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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

By Zach Graham, PWTorch Contributor

May 23, 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

  • Bayley and Brock Lesnar won the Money in the Bank Ladder matches. Rey Mysterio and Charlotte both won their championship matches at MITB to win the United States Championship and Smackdown Women’s Championship respectively. Bayley didn’t hold on to her briefcase long, she also cashed in on Charlotte to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship at MITB.
  • Mick Foley unveiled a new WWE 24/7 Championship on Raw. Titus O’Neil was the first to become champion, Robert Roode immediately pinned him, and later on Raw R-Truth pinned Roode to become 24/7 Champion
  • WWE announced that Ruby Riott has undergone successful shoulder surgery on her right shoulder. The article posted on WWE.com also notes that she will be receiving surgery for the same injury on her left shoulder at a later date. The article did not mention how long she will be out. SOURCE
  • A.J. Styles said in an interview with Newsweek that his most recent contract with WWE will be his last pro-wrestling contract. He also discusses moving to Raw, the Wildcard Rule, and his desire to team up with Gallows and Anderson again. You can read the interview HERE.

•WWE Weekly Event Results

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Birmingham, England) 5/15/19

(1) Becky Lynch beat Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(2) Robert Roode defeated Chad Gable
(3) The Lucha House Party beat Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers
(4) Bayley & Ember Moon defeated Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
(5) Finn Balor (c) beat Elias to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(6) Walter (c) defeated Pete Dunne to retain the WWE UK Championship
(7) Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins (c) beat The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(8) Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, & Braun Strowman defeated Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, & Baron Corbin

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Magdeburg, Germany) 5/15/19\

(1) Matt Hardy & Apollo Crews beat Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura
(2) Xavier Woods defeated Cesaro
(3) The IIconics (c) beat The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
(4) A.J. Styles defeated Randy Orton
(5) Rowan beat Ali
(6) Samoa Joe (c) beat Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega) and The Miz to retain the United States Championship
(7) Kofi Kingston (c) (w/ Xavier Woods) defeated Kevin Owens via Disqualification after Cesaro attacked Kofi
(8) The New Day (Kofi & Xavier) beat Kevin Owens & Cesaro

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Sheffield, England) 5/16/19

(1) Becky Lynch beat Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(2) Robert Roode defeated Chad Gable
(3) The Lucha House Party beat Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers
(4) Bayley & Ember Moon defeated Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
(5) Finn Balor (c) beat Elias to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(6) Walter (c) defeated Pete Dunne to retain the WWE UK Championship
(7) Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins (c) beat The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(8) Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, & Braun Strowman defeated Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, & Baron Corbin

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Hamburg, Germany) 5/16/19

(1) Matt Hardy & Apollo Crews beat Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura
(2) Xavier Woods defeated Cesaro
(3) The IIconics (c) beat The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
(4) A.J. Styles defeated Randy Orton
(5) Rowan beat Ali
(6) Samoa Joe (c) beat Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega) and The Miz to retain the United States Championship
(7) Kofi Kingston (c) (w/ Xavier Woods) defeated Kevin Owens via Disqualification after Cesaro attacked Kofi
(8) The New Day (Kofi & Xavier) beat Kevin Owens & Cesaro in a No Disqualification match

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Cardiff, Wales) 5/17/19

(1) Becky Lynch beat Lacey Evans, Ruby Riott (w/ Liv Morgan), and Tamina to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(2) Robert Roode defeated Chad Gable
(3) The Lucha House Party beat Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers
(4) Finn Balor (c) beat Elias to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(5) Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins (c) beat The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(6) Walter (c) defeated Pete Dunne to retain the WWE UK Championship
(7) Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, & Braun Strowman defeated Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, & Baron Corbin

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Berlin, Germany) 5/17/19

(1) Matt Hardy beat Rusev
(2) Apollo Crews defeated Cesaro
(3) The IIconics (c) beat The Kabuki Warriors to retain the WWE Women’s Championship
(4) A.J. Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura
(5) Rowan beat Ali
(6) The Miz beat Andrade
(7) Kofi Kingston (c) defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Lowell, Mass.) 5/20/19

