WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 10/4): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

November 20, 2023 0 By JohnValbyNation

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

The following article is part of our Weekly Overview Series to 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

  • Tom Phillips was seen this week and appears to be the new lead announcer for NXT UK. NXT UK had their next set of tapings from Brentwood, England and Phillips was spotted on commentary with Nigel McGuinness. Phillips was replaced by Michael Cole as the lead announcer on Smackdown as they move to Fox. WWE had not announced what the plans were for Phillips. Byron Saxton was also taken off Smackdown, but his future plans are not known at this time.
  • Finn Balor and Tomasso Ciampa both made returns this week and both returned to NXT. Finn Balor had taken some time off following SummerSlam and got married, while Tomasso Ciampa is returning from neck surgery.
  • AEW outdrew NXT this week in viewership and won in a number of important metrics as well. AEW Dynamite on TNT drew 1.409 million viewers, while NXT on USA Network drew 891,000 viewers. For more information on the ratings, you can read Wade Keller’s breakdown HERE.
  • Brock Lesnar beat Kofi Kingston to win the WWE Championship on the premier episode of Smackdown on Fox. After the match, Cain Velasquez came out alongside Rey Mysterio and took down Brock Lesnar.

•WWE Weekly Event Results

WWE Live Event – NXT Roster (Des Moines, Iowa) 9/26/19

(1) Matt Riddle beat Ridge Holland
(2) Candice LeRae defeated Taynara Conti
(3) Keith Lee beat Dominik Dijakovic
(4) Shane Thorne defeated Bronson Reed
(5) Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) (c) beat The Street Profits to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships
(6) Damien Priest defeated Denzel Dejournette
(7) Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, & Kayden Carter defeated Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, & Marina Shafir
(8) Roderick Strong (c) beat Pete Dunne to retain the North American Championship

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (El Paso, Texas) 9/27/19

(1) Lucha House Party & Titus O’Neil beat EC3, Eric Young, Tony Nese, & Drew Gulak
(2) Cedric Alexander defeated Cesaro
(3) The Viking Raiders beat The OC (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) via Disqualification
(4) Baron Corbin beat Ricochet
(5) Sasha Banks defeated Lacey Evans & Natalya in a Triple Threat match
(6) Braun Strowman beat A.J. Styles via Disqualification. Styles retained the United States Championship
(7) The Viking Raiders & Braun Strowman beat The OC

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – NXT Roster (Independence, Mo.) 9/27/19

(1) Keith Lee beat Ridge Holland
(2) Damien Priest defeated Bronson Reed
(3) Shane Thorne defeated Denzel Dejournette
(4) Candice LeRae beat Shayna Baszler via Disqualification. Baszler retains the NXT Women’s Championship
(5) Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, & Reina Gonzalez beat Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, & Jessamyn Duke
(6) Matt Riddle defeated Dominik Dijakovic
(7) Biana Belair beat Taynara Conti
(8) Pete Dunne & The Street Profits beat Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, & Bobby Fish)

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – NXT Roster (St. Louis, Mo.) 9/28/19

(1) Keith Lee beat Ridge Holland
(2) Shane Thorne defeated Denzel Dejournette
(3) Damien Priest defeated Bronson Reed
(4) Candice LeRae beat Taynara Conti
(5) Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, & Reina Gonzalez defeated Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, & Marina Shafir
(6) Matt Riddle defeated Dominik Dijakovic
(7) Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) (c) beat The Street Profits to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships
(8) Roderick Strong (c) beat Pete Dunne to retain the North American Championship

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Tucson, Ariz.) 9/29/19

(1) Ricochet beat Cesaro
(2) The Viking Raiders defeated The OC (Gallows & Anderson)
(3) Lucha House Party & Titus O’Neil beat Drew Gulak, EC3, Eric Young, & Tony Nese
(4) Baron Corbin defeated Cedric Alexander
(5) Natalya beat Lacey Evans
(6) Roman Reigns beat Erick Rowan in a Street Fight
(7) Becky Lynch (c) defeated Sasha Banks to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(8) Braun Strowman beat A.J. Styles (c) via Disqualification. Styles retained the United States Championship
(9) Seth Rollins (c) beat The Fiend via Disqualification to retain the Universal Championship

