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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 5/30): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

By Zach Graham, PWTorch Contributor

June 2, 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

  • Baron Corbin won a Fatal Four-way Elimination match to earn a Universal Championship match vs. Seth Rollins at Super Showdown.
  • On Raw, the announcers said that Rey Mysterio suffered a separated shoulder at the hands of Samoa Joe during their match at Money in the Bank and also said he would have to relinquish the United States Championship. Samoa Joe came out and noted that Rey “would do the right thing” next week and he would be there to take back what was always rightfully his.
  • Triple H said this week that Tyler Breeze is officially classified as an NXT roster member again.

•WWE Weekly Event Results

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Salina, Kan.) 5/27/19

Event cancelled by WWE on 5/23/19 and “rescheduled” it to 10/26/2019

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

•WWE TV Match Results

Monday Night Raw TV Results 5/27/19

(1) Shane McMahon (w/ Drew McIntyre) beat Lance Anoa’i
(2) Becky Lynch & Nikki Cross beat The IIconics
(3) Ricochet defeated Cesaro
(4) Baron Corbin beat Braun Strowman, The Miz, and Bobby Lashley in a Fatal Four-way Elimination match to earn at Universal Championship match at Super ShowDown
– The Miz was eliminated by Baron Corbin after he was hit with an End of Days
– Lashley and Strowman were both counted out, which gave Corbin the victory
(5) Seth Rollins defeated Sami Zayn

24/7 Championship Update

    • R-Truth remains 24/7 Champion

Smackdown Live TV Results 5/28/19

(1) Kofi Kingston beat Kevin Owens
(2) Mandy Rose (w/ Sonya Deville) beat Carmella
(3) Bayley defeated Lacey Evans
(4) Roman Reigns & R-Truth defeated Drew McIntyre & Elias (w/ Shane McMahon)

24/7 Championship Update

    • R-Truth retained by pinning Drake Maverick (not entirely sure what the champion pinning a challenger means…)
    • Elias beat R-Truth to win the 24/7 Championship with the help of Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre
    • R-Truth regained the Title with the help of Roman Reigns after the main event of Smackdown

205 Live Results (Aired on WWE Network) 5/28/19

(1) Mike Kanellis beat Brian Kendrick
(2) Noam Dar defeated Mike Karma
(3) Humberto Carillo beat Jack Gallagher

WWE Main Event (Aired on Hulu and WWE Network) 5/30/19

(1) Cedric Alexander beat EC3
(2) Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins defeated Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows

Source: WKPWP Post-Raw On-Site Correspondent

•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events

WWE Super ShowDown on June 7 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Seth Rollins (c) vs. Baron Corbin for the Universal Championship
  • Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship
  • “The Demon” Finn Balor (c) vs. Andrade for the Intercontinental Championship
  • Goldberg vs. The Undertaker
  • Triple H vs. Randy Orton
  • 50-Man Battle Royal
  • Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon
  • Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley
  • Lars Sullivan vs. Lucha House Party in a Three-on-One Handicap match
  • 50-Man Battle Royal

