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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 10/17): Latest news, injuries, live event results, schedule of live events, next big show line-ups, noteworthy social media and YouTube posts, closing commentary on World Cup

By Zach Graham, PWTorch contributor

October 18, 2018

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

  • Kevin Owens confirmed out with injuries to both knees. Owens had surgery earlier this week.
  • Fans audibly booed the mention of Crown Jewel on Smackdown, but WWE is not backing down. They’ve steered away from mentioning Saudi Arabia on television, but on Wednesday they relisted the location on the Crown Jewel event page as King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • The Bar defeated The New Day to become the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions on Smackdown 1000

•WWE Weekly Event Results

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Syracuse, N.Y.) 10/12/2018

  1. The B-Team defeated The Revival
  2. No Way Jose beat Mojo Rawley
  3. The Authors of Pain defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno
  4. Ember Moon beat Alicia Fox
  5. Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews, & Tyler Breeze defeated The Ascension & Mike Kanellis
  6. Finn Balor beat Bobby Lashley via DQ after interference from Lio Rush
  7. Natalya, Nia Jax, & Dana Brooke defeated The Riott Squad
  8. Baron Corbin & Jinder Mahal beat Bobby Roode & Chad Gable
  9. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose defeated Drew McIntyre & Elias

Source: eWrestlingNews.com Report

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Raleigh, N.C.) 10/13/2018

  1. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (c) defeated The Bar to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championship
  2. Aiden English beat Tye Dillinger
  3. Asuka & Lana defeated The IIconics
  4. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows beat Sanity (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe)
  5. Rusev defeated Shelton Benjamin
  6. Becky Lynch (c) defeated Naomi to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship
  7. Carmella beat Zelina Vega
  8. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the United States Championship
  9. AJ Styles (c) defeated Samoa Joe in a No Disqualification Match to retain the WWE Championship

Source: PWTorch.com Report

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Binghamton, N.Y.) 10/13/2018

  1. The B-Team defeated The Ascension
  2. Apollo Crews beat Mojo Rawley
  3. The Authors of Pain defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno
  4. Natalya beat Alicia Fox
  5. Titus O’Neil, No Way Jose, & Tyler Breeze defeated The Revival & Mike Kanellis
  6. Finn Balor defeated Elias
  7. Finn Balor beat Bobby Lashley by disqualification. Bobby Lashley challenged Balor after beating Elias
  8. Nia Jax, Ember Moon, & Dana Brooke defeated The Riott Squad
  9. Jinder Mahal & Baron Corbin beat Bobby Roode & Chad Gable
  10. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre

Source: WrestleZone.com Report

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Charlottesville, Va.) 10/14/2018

  1. The New Day defeated The Bar to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championship
  2. Jeff Hardy beat Aiden English
  3. Asuka & Lana defeated The IIconics
  4. Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, & Tye Dillinger defeated Sanity
  5. Becky Lynch beat Naomi to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship
  6. R-Truth & Carmella defeated Andrade Cien Almas & Zelina Vega
  7. Rusev beat Shelton Benjamin
  8. AJ Styles beat Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship

Source: eWrestlingNews Report

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Allentown, Pa.) 10/14/2018

  1. The B-Team defeated The Revival
  2. No Way Jose beat Mojo Rawley
  3. Authors of Pain defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno
  4. Ember Moon beat Alicia Fox
  5. Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews, & Tyler Breeze defeated The Ascension & Mike Kanelli
  6. Finn Balor defeated Elias
  7. Finn Balor beat Bobby Lashley via Disqualification
  8. Nia Jax, Natalya, & Dana Brooke defeated The Riott Squad
  9. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable beat Baron Corbin & Jinder Mahal
  10. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre

Source: WrestlingNewsWorld.com

Monday Night Raw TV Results 10/15/2018

  1. Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre by count out to qualify for the World Cup Tournament
  2. Ember Moon & Nia Jax beat Tamina & Dana Brooke
  3. Dolph Ziggler pinned Dean Ambrose to qualify for the World Cup Tournament
  4. Finn Balor (w/ Bayley) defeated Jinder Mahal (w/ Alicia Fox, Sunil Singh, & Samir Singh)
  5. Bobby Lashley (w/ Lio Rush) beat Tyler Breeze
  6. Authors of Pain (w/ Drake Maverick) defeated The Conquistador
  7. Natalya (w/ Bayley & Sasha Banks) beat Ruby Riott (w/ Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan) via DQ
  8. The Shield defeated Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, & Drew McIntyre