SOURCE

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

•WWE TV Match Results

Monday Night Raw TV Results 9/30/19

(1) Sasha Banks beat Alexa Bliss
(2) Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler (c) defeated Heavy Machinery to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(3) The Viking Raiders beat The OC (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
(4) Ricochet defeated Cesaro
(5) A.J. Styles (c) beat Cedric Alexander to retain the United States Championship
(6) Lacey Evans defeated Natalya
(7) Seth Rollins (c) vs. Rusev ended in a no contest. Rollins retains the Universal Championship

WWE NXT 10/2/19

(1) Adam Cole (c) beat Matt Riddle to retain the NXT Championship
(2) Io Shirai defeated Mia Yim
(3) Johnny Gargano beat Shane Thorne
(4) Shayna Baszler (c) defeated Candice LeRae to retain the NXT Women’s Championship
(5) Pete Dunne beat Danny Burch
(6) The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) (c) beat The Street Profits to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships

WWE NXT UK (Aired on WWE Network) 10/3/19

(1) Piper Niven beat Isla Dawn
(2) Alexander Wolfe defeated Saxon Hurley
(3) Kay Lee Ray beat Tegan Nox
WWE Main Event (Aired on Hulu and WWE Network) 10/3/19
(1) Mojo Rawley beat No Way Jose
(2) Lucha House Party defeated EC3 & Eric Young

WWE Smackdown 10/4/19

(1) Becky Lynch & Charlotte beat Bayley & Sasha Banks when Charlotte forced Bayley to tap out
(2) Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Sami Zayn) ended in a No Contest after The Fiend Bray Wyatt attacked Seth Rollins
(3) Kevin Owens defeated Shane McMahon in a Ladder Match. Shane is fired from WWE.
(4) Braun Strowman, The Miz, & Heavy Machinery beat Randy Orton, A.J. Styles, Robert Roode, & Dolph Ziggler
(5) Roman Reigns defeated Erick Rowan in a Lumberjack Match
(6) Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) beat Kofi Kingston to win the WWE Championship

WWE 205 Live (Aired on WWE Network) 10/4/19

WWE did not air a new episode 205 Live this week after Smackdown.

24/7 Championship Update

– Marshmello pinned Carmella
– Carmella pinned Marshmello to regain the 24/7 Championship

•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events

WWE Hell in a Cell on October 6 from Sacramento, Calif.

  • Seth Rollins (c) vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt in a Hell in a Cell match for the Universal Championship
  • Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Bank in a Hell in a Cell match for the Raw Women’s Championship
  • Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper

WWE Crown Jewel on October 31 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  • Team Hulk Hogan (Seth Rollins, Rusev, TBD, TBD, & TBD) vs. Team Ric Flair (Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, TBD, TBD, & TBD)

