#john cena trading card

[hardpressedcollection]

2023 Panini Chronicles WWE Trading Cards

Available in our online store OPEN 24/7

eBay.com/usr/hardpressed

[spanishannouncetablepodcast]

June 2. 2023

Ron Simmons To Receive Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award

WWE Contract Clause Limits Arenas Hosting AEW Events

AEW Fight Forever Pre-Order Matt Hardy DLC Revealed

John Cena WWE Trading Card Breaks All-Time Sales Record

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[jcmarchi]

WWE 2K24 Celebrates 40 Years Of Wrestlemania

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/wwe-2k24-celebrates-40-years-of-wrestlemania/

WWE 2K24 Celebrates 40 Years Of Wrestlemania

With Wrestlemania 40 on the horizon, WWE 2K24 appropriately celebrates the milestone by highlighting four decades of the grandest stage of them all. The “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes graces the cover of this year’s installment. Additionally, Bianca Belair and current Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley share the Deluxe Edition cover, making them the first women to receive a dedicated cover. 

First off, the gallery below shows off the cover art for each of the game’s three editions (read on for details on each):

This year’s documentary-style Showcase mode is dubbed Showcase…of the Immortals and lets players relive some of the most iconic moments in Wrestlemania’s history. As in previous years, the mode will seamlessly switch from gameplay to live-action footage of the match and will feature unlockable content for completing optional objectives. 

2K24 introduces four new match types: Ambulance, Special Guest Referee, Casket, and Gauntlet. Improvements have been made to existing matches; for example, Backstage Brawl now supports four players and more interactive elements. The Royal Rumble supports eight-player online play. WarGames and other popular stipulations such as Hell in a Cell, TLC, and Extreme Rules will return.

Gameplay additions include Super Finishers, a trading blows mini-game, and players can do top rope dives outside of the ring onto a group of adversaries. There are also double title matches, new Paybacks, new weapon types such as trash cans, guitars, and microphones, and you can throw weapons. 

MyRise returns with two brand-new storylines. MyGM has been expanded with more GMs, match types, championships, and a new feature called Superstar Journey, where talent can earn XP to level up by training and participating in matches. MyFaction now includes ranked online Quickplay with unique rewards and seasonal leaderboards. 

Universe mode has expanded rivalry options such as run-ins, Money in the Bank cash-ins, and new cutscenes. New stipulations include Double Title matches, Special Guest Referee, and Loser Leaves Town. The Creation Suite now lets you create referees and crowd signs in addition to new parts and animations for the existing templates, such as Superstars, entrances, arenas, and more. 

A small glimpse of the playable roster has been revealed. Additionally, several real-life referees will be included in the game for the first time (but are not playable). If previous years are an indication, expect a gradual rollout of roster reveals and ratings over the coming weeks. 

Andre the Giant

Asuka

Bianca Belair

Charlotte Flair

Cody Rhodes

John Cena

Randy Savage

Rey Mysterio

Rhea Ripley

Roman Reigns

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Triple H

Undertaker

2K24 will be available in three editions. The Standard Edition will be $69.99 on current-gen consoles and $59.99 on last gen and PC. A digital-only Standard Cross-Gen Edition, which gives you the game on both consoles in the same platform family (ex: PS5 and PS4), will be $69.99. The breakdowns of the more expensive editions are as follows:

Deluxe Edition ($99.99) 

Base Game

Standard Cross-Gen Edition

Nightmare Family Pack (Includes playable characters Stardust, “Undashing” Cody Rhodes, Dusty Rhodes ’76, “Superstar” Billy Graham)

Season Pass

MyRise Mega-Boost/SuperCharger

Gold Rarity Rhea Ripley/Bianca Belair MyFaction Cards

Alternate attires for Rhea Ripley/Bianca Belair

Forty Years of Wrestlemania Edition ($119.99)

All content in Standard/Deluxe Editions

Alternate Wrestlemania Attires for Randy Savage (WM 6), Rey Mysterio (WM 22), Triple H (WM 30), Charlotte Flair (WM 33), and Rhea Ripley (WM 36)

Gold Rarity MyFaction Cards for Randy Savage, Rey Mysterio, Triple H, Charlotte Flair, and Rhea Ripley

Instant unlocking of all playable Showcase characters

Wrestlemania 40 arena (arriving post-launch) 

The Standard Editions of WWE 2K24 launch on March 8. The Deluxe and Forty Years of Wrestlemania Editions arrive a few days earlier on March 5. It will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. 

[kage-gfx]

2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Rookie Autographs Remake

[the--blackdahlia]

This card just made me ugly laugh

[vydri]

I got my @shiftythrifting junk boxes today ♡ I think I order the cards & paper type junk box I don't remember lol and the all toys type box. Please ignore the messy table and not in season tablecloth lol

I got a very sad pink pacman, who reminds me of homestar runner for some reason lol, an old Wendy's kids meal toy I'm pretty sure it's a telescope or w/e, a hot wheels sized car, a beast transformer it's a panther I think that's what pose it was in when it came out of the box lol I had quite a hard time turning it into the panther but I figured it out. Some animals, I think that's a crane of some kind idk, a very solid horse, and a dinosaur I don't remember what kind that is I don't have much dino knowledge. There's a little alien playing baseball, and a tiny plastic baby that made me cackle idk. A penguin... looks like a club penguin one but I've never played that so idk. A cute little pink rhino. And I believe that's a John Cena figure with a "rise above hate" shirt but like I only know like 5 wrestlers so I could be wrong

I'm not going to bother listing what the stickers and cards stuff is but they're awesome too. I love stickers so much ♡

This was definitely really fun. My kid loved it too, he loves the pacman and beast transformer. He also begged me to open the Wendy's toy so despite how blasphemous it felt, I did it anyway bc it made him happy lol there was a little card in it that said I could take the card to blockbuster to exchange it for a collectible trading card

Here are a few more pictures

[mino2aur]

"so sir would you like that in a combo or a single"

uh idk uhhhhh

*pulls out my Friday The 13th Jason Takes Manhattan wallet* john cena trading card what do i do

[englishpolaris]

Wwe royal rumble streams

The 2008 Royal Rumble was the first WWE pay-per-view to be available in high-definition. Due to the Rumble match taking up a large amount of time (most Rumble matches last roughly one hour), the Rumble event tends to have a smaller card than most other pay-per-view events, which routinely have six to eight matches per card. The men's Royal Rumble match is usually located at the top of the card, though there have been exceptions, such as the 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, and 2018 events. In October 2021, Money in the Bank would be grouped in with the four, now the "Big Five", as WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan referred to Money in the Bank as one of the company's "five annual tentpoles". The following year, the event started to be broadcast on pay-per-view and thus became one of WWE's "big four" pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series, and SummerSlam. The first Royal Rumble event took place on January 24, 1988, and was broadcast live on the USA Network. The recruiting effort, led by Paul Levesque and Bruce Prichard, is focused on young athletes.The Royal Rumble is a pay-per-view consisting of the Royal Rumble match, title matches, and various other matches.

