) Tony Nese defeated Noam Dar in a No Disqualification match

WWE Main Event (Aired on Hulu and WWE Network) 2/14/19

(1) Heavy Machinery beat The Ascension
(2) The B-Team & Tyler Breeze beat Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers

SOURCE

•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events

WWE Elimination Chamber on Feb. 17 from Houston, Tex.

  • Women’s Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match – Winners will become the new Women’s Tag Team Champions
    • Nia Jax & Tamina vs. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan) vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. The IIconics vs. Naomi & Carmella
    • Sasha Banks & Bayley and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville will start the match
  • Shane McMahon & The Miz (c) vs. The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
  • Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. A.J. Styles vs. Kofi Kingston in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship
  • Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa for the Cruiserweight Championship
  • Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott for the Raw Women’s Championship
  • Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship in a two-on-one handicap match
  • Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

WWE WrestleMania on April 7 from New York City, N.Y.

  • Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Charlotte for the Raw Women’s Championship
  • Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship

•Upcoming Events

Fri. 2/15/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Bert Ogden Arena, Edinburg, Tex.
Sat. 2/16/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Sames Auto Arena, Laredo, Tex.
Sat. 2/16/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Rapides Coliseum, Alexandria, La.
Mon. 2/18/19 WWE Raw, Cajundome, Lafayette, La.
Mon. 2/18/19 WWE Live Event, Lake Charles Civic Center, Lake Charles, La.
Tue. 2/19/19 WWE Smackdown, Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, La.
Fri. 2/22/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, First National Bank Arena, Jonesboro, Ark.
Sat. 2/23/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, S.C.
Sat. 2/23/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Bancorpsouth Arena, Tupelo, Miss.
Sun. 2/24/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Garrett Coliseum, Montgomery, Ala.
Sun. 2/24/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C.
Mon. 2/25/19 WWE Raw, State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Ga.
Mon. 2/25/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Savannah Civic Center, Savannah, Ga.
Tue. 2/26/19 WWE Smackdown, Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.
Fri. 3/1/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, WYCC, Salisbury. Md.
Sat. 3/2/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Mark Etess Arena, Atlantic City, N.J.
Sat. 3/2/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Target Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
Sun. 3/3/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Eaglebank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
Sun. 3/3/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
Mon. 3/4/19 WWE Raw, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mon. 3/4/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Westchester County Center, White Plains, N.Y.
Tue. 3/5/19 WWE Smackdown, Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Sat. 3/9/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Little Cesars Arena, Detroit, Mich.
Sat. 3/9/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, N.Y.
Sun. 3/10/19 WWE Fastlane, Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Mon. 3/11/19 WWE Raw, PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Penn.
Mon. 3/11/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Covelli Centre, Youngstown, Ohio
Tue. 3/12/19 WWE Smackdown, Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Fri. 3/15/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sat. 3/16/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Five Flags Center, Dubuque, Iowa
Sat. 3/16/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wis.
Sun. 3/17/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Ill.
Sun. 3/17/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Resch Center, Green Bay, Wis.
Mon. 3/18/19 WWE Raw, Allstate Arena, Chicago, Ill.
Mon. 3/18/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, BMO Harris Bank Center, Rockford, Ill.
Tue. 3/19/19 WWE Smackdown, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.
Fri. 3/22/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Cure Insurance Arena, Trenton, N.J.
Sat. 3/23/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, First Arena, Elimra, N.Y.
Sat. 3/23/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Adirondack Bank Center, Utica, N.Y.
Sun. 3/24/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Keybank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.
Sun. 3/24/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Mullins Center, Amherst, Mass.
Mon. 3/25/19 WWE Raw, TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
Mon. 3/25/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, PPL Center, Allentown, Pa.
Tue. 3/26/19 WWE Smackdown, Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn.
Fri. 3/29/19 WWE Live Event – Supershow, Eastern Kentucky Expo Center, Pikeville, Ky.
Sat 3/30/19 WWE Live Event – Supershow, Wesbanco Arena, Wheeling, W.Va.
Sun. 3/31/19 WWE Live Event – Supershow, Giant Center, Hershey, Pa.
Mon. 4/1/19 WWE Raw, Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Mon. 4/1/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Berglund Center, Roanoke, Va.
Tue. 4/2/19 WWE Smackdown, Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Md.
Sun. 4/7/19 WWE WrestleMania, Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Mon. 4/8/19 WWE Raw, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Tue. 4/8/19 WWE Smackdown, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.

