WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 11/22): News on Starrcade, Lars Sullivan, Survivor Series, plus results, announced matches, TV summaries, social media highlights, commentary on Vince McMahon and tag team wrestling

By Zack Graham, PWTorch contributor

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 Starrcade is scheduled for Saturday 11/24 in Cincinnati and while it isn’t being aired live on the WWE Network, a special one hour show called “WWE Starrcade 2018 Special” is scheduled to air on the WWE Network on Sunday 11/25 at 8:00 PM EST. It is unclear whether this show will air select matches, or just be a summary of highlights of the event. The description of the show simply says: “Catch all of your favorite Superstars competing at WWE Starrcade, a special event where both Raw and SmackDown brands collide.” For the announced lineup, check out the Upcoming Events listed below.
  • WWE announced this week that Survivor Series 2019 will be held in Chicago and will have four consecutive nights of television. Unlike this year, Chicago’s four night lineup will be slightly different. With Smackdown moving to Fox, Chicago will have Smackdown on Friday night (on Fox,) NXT Takeover on Saturday night (on WWE Network,) Survivor Series on Sunday night (on WWE Network,) and Raw on Monday night (on USA Network.)
  • The WWE aired promotional videos this week announcing that Lars Sullivan will soon be making his main roster debut. The vignettes aired during Survivor Series, Raw, and Smackdown so his destination is not yet clear. Lars Sullivan (real name Dylan Miley) has been in NXT for the last four years and has wrestled on the last few NXT Takeovers dating back to NXT Takeover: Wargames in 2017.

WWE Weekly Event Results

No Live Events due to Survivor Series PPV

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


•WWE TV Match Results

Survivor Series PPV Results (Aired on WWE Network) 11/18/18

Kickoff Show

(1) Tag Team Survivor Series Match: Team Smackdown (The Usos, The New Day, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, The Colóns, & Sanity) beat Team Raw (Bobby Roode & Chad Gable, The Revival, Lucha House Party, The Ascension, The B-Team)

– Order of Eliminations

-The Colóns (via The Revival)

-The B-Team (via Anderson & Gallows)

-Sanity (via Roode & Gable)

-The Ascension (via The New Day)

-Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (via Lucha House Party)

-Lucha House Party (via The Usos)

-Bobby Roode & Chad Gable (via The New Day)

-The New Day (via The Revival)

-The Revival (via The Usos)

-The Usos “survive”

Main Card

(2) Women’s Survivor Series Match: Team Raw (Mickie James, Tamina, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, & Bayley) defeated Team Smackdown (Carmella, Naomi, Asuka, Mandy Rose, & Sonya Deville)

-Order of Eliminations

-Naomi (via Tamina)

-Tamina (via Carmella)

-Mickie James (via Mandy Rose)

-Carmella (via Bayley)

-Mandy Rose (via Sasha Banks)

-Bayley and Sonya Deville eliminated via count out

-Sasha Banks (via Asuka)

-Asuka (via Nia Jax)

Nia Jax “sole survivor”

(3) Seth Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura

(4) The Authors of Pain (w/ Drake Maverick) beat The Bar (w/ Big Show)

(5) Buddy Murphy beat Mustafa Ali to retain the Cruiserweight Championship

(6) Men’s Survivor Series Match: Team Raw (Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Finn Balor, & Bobby Lashley w/ Lio Rush & Baron Corbin) defeated Team Smackdown (The Miz, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, & Shane McMahon)

-Order of Eliminations

-Samoa Joe (via Drew McIntyre)

-Finn Balor (via Rey Mysterio)

-Dolph Ziggler (via Shane McMahon)

-Jeff Hardy (via Braun Strowman)

-Rey Mysterio (via Braun Strowman)

-The Miz (via Braun Strowman)

-Shane McMahon (via Braun Strowman)

-Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, & Drew McIntyre “survive”

(7) Ronda Rousey beat Charlotte via Disqualification after Charlotte hit her with a Kendo stick to stop the match. Charlotte proceeded to attack Rousey with multiple Kendo sticks, a “Natural Selection” to a chair, then sticking Ronda’s head in a chair and stomping on it.

(8) Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Daniel Bryan

Raw sweeps Survivor Series with a 6-0 win (they did not count the kickoff show tag team match that Smackdown won.)