Khan said they are happy with the NXT relaunch and that several call-ups have already happened.

1 sports brand on TikTok with nearly 15 million followers.

She later said there's no reason WWE can't be generating hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising and sponsorship within the next 3-5 years.

Stephanie McMahon said SummerSlam viewership was up 55% from 2020 on both WWE Network and Peacock.

They are excited for the WWE 2K22 launch in March.

They were not asked about the John Cena NFT failure.

They also continue to be confident in the NFT market.

They are bullish on the trading card market is booming right now and got multiple bids before deciding on Panini as the best partner for them.

Having more integration with athletes like Atlanta Hawks player Trae Young for the New Year's Day show in Atlanta is coming, according to Khan.

Part of the selection of the Royal Rumble date, for example, was to not go up against the Winter Olympics and their partners in NBCUniversal.

Part of the strategy was finding Saturdays when lots of visitors are expected in the cities for those big events. Khan said they underwent a strategic examination of their pay-per-view model in the last year, making changes to focus on not just making the content special but the surrounding events for their big stadium shows. Intellectual property continued to be a buzzword as McMahon himself said new ways to monetize it are part of "the evolution of sports entertainment." Khan talked about "the IP wheel" on the call as well, citing the Undertaker/New Day content on Netflix and the upcoming McMahon Netflix docuseries, the latter of which he said were "amazing" and "out of this world." They want to increase value while finding new revenue streams. In brief statements early on, Vince McMahon said the return to touring is where the company "comes alive in so many respects." The company's successful SummerSlam weekend and a return to a more robust live touring schedule helped the year-over-year increase of $34 million. Khan said that international restrictions on travel have slowed down rights negotiations in other countries, but that things have sped up, He didn't indicate whether Hulu would remain in the mix, but said he expects multiple suitors and referred to it as "a battle that will be intense and fun" for the rights, noting the landscape is much different now than in 2018 when the Hulu deal was initially done. He did note that the second-day rights for WWE Raw with Hulu are up in the latter half of 2022 and that a deal will be done for those rights before then. He said they are just as bullish for this next round of negotiations as they were for the last one. He continued to push the importance of live programming as a key reason for that. Per usual on these calls, Khan was bullish on the company's prospects when it comes to the next round of TV rights deals, pointing to several new rights deals including the Premier League. Their live event revenue was up to $28 million year-over-year with consumer products up to $25.1 million. In the release, they said their North American attendance drew the highest quarterly average in more than a decade. On the quarterly investors call, Vince & Stephanie McMahon, president Nick Khan and others were happy with the company's current financial position and, as expected, optimistic about the future.ĭuring the Q&A portion, there were no questions about AEW. Thanks to a more robust traveling schedule, WWE’s reported third quarter revenues were up 15% to $255.8 million year-over-year, one of several key numbers announced by the company Thursday.

[fromtheringapron]

WWE Survivor Series 2006

Date: November 26, 2006.

Location: Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Attendance: 15,400.

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield (SmackDown!).

Results: 

1. Survivor Series Elimination Match: Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons, and Sgt. Slaughter (with Arn Anderson) defeated The Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Nicky, and Mikey) (with Mitch). Flair was the sole survivor. 

2. WWE United States Championship Match: Chris Benoit (champion) defeated Chavo Guerrero (with Vickie Guerrero). 

3. WWE Women’s Championship Match: Mickie James defeated Lita (champion). 

4. Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team DX (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and CM Punk) defeated Team RKO (Edge, Randy Orton, Gregory Helms, Johnny Nitro, and Mike Knox) (with Melina and Kelly Kelly). All of Team DX survived. 

5. First Blood Match: Mr. Kennedy defeated The Undertaker. 

6. Survivor Series Elimination Match: John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Kane, Rob Van Dam, and Sabu defeated Big Show, MVP, Test, and Finlay (with Armando Alejandro Estrada). Cena and Lashley were the survivors. 

7. World Heavyweight Championship Match: Batista defeated King Booker (champion) (with Queen Sharmell).

My Review

I remember ordering Survivor Series 2006 on pay-per-view being weirdly hyped for it. I don’t know why; I just saw a lot of potential in the card, I guess. Sure enough, the show fell well below my expectations and I quickly disavowed it and never rewatched it again until recently. So how do I feel about it in 2020, our year of the Lord? Well, it’s not horrendous or anything, but it’s still not good. Some important-ish things happen and I still think there was potential here for this show to be so much better; it just feels like not a whole lot of effort was put into it.

If the show can’t shake its staidness, it’s certainly not done any favors by its main event. The feud between Batista and King Booker was WWE’s attempt at cashing in on the real-life heat between the two, but it never caught fire in translation. By all means, it should’ve worked. Batista was in his prime and Booker was enjoying one of the best stretches of his career yet it ultimately became a case of the two guys simply not meshing. Their match here is just a whole bunch of whatever to me. What should be the satisfying culmination of Batista’s year-long road back to the World Heavyweight title is instead anticlimactic. It feels more like an epilogue tacked on to a novel than an epic final chapter.

The most enjoyable part of the show is easily Team DX vs. Team RKO, which is a squash match single-handedly elevated by the charisma of its participants. Team DX —Triple H, HBK, CM Punk, and The Hardy Boyz — is often mentioned in the discussion of greatest Survivor Series teams of all time and that’s pretty difficult to argue against. It’s such an iconic group overflowing with star power that watching them share a ring together feels truly special. The Philly crowd is well-aware of the moment too and they don’t let it go to waste. A part of me would’ve wanted to see a more competitive match, and the potential was definitely there, but the trade-off is a surge of energy that’s much needed at the midpoint of the show.