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Richmond, Va.) 10/15/2018

  1. The New Day (c) defeated The Bar to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
  2. Jeff Hardy beat Aiden English
  3. Asuka & Lana defeated The IIconics
  4. Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, & Tye Dillinger defeated Sanity
  5. Becky Lynch (c) defeated Naomi to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship
  6. Rusev beat Shelton Benjamin
  7. R-Truth & Carmella defeated Andrade Cien Almas & Zelina Vega
  8. AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura

Source: WrestlingInc.com Report

Smackdown Live TV Results 10/16/2018

  1. The Usos defeated A.J. Styles & Daniel Bryan
  2. The Miz beat Rusev (w/ Lana) to qualify for the World Cup Tournament. Aiden English interfered by tripping Rusev and helping The Miz win in less than 60 seconds.
  3. The Bar defeated The New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E) to become the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions. The Big Show came down to ringside, choke slammed Kofi through the announce table, which distracted Big E and lead to him being pinned by Sheamus
  4. Rey Mysterio defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to qualify for the World Cup Tournament

WWE Mixed Match Challenge Results (Aired on Facebook Watch) 10/16/2018

  1. Country Dominance (Bobby Lashley & Mickie James) defeated Team Pawz (Bobby Roode & Natalya)
  2. Team Awe-ska (The Miz & Asuka) defeated Ravishing Rusev Day (Rusev & Lana)

Current Mixed Match Challenge Standings

Raw Standings

  • Monster Eclipse (Braun Strowman & Ember Moon) 2-0
  • Country Dominance (Bobby Lashley & Mickie James) 2-0
  • B’ N’ B’ (Finn Balor & Bayley) 1-1
  • Team Pawz (Bobby Roode & Natalya) 0-2
  • Mahalicia (Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox) 0-2

Smackdown Standings

  • Fenominal Flaire (AJ Styles & Charlotte) 2-0
  • Awe-ska (The Miz & Asuka) 2-0
  • Day One Glow (Jimmy Uso & Naomi) 1-1
  • Ravishing Rusev Day (Rusev & Lana) 0-2
  • The Fabulous Truth (R-Truth & Carmella) 0-2

**The team from Raw and Smackdown with the best record will compete at T.L.C. to determine the winner of the Mixed Match Challenge.

205 Live Results (Aired on WWE Network) 10/17/2018

  1. Akira Tozawa defeated Drew Gulak via disqualification after Jack Gallagher interfered.
  2. Tony Nese beat Cedric Alexander, TJP, Gran Metalik, and Lio Rush in a Fatal Five-Way match.

Mae Young Classic Results (Aired on WWE Network) 10/17/2018

  1. Meiko Satomura defeated Lacey Lane
  2. Io Shirai beat Deonna Purrazzo
  3. Rhea Ripley beat Tegan Nox after the referee stopped the match for injury. Nox injured her left knee at the start of the match and attempted to continue but eventually could not. Nox missed last year’s Mae Young Classic due to a torn ACL in her right knee. Tegan tweeted Wednesday night that she tore her left ACL, MCL, LCL, both menisci, and fractured her tibia during this match.
  4. Toni Storm defeated Mia Yim

The Semi-Final matches will be Meiko Satomura vs. Toni Storm and Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai

•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events

WWE Evolution on Oct. 28 from Long Island, N.Y.

  • Rhonda Rousey (c) vs. Nikki Bella for the Raw Women’s Championship
  • Becky Lynch (c) v. Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship in a Last Woman Standing Match
  • Alexa Bliss and Mickie James vs Trish Stratus and Lit
  • Kairi Sane (c) vs Shayna Baszler for NXT Women’s Championshi
  • Mae Young Classic Final
  • WWE Evolution Battle Royal (winner will receive future championship opportunity): Tamina, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Ember Moon, Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Dana Brooke, Asuka, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Carmella, Lana, Naomi, Torrie Wilson

WWE Crown Jewel on Nov. 2nd from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  • Roman Reigns (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship
  • AJ Styles (c) vs. Daniel Bryan for WWE Championship
  • WWE World Cup Tournament: John Cena, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, Rey Mysterio, The Miz
  • Degeneration X vs. The Brothers of Destruction

•Upcoming Events

Fri. 10/19/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Cross Insurance Center, Bangor, Maine

Sat. 10/20/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, XL Center, Hartford, Conn. (Roman, Ronda, and Braun Strowman also listed on wwe.com to be at this show)

Sat. 10/20/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, Maine

Sun. 10/21/18 WWE Live Supershow, TD Garden, Boston, Mass.

Mon. 10/22/18 WWE Raw, Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, R.I.

Mon. 10/22/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Westchester County Center, White Plains, N.Y.

Tue. 10/23/18 WWE Smackdown, Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.