WWE Cancelled this event on 5/18/19

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

•WWE TV Match Results

WWE Money in the Bank (Aired on WWE Network) 5/19/19

(1) Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match was won by Bayley
(2) Rey Mysterio beat Samoa Joe to win the United States Championship with a quick roll up. Joe’s shoulders were noticeably not pinned and the announcers also pointed this out.
(3) Shane McMahon beat The Miz in a steel cage match after slipping out of his shirt and falling to the floor from the top of the cage
(4) Tony Nese defeated Ariya Daivari to retain the Cruiserweight Championship
(5) Becky Lynch beat Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship. The referee missed a pretty obvious pin attempt by Lacey that Becky countered into the Dis-Arm-Her for the win
(6) Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship after Lacey Evans hit Becky with The Women’s Right
(7) Bayley beat Charlotte to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship after cashing in her Money in the Bank contract
(8) Roman Reigns defeated Elias
(9) Seth Rollins beat A.J. Styles to retain the Universal Championship
(10) Kofi Kingston defeated Kevin Owens to retain the WWE Championship
(11) Brock Lesnar won the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder match after replacing an injured Sami Zayn

Monday Night Raw TV Results 5/20/19

(1) Braun Strowman beat Sami Zayn
(2) Cesaro defeated Ricochet
(3) The Revival beat The Usos
(4) Becky Lynch, Nikki Cross, & Alexa Bliss beat The IIconics & Lacey Evans
(5) Drew McIntyre (w/ Shane McMahon) defeated The Miz
(6) Seth Rollins & Kofi Kingston beat Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin

24/7 Championship Update

    • Titus O’Neil beat EC3, No Way Jose, Mojo Rawley, Cedric Alexander, Eric Young, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows to become the WWE 24/7 Champion
    • Robert Roode immediately pinned Titus O’Neil to win the 24/7 Championship
    • R-Truth beat Robert Roode to win the 24/7 Championship

Smackdown Live TV Results 5/21/19

(1) Ali beat Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega)
(2) Mandy Rose (w/ Sonya Deville) vs. Carmella (w/ R-Truth) ended in a No Contest after a parade of wrestlers came down to ringside after R-Truth’s 24/7 Championship
(3) Kofi Kingston defeated Sami Zayn
(4) Bayley & Becky Lynch beat Charlotte & Lacey Evans
(5) Roman Reigns defeated Elias (w/ Shane McMahon)

24/7 Championship Update

    • R-Truth retains the Championship

205 Live Results (Aired on WWE Network) 5/21/19

(1) Humberto Carrillo & Jack Gallagher beat The Singh Brothers
(2) Akira Tozawa beat Oney Lorcan, Mike Kanellis, Brian Kendrick, and Ariya Daivari in a Fatal Five-Way match

WWE Main Event (Aired on Hulu and WWE Network) 5/23/19

(1) Natalya beat Tamina
(2) Cedric Alexander defeated EC3

Source: WKPWP Post-Raw On-Site Correspondent

•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events

WWE Super ShowDown on June 7 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Goldberg vs. The Undertaker
  • Triple H vs. Randy Orton
  • Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship
  • Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon
  • Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley’
  • “The Demon” Finn Balor (c) vs. Andrade for the Intercontinental Championship
  • 50-Man Battle Royal

•Upcoming Events

Mon. 5/27/19 WWE Raw, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Mon. 5/27/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Tony’s Pizza Events Center, Salina, Kan.
Tue. 5/28/19 WWE Smackdown, Bok Center, Tulsa, Okla.
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 PPV Event, 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.