The remainder of the card mostly ranges from forgettable to downright offensive. The other elimination matches here are fun sprints, but they embrace the worst qualities of the match’s modern iterations. Granted, I’m a traditionalist who thinks the elimination matches should always be the focus of the Survivor Series, but I do think at a baseline they shouldn’t feel like everyone is trying to get it over with as fast as possible and that’s the vibe I get here. Elsewhere, Chris Benoit and Chavo Guerrero square off over Eddie Guerrero’s namesake, whose death is still being sadly exploited for storylines a full year after the fact. The lowest moment, though, is the tasteless sendoff for Lita in her retirement match. In a way, there’s something admirable about Lita wanting to go out like a complete heel, but having her slut-shamed and her items put up for grabs in a “Hoe Sale” isn’t it, and it’s ultimately flat-out disrespectful to one of the most influential women in WWE history.

Overall, Survivor Series 2006 has all the ingredients yet it can’t bring them all together to make a great show. One look at the card may have you think otherwise but in the history of WWE’s Thanksgiving tradition, this is the equivalent of a fake colorful gourd you stuff in a cornucopia⏤it looks good, but don’t be fooled; the taste is underwhelming.

My Random Notes

I’d like to reject the notion that JBL was ever funny on color commentary. Maybe I’m alone here, but I find him super obnoxious? I get that’s he’s trying to channel Jesse Ventura; it’s just that he unfortunately translates that into yelling a lot without saying any good soundbites.

It’s hard to not look at Test here and feel sad. There’s the steroid bloat, yeah, but he just seems tired, almost like he’s phoning it in at some indy show.

Vickie Guerrero is pretty early into her heel run at this point so she’s nowhere near as over-the-top as she’d later become, but I do like her cold Real Housewives energy here. There’s that one moment in the video package where she says “Hi, Chris” so frigidly that I had to check my nose for frostbite.

Speaking of Chris, it’s already tough to stomach watching Eddie Guerrero’s death exploited for storylines, but it’s especially so to watch Benoit get involved when you know how badly Eddie’s death fucked him up. And, yes, I do have that Dark Side of the Ring episode on my mind. That was some seriously haunting shit. 

Fun fact: Ric Flair is undefeated in Survivor Series elimination matches, having been the sole survivor in two of them 15 years apart. The more you know!

Dusty Rhodes pinned Dolph Ziggler on a pay-per-view in 2006. Also the more you know!

A huge yikes @ the chair shot Taker gives Mr. Kennedy. No way that would fly now. Hell, it wouldn’t even fly less than year after this.

The Mickie James face turn truly happened outta nowhere, huh? I just remember there was one episode of Raw when she lost the Women’s title to Lita and — bam! — suddenly she’s a face, as if she wasn’t threatening Trish Stratus that she’d dismember Ashley Massaro less than six months prior.

I have little recollection of an MVP/Mr. Kennedy alliance, but it does seem like the most mid ‘00s WWE thing to happen. Remember when these two guys absolutely felt like the future faces of the company? The lost generation, indeed.

Alas, here we bare witness to the final days of The Spirit Squad. A night later, they’d be squashed by DX and literally sent back to OVW in a crate. To this day, I’ve never got the hate for them, other than it’s clearly a mid ‘90s WWF gimmick stuck in a mid ‘00s WWE. I used to think was the most obnoxious person on the roster, which I guess means they did their job well.

[komikswaria-n-t]

[WARIANTOWY EXPRESS #8]

Nowości, plotki i zapowiedzi w formie krótkich wpisów. Zapraszam.

W marcu zadebiutuje nowa seria Weapon H autorstwa Grega Paka i Cory’ego Smitha. Zeszyt otrzyma sześć retailer wariantów oraz warianty ekskluzywne. Zaprezentowano już wszystkie warianty od dystrybutora oraz kilka dla sklepów komiksowych. Cały wpis poświęcony jest tylko temu zeszytowi ;)

WEAPON H #1 TRADING CARD GAME VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER

WEAPON H #1 HULK HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY DALE KEOWN

WEAPON H #1 WOLVERINE HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY ANDY KUBERT

WEAPON H #1 1:10 VARIANT COVER BY SKAN

WEAPON H #1 1:25 VARIANT COVER BY GUSTAVO DUARTE

WEAPON H #1 1:100 VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU

Sklep Sanctum Sanctorum zaprezentował swoje wersje ekskluzywnej okładki w wykonaniu Keowna. Okładka to homage wariant, który powstał na podstawie pracy z The New Incredible Hulk #377, również autorstwa Keowna. Jakoś zdjęć jest słaba, ale tylko takie są aktualnie dostępne na stronie sklepu.

WEAPON H #1 SSCO EXCLUSIVE CLASSIC HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY DALE KEOWN

Wariant w cenie 14,99$.

WEAPON H #1 SSCO EXCLUSIVE CLASSIC HOMAGE VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY DALE KEOWN

Wariant w cenie 24,99$.

WEAPON H #1 SSCO EXCLUSIVE CLASSIC HOMAGE B&W VARIANT COVER BY DALE KEOWN

Wariant w cenie 39,99$. Brak informacji o nakładach poszczególnych okładek.

KRS Comics zaprezentował okładkę autorstwa Kirkhama. Swipe cover na podstawie pracy McFarlane’a do Incredible Hulk 345.

WEAPON H #1 KRS COMICS EXCLUSIVE VARIANT COVER A BY TYLER KIRKHAM

Cena tej wersji 12$, nakład limitowany do 3000 sztuk.

WEAPON H #1 KRS COMICS EXCLUSIVE VARIANT COVER B COPPER HOMAGE BY TYLER KIRKHAM

Cena to 25$, nakład limitowany do 1500 sztuk.

WEAPON H #1 KRS COMICS EXCLUSIVE VIRGIN COLOR SPLASH VARIANT COVER BY TYLER KIRKHAM

Okładka dostępna tylko w zestawie, w cenie 70$. Nakład limitowany do 1000 sztuk

Na koniec propozycja od Frankie’s Comics. Okładka Claytona Craina typu homage. Praca bazuje na okładce do Incredible Hulk #181.

WEAPON H #1 FRANKIE’S COMICS EXCLUSIVE HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY CLAYTON CRAIN

Okładka w cenie 20$ o nakładzie 3000 sztuk. Dostępna jest również wersja virgin.

Źródło grafik: https://www.previewsworld.com, https://sanctumsanctorumcomics.com

[kage-gfx]

Topps inspired “Definitive Wrestling”

[awkwardbsd]

@theresnothingtherefuck @ha-not-ha (You would not believe how much amusement I get from people’s URLs especially when I look at notifications, and it’s like “bathtubfullofeyeballs reblogged your post”. “There’s nothing there fuck!” is what I say when I look at my bank account.)

