Braun Strowman Was Once Set To Defeat Brock Lesnar For WWE Universal Title
(Photo Credit: WWE)
Braun Strowman was originally scheduled to defeat Brock Lesnar for the vacant WWE Universal Title at the Crown Jewel 2018 event in Saudi Arabia.
Crown Jewel 2018 saw Lesnar defeat Strowman for the vacant Universal Title in a match that lasted under 4 minutes. Then-RAW General Manager King Baron Corbin attacked Strowman before the match. The title had been declared vacant by Roman Reigns due to his battle with leukemia.
Former WWE writer Kazeem Famuyide recently discussed show re-writes on his “Say Less with Kaz, Lowkey and Rosy” podcast and revealed that Strowman was originally scheduled to defeat Lesnar for the vacant title. WWE creative had an entire RAW planned with Strowman as champion, but Lesnar ended up winning the match and the following RAW had to be re-written.
WWE SmackDown Results – Daniel Bryan Vs. Roman Reigns, Apollo Crews Defends, More
(Photo Credit: WWE)
WWE SmackDown Viewing Party. Tonight’s show comes from the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.
– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX opens up with a video package to hype tonight’s Career vs. Title main event. We cut to the SmackDown intro video.
– We’re live from the WWE ThunderDome at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida as Michael Cole welcomes us and the pyro goes off. He’s joined at ringside by Pat McAfee. They hype tonight’s main event.
– We go right to the ring and out comes SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair as Greg Hamilton does the introduction. Cole sends us to a video package to hype Belair up.
– Fightful Select recently spoke to recently released WWE talent, Steve Cutler (aka Steve Maclin), who detailed the process of trying to land a meeting with Vince McMahon in WWE. Cutler was released from the roster earlier this year. During the interview, Cutler shared details on the process of trying to meet Vince McMahon at his office, but eventually, he was told to stop doing it later on.
During the interview, Cutler noted that he often spent time waiting in a line to meet with the WWE Chairman outside his office throughout 2020, along with Chelsea Green, who was released from WWE last April. Cutler said that some wrestlers, such as Bayley, encouraged them to wait to meet with Vince McMahon and told them that they were doing the right thing. However, they were eventually told later on not to wait outside McMahon’s office any longer. Instead, they were told to wait in the catering area, and that they would be notified later when McMahon was ready.
(Photo Credit: WWE)
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and manager Paul Heyman took to Twitter this afternoon to taunt Daniel Bryan ahead of tonight’s big SmackDown on FOX main event.
Tonight’s Career vs. Title Match will headline SmackDown and if Bryan loses, he will be banned from SmackDown. WWE tweeted a graphic today that touts how Reigns has not been pinned or tapped out on SmackDown since November 8, 2019, which was a loss to King Baron Corbin in the UK.
Heyman re-posted that graphic with a message for Bryan.
“If you’re going to go out, you go out with style. On top. The very top. Heights that very few others have ever achieved. Tonight, @WWEDanielBryan gets to finish up his #Smackdown career on top. The #YesMovement comes to a devastating end … … at the hands of @WWERomanReigns,” Heyman wrote.
Wesley Blake Breaks Silence On His WWE Release
(Photo Credit: WWE)
Wesley Blake took to Twitter this evening and issued a brief statement on his WWE departure.
As we’ve noted, WWE made budget cuts on Thursday and released Blake and 9 other Superstars – Samoa Joe, Peyton Royce, Mickie James, Mojo Rawley, Chelsea Green, Tucker, Billie Kay, Kalisto and Bo Dallas. Blake broke his silence this evening and looked ahead to the future.
“One door closes, another opens. Thank you to all who have help me along the way. Much love [heart emoji] [folded hands emoji],” Blake wrote, attaching a GIF of rocker Zakk Wylde giving thanks.