•Upcoming Events

Fri. 5/31/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho N.M.
Sat. 6/1/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Extraco Events Center, Waco, Texas
Sat. 6/1/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, Texas
Sun. 6/2/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Sun. 6/2/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Foster Communications Coliseum, San Angelo, Texas
Mon. 6/3/19 WWE Raw, Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Mon. 6/3/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Tue. 6/4/19 WWE Smackdown, Sames Auto Arena, Laredo, Texas
Fri. 6/7/19 WWE Super Showdown, King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Sun. 6/9/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif.
Sun. 6/9/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Stockton Arena, Stockton, Calif.
Mon. 6/10/19 WWE Raw, SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
Mon. 6/10/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno, Nev.
Tue. 6/11/19 WWE Smackdown, Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
Fri. 6/14/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Sat. 6/15/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Pepsi Center, Denver, Colo.
Sat. 6/15/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
Sun. 6/16/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Maverik Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Sun. 6/16/19 WWE Live Event, Raw Roster, Pechanga Arena, San Diego, Calif.
Mon. 6/17/19 WWE Raw, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mon. 6/17/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, Calif.
Tue. 6/18/19 WWE Smackdown, Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif.
Fri. 6/21/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Adams Center, Missoula, Mont.
Sat. 6/22/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Spokane Arena, Spokane, Wash.
Sun. 6/23/19 WWE Stomping Grounds, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Wash.
Mon. 6/24/19 WWE Raw, Angel of the Winds Arena, Everett, Wash.
Mon. 6/24/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Toyota Center, Kennewick, Wash.
Tue. 6/25/19 WWE Smackdown, Moda Center, Portland, Ore.
Thur. 6/27/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Fri. 6/28/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Ryogoku Arena, Tokyo, Japan
Sat. 6/29/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Mississippi St. Fair Coliseum, Jackson, Miss
Sat. 6/29/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Ryogoku Arena, Tokyo, Japan
Sun. 6/30/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Monroe Civic Center, Monroe, La.
Mon. 7/1/19 WWE Raw, American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Tue. 7/2/19 WWE Smackdown, AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Sat. 7/6/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Sat. 7/6/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Adirondack Bank Center, Utica, N.Y.
Sun. 7/7/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Sun. 7/7/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, N.Y.
Mon. 7/8/19 WWE Raw, Prudential Center, Newark , N.J.
Mon. 7/8/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Cool Insuring Arena, Glens Falls, N.Y.
Tue. 7/9/19 WWE Smackdown, SNHU Arena, Manchester, N.H.
Fri. 7/12/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine
Sat. 7/13/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, VSU Multipurpose Center, Petersburg, Va.
Sat. 7/13/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Massmutual Center, Springfield, Mass.
Sun. 7/14/19 WWE Extreme Rules, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mon. 7/15/19 WWE Raw, NYCB Live, Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.
Mon. 7/15/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, The Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Tue. 7/16/19 WWE Smackdown, DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.

•Latest TV Highlights

Monday Night Raw

  • Sami Zayn was out for the first Electric Chair segment which is an opportunity for fans to ask a wrestler anything they want and they must answer. Sami came out and sat in the electric chair (yes, the chair looked like a very old electric chair used to put people to death) and started answering questions. First, a man asked him when he was going to retire and Zayn responded by asking if his parents were related. Next, a little girl asked him if he missed the Ginger Snaps (he and Becky Lynch’s short lived Mixed Match Challenge team). Sami responded first by scolding her parents then he asked the little girl if she meant Becky or Seth before a sly wink poking fun at their relationship. After a couple more questions, Sami scolded the crowd saying they could’ve asked him about anything “You could have asked me about AEW!” He then mockingly gasped while some fans broke out in a quick AEW chant while Corey Graves talked over him. Seth would quickly come out for their match together and Seth threw the chair out of the ring as Renee Young lamented the fact that the chair only made it through one show before being destroyed.
  • WWE teased that Lesnar would be making his Money in the Bank contract announcement on Raw this week, but that did not happen. Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins both came out to hear Lesnar’s announcement. Brock came out carrying the briefcase like a boom box again, with fake speakers put on the briefcase itself. He danced around for a moment, pointed at Kofi and Kofi’s music started to play, then he pointed at Seth and his music began playing. Seth was not amused and decided he was done and walked off. Heyman then said that they were going to make the announcement, but Seth ruined “their Brock party” then he and Lesnar left the ring. Later in the night, Brock and Heyman were back out to “make their announcement” (spoiler: it didn’t happen again). Seth came out immediately after Brock and Heyman. Seth tried getting Lesnar to cash in the contract immediately. Heyman began reading the contract before Brock stopped him and asked if he seriously had a full year to cash in. Lesnar then slapped Heyman with the MITB contract as Heyman asked him how he didn’t know that. Lesnar grabbed the mic and said he has a whole year to make a decision. “Seth Rollins, screw you” Lesnar said before dropping the mic and leaving the ring.
  • Baron Corbin wins a very strange Fatal Four-way Elimination match to earn a title shot against Seth Rollins at Super Showdown (in Saudi Arabia by the way). The match was advertised as an elimination match between Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, The Miz, and A.J. Styles before Raw, but early into Raw the announcers told the audience that A.J. Styles wasn’t able to wrestle, so Baron Corbin was replacing him. In the match, the four were all in the ring for a long time before Corbin eventually pinned The Miz after an End of Days. Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley were then simultaneously counted out, which left Corbin as the winner.