Anyways, I have these OCs that I originally made for BNHA (Boku no Hero Academia), but I personally find the universes very similar so often I like to trade them about:

Ability: Brain Bleach

Able to wipe specific memories

Works in the underground world and has no combat ability whatsoever. They work as a neurologist to pay the bills during the day. They tell people they don’t have an ability since there are only rumours that such an ability exists. To erase one’s memory, they must put their hand on their forehead for five seconds. Often people from tragic backgrounds beg to have their memories erased or some just want something bad that happened to go away, but this person only takes on certain cases. You have to prove that your memory is worth erasing since they believe that memories make a person.

Quirk: Totally-Not-A-Furry

Able to turn into most desired animals but loses self if used for too long

If you kill them, they revert to their human form, so no going, “Turn into a chicken! *proceeds to kill* *cooks chicken*”

If an animal is super OP, they can’t transform for that long. Strenuous action also limits time. No fictional creatures allowed. Because of this, they are used as a wild card. There’s too much risk involved, and it’s not a one-trick solution when you have to decide on an animal, make a plan, and do the rest.

Quirk: Reverse John Cena

Instead of actually being invisible like most shows would interpret, this ability makes it so you can make a person (or people) see nothing for five seconds. I haven’t worked out the details. It sounds lame, but in those five seconds, you can do whatever. Pants them, stab them, shoot them, stab and pants them. It isn’t glamorous or anything, but it’s still a useful quirk. You can steal food too.

“Well, I guess that boy covered in stab wounds is fine. I guess we’ll just stand here like the extras we are. Maybe someone should close the door? Nah.”

[andymull]

The WWE Superstar Shake-Up Review - Raw

Welcome all, after the recent big shake up between the two brands its that time where we can take a quick look back and review the moves that occurred, the right and wrong decisions made as well as the potential this has promised us viewers. First we shall examine the Raw side of the shake-up and the talent traded, then a following piece will focus upon Smackdown with a write up to end, wagon’s roll.....

Dean Ambrose

The IC champion makes his way to Monday nights with his title in tow, first thoughts are that this is a good move for Dean to freshen his act up as well as getting new competition as he’s become stale on Smackdown.

Then came the next two points, first that he is being moved away from Renee Young his wife which would be awful for anyone. And the second is that he is back to seemingly feuding with Miz again on Raw, the same guy that bored me silly to see him feuding with on Smackdown, where’s the new matches?!? But after a quick look at the Raw roster there really arent that many new heel’s for the guy to work with, Samoa Joe and Braun? Really may be time for Dean to go heel his-self to work with Balor, Rollins, Reigns, Cesaro, sounds like a much better idea now doesnt it.

The Miz & Maryse

Initially I dont see this as a good move, both have improved greatly this past year since Maryse returned to give Miz a more well rounded character/gimmick/act. Their program with John Cena and Nikki Bella saw them both become the stand out performers on Smackdown, just a shame about the fact they were booked into an engagement angle they could never come out of positively. All of this for me would see The Miz hold the Smackdown world title later this year no question about it.

But, moving to Raw he has to contend with being on a show where the champion isn't even on tv anymore (quickly in 3 seconds name the Raw world champion..........they wont mention him until they come up with his next dates/match), so going for the world title soon isn't an option as well as the fact he now drops behind Braun, Wyatt, Joe in the heel rankings and also the champion when he returns.

The benefits for Miz on Raw are that he will definitely get more tv time being on the 3 hour show to attempt to get his-self higher up the card, him having Miz tv will be vital for him in staying in peoples minds and providing new ways to start/progress feuds as compared to others who cant talk as well as Miz. He should get more ring time too which is his big opportunity to show his improvement over the past year to those who may not watch every Smackdown episode, not just fans but also higher ups in management who dont pay the show the same respect, infact the word respect is something that Miz will vitally need to demand to get his-self back to his previous Smackdown position and demanding to be in a feud with Balor instead of Bray getting it first could be vital.

Bray Wyatt

In a way Bray faces alot of the same issues that Miz does, moving from being the big fish in a small pond to Raw. His gimmick is awful and boring now and has been for awhile, thankfully for him the key people backstage in the company think his act is great.

Hopefully we see him get more ring time to show his skills, rather than just his ‘spooky’ promo’s then appearing from the dark to attack whoever he’s in a feud with. Sadly I see this staying as is, his first Raw feud is seemingly going to be with Finn Balor (although that may have been altered this week) which should be good match wise but the build is going to be all kinds of goofy interviews leading to Balor becoming the Demon.

Truthfully Wyatt remains over until they get bored of his gimmick or viewers turn over on Raw when he comes on, which could be a key factor, but really he needs a face turn just slightly tweak his act and let the fans get behind him more.

Alexa Bliss

My favourite female in the company gets shook up to Raw, she has shown so much growth since debuting on Smackdown from the level she was at on NXT, both in terms of ring work as well as her skills on the pole (mic) and a move to Raw could be seen as well deserved move for her.

The benefit of the women’s division on Smackdown was that they were able to keep everyone fresh and didnt just produce the same old matches like Raw, so Bliss will bring more than just herself to the Raw scene in that sense. As she will be in fresh matches with Bayley, Sasha, Paige (???), Emma, Dana, and also will get the chance to work with and learn more from Mickie James.

The only slight negative for her could be the potential Sasha Banks heel turn over Bayley, Id imagine that would occur whilst Bayley is still champion and will be focused around the belt which could deter a big Bliss push as the lead heel on the show and see her positioned as the firm second heel on the show.

Mickie James

An interesting pick for Raw as she was originally placed on Smackdown to help give some legitimacy to their women’s division as well as helping some of the new girls there, looks like the helping out factor could be needed on Raw with her working the likes of Jax and Dana possibly to try and see them improve on the job.

Im not quite sure if Mickie is a heel or face and to be honest I doubt they've made their minds up on how they want to book her yet on Raw, a heel probably works best but if the Banks turn occurs then she will be able to get a higher spot on the face side as well as being able to work more with Jax which I think is her key reason to be moved.

Apollo Crews

A vital time for Crews and his future in the company, not in terms of him losing his job but more in him coming back to Raw and instantly impressing fans and showing his true ability in the ring. Its needed because the guy has just gotten lost on the roster, hasn't been in long tv matches allowing him to shine and his promo skills arent at the level where he can keep people engaged well enough. If they dont quickly inject him in fun matches and think of ways to allow him to connect better with fans on the mic he will be lost again, he really was brought up too early from NXT.

