Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

The Undertaker vs. Rusev Casket Match set for Greatest Royal Rumble

Following his triumphant return at WrestleMania, The Undertaker will take on Rusev in a Casket Match at the Greatest Royal Rumble event, which takes place at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, April 27, at 7 p.m. AST. The object of a Casket Match is for a WWE Superstar to trap their opponent inside the casket and close the lid.

The Greatest Royal Rumble will stream live on WWE Network on Friday, April 27, at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT, with a special, one-hour Greatest Royal Rumble Kickoff starting at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT. It will also be available on pay-per-view outside of the Middle East with regional broadcast information forthcoming.

I would assume Undertaker will go over, and that'll lead to talk of Rusev being buried (quite literally, in this case!), but it's a Network event being held overseas. Basically just a match for the international market, giving them an opportunity to see a legend in action, and have a heel be defeated in a gimmick match (though it's questionable as to whether Rusev really is a heel right now). If this were an extended program on TV or one of the regularly scheduled events, then I'd suggest it'd be problematic in terms of making Rusev look strong, but as a once off? Just fanservice for a market they don't visit all that much.

Also, guess Taker is feeling pretty healthy if he's willing to work a few more dates here and there.

Really cool debut for the iconic duo. Haven't seen them at all on nxt for a while.

I could see Charlotte and Miz moving. I could also see the case for Bryan moving to raw as they'd want to bring one of the biggest superstars to the "A Show". Would like to see Ember Moon go to SD so she doesn't get lost on Raw like Sasha and bayley, especially if Charlotte goes back.
balor club to SD would be cool. Would be awesome if they collected all the former indie/Japan guys on SD and they all fought each other.

What's interesting with the nakamura turn is that it shows a lack of main event heels so let's see how they balance out the glut of faces they have on both rosters

Interesting of the WWE to squash American icon John Cena just to make look Taker look formidable for the upcoming GRR event.

They could have another main event heel if they turned Reigns, but, well...

They could have another main event heel if they turned Reigns, but, well...

The fans are already there and have been for years.

In an interview, HHH somewhat snarkily said of the situation "Isn't he already a heel?". Well, no. He's getting heel reactions, but angles very much position him as the protagonist in the story, which is a babyface role. He's not booked like a heel. He's not an antagonist in the stories they're trying to tell with him.

I've seen it suggested that turning him would be a waste because he'd end up being a face again. To that, I say fine, good! He wouldn't be the first wrestler they have to turn heel to ultimately turn face. They've been forcing the issue too long, and it blew up in their faces at Wrestlemania 34. The point is, they should be riding the crowd reactions, not fighting them.

It's now going to be Undertaker vs Chris Jericho at the Greatest Royal Rumble. There are rumours that Rusev is quitting the company.

It's now going to be Undertaker vs Chris Jericho at the Greatest Royal Rumble. There are rumours that Rusev is quitting the company.

I imagine it's very frustrating to see how over you are and never really have any direction or angle or push planned that makes any semblance of sense.

No doubt. He's not alone there. Ziggler has suffered from that for years.

Cena and Nikki reportedly break up. Didn't think that was going to last.

Random thought about WrestleMania: what was up with those shitty comupter graphics on screen? On asuka and new day entrances

Well, that certainly makes last year's "Wrestlemania moment" awkward.

So Rusev-Taker is back again for GRR.

Rusev, Jericho, now Rusev again, wtf is going on.

They're working you, that's what's going on. They seem to be trying to swerve the internet and the dirt sheets right now.

That's weird.

I'm also thinking that the Cena-Bella split is also a work.

I don't know about that. I suppose we can't rule it out, and with kayfabe being long dead, they do have go to some extreme lengths to get reactions sometimes. I'm taking it at face value for the moment, since there's nothing playing out on TV regarding it.

I think it's definitely real considering Cena's view on marriage and having a family plus hes becoming a bigger movie star. He doesn't want to be tied down by anything

On the plus side, Dolph Ziggler now has a second chance.

Interesting moves to raw. I dunno why, I expected bigger names to be moved over to raw like Charlotte to make it the A show but then again you have to balance the shows. I could see Finn being moved over especially with his blue gear he was wearing lol
With the US title on raw they'll have to move Seth rollins right? Maybe they bring back big cass tonight as well.

They do usually balance it out like that when titles switch shows, which makes things kind of predictable as soon as you see the first change.

Could also move Jeff since he isn't being a part of the woken stuff right now.

Evidently Braun's tron was new a squished more than normal last night, most likely to fit on the Smackdown angular tron.

I'd like to see AJ, Finn, & the Club all on Smackdown, Bayley, The Bar, and Almas....

...probably getting the returning Cass, and probably Titus Worldwide to balance the fashion police & friends going to Raw.

Jeff to SD makes sense. Especially with them wanting to push him as a single star like they did in his last run.

I don't want to see braun on SD. I don't really find him that interesting or entertaining. Although I do like his new get these hands catch phrase

That's true, Jeff to Smacldown would also work. Presumably he'd then retain against Jinder at The Greatest Royal Rumble.

You called it.

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Sanity is also called up to Smackdown, but it seems like Nikki Cross is left behind.

Meanwhile, Bruno Sammartino passed away at age 82.