Monday Night Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-views are the most splashy parts of WWE’s wrestling content. But house shows play an important role, too, giving fans who can’t afford to go to the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Survivor Series or Summer Slam, for example, an opportunity to see their favorite WWE superstars in person.
House shows also normally provide a glimpse into what might happen at an upcoming pay-per-view. Take, for example, the “Road to WrestleMania” SuperShow series stop Saturday at the Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. Here’s what happened that night, according to a report on Sportskeeda:
Sky is Limited
Up first was a title match between Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and Bayley. The match didn’t last long. Iyo Sky interrupted, which led to an appearance by Becky Lynch and the referee’s decision to declare the match no contest. Belair and Becky ended up in a tag team match against Bayley and Sky and won.
In another tag match, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa beat Ricochet and Braun Strowman. Jimmy Uso was nowhere to be seen. Is he leaving The Bloodline, or plotting to turn on Sami Zayn in Sami’s match against Undisputed Universal champion Roman Reigns at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view Feb. 18 in Montreal?
Here’s another question: Will Jey Uso join Jimmy to face Ricochet and Strowman in an Undisputed Tag Team title match Friday on SmackDown?
Who is Bray Wyatt?
Next in Pensacola, Candice LeRae beat Piper Niven, The Brawling Brutes defeated Imperium, then Bray Wyatt, wearing an Uncle Howdy mask, defeated LA Knight in a Lights Out Street Fight. Wyatt remains one of the WWE’s most popular characters even though he alternates between baby face and heel.
Did you know Wyatt is part of a famous pro wrestling family? His real name is Windham Rotunda. Mike Rotunda is his father, Blackjack Mulligan is his grandfather, Barry Windham and Kendall Windham are his uncles and Taylor Rotunda (Bo Dallas) is his brother. Bray is married and the father of four (two with his first wife).
Charlotte Flair, Liv Morgan and Sonya Deville were in a triple-threat match for Charlotte’s SmackDown women’s title in Pensacola when Deville suffered a cut over her eye and the match was stopped. Being busted open must not have been part of the plan for the match because a medical crew was brought out to attend to Deville and the match was halted.
Deville was cut near the same spot Jan. 28 during her 10 minutes in the women’s Royal Rumble match. She entered the match at No. 27 and eliminated three wrestlers before she was tossed over the top rope by the suddenly sinister Asuka.
Cody Rhodes was in the main event in Pensacola. He beat Seth “Freaking” Rollins. While the Rhodes-Rollins rivalry will continue for a while, WWE fans are looking forward to the Rhodes-Reigns showdown for Reigns’ Undisputed Universal Title at WrestleMania 39 in April. Jimmy and Jey Uso will surely be apart of the storyline. Betoline.com has Rhodes a -400 favorite to win that match and Reigns is a +250 underdog.