RAW History of WWE: Wrestlemania 9

Welcome to RAW History of WWE where this time we look at Wrestlemania 9. If you want to read previous instalments the archive is here. Before we begin here are our Champions and Commentators.

Champions

WWE World Champion Bret Hart (1st Reign)

Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels (1st Reign)

Tag Team Champions Money inc. Ted DiBiase (2nd Reign) Irwin R. Schyster (4th Reign)

Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Randy Savage and Jim Ross

The show opens with Julius Caesar and Cleopatra and commentators Bobby Heenan and Randy Savage coming down to the ring, this segment is well worth a watch just for Jim Ross on commentary giving a history lesson on Caesar, Cleopatra, and Ancient Rome in general (welcome to 1993 WWE folks).

The first match is Shawn Michaels versus Tatanka for the Intercontinental Championship. This match is worth note for the WWE début of Luna Vachon. This is a great opening match from one of the lesser Wrestlemanias. However, the match is spoilt by the terrible ending when Michaels attacks the referee and gets disqualified. This move derails all the momentum that Tatanka built up over the previous months, something he would never really recover from.  This match would definitely be remembered as a classic if not for the murky ending and its impact. After the match Sherri who was in Tatanka’s corner is attacked by Luna.

The next match is the Steiner Brothers versus the Headshrinkers. This is a great match that deserves a lot of credit and does not get it due to the Wrestlemania it was a part of. The Headshrinkers are a very underrated tag-team that show here that hey can keep up with an amazing team like the Steiner Brothers.

The nest match is Doink the Clown versus Crush. This is where the matches go from good to just plain weird. You know there is a sufficient lack of quality at tan event when a clown carries a match, which is exactly what Doink does throughout. The icing on the cake however,is a second Doink appearing the cost Crush the match this was an angle that would go on for quite some time and the worst part is the announcers debate whether it was an illusion.

The next match is Razor Ramon versus Bob Backlund. This is a short solid match that weirdly Ramon wins with a small package. After dominating the match one would think that a Razor’s Edge to Backlund would have made more sense.

The next match is Money Incorporated versus The Megamaniacs for the Tag-Team Titles. One thing worth noting before the match is Hogan’s eye it was sold as DiBiase arranging him to be jumped, Hogan claimed it was an accident that happened days before, thought there have been persistent rumours that it occurred due to an altercation with Randy Savage, you be the judge. The match is solid due to Ted DiBiase and IRS playing the roles of heels so well by cutting off the ring and being generally villainous. The surreal moment of this match is when the referee is knocked out cold and Jimmy Hart jumps in, reverses his coat to reveal a referee’s colours and makes the count, at which point Hogan and Beefcake act as if they had won before a disqualification victory for Money incorporated. This match is far too long and it just feels that the Backlund and Ramon match was cut short to allow this match more time. The afterwards of the match Hogan and Beefcake remian in the ring after chasing off the champions and again overstay there welcome.

The next match is Mr.Perfect versus The Narcissist Lex Luger. This is an ok match Perfect makes it as Luger is in the middle of a very poor gimmick especially with his metal plated forearm that is used to say he attacked Bret Hart with earlier in the day. after a dirty finish by Luger he hits Perfect with said forearm. perfect gives chase and gets attacked by Shawn Michaels. It is strange they can show this footage but not show footage of Sherri being attacked by Luna Vachon which is reported earlier in the night or make footage of Luger’s attack on Hart.

The next match is The Undertaker versus The Giant Gonzalez. This is a unique streak match for the Undertaker, match wise it is awful with a poor finish however, Taker’s entrance is fondly remembered and considered one of his best Mania entrances. This was during a period where all of Taker’s Mania opponents were monster heels as it seemed they thought they were the only people who would be considered formidable for the Undertaker. Interestingly Undertaker would reference this school of thought in a shoot during the attitude era.  As with most of the matches on the Wrestlemania 9 card one guy makes each match in the series of odd pairing and as usual Taker is that man. The match ends with a disqualification after Gonzalez uses a chloroform soaked rag to knock out the Undertaker.