Monday Night Raw TV Results 11/19/18

(1) Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, & Elias vs. Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, & Baron Corbin Elimination Tag Match ended in disqualification

-Order of Eliminations

-Finn Balor (via Drew McIntyre)

-Elias (via countout)

-McIntyre (via disqualification)

-Match stopped after Drew continued using chair on Braun with help from Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin

(2) Nia Jax & Tamina beat Sasha Banks & Bayley

(3) Lucha House Party beat The Revival

(4) Ronda Rousey defeated Mickie James to retain the Raw Women’s Championship

(5) Chad Gable & Bobby Roode beat The Authors of Pain (w/ Drake Maverick)

(6) Natalya defeated Ruby Riott (w/ Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan)

Smackdown Live TV Results 11/20/18

(1) Charlotte beat Billie Kay

(2) Charlotte beat Peyton Royce via Disqualification

(3) The Bryant Brothers (Wayne & Dane) defeated The Miz & Shane McMahon

(4) The New Day beat The Bar & The Big Show in a Thanksgiving themed street/food fight

(5) Asuka & Naomi beat Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville

(6) Randy Orton beat Rey Mysterio

WWE Mixed Match Challenge Results (Aired on Facebook Watch) 11/20/18

(1) Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox beat Bobby Roode & Natalya when Jinder Mahal pinned Bobby Roode. Roode & Natalya have been eliminated from the MMC.

(2) R-Truth & Carmella defeated Rusev & Lana when Carmella pinned Lana. Rusev & Lana have been eliminated from the MMC.

Mixed Match Challenge Bracket

Raw Playoff Bracket

(1) TBD & Ember Moon vs (4) Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox

(2) Bobby Lashley & Mickie James vs. (3) Finn Balor & Bayley

Smackdown Playoff Bracket

(1) Jeff Hardy & Charlotte vs. (4) R-Truth & Carmella

(2) The Miz & Asuka vs. (3) Jimmy Uso & Naomi

**Braun Strowman announced out of the MMC after the elbow injury angle on Monday Night Raw this week. Ember Moon’s new partner will be announced next week.

** Jeff Hardy permanently replaced A.J. Styles with Charlotte

205 Live Results (Aired on WWE Network) 11/21/18

(1) Tony Nese beat Noam Dar

(2) Akira Tozawa & Brian Kendrick beat two local wrestlers

(3) Gran Metalik (w/ Kalist & Lince Dorado) defeated TJP (w/ Mike & Maria Kanellis)

Main Event Results (Aired on WWE Network and Hulu) 11/21/18

(1) Ember Moon beat Alicia Fox

(2) Apollo Crews defeated Jinder Mahal (w/ Singh Brothers)

Source: WKPWP On-Site Correspondent


•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events

WWE T.L.C. on Dec. 16 from San Jose, Calif.

(1) Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship

(2) Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin in a T.L.C. Match

– If Braun wins, he will earn another Universal Championship match vs. Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble and Baron Corbin will be out of power entirely

– If Baron Corbin wins, he will become permanent General Manager of Raw

(3) Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nia Jax for the Raw Women’s Championship

(4) Daniel Bryan (c) vs. A.J. Styles for the WWE Championship

(5) Mixed Match Challenge Finals: Raw bracket winner vs. Smackdown bracket winner

– Winners receive 30th (last) entry into their respective Royal Rumble matches.

WWE Royal Rumble on Jan. 27 from Phoenix, Ariz.

(1) Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship (Pending Braun beating Baron Corbin at T.L.C.)

(2) Men’s Royal Rumble Match

(3) Women’s Royal Rumble Match


•Upcoming Events

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

– Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship in a Street Fight

– Rey Mysterio vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship

– The Bar vs. The New Day for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships

– A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe in a Steel Cage Match

– Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

– Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre

– Rusev vs. The Miz

– Elias to perform a concert with Ric Flair

– Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, and Dolph Ziggler also scheduled to appear

Source: www.wrestlinginc.com

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, Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, Calif

Mon. 12/10/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif.

Tue. 12/11/18 WWE Smackdown, Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nev.

Fri. 12/14/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.

Sat. 12/15/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, Calif.

Sat. 12/15/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif.

Sun. 12/16/18 WWE T.L.C. SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.

Mon. 12/17/18 WWE Raw, Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.

Mon. 12/17/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Stockton Arena, Stockton Calif.

Tue. 12/18/18 WWE Smackdown – Save Smart Center, Fresno, Calif.

Mon. 12/24/18 WWE Raw – No listing currently on WWE.com

Tue. 12/25/18 WWE Smackdown – No listing currently on WWE.com

Wed. 12/26/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.

– Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

– Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Chamionship in a Steel Cage Match

– Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax for the Raw Women’s Championship

– Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

– Velveteen Dream, Pete Dunne, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, & Aleister Black vs. Tomasso Ciampa & Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, & Bobby Fish.)

– Dolph Ziggler, Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Sasha Banks, and Bayley are also scheduled to appear

Wed. 12/26/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Allstate Arena, Chicago, Ill.

Thur. 12/27/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.