So far they let him have one backstage segment with Tozawa, a former tag team partner of his, who he has fun with and may be the key in getting him to produce more in promo’s or just in backstage segments.

In looking at who he should feud with there comes the problem, the Raw side has main eventer’s, upper mid card guys and then the big drop to guys who arent being used and guys who are just bodies on the show. Crews should really be made a pet project for one of the booker’s backstage, similar to how Steph/Hunter/Vince have taken guys previously in that kind of a role and only they book their segments with the main focus of getting them more and more over and used well.

Kalisto

At last the guy gets moved to Raw, meaning at last he gets placed on the roster where he can perform on 205 Live (the best hour of wrestling on tv......that isnt on tv), and then he isnt used on the show and gets used with Braun? I mean they gave him a win over Braun, just that it was a meaningless one where people solely remember the angle after the bout.

This should be simple, move him to 205, let him wrestle with Neville, TJP, Metalik his natural environment and the place he can produce the best results from, easy.

Heath Slater & Rhyno

They needed a team to be moved to Raw with The New Day going to Smackdown and this team got picked, that’s it sadly, no idea of moving them for greater things or planned storylines, just that they needed a team. Infact they were planning on breaking the team up awhile back with Rhyno blaming Heath for losing the titles on Smackdown, then they gave up and decided to leave them together.

They will quickly slot theirselves in above the likes of Goldust/Truth with the odd tv match and defeat, as well as being seen in backstage segments for other people, not sure of the possibly positive outcomes for either guy on Raw as once they slip to the backburner its all lost.

Curt Hawkins

Brought back into the company at the time of the draft as a face that people knew to help put over and establish some of the newer/ younger talent, he really hasn't much room for anything outside of that as his ringwork isn't anything that great and to be honest he hasn't been able to out over people to the point where they improve by doing so.

This really is the case of how long can he stay employed by not doing much instead of how can he affect the Superstar Shakeup

David Otunga

A guy employed and used on tv for two reasons, his wife and the colour of his skin, sad but true, each commentary team on WWE tv has to contain at least one person of colour it seems and Otunga has that role. He isn't around for his excellent wrestling knowledge, his awesome mic skills/ talking ability, it really cant be denied can it

Overall the top few picks can be a positive for the show over different areas, with the last few picks just being harmless trades which isn't what was needed in getting the show some solid depth. Spoiler, but Raw got the short end of the stick when it came to the shake up.

Smackdown review coming soon

Bye for now

Andy

[muramune99]

So, I ventured out to Anime Detour for the first time and it was interesting to say the least.

I did not run into any of my friends, as far as I could tell. I did see a few people I’ve met before, but I avoided making any conversation. One of which, was a girl I had a crush on years ago and I was clearly turned down. I didn’t want to make it awkward.

Things that happened:

Roommates: They were okay at best. 5 other guys that were 28-60 years of age. I had just met 4 of them during the trip. My friend, who has different political views, was trying to pick up girls for the majority of the convention. I didn’t mind this, but I was a little concerned. Especially how he stated after the convention that he should lose weight on the grounds that it’s only a mental willpower that keeps people overweight, and that people should not cosplay a character unless they match their body shape/image. I hated the idea. Another guy had autism and apparently did not cope very well on our leaving time on the final day to return. The 3rd guy packed way too much, which caused issues on our return because he bought more stuff. The 4th guy kept ranting about something he did to antagonize his friend who was overseas. With the help of the 3rd guy, they carried around a John Cena cut out display and had people take pictures with it. Then, he kept saying, “We’re dead” over and over for 3 days straight, even to complete strangers. The 5th guy was old and had never been to a convention before. He enjoyed it though.

The Hotel: It was pretty big and organized, but it was on 3 floors: 1st, 2nd, and 22nd (Tabletop Gaming was here). The elevators were crowded with people trying to get to and from their rooms and the 22nd floor and back. This caused quite a bit of congestion, but was expected and managed by volunteers and staff. Room parties were not far from the cosplay area and the indoor pool. I had an issue with Cards Against Humanity not being allowed to be played in convention space for fear of children overhearing, or worse, wanting to play. All play areas were in 21+ aged room parties with alcohol, which I don’t drink and don’t really like the company of those who drink. I was left with the alternative, Apples to Apples. Much of the rooms were simply too small, and the Swap Meet was in the largest room available and many people were left to walking around the room with boxes of stuff because there was not enough room. On the plus side, the convention will be moving to a location at least double in size.

The Panels: All were pretty good, but there were a few that I think could be improved upon. One panel had a child talking about Yu-Gi-Oh, the panel was a Steven Universe panel... There was also some confusion about panel times and locations. I even went to talk to Operations to clear this up, and they told me to use the app because it is more up to date- and I still had issues with inconsistent times. I went to fanfiction panels and even to karaoke. I met someone that impacted my life for more than 10 years and he has no direct involvement with the creation or localization of anime or video games. He was the creators of animemusicvideos.org.

Consuite: Amazing and very much appreciated to get the opportunity to eat rice or sandwiches.

Dealer’s Room: It had several entrances and exits and had plenty of vendors. Prices were pretty good, at least for me buying Weiss Schwarz sealed product. I was tempted to buy other things, but dissuaded because of money. I ended up saving about $470, meaning I spent $220. Which I can flip what I bought for a profit of $250 easily. I was tempted to buy a Lisbeth keychain or a Ui figure. I couldn’t find a Hayate Yagami or Mikoto Misaka figure or keychain... Plus, Final Fantasy stuff was a little rarer than at other conventions.