The next match is Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart versus Yokozuna. This is actually a good match, Hart uses greta speed to counter Yokozuna’s power and size and the pairing works very well. Its is the ending and what comes after that is the problem. With Yokozuna in the sharpshooter Fuji throws salt in Hart’s eyes allowing Yokozuna to win. Yes Yokozuna is a heel and heels cheat but it makes it look like despite his side he cannot defeat Hart on his own. The other half of the disservice to Yokozuna and by extension Hart is Hogan cooming down to defend Hart and reveal the cheating and ending up winning the world title. This makes Hart look like he needs someone to fight his battles and costs Yokozuna all the momentum he had picked up and despite regining the title never really had the same level of hype in that reign due to poor booking.

Wrestlemania 9 is strange, there are matches putting together strange pairings and two wrestlers completely lose all their momentum due to poor booking or stroking another wrestlers ego. Also good matches are marred badly by poor endings, leading to a very poor Wrestlemania. Join us next time where we examine the first RAW after Wrestlemania ever.

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Brie Bella Clarifies Retirement Rumours

In an interview with WWE.com former Divas Champion Brie Bella weighed in on the rumours of her retirement following her Wrestlemania 32 match. Bella says it was her last march however, this is not a retirement but more than a break as she and husband Daniel Bryan wish to start a family.

Rumours of Bella’s retirement have been circulating since husband Daniel Bryan announced his retirement earlier this year. Bella has been one of the key women wrestlers of the formerly named Divas Division and was a member of Team Bella during the Divas Revolution late last year. Bella along with sister Nikki are also main cast members of WWE show Total Divas. The WWE Examiner wish her the very best for the future and hope to see her back in a WWE ring in the future.

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Wrestlemania 32 Kickoff Show Review

Wrestlemania Kickoff was promising to be something special due to the extra hour added and the promise of three matches.There were several problems throughout the show none of which were the wrestlers fault. Also there was a major announcement that the Divas Championship was being retired for the returning Women’s Championship. The Kickoff promised much but did it deliver?

United States Championship Match

Kalisto (c) defeats Ryback

This match was marred slightly but it was no fault of the wrestlers, due to the wi-fi in the arena being down tickets were unable to be scanned meaning for this title match the arena was practically empty. Despite this the match was very good, Ryback has greatly improved and despite Goldberg chants put on a great show even doing a great superplex that was reveresed by Kalisto. Kalisto paid tribute to the late Hayabusa with his ring attire and was as usual excellent, he has really come into his own in singles considering until he joined the main roster we rarely saw him in that role in NXT. The match was a great opener and it a terrible shame that both competitors opener will be remembered for the wrong reasons.

Team Total Divas (Brie Bella, Paige, Natalya, Alicia Fox and Eva Marie) defeats Team B.A.D and Blonde (Lana, Summer Rae, Emma, Tamina and Naomi)

This match was a strange one, not a lot of people had high expectations going into it and by the end we had a very fun match that the fans got into. An interesting point is despite Lana being a key point of the feud she got very little ring time. This could be that WWE feel she still needs work or they are hiding that despite all the rumours the past 18 months that she is set to take a place as a leading woman wrestler she is not as proficient as the other women and the WWE are trying to hide it. The match was great especially when Emma and Paige got going with each other as they were two of the early attractions for NXT’s women’s division. The match however, was bitter sweet as it was Brie Bellas final match, rumours have been circulating about Daniel Bryan’s health worsening so that may have something to do with but Bryan did pay tribute to Brie on twitter so hopefully it is something more innocent than that.

The Usos defeated The Dudley Boyz

This was a short and sweet match as it came at the very end of the kickoff. This was a shame it was the Dudley Boyz in their return to Wrestlemania and the Usos were tag-team of the year at the Slammys. The match was good Bubba’s trash talk was perfect and the crowd got behind it. The post match saw the Dudleys going through a table each which just seemed to cement that this match should have been a Tables match.