•Upcoming Events

Sat. 10/5/19 WWE Supershow, Pechanga Arena, San Diego, Calif.
Sun. 10/6/19 WWE Hell in a Cell, Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
Mon. 10/7/19 WWE Raw, Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, Calif.
Wed. 10/9/19 WWE NXT, Full Sail University, Winter Park, Fla.
Fri. 10/11/19 WWE Smackdown, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nev.
– WWE Draft Night 1
Sat. 10/12/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, N.Y.
Sat. 10/12/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Ector County Coliseum, Odessa, Texas
Sun. 10/13/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Istbank Center, Broomfield, Colo.
Sun. 10/13/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Amarillo Civic Center, Amarillo, Texas
Mon. 10/14/19 WWE Raw, Pepsi Center, Denver, Colo.
– WWE Draft Night 2
Wed. 10/16/19 WWE NXT, Full Sail University, Winter Park, Fla.
Thu. 10/17/19 WWE NXT Live Event, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Ore.
Fri. 10/18/19 WWE Smackdown, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.
Fri. 10/18/19 WWE NXT Live Event, The Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Wash.
Sat. 10/19/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Cure Insurance Arena, Trenton, N.J.
Sat. 10/19/19 WWE NXT Live Event, PNE Argodome, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Sun. 10/20/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, N.Y.
Sun. 10/20/19 WWE NXT Live Event, Prospera Place, Kelowna, B.C., Canada
Mon. 10/21/19 WWE Raw, Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Mon. 10/21/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia
Tue. 10/22/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia
Wed. 10/23/19 WWE NXT, Full Sail University, Winter Park, Fla.
Wed. 10/23/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
Fri. 10/25/19 WWE Smackdown, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Sat. 10/26/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Mon. 10/28/19 WWE Raw, Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Mo.
Fri. 11/1/19 WWE Smackdown, Keybank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.
Mon. 11/4/19 WWE Raw, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.
Wed. 11/6/19 WWE NXT, Full Sail University, Winter Park, Fla.
Thu. 11/7/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Brighton Centre, Brighton, England
Fri. 11/8/19 WWE Smackdown & Raw (Taping Both), Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
Sat. 11/9/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, First Direct Arena, Leeds, England
Sat. 11/9/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Butlins Arena, Minehead, England
Sun. 11/10/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, TECA, Aberdeen, Scotland
Sun. 11/10/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
Mon. 11/11/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Mon. 11/11/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
Tue. 11/12/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tue. 11/12/19 WWE Live Event – Zenith Arena De Lille, Lille, France
Wed. 11/13/19 WWE NXT, Full Sail University, Winter Park, Fla.
Wed. 11/13/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
Thu. 11/14/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, SAP Arena, Manheim, Germany
Fri. 11/15/19 WWE Smackdown, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
Fri. 11/15/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Donau Arena, Regensburg, Germany

•Latest TV Highlights

Monday Night Raw

  • Rey Mysterio opened Raw this week to talk about his Universal Championship match with Seth Rollinsl later in the night. After saying he was going to dedicate the match to his son Dominic, who was in the front row at ringside, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman interrupted. Lesnar marched to the ring with purpose and attacked Mysterio. After a couple of attacks, Lesnar decided to pull Dominic out of the crowd as well and attack him. Heyman pleaded with Lesnar to stop and after almost walking away twice, only to attack again, Lesnar eventually stopped the beat down. Later, we would see Dominic be loaded into the back of an ambulance and Rey would climb in as well as he was taken to a local hospital.
  • Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair would join The Miz for Miz TV. After teasing fighting each other, to which the crowd chanted “one more match” at them, they announced a five on five elimination tag team match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on October 31. Seth Rollins would come out and be revealed as the captain of Team Hogan, while Randy Orton would be revealed as the captain of Team Flair. Baron Corbin would come out and distract Seth, which would allow Randy to attack. Rusev inexplicably came out for the save of Seth Rollins. Later, Rusev argued he should get Mysterio’s Title shot since he came out for the save. He was also asked about where Lana is and he responded that he’s not there to talk about his problems at home.
  • So, in the main event, it was indeed Rollins vs. Rusev. Baron Corbin and Randy Orton would eventually come out and stand on the stage, watching the match. Bobby Lashley’s music would play seemingly out of nowhere and signaled at Seth that he wanted his title too before motioning to the back. Lana’s music then played and she walked out and took Lashley’s hand. Rusev was very distracted by this and watched on as Lashley and Lana began making out on stage as Orton and Corbin giggled in the background. The Fiend would break up the awkward stare by Rusev as he came out and attacked Seth ahead of their match this Sunday.

NXT

  • In NXT’s first full two hour show on USA Network, they had three championship matches on the card. Adam Cole and Matt Riddle opened the show and Cole would retain after using a cast on his wrist to gain an advantage. Shayna Baszler would pin Candice LeRae to retain the NXT Women’s Championship and Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish would retain the NXT Tag Team Championships vs. The Street Profits after fellow Undisputed Era member Roderick Strong would come out and interfere causing a distraction.
  • Adam Cole may have retained his championship, but it wasn’t all good news. After beating Riddle Finn Balor came out and announced that “he is NXT” indicating he’s moving to the Black and Gold brand and aiming for the champ. Then, after O’Reilly and Fish retained the NXT Tag Team Championships, Cole came out to celebrate with them. As he stood on the stage smiling, he held up his NXT Championship, which is the moment Tomasso Ciampa’s music played. Ciampa, who gave up the title months ago due to injury, circled Cole while focusing solely on the NXT Title belt. Ciampa and Cole stared at each other as NXT went off the air.

