Post by Steveweiser on Jan 3, 2017 8:46:00 GMT -5
SmackDown and 205 Live kick off their 2017 tonight in Jacksonville, with the Royal Rumble four weeks away...
We start the year with one of wrestling's favourite tropes - the contract signing! WWE Champion AJ Styles and challenger John Cena will put pen to paper to make their meeting for the title at the Royal Rumble official. Cena is seeking to equal the WWE-approved record of 16 title reigns held by Ric Flair, while Styles is seeking to rid the WWE of Cena for good. It's almost certain that things will break down tonight, so tune in to see how things fall apart...
The Miz defends the Intercontinental Title tonight against former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose. A couple of weeks ago, The Miz WENT THERE by talking derogatorily about Ambrose's relationship with Renee Young, and last week, Ambrose took revenge by attacking Miz backstage while he happened to be interviewed by Young. It's for the best if Ambrose leaves Renee out of this, otherwise she could end up being a pawn that keeps the IC Title around The Miz's waist - tune in to see how this goes down.
In other confirmed action, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler both failed to capture the WWE Title from AJ Styles last week, so now they'll go at it one on one. Corbin's first major rivalry on the main roster was with Ziggler, so this will be a renewal of their beef - will it be a chance for Corbin to stake a major claim towards winning the Royal Rumble, or will Ziggler prove he's no light touch?
New SmackDown Tag Team Champions were crowned last week, as American Alpha took home the gold in a four way involving former champions the Wyatt Family, as well as the Usos and Heath Slater and Rhyno. You'd think the Wyatts would want their titles back, but problems between Luke Harper and Randy Orton led to the title change in the first place. But whoever comes for the new champs, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan had better be ready...
Two weeks ago, La Luchadora scored a big victory over SmackDown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, and unmasked herself as Becky Lynch. Last week, La Luchadora somehow returned, whilst Lynch was in the ring challenging Bliss for the title, and the mystery woman's involvement led to Bliss retaining the title. Will we find out who cost the Irish Lass Kicker? Could it be Natalya, who has a habit now of mystery attacks? Could this one be Carmella's doing? Would it even have been Nikki Bella showing the other two how to do one properly? Or could it even be someone not on the SmackDown roster? If you looked on Twitter, there is a former multi-time Women's Champion who said she was on her way to Florida this week...
All this and more from 8/7c on USA...
And then on 205 Live, Neville continues his march towards a Cruiserweight Championship match with Rich Swann, as he will take on former Cruiserweight Champion and Cruiserweight Classic winner TJ Perkins. Also, former multi-time champion Tajiri returns tonight. Will Noam Dar be any closer to stealing Alicia Fox from Cedric Alexander? And will Jack Gallagher hold another Gentleman's Duel? All this and more from 10/9c on the WWE Network, followed by Talking Smack!
We start the year with one of wrestling's favourite tropes - the contract signing! WWE Champion AJ Styles and challenger John Cena will put pen to paper to make their meeting for the title at the Royal Rumble official. Cena is seeking to equal the WWE-approved record of 16 title reigns held by Ric Flair, while Styles is seeking to rid the WWE of Cena for good. It's almost certain that things will break down tonight, so tune in to see how things fall apart...
The Miz defends the Intercontinental Title tonight against former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose. A couple of weeks ago, The Miz WENT THERE by talking derogatorily about Ambrose's relationship with Renee Young, and last week, Ambrose took revenge by attacking Miz backstage while he happened to be interviewed by Young. It's for the best if Ambrose leaves Renee out of this, otherwise she could end up being a pawn that keeps the IC Title around The Miz's waist - tune in to see how this goes down.
In other confirmed action, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler both failed to capture the WWE Title from AJ Styles last week, so now they'll go at it one on one. Corbin's first major rivalry on the main roster was with Ziggler, so this will be a renewal of their beef - will it be a chance for Corbin to stake a major claim towards winning the Royal Rumble, or will Ziggler prove he's no light touch?
New SmackDown Tag Team Champions were crowned last week, as American Alpha took home the gold in a four way involving former champions the Wyatt Family, as well as the Usos and Heath Slater and Rhyno. You'd think the Wyatts would want their titles back, but problems between Luke Harper and Randy Orton led to the title change in the first place. But whoever comes for the new champs, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan had better be ready...
Two weeks ago, La Luchadora scored a big victory over SmackDown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, and unmasked herself as Becky Lynch. Last week, La Luchadora somehow returned, whilst Lynch was in the ring challenging Bliss for the title, and the mystery woman's involvement led to Bliss retaining the title. Will we find out who cost the Irish Lass Kicker? Could it be Natalya, who has a habit now of mystery attacks? Could this one be Carmella's doing? Would it even have been Nikki Bella showing the other two how to do one properly? Or could it even be someone not on the SmackDown roster? If you looked on Twitter, there is a former multi-time Women's Champion who said she was on her way to Florida this week...
All this and more from 8/7c on USA...
And then on 205 Live, Neville continues his march towards a Cruiserweight Championship match with Rich Swann, as he will take on former Cruiserweight Champion and Cruiserweight Classic winner TJ Perkins. Also, former multi-time champion Tajiri returns tonight. Will Noam Dar be any closer to stealing Alicia Fox from Cedric Alexander? And will Jack Gallagher hold another Gentleman's Duel? All this and more from 10/9c on the WWE Network, followed by Talking Smack!