The Kickoff despite all the hiccups was a great opener for a packed card that will be talked about for a while the matches however, were overshadowed by the announcement of the new Women’s division and title marking the end of the Divas era.

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NXT Takeover Dallas Review

Last night’s Takeover was one of the best and was everything that is right about NXT. The matches were hot, fans were passionate and there were a few surprises in the crowd. All in all a very good show that will be remembered fondly.

NXT Tag-Team Championship

American Alpha defeats Revival (c)

This match was the perfect start to the card both teams are at the top of the games and fans love both teams and their abilities. Jordan and Gable were the stars, the last few weeks have seen excellent storytelling of the journey American Alpha have taken to get to this point and they proved in the match that they deserved the belt, however the Revival were no slouches ether. The constant comparison for the Revival is to the Minnesota Wrecking Crew then a worthy comparison for American Alpha is the Briscoes and each team lived up to those comparisons. People often talk about tag-team wrestling being very paint by numbers these days well Dash and Dawson and Gable and Jordan painted a Da Vinci Piccasso  fusion piece in that ring.  The match definitely gives hope for the future of tag-team wrestling in NXT and WWE.

Austin Aries defeats Baron Corbin

This was a solid match Aries was very good and proved that he is worth the hype. However, the real star is Corbin who has vastly improved and proven himself more than a one move guy and delivered some top notch trash talk. The highlight of the match was Deep Six to Aries on the arena floor that showed that if there is a rematch a stipulation that appeals to fighting outside the ting would deliver a great match. While this match was not up there with the rest it was not due to lack of ability but rather it was a packed card with a lot of high profile matches and one had to suffer.

Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Sami Zayn

What can be said about this match? We all knew it had great promise but exceeded even the highest of expectations. It is definitely a match of the year and we are only in April. The fans were chanting this is awesome before they even touched, after this intense battle got going  the chants became fight forever, if that does not say it all I don’t know what does.Nakamura won not just the match but a fanbase as well in the match. The match is everything that is right about NXT and will give fans hope for the future battles Nakamura will have in NXT and WWE. For Zyn it seems this is the end for him in NXT and it was a sombre moment in the ring for him, however, hopefully he will finally get one over on Kevin Owens Sunday and become the new Intercontinental Champion on Sunday. This match will be remembered fondly and already looks to be seen as one of the all time greats.

NXT Women’s Championship

Asuka defeats Bayley (c)

It shows how strong the women’s division is in NXT that they can still carve a place for themselves as a good match after following Nakamura and Zayn. The match was a clinic for submission manoeuvres with Bayley proving she can adapt to Asuka’s style easily. As Asuka locked on the Asuka lock Bayley proved that she has incredible heart doing everything to get out and continue as champion but it was not to be. With Asuka now champions questions will now fly about Bayley moving to WWE especially with a rumoured Divas Division Shake-Up rumoured to be taking place after Wrestlemania and with her fellow Four Horsewomen already there the future is very bright for Bayley.

NXT Championship

Finn Balor (c) defeats Samoa Joe

A moment has to be marked for Balor’s excellent entrance with a chainsaw, obviously Terry Funk had two.The match was excellent and had its share of controversy when Joe was busted open the hard way at the very start above his eye. This led to medics fawning over him constantly throughout the match who were brushed off as much as possible by Joe. Apparently Stephanie McMahon who was in attendance was not impressed by the blood which was no one’s fault. Balor won but there are rumours that Joe was originally planned to win, probably to allow a rubber match at some point. However, it now seems Joe is headed to the main roster, possibly on RAW but soon definitely. This has been rumoured for a while now and it seems to be happening after his second loss to Balor. Questions wills start to arise now as to who there is left for Balor to face?

Takeover Dallas was excellent and not just in ring as Kota Ibushi and Bobby Roode were spotted at ringside and focused on by cameras.The future looks brighter than ever for NXT with so many new stars coming in and potential stars being courted. Over the next few weeks we should see an influx of NXT talent into RAW in Takeover’s wake and new stars replacing them in NXT as it comes apparent who is leaving and who is coming in the WWE Examiner will cover it and please join us for our tweeting of Wrestlemania on Sunday followed by its review.