Smackdown Live

  • Brock Lesnar defeated Kofi Kingston in all of five seconds to win the WWE Championship in the main event of Smackdown. After the bell rang, Kofi charged at Lesnar, who caught him over his shoulders and hit one F-5 before pinning Kingston for the win. As Lesnar celebrated, Rey Mysterio’s music played and Mysterio walked out with a friend, Cain Velasquez. Velasquez walked down to the ring and slid in, taking down Lesnar and hitting him with a few punches before Lesnar escaped. Lesnar teased reentering the ring, but would eventually turn and leave to end Smackdown while Velasquez stood in the ring goating Lesnar to come back and fight him.
  • Kevin Owens beat Shane McMahon in a Ladder match to keep his job and fire Shane McMahon. The match went about 12 minutes and featured Shane jumping off the top rope and onto Owens who was laid out across the announce table, Owens hitting a Frog Splash off the top rope onto Shane McMahon who was laying across a ladder bridged between the barricade and the ring apron, snapping the ladder in half, and Shane hitting Owens with a coast to coast with a ladder leaned up against his face. Owens would win after grabbing McMahon off the ladder and power bombing him through a ladder leaned in a corner. Owens would grab the briefcase and celebrate by bashing his head into the briefcase in celebration. Owens climbed off the ladder, shoved it over, then grabbed a microphone. He grabbed Shane, cleared his throat and yelled “You’re fired!” before hitting Shane with a Stunner and celebrating by head butting the briefcase a few more times.

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

In this edition of the Wade Keller Hotline, PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a look at at the latest news with a big focus on the AEW vs. NXT Ratings Battle Week One Results with tons of fascinating metrics also comparing AEW to Smackdown and Raw in key demos, plus NXT on USA review, 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

Here are the videos of Marshmello winning then losing the 24/7 Championship on Friday night.

The Fiend had been appearing on some Fox shows randomly. Here is one video of Bray appearing at the end of a Fox News commercial break heading in to Fox and Friends.

Wrestlers had some thoughts on the Lana/Lashley segment that ended Raw.

Someone shared a local advertisement from Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel featuring Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. By the way, what in the world is “The Riyadh Season” supposed to mean?

https://twitter.com/Turki_alalshikh/status/1177674809653809152

•Closing Commentary

– Did WWE forget they have a PPV on Sunday? They did nothing this week to add any additional matches to this Sunday’s Hell in a Cell. As of now, Friday after Smackdown went off the air, there are three matches on the show. So, let’s predict the three we know!

(1) Seth Rollins (c) vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt in a Hell in a Cell match for the Universal Championship

– Seth Rollins has been booked strangely in this build. He’s acted terrified of Bray, which just isn’t how your top guy champion should be booked. Bray isn’t a monster, he’s a mentally unstable man in a terrifying mask. He hasn’t acted like he has any special powers or anything, so in that sense I’m a little disappointed. This match is very interesting, though. Do they really want to give Bray the championship when he’s such a character that doesn’t really need the title? Do you really want a character that hot to lose? We shall see.

Prediction: Seth Rollins wins, but not clean. I think we have an interference of some kind that takes out The Fiend. Maybe the Undertaker will be the interrupter to set up a match at Saudi Arabia at the end of the month? I’m not sure, but I’m pretty confident The Fiend won’t take a clean loss.

(2) Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Bank in a Hell in a Cell match for the Raw Women’s Championship

– The build has been good! I’m honestly not too sure what they will do here. They’ve gone back and forth and have been in a few tag team matches with Charlotte and Bayley, but Charlotte keeps pinning Bayley. Unless I’m forgetting something major, I’m not sure WWE has tipped their hand much here, except my personal belief that they want Lynch on Smackdown.

Prediction: Sasha Banks wins and Becky moves to Smackdown.

(3) Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper

– Strange is a good word to describe this feud. Here’s hoping this is the end and we don’t have a Daniel Bryan turn to be revealed as the true attacker.

Prediction: Roman and Bryan win

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 9/25): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

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