Spoils of the Convention: 9 Weiss Schwarz Meister Sets (3 Disgaea, 4 Nisemonogatari, and 2 Idol Master) - I only like Disgaea... 2 Weiss Schwarz Trial Decks (Nisemonogatari) 3 Posters (The Boy and the Beast, Fairy Tail, and Attack on Titan- I think) Several hundred Weiss Schwarz Cards from Swap Meet (Had Persona 3, Persona 4 with TD, A Certain Magical Index/Scientific Railgun, Macross Frontier, Fate Illya, Fate/Stay Night, Idolmaster TD, Madoka Magica TD, Disgaea- including the original TD, Evangelion with TD, and Nanoha A’s TD) A pretty cloth (It came with the WS from Swap Meet) MLP card boxes (It came with the WS from Swap Meet and I do not plan on keeping them) A MTG card case (like the MLP card boxes) A Sephiroth wallscroll (probably going to use as part of my panel’s prizes at AI) A Certain Scientific Railgun Manga vol 01- I traded Hyper Rune vol 1 for it 2 Negima figures (got for free and will probably give it to one of my friends A Convention Badge Memories, I guess Thoughts about Anime Detour: I really liked it, but I still feel like something is missing. It could simply be the stress getting to me or even me wanting to experience anime conventions with others I care about. It may even be privacy from others that always want me to room with them or room with me. At Anime Iowa, I do not plan on sharing my room or transportation with anyone. Peace of mind is something I just want. Mind you, it’ll be different if I manage to get into a relationship by then. I am happy that they are moving to a different location.

On another note, I really didn’t like Mall of America. It did not have enough anime-related goods. Only Best Buy and Eagle Anime sold anything anime related. It just was not my thing.

[dreamspeardreams]

Wrestlemania 33 Recap and Predictions

It's Wrestlemania time, so here's my recaps and predictions for Wrestlemania 33.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal - ArMBaR

Story: None. Even though this match is on the pre-show, I’m glad that s a lot of the midcarders are treating it as an important opportunity. Baron Corbin is in a Singles title match after winning it last year, so it has some legacy of leading to a push.

Prediction: Big Show. There’s three likely candidates to win, Braun Strowman to show his continued dominance, Big Show because it’s likely to be his last Wrestlemania and he won the first one, or there’s an off-chance Sami Zayn could win it, to feed into his storyline of going to smackdown. Most likely I see Braun Strowman taking it. Big Show will likely be the 2nd last guy, but I think Bruan will get a good boost out of the match.

Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Naomi vs. Mickie James vs. Alexa Bliss(c) in a Six-Pack challenge for the Smackdown Women’s Championship

Story: After Naomi vacated the title (Smackdown after Elimination Chamber), Alexa Bliss claimed it again making her a 2-time Champ. At a ‘Blissertation’, Alexa was about to reveal who she would face at Mania, when all the Women interrupted and Mickie James got confused that she wasn’t getting the opportunity. Daniel Bryan came out and made a match with Bliss defending against every available woman on the smackdown roster, which was a way to tease out Naomi’s return last night. Mostly the division has consisted of scrums and tag matches to show that everyone has animosity towards everyone else.

Prediction: Naomi. This might be a little out of left field, since a lot of people are picking Alexa to win, but I think Naomi’s first title win was a great moment, and since Orlando is her home town, they’ll likely try to recapture that moment.

Austin Aries vs. Neville(c) for the Cruiserweight Championship

Story: After Neville defeated Jack Gallagher in a fantastic match at Fastlane, Austin Aries interviewed him in the ring and Neville provoked him to such an extent that Aries attacked him. Aries then won an incredible Fatal 5-Way match to become Number 1 Contender and face Neville at Wrestlemania.

Prediction: Austin Aries. This is a tough one. Initially my gut said Austin Aries would take it, as so far the Cruiserweight championship has had a fairly quick turnaround of champions, however I could see Neville retaining here and Austin Aries picking up the win later. I think they're going to book Aries strong, as this is not only a return from injury, but also his call up from NXT and he is super over with the crowd. Either way, this match has a chance to steal the show, as these are two of the best workers on the roster, and they're both in great condition.

The Miz and Maryse vs. John Cena and Nikki Bella in a mixed tag-team match (or a “Will John Cena propose?” match)

Story: I’ll be entirely honest, I can’t remember what kicked off this feud, but the brunt of it has been Miz berating Cena for being a part-timer, for being corporate Robo-Cena and for not really loving Nikki because he hasn’t married her, as well as Cena using Nikki to advance his brand. Maryse is angry at Nikki for apparently stopping her from getting into WWE for a few years. A lot of what Miz has been saying is pretty true, and the rumour is that John Cena will propose to Nikki after they win the match, which will only serve to provide credibility to Miz’s statements. The promo’s that have been delivered here, are brutal, with sharp barbs being flung, Cena called Miz a ‘pussy’ and implied that he was ‘firing blanks’ or ‘had nothing down there’. I’m super interested to see how the story of this match turns out.

Prediction: John Cena & Nikki Bella. There is no chance in Hell that Miz and Maryse win here, this is the closest thing to a lock on the card. Really interesting for me is 1) How will the match turn out, I’m hoping it won’t be a squash match and Miz will get in some offence. 2) Will John Cena propose? I hope he does, as the irony will be nice for the smarks, but also it will make for a nice Wrestlemania moment. I’m also really excited for the video package for this.

The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

Story: This story probably has the least build, as WWE is relying on the two huge names involved to sell the match. Roman eliminated Taker from the Royal Rumble, and after Roman beat Braun Strowman at Fastlane, Taker has appeared a few times and Roman eventually challenged him to a match. On the Go-Home RAW, Taker had some cool video packages, but Roman has been somewhat uninspired for the course of this feud. Roman has also been talking about retiring the Undertaker, and given Taker’s condition, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this.

Prediction: Roman Reigns. Even if this isn’t Taker’s last Wrestlemania, I still think Roman will win here in order to give Roman a rub of some sort. I think this could be a good match, but this should have happened a few years ago, and Taker should have put Roman over even in his loss. Roman is going to get nuclear heat from this, so hopefully his character goes somewhere more interesting after this match, there’s a lot of possibility.

AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon

Story: After Randy Orton refused to face Bray at Mania, even though he won the Royal Rumble, there was first a Battle Royale, which was ‘tied’ by Luke Harper and AJ Styles. They then had a 1v1 match, which AJ won, and once Randy turned on Bray, he and AJ had a 1v1 match to determine who would face Bray, which Randy won. Even though Shane was in support of AJ facing Bray, due to his winning two qualifying matches, AJ went ballistic at Shane that he didn’t have a match at Mania, putting Shane’s head through a car window. Last week Shane Coast-to-coast’ed AJ from the ring to the announce table, and now they have a match.

Prediction: AJ Styles. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for Shane to win here. AJ is likely going to RAW in the post-Wrestlemania trades, so AJ beating Shane is a good way to set that up. Apparently they’re building a Rollercoaster for the Wrestlemania set, so Shane might have a spot from that, but I really hope not as he’s too old to be doing that. AJ should beat him with in-ring expertise, he is the best wrestler in WWE after all.