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Stipulation Added to WWE Title Match?

Local media for WWE Axxess is reporting that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Champion Triple H and Roman Reigns is a no disqualification match. This could be an attempt to spice up a match that fans have been so opposed to since the beginning as both Reigns and Triple H have been involved in backstage brawls and at ringside so this could be to facilitate that. However, the stipulation could be to allow interference from other wrestlers, so many big names have been announced as appearing at Wrestlemania and it is not unheard of for someone to make a surprise appearance. Whatever the reason the speculation will run wild with fans until Sunday, as they wonder does this new stipulation confirm Reigns’ win, a heel or double turn in the match, or a last minute swerve like last year?

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Major Shake-Up in Divas Division

Reports are circulating that the WWE are planning a major revamp for the Divas Division and Divas belt. The plan is to begin on the RAW after Wrestlemania, which seems to indicate that the Divas Title match on Sunday will be an even bigger game changer than expected. The division is to return to the much missed women’s division and title after the last few years of the controversial term diva which is considered an outdated term from the attitude era .

Fans have been campaigning for a long time for the change in name which have been fuelled by the much praised women’s division and title in NXT. The name change campaign was fuelled also by current Divas championship Charlotte who in a recent interview said she also felt the name change was a good idea. The move could also be an attempt attract more women wrestlers to the WWE and NXT who did not fancy the idea at one point being referred to as a Diva. Questions could also arise of what will become of Total Divas with this planned revamp as the Divas Division has been used to promote the show in the past as recently as this Sunday where one of the teams is called The Total Divas consisting of cast members of the show.

The other major question that arises is is the winner of the Championship match at Wrestlemania the next Women’s Champion or is there a new bekt and will it continue the lineage of the previous women’s title? As more details become apparent of this revamped division and the tying up of loose ends.

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Title Match and Big Names for Post-RoadBlock RAW

Earlier today the WWE announced a Tag-Team Title Match between The New Day and remaining League of Nations members Rusev and Alberto Del Rio. The New Day have had a feud of sorts with the League since Fastlane and defeated King Barrett and Sheamus at Roadblock. Is this just a way of giving New Day more action or is there a chance that Del Rio and Rusev who in particular has been floundering are getting their first tag team titles?

Other reports are of several big names being involved on Monday’s Raw, names who are relevant to Wrestlemania include Undertaker, Shane McMahon and Brock Lesnar. Also in a surprise inclusion is Mick Foley who is expected to be involved in Wrestlemania itself. A possibility could be to involve him in the McMahon feud considering the last time the McMahons feuded at Wrestlemania Foley was referee this theory is strengthened more considering Shane’s match with the Undertaker is a Hell in a Cell, a match Foley helped gain severe notoriety especially in his 1998 match with the Undertaker. Another though less likely scenario is to involve him with Dean Ambrose’s ongoing feud with Lesnar as Ambrose is often compared favourably to the Hardcore Legend.

Another Hall of Fame inductee could be announced especially with rumours of Stan Hansen and Jacqueline being rumoured due to a WWE magazine article as well as more details on Network shows during Wrestlemania week. JBL announced earlier his much praised Legends show will have a new episode during the week but did not announce the guest, who maybe announced this Monday. None of this is concrete and as Monday goes on more will be revealed especially in relation to the Hall of Fame.

The WWE Examiner will live tweet Raw as usual and will keep you posted on any news that happens before and after.

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The Week That Was in WWE 6-13 March

This week saw the build up for the WWE Roadblock event on Saturday. However, as the week progressed it became clear that Roadblock was not the only interesting thing that was happening in the week. From Raw to Roadblock the week was a very interesting one starting with Raw.