•Latest TV Highlights

Monday Night Raw

  • Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman kicked off Raw this week. Heyman introduced Lesnar as “The Beast in the Bank” and called him “the purveyor of paranoia.” He dismissed the conspiracy theories that Lesnar is the one responsible for Sami Zayn being injured before the MITB match. He said when they heard what happened to Sami, they just made some quick negotiations. Seth Rollins came out and said he should be happy about beating A.J. to retain his title, but instead here stands Lesnar and Heyman. Seth then tried to get Lesnar to cash in his championship match there on Raw. Heyman eventually said he may not even be worthy of facing him. “Maybe it’s a new day, yes it is” Heyman said just before Kofi’s music hit. Kofi came out saying he’s looking to go down in history as one of the best and cement his legacy, so if Brock was going to cash in, he should do it against him. Heyman then pointed out that Brock is such a box office draw, the two champions are coming to him trying to get a match. Later in the main event, Kofi and Seth teamed together against Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin and would win. Lesnar would come out after the match, Kofi and Seth stood side by side as Lesnar circled the ring. He teased climbing in the ring, but got back down quickly and walked off to end the show as the announcers explained that Lesnar was going to make the champions wait another week.
  • Mick Foley announced a new WWE 24/7 Championship on Raw this week. He came down to the ring with the championship hidden in a WWE branded bag and said it’s time they revisit the letters of the show R-A-W because we need to start getting raw again. He then began talking about what it means to be a champion and how you’re willing to sacrifice a few teeth or an ear “because that’s how legends are born.” He said the desire to be a champion is something that consumes you 24 hours a day, seven days a week (I see what you did there Foley). He then unveiled the new championship belt, which seemed to get no reaction from the live crowd. Foley then explained that the belt can change hands at any time as long as a referee is present. He then said it was time for a scramble and the first wrestler to grab the title would be the inaugural champion. Eventually Titus O’Neil would be the first to win the title, but he was immediately pinned by Robert Roode. Later in the night, Robert Roode hid in the trunk of a car with the help of R-Truth, who tricked the mob of wrestlers chasing after him that he had gone another direction. Truth then offered to give Roode a ride, but when Roode opened the passenger seat, a referee emerged from the car. R-Truth would then pin Robert Roode to win the 24/7 Championship before escaping in his car.

Smackdown Live

  • Smackdown opened with Shane McMahon on his cell phone chatting with someone and conveniently Elias walked into the room to talk to him. Elias apologized for not winning on Sunday and blamed the crowd for impacting his performance. Elias promised to be in Shane’s corner for his match with Roman at Super Show Down (which is in Saudi Arabia in case you didn’t know). Shane said he doesn’t need anyone in his corner, but Shane will accompany Elias tonight in his rematch with Roman. Halfway through Smackdown, Roman is seen entering the arena, while Elias is on top of a semi-trailer mocking him with his guitar. In the main event, Reigns would eventually pin Elias again. Immediately after the match, Shane attacked Roman, when Roman countered Shane’s attack, Drew McIntyre appeared and hit Roman with a Claymore Kick. Shane then raised McIntyre’s hand as Smackdown went off the air.
  • Two wrestlers returned on Smackdown this week, first Big E returned to Smackdown to be alongside Kofi and Xavier Woods. They noted that Big E was back, but not cleared for action yet. Eventually Kofi mentioned Brock Lesnar being the MITB Briefcase holder, but Xavier Woods wanted to celebrate the fact that he beat Kevin Owens. Owens then interrupted and was immediately joined by Sami Zayn. Owens complained he didn’t get the big welcome back celebration that Big E did and Xavier Woods quickly pointed out that he didn’t get the same welcome back “Because you suck.” Sami said the only reason Owens lost was because he was so worried about Sami after he was taken to a hospital following an attack at MITB. Eventually Sami said they won’t be laughing after he beats Kofi in their match later in the night. Just before Kofi and Sami’s scheduled match, Big E was found backstage clutching his knee in pain, he said Kevin Owens had been the attacker. Xavier Woods told Kofi to go have his match and he would go with Big E. Kofi would eventually pin Sami after a Trouble in Paradise. When this match ended out walked Paul Heyman with the MITB Briefcase and said that it felt like the perfect time now, but instead of Brock Lesnar emerging, Dolph Ziggler attacked Kofi from behind. After a fairly lengthy beat down, officials managed to get Ziggler off Kofi, and Kofi was stretchered to the back. Dolph would give an interview backstage later where he expressed frustration with Kofi’s emergence after the Elimination Chamber because Dolph felt that everything that happened to Kofi should’ve happened to him if he’d have been put in that spot instead of Kofi.

