The Fiend Bray Wyatt WWE Universal Championship Match LEAKED?! WrestleTalk News Aug. 2019

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Was Roman Reigns’ attacker revealed for super duper reals this time? Ali and Chad Gable advance in King of the Ring! And Randy Orton reads a letter. Oh dear. And have The Fiend’s WWE plans been leaked? Click the timestamps down below to jump to any of those news stories, and give us a subscribe while you’re at it! I am Luke Owen, press the thumbs up, and leave a comment down below to answer our question of the day:

What would you like to see The Fiend do next? And vote in the poll above my head to let me know your thoughts on the show, where you can choose from: SmackNificent, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, SmackDowner and A Smack in the Face. This is the 27th of August, 2019 edition of Smackdown Live.

Roman Reigns opened the show, telling Kayla Braxton that he would speak to Daniel Bryan and Rowan in the ring later tonight, after it was advertised that they’d asked for a public apology. Kofi Kingston came out for the show’s in-ring start, saying that Randy Orton is the stupid one for underestimating him for eleven years. Randy appeared on the titantron, with a letter in his hand that was slid under his hotel room door. Ok, who gave Randy the Samoa Joe letter promo from last year? The letter was in fact *sigh* from Kofi’s kid who said that Randy was a meanie. Orton then threatened to go to the hotel where Kofi’s family was staying and pay them a visit. Kofi stormed to the back and they brawled in Gorilla Position – with Orton laying Kingston out with a draping DDT on the floor.

Vince McMahon loves making his babyfaces family men – he did it with Roman, he’s doing it with Owens, and he’s also doing it with Kingston on the same bloody show. The problem is, fans aren’t invested in Kofi because he’s got a family, we’re invested in him because of his 11 year journey to the top of the mountain. The reason the Xavier Woods angle on Raw got so much heat is because we’re invested in Kofi’s relationship with his New Day brothers and the three of them as characters. For me, Vince is shoving a square peg into a round hole with this one; focusing on the wrong aspect of Kofi’s character in an attempt to add fuel to his feud with Randy Orton.

Big E came out from seeing the doctor and/or trainer, saying that Kofi will be fine for Clash of Champions, but won’t be around his for his match against Randy Orton tonight.

It was reported before the show that Vince McMahon – unsurprisingly at this point – tore up the Smackdown Live script just hours before the start of the show. And that felt very evident in the final product, with a lot more in-ring wrestling to fill time and very little time actually devoted to furthering storylines heading into Clash of Champions. The first of that came when Prince Ali and Murphy had a first-round match, which had flips, and stiff kicks, definitely.

This was great action, though not on a par of their 205 Live matches, and after lots of back and forth action, Ali hit the 450 for the win. It’s surprising that after giving Murphy the big push for the last two weeks – going toe-to-toe with Roman Reigns and then beating Daniel Bryan last week – he lost clean in the first round of the King of the Ring. And if the main event segment was anything to go by, he might not be involved in the Roman Reigns attacker storyline any more.

The Miz was set to take on Sami Zayn next, officially challenging Shinsuke Nakamura to an Intercontinental Championship match at Clash of Champions, but the match never happened as Sami essentially cut the same promo he did last week, and then they did the same beat down angle they did last week. Yep, Vince definitely threw this script out at the last moment. CTRL+C/CTRL+V

Elias was backstage in Shane McMahon’s office, and Kevin Owens walked in seemingly not upset at all about being screwed out of the King of the Ring last week. Elias told him that Shane wasn’t there this week – which lead to Owens attacking him later in the show and giving him the Stunner. R-Truth tried to pin Elias, but Drake pulled him off and scored the pin instead to win the 24/7 title. So the big Kevin Owens follow up from last week was a backdrop to the 24/7 title. I’m just saying, this wouldn’t be the case if it was Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins.

Bayley, Ember Moon and Lacey Evans had a stilted conversation backstage where they were WWE WOMEN STANDING IN A ROW. This led to Bayley taking on Evans in a match that went way longer than anyone would have guessed. It was pretty great too – and featured Evans kicking out of the Bayley to Belly, before falling to a second one and an elbow drop. Charlotte watched from ringside to, I guess further that storyline?

Big E and Randy Orton then had a match that was also given a lot of time, and featured the pissed off Big E that is so much fun to watch. He also took a lot of the match, before Revival came down to run interference. Orton and E blocked each other’s finishers, and Revival clocked E into an RKO for the Randy win. The trio then laid Big E out with the su-su-super RKO.

Ronda Rousey is joining Total Divas, you guys! So is Sonya Deville but I guess she’s less important despite still being an active member of the roster.

Shelton Benjamin made Chad Gable very sad when he called him short during his interview with Kayla, and then the reportedly future Shorty G beat his former tag partner in a fine King of the Ring match.

And the main event of the show was Roman Reigns coming out to apparently give Daniel Bryan and Rowan an apology, but instead showed the pair footage of the first attack where it’s quite clear that Rowan was not only there but also pushed the boxes over. Where has this footage been?! Bryan freaked out and slapped Rowan for lying to him, and went to the ring to tell Roman that he didn’t know anything about this – which Roman responded to by giving him the Spear. Yeah, they really have no idea where this story is going do they?