•Latest TV Highlights

Monday Night Raw

  • Sasha Banks & Bayley will start in the Elimination Chamber after losing a Triple Threat match against the other two Raw tag teams in that match. Sasha Banks was taken out by Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, and Ruby Riott and she was eventually taken to the back leaving Bayley without a partner. After a valiant fight, Bayley was pinned by Nia after a Samoan Drop.
  • The Revival won the Raw Tag Team Championships in a match that wasn’t advertised before Raw or during the show at all. The match happened near the end of Raw, but not in the main event, and the crowd was very quiet for most of the match. By the end, the crowd was getting into it, but this was not a very big moment.
  • Vince McMahon overrules Stephanie and Triple H, suspending Becky Lynch for 60 days and replaces her at WresteMania with Charlotte. In the opening segment of the show, Triple H and Stephanie apologized to Becky and asked her to apologize to them, if she did she would have her match with Ronda. Becky spent the next two and a half hours of Raw contemplating if she should apologize, getting advice from Finn Balor, Alexa Bliss, and others. In the last segment of the show, she decided to apologize and Triple H and Stephanie congratulated her and reinstated her for WrestleMania. Ronda Rousey came down to the ring to confront Becky, but before she could, Vince McMahon came out onto the stage and said that Triple H and Stephanie may forgive her, but he doesn’t accept her apology. He said she has a bad attitude and she thinks she’s bigger than WWE. Because of this, she’s suspended for 60 days, a suspension that ends five days after WrestleMania, and Vince then introduced Charlotte as Ronda’s new WrestleMania opponent.

Smackdown Live

  • Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville will join Bayley & Sasha in starting the Elimination Chamber match after they lost a Triple Threat match against the other two Smackdown tag teams in the Elimination Chamber match. The IIconics constantly avoided being tagged during this match, which is logical because there was no reward for winning as Corey Graves would constantly point out during this match both nights. Eventually Naomi would pin Mandy Rose for the win. The IIconics would then attack Naomi and Carmella after the match to stand tall heading into the Elimination Chamber.
  • Charlotte started Smackdown tonight to talk about replacing Becky in the WrestleMania match with Ronda. Charlotte said she thought she taught Becky better than to get herself suspended. Charlotte then called herself the backbone of the division and noted that the fans think she was chosen as Becky’s replacement by Vince McMahon because she’s his favorite, but in reality it’s just a good business decision. She predicted the fans will be chanting “This is awesome” during the WrestleMania match, then fans then started a “You suck” chant and Charlotte started saying “What?” back at them to keep the chant going. Charlotte then added that she’d be ringside for Ronda’s title defense this Sunday vs. Ruby Riott.
  • Kofi Kingston validates why he’s a good replacement for Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber. Early in the night, they announced Mustafa Ali had not been medically cleared to compete Sunday or in the Gauntlet match here on Smackdown. A member of The New Day would be his replacement, but it wasn’t initially announced who. Daniel Bryan would start the gauntlet match against that member of New Day and all three teased being the replacement, but it was Kofi who would get the spot. Kofi would then eliminate Daniel Bryan, Jeff Hardy, and Samoa Joe in the Gauntlet match. Kofi would be attacked by Samoa Joe after he beat him and he then lost to A.J. Styles. Kofi Kingston spent over one hour in this Gauntlet match and A.J. Styles tried to reason with him, but Kofi refused to just lose. The cameras caught Kofi yelling “I’ve waited too long. It’s been eleven years. Fight me!” at A.J. after Styles tried to get Kofi to just quit following Samoa Joe’s post-match attack. Styles would force Kofi to submit to the calf crusher with only two minutes left on Smackdown. A.J. then stood facing the stage as Randy Orton’s music played and Randy would R.K.O. Styles from behind and get the pin as the show went off the air. Orton will now enter the Elimination Chamber match last.