Sat. 10/27/18 WWE Live Supershow, The Corbin Arena, Corbin, Ky. (No female talents listed due to Evolution PPV on 10/28)

Sun. 10/28/18 WWE Evolution, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.

Sun. 10/28/18 WWE Live Supershow, U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, N.C. (No female talents listed due to Evolution PPV)

Mon. 10/29/18 WWE RAW, Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.

Mon. 10/29/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Macon Centreplex Coliseum, Macon, Ga.

Tue. 10/30/18 WWE Smackdown, Philips Arena, Atlanta, Ga.

Fri. 11/2/18 WWE Crown Jewel, King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Sat. 11/3/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Wizink Center, Madrid, Spain

Sat. 11/3/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England

Sun. 11/4/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain

Sun. 11/4/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, BHGE Arena, Aberdeen, Scotland

Mon. 11/5/18 WWE Raw, Manchester Arena, Manchester England

Mon. 11/5/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, England

Tue. 11/6/18 WWE Smackdown, Manchester Arena, Manchester, England

Tue. 11/6/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, First Direct Arena, Leeds, England

Wed. 11/7/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany

Wed. 11/7/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England

Thu. 11/8/18 WWE Live Event – RAW Roster, Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany

Thu. 11/8/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, The SSE Arena, Wembley, London, England

Fri. 11/9/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy

Fri. 11/9/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Brighton Center, Brighton, England

Sat. 11/10/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Palalottomatica, Rome, Italy

Sat. 11/10/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Butlins Arena, Minehead, England

Sun. 11/11/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland

Mon. 11/12/18 WWE RAW, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.

Tue. 11/13/18 WWE Smackdown, Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Mo.

Sun. 11/18/18 WWE Survivor Series, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.

Mon. 11/19/18 WWE Raw, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.

Tue. 11/20/18 WWE Smackdown, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.

Sat. 11/24/18 WWE Starrcade, U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio

Sun. 11/25/18 WWE Live Event – RAW Roster, Grossinger Motors Arena, Bloomington, Ill.

Sun. 11/25/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wis.

Mon. 11/26/18 WWE RAW, Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wis.

Mon. 11/26/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, US Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Tue. 11/27/18 WWE Smackdown, Target Center, Minneapolis, Minn.

Sat. 12/1/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

Sun. 12/2/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, College Park Center, Arlington, Texas

Mon. 12/3/18 WWE RAW, Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

Tue. 12/4/18 WWE Smackdown, Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas

Wed. 12/5/18 WWE Live Event –RAW Roster, Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile

Thu. 12/6/18 WWE Live Event – RAW Roster, Luna Park Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Fri. 12/7/18 WWE Live Event – RAW Roster, Luna Park Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sat. 12/8/18 WWE Live Event – RAW Roster, Antel Arena, Montevideo, Uruguay

Sat. 12/8/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Sun. 12/9/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Stampede Corral, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Mon. 12/10/18 WWE Raw

Tue. 12/11/2018 WWE Smackdown

•Latest TV Highlights

Monday Night Raw

  • Raw was a night of lackluster returns. Samir Singh, Tamina, and Sasha Banks all made their returns to television tonight. None were positioned as a big deal. Samir and Sasha both came back just to be at ringside during someone else’s match.
  • Both groups in the main event showing more signs of splitting. The Shield and Braun, Dolph, & Drew all had more internal issues this week. Dean and Seth argued multiple times throughout the night with Roman attempting to keep the peace. During the main event Dean tried to hit Seth with Dirty Deeds, but was interrupted. In the main event Braun and Drew were trying to outdo each other by tagging themselves in multiple times to show the other what they were capable of. After the match Braun hit Dolph with a running powerslam as punishment for losing. Strowman turned around and was immediately hit with a Claymore Kick by Drew McIntyre. It appears Braun may have lost his backup.

Smackdown Live

  • Smackdown 1000 was a night of returns by various people. Teddy Long, Vicky Guerrero, and John Laurinitis were shown on screen with Paige for no longer than 30 seconds. Booker T and Jerry Lawler were a secondary announce team for the New Day vs. The Bar Tag Team Championship Match. Evolution had a long talking segment in the ring. Edge hosted The Cutting Edge and interview Becky Lynch. Vince McMahon also made a rare appearance alongside his children Stephanie and Shane to open the show .
  • Evolution reunites and there are hints of a future Batista vs. Triple H match. During his speech Batista said Triple H has done everything besides beat Batista. This lead to a long and awkward stare down before Ric Flair broke up the tension and the segment ended. Batista has publicly said he would like to have another run with WWE so this is something to watch moving forward.
  • Rey Mysterio made his return and beat United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match. By winning Rey Mysterio qualified for the World Cup Tournament. 