This was a broadly fine episode of Smackdown Live. The majority of the in-ring action was very good, but it felt like a throwaway show. If you skipped this week’s episode and then tuned in next week, it wouldn’t feel like you missed anything. And so for that reason, this week’s Smackdown Live is Smack Bang in the Middle.

And now over to King Chopper Whopper with the news! Happy birthday to you, Pete!

Great review Luke! It’s still definitely not my birthday.

 

Considering Laurie told you all yesterday to go to my Twitter and tweet me “happy birthday” and lambast me for not including the Moxley story in Sunday’s video, despite the story not breaking before the video was recorded, and it not being my birthday, today I’d like to get revenge by…you know what, actually. I’m going to be the bigger man here and just say…thanks for getting me more Twitter followers Laurie.

 

Anywho…let’s get on with the news, and this Saturday sees several wrestling events taking place, including New Japan’s Royal Quest (which is the one we’re going to, so you should totally come and meet us beforehand at 3pm at The Four Quarters bar), AEW’s All Out, and WWE’s NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff.

 

It’s the last of those three that has had some extra eyes drawn to it in the last 24 hours, as it was announced last night that none other than Cesaro will be making an appearance at the show.

 

In a wwe.com exclusive, Cesaro said that he would be visiting the show, with the intention of having a more “hands-on approach”. You know who else is in NXT UK? Kassius Ohno. Kings of Wrestling vs Grizzled Young Veterans?! Cesaro vs Pete Dunne? Cesaro vs…basically anyone honestly, Cesaro is really, really good. I am very excited for this.

 

Cesaro was last seen on Raw, taking the L from Cedric Alexander, after previously taking the L from Samoa Joe in the first round of the King of the Ring. This week’s Raw, however, saw the 8-team Tag Team Turmoil match, which eventually saw Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode win. Because of course they did.

 

Interestingly, it’s now being reported via Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live that the Authors of Pain, Akam and Rezar, were being considered for a return on Raw in that match, but ultimately they were left off the show again.

 

The pair made their return to WWE in early July as a tag team, at a SmackDown house show. They both competed in the 50-man battle royal at Super Showdown as well, so they’re both fit and healthy and ready to go-oh-oh, oh-we-oh-we-oh-we-oh-oh-oh, gimme the green light, but for some reason, WWE are just choosing not to use them.

 

It had previously been reported back in late May via John Pollock of POST Wrestling that AOP would return to TV once creative had a story for them, so if this still rings true, then they don’t have a story for them…despite…this being a really good story for them to come back, win the match and challenge Seth and Braun at Clash of Champions and win the belts. That’s a story! Instead we’ve got…Roodolph the Red-Nosed Tag Team. Thanks for whoever superchatted that on yesterday’s WrestleRamble, it’s a good’un.

 

But it wouldn’t be a SmackDown review/news video without someone mentioning Vince McMahon tearing up SmackDown plans and re-writing them hours before it goes live, and this week is no exception.

 

According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, Vince McMahon wasn’t at SmackDown last night, instead controlling the show over the phone. Vince wasn’t around last week due to various XFL commitments, but no word has been given yet as to the reason for his absence this time around.

 

Then, later on, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer on Twitter noted that

 

Vince was tearing up tonight’s show. Good or bad, this is a heavy Vince show tonight.

 

This is not the first time, nor will it probably be the last time, that Vince has decided the blue brand’s show is not good enough just hours before it goes live, and re-writes the entire show. In previous weeks it seems to have paid off, with decent to good shows throughout.

 

After a lackluster Raw and a decent SmackDown this week, WWE seems to be losing a little momentum as of late after a stellar run of about a month’s worth of shows.

 

But that momentum might be about to pick right back up because…

 

Now, take this with a genuinely unhealthily large pinch of salt, less of a pinch of more of an entire jar, because The Fiend, Bray Wyatt, is being advertised to challenge for the Universal Championship at Hell in a Cell on October 6 against either Seth Rollins or Braun Strowman.

 

The arena Hell in a Cell is being hosted in, the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, tweeted out to say:

 

Get ready @WWE fans… “The Fiend” @WWEBrayWyatt challenges @WWERollins or @BraunStrowman to a #HIAC match! Get your tickets now, and stay tuned!

 

Now of course, before we get excited, it’s important to remember that cards are subject to change, and quite frequently, arenas advertise false matches in order to drum up ticket sales, which honestly is really not ok when you think about it, but this one seems very decisive with its wording, and leaves it open to challenge whoever wins their match at Hell in a Cell, instead of just simply advertising The Fiend vs Rollins, for example.

 

We’ll simply have to wait and see if this comes true, but The Fiend challenging for the Universal Championship inside Hell in a Cell? There could be some real moments to be had there. Until Michael Cole ruins it by reminding you that it is in fact, a moment.

 

Oli, Luke and Laurie are all talking the huge Godzilla vs Kong easter egg discovery! Click the video on the right to find out more now! And when will AJ Styles retire from WWE? Click the video below that to get all the details! Before you go though, make sure to give this video a thumbs up, subscribe and enable notifications by pressing the bell icon! A special thank you to our lovely pledgehammers on Patreon, some of whom you can see scrolling below me right now! I’ve been Chopper Pete Quinnell, and that, was wrestling.

• SmackDown Live
• Bray Wyatt
• The Fiend
• wwe

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