•WWE in the Media

– The second part of Rusev and Lana’s conversation with Lilian Garcia on the Chasing Glory podcast was released on Monday. Lana and Rusev open this part of their conversation talking about how they first met while in NXT. Lana talked about her relationship with Dusty Rhodes saying that she worked closely with him because Dusty loved her passion and her previous experiences. Because of that, Lana said she actually helped produce things in NXT including the Adam Rose vignettes. They also talked about their time on Total Divas, saying that they enjoyed being on the show. Lana talked about auditioning to be on the show multiple times and threw in a very interesting note saying that she auditioned to be on the show a second time following season 4 and Vince McMahon only wanted her to be on the show if she had her Russian accent and E! Network said absolutely not because the show is reality television. That delayed their debut on Total Divas, it was then put on delay another year because during season 5 of Total Divas, Lana and Rusev were in a storyline against each other and they didn’t want them to be fighting on WWE programming, then together for Total Divas. That’s why they didn’t debut until season 6 of Total Divas.

The breaking news that was teased last week is that Lana was not selected for the new season of Total Divas. With Lana not being selected, obviously Rusev will not be on the show either. Lana said she was extremely disappointed when she was told the news. Lana says they were told that they were basically a shoe-in to be back on the show, she also said they were told to “start working on their spin-off show” at one point. Kevin Dunn told Lana that the new executives at E! Network felt that the demographic they cater to do not like Lana and Rusev at all and that’s the reason they weren’t asked back on the show. Lana tells this story through tears the entire time and it’s very obvious that Total Divas really meant a lot to her. Lilian asked Lana if she liked the way she was portrayed on Total Divas and Lana responded saying that there were some things she got really mad about, but she knew that was what she signed up for when agreeing to do the show. Lana fires back at the idea that she wasn’t liked because of the way she acted on that show saying that’s the fault of the editors for casting her in that light and, at times, switching out sound bites in conversations that would be taken completely out of context. She brings up the example of the huge fight between her and Paige saying that the way it was portrayed on Total Divas isn’t at all what actually happened.

When asked if he would like to be back on Total Divas, Rusev said no he’d rather go make his own show. Lilian then asks if they feel like they have more they want to accomplish in WWE and they both say absolutely. Rusev says he still loves wrestling and it’s a challenge, but they both seem to embrace the challenges that come with WWE.

Rusev and Lana also announce that they are collaborating with someone on a comic book that should be released some time in 2019. They didn’t reveal any specific details about the comic book. Lana also reveals that she has a learning disability and that was going to be a story on an episode of Total Divas, but Natalya’s father passing away was a more important story to tell. Lana acknowledges that Jim Neidhart absolutely deserved to be recognized, but she says there were other stories that could’ve been removed that weren’t even as serious as Lana’s story. Lilian asks Lana to tell that story on the podcast so Lana begins to explain that she couldn’t read until she was ten years old and she’s dyslexic. For Total Divas, she was tested and said that if Rusev were to be tested he would test in the 90%+ range most likely, but she tested at 1% that’s how extreme her learning disability is.

If you want to listen to the interview, you can find it HERE.

•Listen to the latest Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-Show – Smackdown Post-Show

PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by Jake Barnett from ProWrestling.net as they discuss WWE Smackdown with live callers first, then an on-site correspondent from Toledo, Ohio, and then later answering Mailbag questions. They discuss Kofi Kingston’s big night, Charlotte gloating in a heel promo, final Elimination Chamber hype, and more.

-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “Wade Keller” on your podcast app of choice

•WWE Social Media Highlights

A few of the wrestlers in WWE are beginning to openly vent about their frustrations with their positioning on the roster and how under-utilized they are on the main roster. Here is a quick collection of some of those tweets.

https://twitter.com/MmmGorgeous/status/1094302518950195201

https://twitter.com/MmmGorgeous/status/1094305303842226181

https://twitter.com/KillianDain/status/1092098739878195202

Becky was very active this week both before and after the happenings of Raw. She started with this silent video with subtitles recreating and mocking Ronda’s promo to her as she was escorted out of Raw last week.

Mustafa Ali shared a video of his daughter interacting with some other Smackdown wrestlers during a house show last week.

Charlotte took to Twitter to troll all of the fans who were upset that Vince had suspended Becky for WrestleMania and replaced her with Charlotte. Paul Heyman also chimed in.

https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1095173787555979264

https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1095203420196257792

https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1095510667812065281

•Closing Commentary

So instead of complaining about the direction of the Becky Lynch/Ronda Rousey/Charlotte angle, or how bad I thought Raw was this week, I’m going to do some Elimination Chamber picks. I picked the Royal Rumble matches and was 8 for 9. I didn’t pick the last minute kickoff show match that was added, and I was wrong about the United States Championship match, but that’s pretty good! More than me being good at picking, I think most of the matches were just fairly obvious, so let’s do it again!