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

PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by PWTorch.com’s Brandon LeClair to review Smackdown with live callers and then answer email questions. They discuss Dolph Ziggler’s return, the continuation of the 24/7 Title zaniness, Roman Reigns’s push since Summerslam, Kofi Kingston’s push since winning the WWE Title, the loaded women’s tag match, and more. They also talk to an on-site correspondent from Providence, R.I.

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

•WWE Social Media Highlights

Drake Maverick has done more to put this 24/7 Championship over than WWE did debuting it. Here are all of his tweets as he attempted to track down R-Truth.

Congratulations to Bray Wyatt and JoJo on the birth of their child this week!

Big E made his return to television this week. Part of me is upset because he was SO entertaining on Twitter. Here are some more tweets from this week.

Rusev commented on Charlotte winning another championship, then asked for advice on how to win more championships.

https://twitter.com/RusevBUL/status/1130569094393225218

https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1130571486408957955

Even Waffle House and Wendy’s made comments about the 24/7 Championship.

Time for a Becky Lynch Twitter update. She really seemed to piss Nia off this week with one rather harmless tweet…

https://twitter.com/LaceyEvansWWE/status/1129129636296908800

https://twitter.com/NiaJaxWWE/status/1129503400100605957

https://twitter.com/LaceyEvansWWE/status/1129511432280772609

https://twitter.com/LaceyEvansWWE/status/1130844850578907136

(Mustafa) Ali had a couple of good tweets this week as well.

•Closing Commentary

– I have mixed feelings regarding the new 24/7 Championship. There are some positives, but there are some negatives as well, and I’d like to flush them out here. First, the few positives I can think of after this first week of the title. I think it’s an okay idea in theory because it does give the mid-card and lower-card wrestlers something to chase and gets them on television every week. The other big positive I can think of immediately is that it can drive people to WWE social media. I have no doubt that we’ll see this championship change hands on Instagram Live, Twitter, or Facebook Live very, very soon.

So, while these two things can be considered positives, I don’t actually consider them to be positives, and I’ll tell you why. If you just had wrestling matches between mid-card people and actually built them up, you wouldn’t need to find things for them to do; you would have things for them to do. If you had mid-card matches with stakes or even stories, people would get invested in the characters. Since WWE doesn’t bother doing this, nobody cares about the people we saw chasing the 24/7 Championship around on Raw and Smackdown. There’s no fluidity in the WWE roster. Titus O’Neil won’t suddenly go on a winning streak to get a championship match; Vince just isn’t built that way. If they actually did their jobs, we wouldn’t be thinking “Oh, at least they’re getting on television” as a positive for this 24/7 Championship. Now, the other positive is social media, and I don’t really view that as a positive because there’s no real way to monetize it. So 100 million people follow WWE online; how does that help them make money? I know they brag about it in their quarterly financial meetings, but that’s because they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to find numbers that distract from the fact that television ratings are tanking.

So, other negatives now. First, it’s horribly ugly and the name is so generic. I’ve seen countless fantasy football leagues have cooler championship belts than this, and just calling it the 24/7 Championship (while accurate) feels lazy to me. Second, people seem to hate that it feels like a PG-era Hardcore Championship, which it is, and I completely understand that sentiment. Third, I truly think Vince thinks this is what fans want, and that’s just upsetting on a number of levels. I don’t think seeing title changes every week will help ratings; it will just further define down a championship that doesn’t matter, and if the title doesn’t matter, because it’s a gimmick title with lower mid-card guys holding it, why would I care when it changes hands? So, when this doesn’t help ratings at all, Vince will grow tired of this latest toy and discard it rather quickly, and I think the average “smart” fan (for lack of a better term) already knows this and doesn’t want to bother with the idea at all.

If there weren’t so many championships that already felt ignored, I think this wouldn’t be so bad. We have the United States Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the Women’s Tag Team Championships that already feel ignored, so Vince decides to add another? If they were going to add another championship, I think a television title would’ve been a better idea. One that was defended once a week between mid-card wrestlers or something along those lines. Preferably they could just start booking the US and Intercontinental Championships better, since they are the mid-card titles, but we all know that’s not happening. Like I’ve said before, I think this is the latest attempt at fixing a gunshot wound with a Band-Aid, and Vince shouldn’t be shocked when it doesn’t work.

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 5/15): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

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