Raw opened with Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon, it was a good opener that involved Vince smashing a photo of him and Shane as a child before sicking security on Shane who destroyed them, literally. Obviously this segment was meant to show that Shane is a worthy adversary for Undertaker and if his brief attack on security as anything to go by he is more than ready.

In Singles action the night started off with Kevin Owens and Neville, since their NXT days these two have put on excellent matches and this was nor exception and came with a twist. As Owens attacked Neville post match Sami Zayn appeared making the save. While this would seem to point toward a Zayn/Owens match at Wrestlemania, I cannot help but hope for a triple threat between Neviile, Zayn and Owens considering they are three of NXT’s most iconic stars in the promotions history. Before Raw there was some rumoured controversy involving Dolph Ziggler possibly being asked to remove a tweet insulting the Authority, however it came to nothing but a plot device to put Zigller in a three on one handicap match against The League of Nation minus Del Rio.  The only member eliminated was Barrett so who could blame him wanting to leave. Kalisto fought Tyler Breeze in a very entertaining match which shows Breeze deserves to be more than a named jobber. Speaking of Breeze there are rumours of unease in the NXT roster over Breeze’s treatment on the main roster and stars apparently wondering should they mover up or stay big draws on NXT for life. This is coming on the heels of Vince McMahon apparently viewing NXT wrestlers as not draws and more of a touring company, again it could be internet hearsay but it seems like a pro-big wrestler Vince McMahon thing to say for a promotion that has a lot of low 200 pound wrestlers as top stars. Kalisto also was in a backstage piece with Ryback seeming to hint at Ryback being his opponent at Wrestlemania. Ryback is a wrestler that has certainly improved and deserved a continued push following his Intercontinental Title Reign last year. Ryback also had a match with Curtis Axel, the entire Social Outcasts need a title, eve the J.O.B Squad had a title. The main event was Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt which ended after a run in from Triple H who Ambrose layed out.

In Divas action Summer Rae defeated Brie Bella, after which Lana attacked Brie in what is a weird feud that hopefully will not make it to Wrestlemania. The interesting thing about this match is it marks the second defeat of a former Divas Champion by Summer Rae in a couple of months, could it be possible that she is on the verge of a push? The other Divas match was Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks against Tamina and Naomi, these four have prove that a Diva’s tag title at this stage is an excellent idea and would allow more Diva’s a chance in the spotlight at the same time.

One Tag-Team match for the Tag-Titles held by New Day against Jericho and Styles wrestling as Y2AJ. The match was excellent definitely the highlight of Raw. The ending was perfect where after defeat Jericho turned on Styles which will probably see a match at Wrestlemania.

On NXT only one match and it was a humdinger. Sami Zayn against Samoa Joe in a 2 out of 3 Falls match. The match was everything that is right with NXT from beginning to end and a strong contender for match of the year and it is only March. Joe won so will face Finn Balor at Takeover and it was also announced that Austin Aries will face Baron Corbin at Takeover, all the matches are already known but these are the first two to be officially confirmed.

Smackdown opened with a confrontation between Owens and Zayn on Miz TV leading to Neville saving Zayn from a beatdown from Miz and Owens. This led to a tag-team match between the two groups.

It was a very tag-team heavy card as besides this great match where Zayn and Neville proved that they would make a formidable tag-team and Owens left Miz alone costing them the match. There was also a League of Nations win over the Lucha Dragons obviously to hype them as contenders for New Day ahead of Roadblock. The Main Event was Ambrose Ziggler and the Usos against the Wyatts who lost, after such a big build  in their feud against the Dudleys it is weird to see them lose nearly every week now.

Only other match was Brie Bella beating Summer Rae which seems to imply Summer’s involvement in the Lana and Brie feudas Lana attacked Brie again after the match.

Smackdown also had an excellent promo from Chris Jericho who burnt a Y2AJ shirt and was definitely the highlight of the night.