Thur. 12/27/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio

– Ronda Rousey vs. Mickie James (w/ Alexa Bliss) for the Raw Women’s Championship

– Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship

– Braun Strowman vs. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre in a two-on-one handicap match

Fri. 12/28/18 WWE Raw (WWE.com has Raw scheduled for Friday 12/28 in Detroit, Mich. Tickets being sold through the site also have it listed as a Raw television show for Friday 12/28)

Fri. 12/28/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Md.

Sat. 12/29/18 WWE Smackdown(WWE.com has Smackdown scheduled for Saturday, 12/29 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Tickets being sold through the site also have it listed as a Smackdown television show for Saturday 12/29)

Sun. 12/30/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla.

Mon. 12/31/18 WWE Raw – No listing currently on WWE.com, WWE could be playing tape delayed version of Raw from 12/28 scheduled Raw event

Tue. 1/1/19 WWE Smackdown – No listing currently on WWE.com, WWE could be playing tape delayed version of Smackdown from 12/29 scheduled Smackdown event

Fri. 1/4/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga.

Sat. 1/5/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Greensboro Colliseum, Greensboro, N.C.

Sat. 1/5/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Fla.

Sun. 1/6/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, N.C.

Sun. 1/6/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Hertz Arena, Fort Myers, Fla.

Mon. 1/7/19 WWE Raw, Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.

Mon. 1/7/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, S.C.

Tue. 1/8/19 WWE Smackdown, Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Fla.

Sat. 1/12/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Knoxville Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, Tenn.

Mon. 1/14/19 WWE Raw, FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tenn.

Tue. 1/15/19 WWE Smackdown


•Latest TV Highlights

Monday Night Raw

  • Seth Rollins spent the night chasing Dean Ambrose around the building after Dean taunted him multiple times to come find him. First, Dean appeared on the Tron while Seth was in the ring and told him to come find him, but Seth couldn’t find Dean there. During this first interaction, Dean said that all three members of The Shield “were going to get what they deserve” for how they acted. Dean elaborated saying that Roman has to answer to “the man upstairs” and Seth has to answer to him. Later, Dean appeared on a monitor behind Charly Caruso, showing her where he was and told her to tell Seth, when Seth entered the staircase Dean was hiding, he wasn’t there either, but Dean had painted “Burn it down” on the back of the door. After Seth appeared to leave the building, Dean went to the ring and on the Tron a camera caught up to Seth sprinting through the backstage area to get to the ring, where he got his hands on Dean momentarily before Dean was able to gain the upper hand and hit Seth with the Dirty Deeds twice.
  • Stephanie McMahon makes good on her promises, kind of. Braun Strowman and Baron Corbin will face each other at T.L.C. to get their promises fulfilled by Stephanie. If Braun wins he will get his Universal Championship match vs. Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble and if Corbin wins he will become permanent General Manager of Raw. Braun Strowman got to pick the stipulation and chose a T.L.C. match, but Stephanie pointed out that “dismemberment is a bit of a corporate liability” so that stipulation may change? In the match that followed this segment, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, & Drew McIntyre beat down Braun Strowman and crushed his elbow with the ring stairs, the announcers later announced that Braun has a “shattered elbow.”
  • Ronda demands competition after delivering a promo about being a champion saying that a champion always has to be ready to fight and has to be the best in the world even on her worst day. Ronda then issued an open challenge to anyone on the women’s roster. Corbin tried telling Ronda no, but she was persistent, even challenging him to a fight. Finally Corbin said okay and agreed to find an opponent for her. Mickie James answered the challenge and was beaten pretty decisively. After the match Nia Jax and Tamina met Ronda on the stage, Nia blew on her fist, smiled, and they walked away.

Smackdown Live

  • Charlotte delivered a promo tonight bragging about her beat down of Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series. She said she enjoyed every second of it and that she did it “for the girls in the back and the Champ.” Paige came out, saying she enjoyed what Charlotte did to Ronda, but for putting her hands on five referees, Charlotte was being fined $100,000. The IIconics came down to the ring mocking Charlotte and Charlotte challenged them to a match. After beating Billie Kay, Charlotte grabbed a microphone again and challenged Peyton Royce. During the match Peyton Royce, Billie interfered causing a disqualification. It was hard to tell if Charlotte was meant to appear as a baby face or heel tonight, it appeared they didn’t commit to either possibility.
  • Daniel Bryan delivered a promo tonight addressing why he turned on A.J. Styles. Bryan referred to himself in the third person the entire time and said that Daniel Bryan committed a betrayal, not last week, but three years ago when he had to retire. He talked about spending hours a day in a hyperbaric chamber and while in the hyperbaric chamber he would meditate and think about his new mantra: fight for your dreams. He said the old Daniel Bryan is dead and all that is left is the “new Daniel Bryan.” He then demanded the ring announcer announce him as the “new Daniel Bryan” and he did while Daniel Bryan stood on the announcer’s desk holding up the WWE Championship.
  • The Miz hosted Miz TV this week with his special guest “The best in the world: Shane McMahon.” The Miz recapped all of the things that he and Shane did at Survivor Series saying that “we” hit the Coast to Coast and “we” put Braun Strowman through the announcer’s desk. The Miz then asked Shane if they could become a tag team, to which Shane politely attempted to decline. The Miz brought out to local wrestlers called The Bryant Brothers. Shane stood in The Miz’s corner as The Miz wrestled the match and would eventually lose.