Seth Rollins vs. Triple H in an Unsanctioned match

Story: Back in August, after Finn Balor had to vacate the title due to injury, there was a Fatal 4-Way Elimination match with Big Cass, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens. After Cass was eliminated, Triple H showed up and pedigreed Roman, rolling Seth onto him for the pin, then turned on Seth, pedigreeing him and handing the title to Owens. Seth spent a little while trying to get the title back, but once he couldn’t capture it, he started to call out Triple H himself (they botched this storyline a little by leaving it too long). He showed up at TakeOver: San Antonio and was escorted out by security. On the next RAW, Triple H dropped a fantastic promo, Samoa Joe debuted and legitimately injured Seth’s knee. Seth has been working hard to get a match, but was unable to be cleared (in kayfabe), leading to Triple H and Seth signing a ‘Hold-Harmless Agreement’, meaning that Seth cannot sue Triple H if he is injured again in this match (however, it’s unclear if this applies to Triple H as well?) and now we have an ‘unsanctioned’ match at Wrestlemania.

Prediction: Seth Rollins. I think this will be a battle of the pedigrees, both Triple H and Seth taking multiple before going down, and Seth fighting through his knee to put Triple H down. I could see Joe showing up to help Triple H and Seth getting a decent rub from a loss, but I think having Seth win by fighting through an injury makes a lot more sense.

Enzo and Cass vs. The Club (c) (Gallows and Anderson) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus for the RAW Tag-Team Titles in a Ladder Match

Story: Cesaro and Sheamus took the tag straps from the New Day at Roadblock: End of the Line, The Club took them at the Royal Rumble, and Enzo and Cass won a Number One contender’s match to face The Club at Fastlane (which they lost). This has been a decent build, but without a whole lot of story. Most of the feud has been about the straps, without much personal feeling interjected in it. Whichever way this goes, this should be a pretty good match.

Prediction: Enzo and Cass. Although they haven’t been booked very strong, they nearly took the titles at Fastlane, and taking the titles in Florida, where NXT is located and they gained their popularity would make sense. If they don’t, I see the club retaining and Enzo and Cass taking the title at Summerslam in Brooklyn, but changing the champions gives Enzo and Cass something new to do and keeps the scene fresh.

Nia Jax vs. Charlotte vs Bayley(c) vs. Sasha Banks for the RAW Women’s Championship in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination match

Story: The main story leading into this has been Bayley vs. Charlotte, Charlotte retained at the Royal Rumble, Bayley won on RAW and retained at Fastlane to break Charlotte’s PPV winning streak (Yet another of the dumb storyline decisions made at Fastlane). Sasha beat Bayley to inserat herself into the match, and Nia beat somebody to get herself in. Charlotte has been calling Bayley ‘just a fangirl’, Sasha has been telling Bayley that while they will still be friends, she will take her title, and Nia has been attacking everybody.

Prediction: Bayley. This is a hard one to pick. It feels too early for Nia Jax to win, Charlotte winning without her PPV streak doesn’t make a lot of sense and Sasha winning more or less necessitates her heel turn, however it’s a better story for Bayley to win, and Sasha to turn the next night on RAW. That said, I can easily see any of these Women winning the match, based on where WWE wants the story to go from here. Bayley makes the most sense, I think, but everybody has a good chance, and this should be a pretty fun match.

Dean Ambrose(c) vs. Baron Corbin for the Intercontinental Championship

Story: After Corbin eliminated Ambrose from the Elimination Chamber, they had a small fight. In Baron’s attempt to get a shot at Dean’s IC title, he crushed Dean with a forklift. Dean came back and distracted Baron by standing on a similar forklift during Baron’s match with Randy Orton, causing him to lose after taking an RKO. Ambrose then accepted Corbin’s challenge and Dirty Deed’s’d him. The rivalry between these two has been very physical, and I expect the Wrestlemania match to be the same.

Prediction: Baron Corbin. Corbin is finally ready for a title run, and he needs it to solidify his push as the strong guy on Smackdown. This fight should probably be what Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar should have been last year, very physical, maybe some ref bumps to allow for weapons (as this isn’t a No-DQ match). It’ll be good ti finally see Corbin get a title run, and Ambrose is more entertaining chasing a title.

Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho(c) for the US Championship

Story: This is the match with the longest build on the card. At Battleground, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens had a fantastic match, which was preceded by a highlight reel where Jericho and Kevin Owens teased an alliance. At Summerslam, JeriKO teamed against Enzo and Cass, and won in an upset at the time. Once Kevin won the Universal Championship, Jericho started referring to them both as the Universal Champion, and helped him win multiple matches against Seth Rollins, including Hell in a Cell. In return, Owens helped Jericho takes Reigns’ US title. At the Royal Rumble, Jericho was suspended in a Shark Cage, and still helped Owens win against Roman Reigns by dropping Knuckle Dusters down to him. At RAW two weeks before Fastlane, in Vegas, Triple H pulled Owens aside before Chris Jericho’s Festival of Friendship (this is one of the best segments they’ve done in years, find it online). At the Festival, Owens turned on Jericho. Jericho then distracted Owens to cost him the title to Goldberg at Fastlane. The next night on RAW, coming back to a massive face pop, Jericho challenged Jericho to a match at Mania, and Owens agreed if Jericho put the title on the line. Since then, Jericho has exposed the real Owens (as a Jericho mark when he was young) and Owens has said that Jericho was never a friend, only a tool to keep the title.

Prediction: Kevin Owens. Firstly, Jericho has been helping Owens win all of his matches for months, and Owens has been accused of not being able to win matches on his own. To win a title without help against Jericho, the man who helped him for so long, is a testament to Owens continuing strength. Jericho is also going on tour for a while, so having him retain would mean the US title isn’t around for a while. Lastly, Jericho will likely soon retire from wrestling (in the next few years, probably not next month). Lately he has been doing all he can to put over younger talent, and not only will this put over Kevin Owens in a large way, but Owens will gain a lot of heat due to Jericho’s popularity.