Roadblock like the last Network specials was interesting as it is essentially a house shiw but televised but this one felt special. In singles we had a Anti-Canada Chris Jericho face Jack Swagger so a confused Canadian crowd opted to cheer for the absent AJ Styles instead. Brock Lesnar took on Harper and Bray which was a very interesting match, not a hand was lain on Bray and Harper put up a hell of a fight. It was made clear that they are saving Bray for something big, maybe interfering in Brock’s Wrestlemania match with Dean Ambrose? Zayn faced Stardust in a weird pairing that worked so well the match was pitch perfect, Zayn is seemingly headed for a push but Stardust certainly proved he deserves one. The Main Event was a great match Triple H beat Ambrose but not after a close call where it seemed Ambrose won and the crowd went wild. It was predictable ending but it was a great match.

There was an excellent Diva’s match between Charlotte and Natalya, again the match proved just how much of a push Natalya deserves if she can put on a match like she did with Charlotte. It hearkened back to one of their matches at one of the first NXT Takeovers which is already considered a classic before it is not even two years old.

Two Tag Title matches one with the New Day and The League of Nations, no surprise for New Day getting the win. With their lengthy reign Kofi Kingston now almost has the most number of combined days as champion for that belt for a random fact. The other match is the match to watch the show for The Revival vs Enzo and Big Cass. The match was a classic from beginning to end and was a great showcase of the high calibre of tag-teams that NXT has to offer.

In other news Big Boss Man is going into the Hall of Fame, an interesting choice as he was not expected and was not among the rumoured and another one that has emerged as a possibility this year is Stan Hansen and Jacqueline also after a WWE Magazine that was published listing them.

With all the developments this week it seems that the final few weeks before Wrestlemania will certainly be interesting ones and will keep everyone guessing.

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The Week That Was in WWE: 28 February-5 March 2016

This week saw a build to both Wrestlemania and WWE Roadblock across Raw, Smackdown and NXT. These developments have given hopes for major matches at both events. Build up for other yet unannounced matches were made starting with Raw.

Raw started with an exchange between Triple H and Dean Ambrose. Ambrose has become the top face despite the WWE’s attempts at placing Roman Reigns in this position. The confrontation which lead to Ambrose being beaten down at the end of the show and a match between the two was announced for WWE Roadblock. This match is probably an excuse for Reigns to make a heroic return after Ambrose gets beaten down by Triple H and The League of Nations but there will be many of us that hope that it is a way of injecting Ambrose and by extension Brock Lesnar into the title picture at Wrestlemania.

Tag-Team highlights were the Usos and the Dudleys, this seems to be pointing toward a match at Wrestlemania hopefully a table match as the way this story is being told feels like a PG version of Cactus Jack’s famous feud with Tommy Dreamer in ECW in the 90s. Also Jericho and Styles are now a tag-team called Y2AJ. This seems to indicate that Styles will have a tag-team role at Wrestlemania as he and Jericho are facing The New Day for the titles on Raw this Monday. Of course Y2AJ could win the belts at lose them back to New Day at Roadblock but its a case of not knowing more until Monday at the earliest. If Y2AJ win it puts a snuff on the rumoured Styles-Owens match at Mania, as it is unlikely that Styles would have two titles.

The main Divas focus was an excellent match between Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks which ended in a draw which led to a rematch on Smackdown for the Title Shot. More on that later. In more executive women’s news Stephanie McMahon gave a killer promo that was a treat to watch and hints at her involvement with the Undertaker-Shane McMahon match.

In Singles Ryback was starting to act more heelish and Ziggler lost to Miz in less tahn five minutes which is hopefully leading somewhere.. fast. Also Undertaker showed up and warned Vince of what he unleashed before Vince had a he is out of the will moment about Shane.

NXT saw in singles Elias Samson continue his winning streak against Steve Cutler. Samson has an old school fakir to him that works well a more serious version of the Honkey Tonk Man in some ways but far less cheesy. The main event was Finn Balor and Neville these two had excellent matches throughout 2015 before Neville was called up to WWE, I even got to see one live in Dublin which was spectacular. Neville showed off some new moves including a submission move, hopefully a more varied move set will make the WWE give him a bigger push or send him down to NXT more regularly to try and ‘reinvent’ him as others have.