(1) Women’s Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match – Winners will become the new Women’s Tag Team Champions

We now know that Sasha & Bayley and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville will start the match. WWE has done a decent job building this match, and having the triple threat matches this week was an acceptable teaser of sorts. The stipulation of punishing the losers instead of rewarding the winners made for weird rules that Corey Graves pointed out both nights, which wasn’t a good decision. It makes The IIconics being cowardly and not wanting into the match look genius. Regardless, the matches were good teasers and at least they had some stakes put on them.

Prediction: Nia Jax & Tamina

My Hope: Nia Jax & Tamina win and they build towards a match between them and Sasha & Bayley at WrestleMania

(2) Shane McMahon & The Miz (c) vs. The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships

Not much to say about this match. The build has been minimal, but the “McMiz TV” segment this week was pretty good. The Usos are leaning heel, but the crowd chanting heavily for them was interesting.

Prediction: The Miz & Shane retain

My Hope: The Miz & Shane

(3) Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. A.J. Styles vs. Kofi Kingston in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship

Mustafa Ali being removed is disappointing, but Kofi Kingston will be a fine replacement. They did a great job building his credibility as a contender in the Gauntlet match on Smackdown. I also appreciated another Gauntlet match and another match with stakes attached to it. The finish of Orton hitting the R.K.O out of nowhere on A.J. was beyond predictable given the fact they had maybe two minutes left in the show, Styles was staring at the stage, and the weird camera angle they refused to cut away from, but predictable isn’t always a horrible thing. We now know Orton will enter the Elimination Chamber match last, thanks to that win.

Prediction: Daniel Bryan retains. They just recreated the championship belt, I can’t see them wasting the time to do that to immediately switch the title and get rid of this wood and hemp version

My Hope: Selfishly, I’d love Samoa Joe to win, but I’m happy to see Bryan retain as well

(4) Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa for the Cruiserweight Championship

Not too much to say on this one. It should be very good from an in-ring perspective. I’m more curious if they’ll find a reason to toss it on the pre-show again. If they want 205 Live to be taken seriously, they need to put the championship match on the main card when they can.

Prediction: Buddy Murphy retains

My Hope: Buddy Murphy retains. I really like Murphy and I’d like to see him continue to dominate.

(5) Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott for the Raw Women’s Championship

WWE isn’t even bothering to try to make the fans care about this match. Ruby Riott had a match on Monday and they could’ve used that to make her look strong and look like a legitimate contender; instead they cut away in the middle of that match to have Ronda tell Becky it’s stupid of her to not apologize and ruin their WrestleMania match. That tells me even Ronda isn’t worried about Ruby. On top of that, this match was announced over the weekend on Twitter. That’s about as lackluster a build as you could possibly have to a championship match.

Prediction: Ronda Rousey retains

My Hope: Ronda retains, but hopefully they don’t completely kill all of Ruby’s credibility. It would be nice to see her put up a great fight and punish Ronda for overlooking her as a legitimate threat

(6) Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship in a two-on-one handicap match

I was baffled on Monday that the announce team was talking this up like Finn being in a two-on-one handicap match was an advantage for him. What a ridiculous notion. It’s an advantage for Finn to be facing Bobby Lashley and his manager Lio Rush, who still regularly wrestles on 205 Live and was undefeated for some time there. Terrible storytelling to act as if being outnumbered is a good thing, in my opinion.

Prediction: Lashley retains

My Hope: Finn Balor wins. I’d hate to see him “put up a good fight” and lose in two consecutive PPV matches. I’d rather him win it and move on quickly from Lashley. I’m tired of seeing Finn fighting McIntyre, Lashley, and Corbin, and them harping on his size.

(7) Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

I have nothing positive or negative to say about this match. It exists, so I guess I’ll watch it. Maybe it’ll be a good bathroom break match. McIntyre has nothing to do this PPV and I think that’s noteworthy.

Prediction: Corbin wins with the help of McIntyre

My Hope: They decide this match is unnecessary and they cut it out of the show entirely so we don’t have another four hour PPV. I wish…

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 2/6): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

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