Goldberg(c) vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship

Story: This is the biggest story going into Wrestlemania. At Survivor Series, Goldberg shocked absolutely everybody by demolishing Brock Lesnar in 1:26. In the Royal Rumble, Goldberg once again demolished Brock Lesnar, eliminating him as soon as he got into the ring. Brock Lesnar challenged Goldberg to one last match at Wrestlemania, and after Goldberg took Owens’ title, this match is now for the Universal Championship. Paul Heyman, on behalf of Brock, also congratulated Goldberg for winning against Owens since it makes Lesnar’s inevitable win at Mania that much sweeter, before Lesnar F5’ed Goldberg, who was holding onto the belt for dear life. I am far more interested in this match now than I was previously.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar. Goldberg isn’t likely to do more matches after Wrestlemania, Brock Lesnar getting his revenge for humiliation at Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble makes sense, and from there whoever faces Brock Lesnar gets a huge rub. Goldberg retaining doesn’t really make any storyline sense, and the rumoured Lesnar vs. Reigns main event for WM34 also makes sense for this.

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship

Story: After Randy’s loss to Brock Lesnar, Bray confronted him. After a few matches, Kane got involved, and eventually Orton turned on Kane saying “If you can’t beat em, join em” to side with Bray Wyatt. Along with Luke Harper they won the tag-team titles, before losing them to American Alpha due to Luke’s dissatisfaction with Randy. Randy and Luke had a match, which Randy won, and led to Luke being kicked out of the Family. Randy and Bray stayed a strong team until two weeks or so after Elimination Chamber Randy appeared on the Titantron at the Wyatt compound, and burned down Bray’s house, along with Sister Abigail. This is where the story started to falter. Bray claimed that by burning the physical body of Sister Abigail, Orton had released her full power into him, however he still fought a fairly evenly skilled Luke Harper (he won, but the match should have been a squash) and Randy later stabbed Sister Abigail’s grave with a Crucix(?), on the go-home Smackdown.

Prediction: Randy Orton. As much as I would take any other results on the card to see Bray win, I don’t think it’s likely in the slightest. This story had a lot of potential to be very interesting, and at every turn WWE has again taken the boring route. Randy turning on Bray came out of the blue, Bray could have planned for it (they were teasing this earlier on), but apparently Bray just trusted Randy the whole time. Bray gaining Abigail’s (and Satan’s) full power was a cool idea, but turned somewhat goofy, and hasn’t been displayed at all. Likely Randy will end the match with one RKO (outofnowhere), but it should take at least 5 or 6 to take Bray down if he has the power of Satan in him. This is the match I most hope to be good, but that I think will be the most disappointing. Not bad, just probably a bit sloppy.

I think this Wrestlemania has the potential to be a fantastic show, but additionally it could go wrong in a lot of ways. Personally, I’m a little disappointed we aren’t to be getting the Smackdown Tag Team Championships at Mania, as the Usos and American Alpha put on a great match, last week, and there’s probably a fine spot on the Pre-Show for a rematch. What are your thoughts, do you agree with my predictions? Let me know below and I’ll be back with recaps after Wrestlemania.

[junker-town]

Greatest Royal Rumble live stream: Start time, how to watch online, and match previews

WWE are putting on a massive overseas show with every men’s title on the line.

WWE has entered into a unique partnership with Saudi Arabia, and the first fruits of that partnership are coming to form in the shape of a the Greatest Royal Rumble event, a massive show built around the first-ever 50-man Royal Rumble match in WWE history, featuring major names like Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Braun Strowman, and Shane McMahon.

But elsewhere on the card are a whopping seven title matches, with every men’s title on the line in Jeddah. Both the Universal Championship and WWE Championship will be defended in rematches from Wrestlemania, but both matches will have a very different feel to them. Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal title against Roman Reigns inside a steel cage, with Roman hoping to finally overcome The Beast after never quite being able to beat the sheer overwhelming brutality that the seemingly UFC-bound Lesnar brings to the ring.

AJ Styles will be hoping to retain his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, and gain a measure of revenge against the man who has haunted his every moment ever since Styles won what was supposed to be a dream match at Wrestlemania. Nakamura has been a different and more sadistically calculating man since losing to Styles, and has tortured Styles with one cheap shot to his nuts after another after another in the weeks since they faced off in New Orleans.

The Intercontinental Championship and United States Championship will be defended in matches heavily impacted by the recent Superstar Shakeup that saw numerous wresters jump between Raw and SmackDown Live, with the Intercontinental Championship defended by new champion Seth Rollins against Finn Balor, The Miz, and Samoa Joe, with the latter two having moved to SmackDown. Jeff Hardy won the United States title in surprising fashion in his return from injury the night after WrestleMania, then immediately hopped to ex-champion Jinder Mahal’s former home of SmackDown. Mahal will be hoping to take the belt back to Raw, and it will be interesting to see which shows the two secondary WWE titles wind up on after Friday.

Both tag titles are up for grabs as well, with the Usos hoping to re-claim the SmackDown Tag Team Championships from the brutal force of The Bludgeon Brothers after losing them in a WrestleMania Triple Threat match. The Raw Tag Team Championships are in a rather more complicated picture — The Bar earned their spot in the match for the titles by being the former champions, losing to Braun Strowman and his 10-year-old tag partner Nicholas before fourth grade responsibilities meant they had to vacate the titles, while the newly-formed and massively bizarre duo of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt had to earn their way here in a tournament. But The Bar moved to SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup, so their future seems to be very much tied to what happens in this match.

The Cruiserweight Championship is also on the line on Friday, with Cedric Alexander defending against former champion Kalisto after the leader of the Lucha House Party faction that’s formed on 205 Live won a gauntlet match to become the contender for the title.

There’s also two intriguing non-title matches on the card, with John Cena and Triple H renewing a rivalry that dates all the way back to WrestleMania 22, with the two being involved in several big matches against one another over the last 12 years, trading wins in each direction. This might be the last time we see them face off one-on-one, making this a must-watch match just for the sheer gravity of the history between them.

The other non-title match will see the Undertaker take on Rusev in a casket match, an often-brutal type of match that the Undertaker hasn’t been a part of in nearly a decade, and that hasn’t been seen in WWE at all in over three years. Rusev has become massively popular with the fans thanks to his Rusev Day movement, but this is a match that Undertaker rarely loses. The aging veteran looked like he was in fantastic shape and form against John Cena at WrestleMania, so Rusev is going to need to be at his absolute best to beat him, reaching back to a level that we haven’t seen much of from the Bulgarian Brute in several years.

Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream

Match Date/Time: Friday, 12 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. local

Venue: King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Watch it: The WWE Greatest Royal Rumble will be broadcast live on the WWE Network, which is offering a free month to new subscribers.

Make friends: Check out Cageside Seats for more coverage of WWE and professional wrestling as a whole.