- Io vs. Mia vs. Bianca vs. Lacey:
I guess of the four I'm most OK with losing Lacey from NXT.
Nice start.
I like the Mia/Io teaming.
I like how these names work together.
Can the new women's tag title also come to NXT?
Wowwww. I see why Io was hyped so much.
NICE. Shayna vs. Bianca is an interesting change of pace.
- Ryker squash:
I like the aggression.
Not bad at all!
- Dream video:
This guy's got something.
- Ciampa promo:
Interesting machinations from the champion.
Hmmmmmmmm. This should be fun.
Oh. We'll see how much action is on next week's show.
- KOR/Strong vs. HM:
UE can make anyone look amazing.
Good to see someone not fall for the float over in the corner.
UE is really smooth. They're wasting time in NXT to a degree.
I hope HM can be fun post-NXT. Even if they're stuck on Main Event.
I mean, really. I hope UE is being paid Raw or Smackdown Live level, because they're polished enough to be on those shows.
R-Truth is on Lilian Garcia's latest podcast.
Kane is on Stone Cold's latest podcast.
The Edge and Christian Show will debut a new episode after Raw.
Royal Rumble will feature a Cruiserweight Championship Fatal Four Way match with Buddy Murphy defending against the winners of the following three matches:
- Kalisto vs. Lio Rush (January 2)
- Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa (January 2)
- Cedric Alexander vs. Hideo Itami (January 9)
AJ Styles missed Smackdown Live's December 26 event due to an illness. He was scheduled to face Daniel Bryan in a steel cage match for the WWE Championship. Instead, Bryan defeated The Miz and Mustafa Ali in a triple threat match.
At WWE's December 26 live event in Madison Square Garden:
- Johnny Gargano teamed with Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O'Reilly in a loss to Aleister Black, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, Velveteen Dream, and Pete Dunne. Gargano was initially advertised as being on the opposite team before being dropped from the lineup.
- Braun Strowman did not work the show as advertised. Instead, Vince McMahon announced John Cena as Baron Corbin's opponent. Cena won.
- Ronda Rousey defeated Nia Jax in the first women's main event in Madison Square Garden
- Enzo Amore was outside the venue, but it's unknown if he made it inside.
- Joel Gertner was also at the show.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. That's definitely not "the" major demographic for WWE anymore. They're very deliberately trying to draw fans outside that group. Anyway, Lashley's pose is designed to get him over as a disrespectful heel.
2. It's a case-by-case situation for me. On this occasion, it made sense to hype a new "class" of NXT names coming to change up the stale landscape of Raw and Smackdown Live. If each show gets one woman and one male singles star, it should work out OK. There can definitely be a problem with too many new people competing for spots, but I don't think that's the situation this time.
3. The Drake pairing could have worked, but WWE decided to go in a different direction. Now instead of us talking about the dominant former NXT Tag Team Champions smashing fools, we're talking about bathroom humor.
4. I definitely don't see why she should have to stand by her husband if he does something she doesn't agree with, since she's a face and he's a heel. That's absurd. They could do a story where she refuses to call his matches or something, but that could put the attention on her instead of Dean's match. I like the idea of her saying commentary is her job and she's going to call his matches to the best of her ability, although certainly it makes sense at times for her to show concern for his actions.
5. Someone must have seen his potential and decided to use him to freshen up Smackdown Live. I think we could see further names moved from 205 Live in the months ahead. Time will tell if the show exists come October when Smackdown Live changes nights; WWE could be preparing for the roster to be incorporated elsewhere and dropping the show entirely.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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