•Listen to the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast “Thursday Flagship” with guest Sam Roberts talking Ronda-Charlotte-Becky, WM35 speculation

PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents the Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast with guest cohost Sam Roberts from the Not Sam Wrestling Podcast and WWE Kickoff Show panelist. They discuss the major happenings with Ronda Rousey-Charlotte-Becky Lynch this last week, Daniel Bryan’s heel turn, and their picks for the top matches at WrestleMania 35 for the major titles with a look at various realistic and wildcard options, 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

Xavier Woods refuses to let the WWE continue to lie to you about the final score of Survivor Series. Between Sunday and Tuesday he sent this tweet and 22 other tweets referring to the fact that the final score was 6-1. He also not so subtly mentioned it multiple times during their promo on Smackdown and even wore “6-1” on the chest of his pilgrim costume.

Becky Flair? Charlotte Lynch? “The Man” sent this tweet out responding to a fan asking if she would be at Smackdown on Tuesday mocking the fact that Charlotte is apparently a copy of her now.

Charlotte’s has had an interesting few days on social media. She’s turned on the fans, quoted The Joker from “The Dark Knight,” and made jokes about her storyline fine for attacking officials at Survivor Series. She also changed her banner picture on Twitter to a picture of her standing over Ronda with a cape and crown edited on her with the caption “Reincarnation of The Queen.”

https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1064933896926650368


•Closing Commentary

Ever wondered what Vince McMahon thinks of tag team wrestling? I finally have a definitive answer for you. He hates it. I feel like this isn’t an outlandish opinion at all. I’m not sure if it’s even debatable any more especially after this week of television. Let’s take a look at the evidence.

Survivor Series had a tag team Survivor Series elimination tag match with five teams from Raw and Smackdown that happened on the kickoff show. Smackdown won in their only victory of the night, but it’s like it didn’t even happen! The final tally at the end of the night read Raw 6 – Smackdown 0, but it should’ve been 6-1. Xavier Woods is right!

On the main card of Survivor Series, The Authors of Pain fought The Bar and it ended with Drake Maverick urinating on himself out of fear causing a distraction which lead to his team, The Authors of Pain, picking up the win. That wasn’t the end of the ridiculousness for the Authors of Pain. On Monday they followed this up with multiple “pee” jokes at Drake Maverick’s expense and the tag team champions lost to Bobby Roode & Chad Gable. The Authors of Pain are in a storyline centered on their manager urinating himself out of fear!

On Smackdown they had the tag team champions, The Bar, compete in a Thanksgiving themed food/street fight where they had Thanksgiving food thrown at them and they were punched in the face with a cooked turkey that Big E put his fist through. The New Day are not helping this division either. They came to the ring dressed as pilgrims and rattled off a few breast jokes before the match. It’s okay, though; they meant turkey breasts (because it’s Thanksgiving, get it?). Honestly I don’t have a problem with the silly themed fights around certain holidays; these are very obviously aimed at younger kids and I understand the WWE caters to a wider audience than me. I’m not sure I will ever enjoy these fights myself, but again I understand why they do it. What I do have a big issue with here is having The Bar be the ones to take the loss and look like idiots.

I truly feel bad for any WWE fans who particularly enjoy tag team wrestling. Not a single tag team act is sacred or protected. The next NXT tag team called up is always hopeful, but they always get relegated to sad and ridiculous feuds. The Revival and The Authors of Pain were both supposed to change the momentum of tag team wrestling and both have been relegated to ridiculous feuds and an incredible amount of 50/50 booking where teams just trade losses back and forth. It’s hard to get invested in teams that continually trade losses like this. At this point we can only hope that when Triple H takes creative control, he will use these incredible tag teams the same way they were in NXT. In all honesty, I feel the same way about single competitors too at this point…


NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 11/15): Becky off Survivor Series, Bryan wins WWE Title and turns heel, Survivor Series, Mojo interview, Nia Jax and Beckyon social media, commentary on Mixed Match Challenge and Becky


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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