For a more detailed rundown of all the major happenings in WWE, you can read PWTorch.com’s WWE TV reports HERE.

•WWE in the Media

-Matt Hardy was back on The Jim Ross Report this week with the second half of his interview. On this edition Matt talks about the locker room reaction to Attitude Era stars coming back by saying that it’s best for business to bring them back. Matt also noted that these older wrestlers need to help elevate the younger wrestlers that are the current roster to help them moving forward. Jim Ross and Matt both agree that bringing back legends like this will help draw more viewers who may have been around during the Attitude Era, once they are watching the product again it’s up to the current roster to win them over. Ross asked Matt if he knows when his brother Jeff might retire, Matt guessed Jeff may have two or three more years as long as his body holds up. Matt mentions his three favorite singles matches of all time. He said his match with his brother Jeff at Wrestlemania 25, his match with Edge at Unforgiven 2005, and The Final Deletion are his three favorite singles matches. The Woken Matt Hardy character makes an appearance to promote the House Hardy Halloween special on the WWE Network. If you want to listen to Matt’s interview you can listen here and it begins at 1:17:45: https://player.fm/series/2182518

•WWE Social Media Highlights

-Kevin Owens tweeted out a picture of both legs wrapped up from knee surgeries. The WWE replaced him in the Mixed Match Challenge and continues to say that the injuries were from the post-match attack by Bobby Lashley on the 10/8/18 edition of Raw. They haven’t set any timetable for his return.

Bray Wyatt tweeted for the first time in over a month this week with some strange messages. In the series of tweets listed below it appears he’s tweeting out entries from a medical diary. It will be interesting to see where this leads with his on air character.

Dolph Ziggler’s confidence isn’t shaken at all following what happened on Monday with Braun Strowman. After posting this tweet he argued with fans who commented names of different athletes, both wrestlers and non-wrestlers, who the fans believe are better than Dolph.

https://twitter.com/HEELZiggler/status/1052259819728572416

•Closing Commentary

As much as I could contribute to the Crown Jewel discussion, other people with much more knowledge of the situation have already chimed in, so I thought I would use this space to discuss something else. If you would like the latest news on Crown Jewel you can check out the WWE News tab on PWTorch HERE.

This week I would like to focus on the WWE World Cup Tournament that is taking place at Crown Jewel. First, I find the name “World Cup Tournament” to be hilariously ridiculous. This eight-man tournament taking place at Crown Jewel features eight wrestlers who are all from the United States and are billed as being from the United States!

There were two opportunities on Smackdown to get wrestlers of non-American origins into the World Cup and WWE chose to have both of them lose this week.

Here are the wrestlers involved and where they’re billed as being from: John Cena (West Newbury, Mass.), Kurt Angle (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Randy Orton (St. Louis, Mo.), Jeff Hardy (Cameron, N.C.), Seth Rollins (Davenport, Iowa), Dolph Ziggler (Hollyood, Fla.), The Miz (Hollywood, Calif.), and Rey Mysterio (San Diego, Calif.).

Not a single wrestler in this tournament is from outside of the United States and none of them is even billed as being from outside of the United States. It seems ridiculous to have a tournament and call it the “World Cup” when there is no representation from the rest of the world! It’s like Major League Baseball calling it the World Series, but even they have Canadian representation.

I’d also like to discuss the notion that this tournament is to “to crown the best in the world,” as Tom Phillips reminded us a dozen times on Smackdown. Isn’t that what the Universal and WWE championships are for? Are A.J. Styles and Roman Reigns not considered in the top eight best wrestlers in WWE? They didn’t even get beat in qualifying matches in an attempt to put them into this tournament, so are they not even in the top 16?

Instead we had one automatic qualifier in John Cena, one person qualify because his opponent was too injured to continue (Jeff Hardy beat Samoa Joe), three people qualified because of outside interference and distractions (The Miz, Seth Rollins, and Dolph Ziggler), and another person qualify by beating the stereotypical job squad and Baron Corbin in a battle royal (Kurt Angle.)

Of eight qualifiers only two had matches that were just competitive matches. I don’t mind the advancement of storylines and for the most part the qualifying matches have been interesting and entertaining in their own unique ways, but the idea that you can be called the best in the world after all the fluke finishes to the qualification rounds is a little crazy to me. At this point in time there aren’t any stakes put on winning this tournament either. The winner could get a future title shot to actually prove they are the best in the “world” or maybe they’ll just create another bright green belt and give it to the winner and forget about it like they did to Braun Strowman.

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.

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