Tag-Team saw the Vaudevillains take on Hugo Knox and Tucker Knight, they were never going to win. Though it was Knox’s début on camera so hopefully these two get a bigger chance beyond enhancement soon. The presence of the Vaudevillains and Blake and Murphy in NXT after being champions is weird as all other teams have had at least one member move up once they won the gold. Maybe they have something planned for the Vaudevillains as they have gotten a lot of video packages the last few weeks and Blake and Murphy could be on hold until Alexa Bliss is ready to move up, which seems to be the case for Enzo and Cass with Carmella.

In women’s action Emma faced former TNA star Brittany, now known as Santana Garrett. Garrett put on a good showing and hopefully impressed the right people as she is without a NXT contract. Emma was good as usual and even with an Injury Scare this week the future seems to be bright for the Australian star.

Two notable things that came from NXT were the announcement of a match between Dash and Dawson now know as The Revival and Enzo and Big Cass. The question who will win as WWE might feel that Enzo and Cass are a bigger draw as chasers rather than chased, the same way Dusty Rhodes was with the NWA and their World Title. Austin Aries made his début and was attacked by Baron Corbin as part of an ongoing beef with William Regal, it would be interesting to see if this beef sees Regal take a manager role for Aries and other Corbin opponents to bring him down. Also a 2 out of 3 falls match was announced for next week between Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe which will be amazing going by their past two matches.

On Smackdown Dean Ambrose opened the show addressing what would happen if he beat Triple H. After that Kevin Owens came down which ended in a brawl after some excellent back and forth by two of the company’s best talkers.

One tag-team match between the Usos and The League of Nations. After the Usos lost to the League who is suddenly getting a push, The Dudleys hinted at a Tables match at some point hopefully Wrestlemania as it would be a great addition to the card and prove you can have a tag-team feud not involving a title.

One Divas match, the rematch between Sasha and Becky which ended in a double disqualification after Charlotte attacked both. This led to the announcement we have all been waiting for, at Wrestlemania the three face for the Divas Title.

In singles Dolph Ziggler got a win over the Miz so maybe they will have a rubber match and not both lose matches two each other in quick succession for nothing, both deserve better than that. AJ Styles beat Kofi Kingston ahead of their respective teams title matches, more on that match next week. Ambrose beat Owens in an excellent match as always for both, before their match at the Rumble the WWE Examiner reported on the possibility of a career defining feud between the two.

In other news Wyatt and Lesnar are set to face each other at Roadblock so the card already looks promising, as does Wrestlemania. By next week we will hopefully no more matches and if there has been a title change. Until then so.

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More Injury Woes for WWE

In the most recent bout of injury woes for the WWE League of Nations member Alberto del Rio has injured his back. Del Rio, who has just come off 2 United States Championship Reigns in quick succession since his return last October, is the second member of the League to be announced injured within a week. Earlier this week it was revealed that former WWE Champion and League leader Sheamus is also injured. However, Sheamus is announced as being in the main event of WWE Network Special, March To Wrestlemania, implying the injury might not put him out too long. Del Rio’s is also still scheduled to make appearances at live events so hopefully in the case of the two superstar it is a case of short term recovery.

These injuries start 2016 as 2015 ends with WWE plagued with injuries in both WWE and NXT. With so many major superstars out with injuries until after Wrestlemania questions have to be asked of what WWE’s plan is. They could risk the lesser injured in tag-team matches which is unlikely, or pull up a lot of NXT stars, prospectively having Finn Balor, Dash and Dawson and Bayley defend the NXT titles on the show. Despite how intriguing this sounds, it is unlikely that the NXT Champions would defend at Wrestlemania as they have their own shows a few days before, whoever they are by Wrestlemania.

Whatever the solution is the WWE needs one as it may mean stars doing double duty on the night if the roster is not big enough if the Andre the Giant Battle Royal happens. If any news comes to light of further injuries, returns or developments the WWE Examiner will keep you up to date.

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