Smackdown Live

  • It was Shane McMahon appreciation night here on Smackdown. At the top of the second hour, Shane, Drew McIntyre, and Elias all came down to the ring. Shane said he doesn’t do what he does for trophies (while pointing to the Best in the World Trophy) adulation, or celebration. He threw to a video package of his career highlights and while the fans booed and Corey Graves celebrated the video, Shane thanked Kevin Dunn and the production team. He then turned his focus to Roman Reigns and their match at Super Showdown. Elias then began to sing Shane a song when R-Truth ran into the ring while being chased by Drake Maverick. After Truth pinned Maverick, Shane and McIntyre beat up R-Truth, then Elias scored a three count to become the new 24/7 Championship. Shane then announced the 24/7 Championship rule was being suspended until after the main event which would be Mcintyre & Elias vs. R-Truth and Roman Reigns. Reigns would pin Elias to win the main event with a spear. Shane and McIntyre retreated to the stage leaving Elias alone. Roman came to the realization that the 24/7 Rule was again in effect since the main event match was over, he speared Elias again and encouraged R-Truth to pin him to win back his title, which he did.
  • Smackdown opened this week with Kevin Owens walking to the ring. A video package aired of Owens turning on Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods before they joined Owens back live in the ring as he sat on the top turnbuckle. Owens very emphatically proclaimed he did not attack Big E last week like Kofi’s accusing him of doing. Owens then said Ziggler doesn’t need to thank him for weakening Kofi ahead of Super Showdown for him, he can thank him with a title shot. Kofi interrupted saying everyone knows he attacked Big E (no, we actually don’t know…). Finally, the match began and after a lengthy television match, Kofi picked up the hard fought win with the Trouble in Paradise as Ziggler was seen in the back watching and prepping for their match at Super Showdown.

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

PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by Rich Fann from the PWTorch Dailycast’s “Deep Dive” to review Smackdown with live callers, talk to on-site correspondents from Tulsa, Okla., and answering mailbag questions on Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon, Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston, Charlotte, Lacey, 24/7 Title, Supercard hype, and more. Then they discuss Rich’s weekend in Las Vegas with thoughts on the in-person experience at Starrcast II and AEW Double or Nothing.

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

•WWE Social Media Highlights

Some wrestlers slyly managed to mention AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV on Saturday. Love how outspoken some of these guys are getting.

Here’s a sad mid-card Twitter feud for you…

https://twitter.com/CedricAlexander/status/1131984456187822080

Here is the obligatory Becky Lynch update:

Bray Wyatt and Big E are going to have a sleepover at the Firefly FunHouse? Yep, I’d watch that.

https://twitter.com/WWEBrayWyatt/status/1133545968455081987

Drake Maverick and R-Truth are still trying to get the 24/7 Championship over on Twitter

https://twitter.com/WWEMaverick/status/1133544653297463299

https://twitter.com/RonKillings/status/1133691590894080000

•Closing Commentary

– I feel like I’m pretty critical of WWE in my closing commentary sections most weeks so I wanted to start with some positives from this week. For the record, I will never apologize for being critical, I’m critical because I care and I want WWE to be as successful as possible, but man it’s hard to be positive at times. So, with ratings in the toilet again this week, let’s look at the few things WWE did well! First, I thought we saw some good wrestling matches. Ricochet and Cesaro had a very good match on Raw, Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn also had a pretty good match on Raw. Even though it was a Money in the Bank rematch I thought the Kevin Owens vs. Kofi Kingston match was also a good match to open Smackdown. None of these matches are worthy of someone going out of their way to see, but if you DVR the show, or see the highlights on YouTube, I wouldn’t skip over these three matches if you do want to watch the good stuff from WWE TV this week.

I also really liked Roman helping R-Truth win the 24/7 Championship back. R-Truth was screwed by Shane, Drew McIntyre, and Elias earlier in the night, so when Roman and R-Truth won in the main event, I like seeing Roman help a fellow baby face in R-Truth. Roman righted a wrong while simultaneously messing with his heel opponent, that’s what a baby face should do! Baby faces should work together and be willing to help each other out if possible and, when presented with an opportunity to do so, Roman did just that and helped right that wrong. I know it’s minor, but I really did like that and if Roman keeps doing those little things, I think it will go a long way. They need to keep it up though! Have Roman come intervene if Finn Balor is getting beat up, even if it doesn’t pertain to Roman. You want him to be the top baby face in WWE? Make him more relatable to fans and have him do things to help other baby faces in need, not being so self-centered. Honestly, it may be too late for this, people may see right through it and boo him anyway, but having him be the standup guy who’s selfless and relatable will be much better than the guy too cool to be there who’s playing a wrestler on television.

The third thing I liked this week was Drake Maverick and R-Truth on Twitter. WWE doesn’t get credit for this in my opinion, Truth and Maverick do. They have won me over with the 24/7 Championship gimmick. I think the gimmick is great if it’s in its own little universe. There are still some things I really hate about it, which I’ve already written about, but Maverick and Truth on Twitter are doing more to put this championship over than WWE. In the Social Media Highlights above, I’ve posted their interactions from Twitter, but I just wanted to reiterate here how much I’ve enjoyed their interactions.

– So, even with the positives listed above, there are some serious negatives still in WWE. I just want to quickly touch on the different things I found to be the biggest issues with Raw this week rather than going in depth on any of these topics. First was just the lackluster start to Raw. I’m sure a majority of the wrestling community was anxious to see how WWE would respond to AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV on Saturday night, and WWE “responded” at the start of Raw with another bait and switch of Brock Lesnar cashing in his MITB contract, a super weird Dolph Ziggler beat down of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. I found that beat down to be super awkward because of the two commercial breaks put in during it and how strangely they transitioned to commercial then back out of commercial. Then, following the Dolph/Kofi angle, we had a Shane McMahon match. Yes, the first match on Raw, which didn’t start until after 8:50 PM Eastern Time, was Shane McMahon vs. an enhancement talent named Lance Anoa’I, who is related to Roman Reigns. That is a HORRIBLE open to Raw and the ratings reflect that.

Raw also featured another ridiculously bad segment called the Electric Chair with Sami Zayn where he was asked some questions from the audience and apparently he was supposed to answer them truthfully, but he never really did, he just insulted fans for how bad their questions were. I think this is Vince’s idea of being edgy, but it wasn’t at all. Calling it the Electric Chair is silly, having Sami sit in something resembling a legitimate electric chair was kind of distasteful to me considering people were put to death in electric chairs and Sami wasn’t being put to death, he was answering some silly fan questions. There’s also the symbolism of WWE putting the wrestler of Syrian heritage in a device that was used to kill people less than two weeks before going to Saudi Arabia, a country Sami isn’t allowed to go to due to his Syrian heritage, but we’ll just ignore all that symbolism because, while it is present, it’s not relevant to my point of this segment being awful. So, the questions from the audience were pretty lame, Sami didn’t bother answering them, he just insulted fans, and then, since he didn’t get a question about AEW like he must have thought he would, he slips it into his promo as he scolds fans for their bad questions. Him mentioning AEW lead to a spike in Google searches for AEW! WWE LITERALLY SENT PEOPLE TO SEARCH OUT THEIR COMPETITION! I’m just stunned by how bad this whole thing was.

– I would like to point out just how illuminated the Jon Moxley (F.K.A. Dean Ambrose) interview with Chris Jericho is. It’s truly an eye opening experience to listen to him explain what frustrated him in WWE and when he decided he wasn’t going to resign with them. I would say most of the things he discusses are more so reaffirming what people already think about Vince McMahon and the backstage environment, but listening to his stories was fascinating. You can listen to the podcast HERE or you can check out Sean Radican’s summary of the podcast including key quotes from Moxley HERE.

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 5/22): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

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