Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week we’ve just begun.
WWE Raw preview – Monday, October 10, Barclays Center, Brooklyn
Where Brooklyn at? Probably at Barclays Center for the season premiere of Raw. WWE is going hard on the nostalgia front for this one, promoting a DX 25th anniversary reunion that’ll have everyone you know and love except for one blonde guy you may remember who works for another company. But more on Daddy Ass in a bit.
(Also, it’s been 25 years since D-Generation X first hit the scene? Wow.)
Roman Reigns and the Bloodline will also be on hand, because you can’t have a season premiere without your top star. Or you shouldn’t, anyway. With Extreme Rules in the rear view mirror, where Reigns wasn’t booked anyway, he can turn his full attention to Logan Paul, who he’ll face at Crown Jewel in just a few weeks.
Also on the schedule for Raw from Brooklyn:
- Bobby Lashley puts his United States Championship on the line against Seth Rollins
- Johnny Gargano gets in the ring with former friend turned foe Austin Theory
AEW Dynamite preview – Wednesday, October 12, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto
There are few guarantees in pro wrestling or life in general, but for something that is as close to a sure thing as possible, consider the AEW Dynamite debut in Toronto this week and how hot the crowd will be. While numerous people have suggested AEW has perhaps run some eastern and midwest U.S. markets too often, this should be a very live show considering how fans have clamored for the company to do a Canadian swing.
We know a bit about what is planned for Dynamite too. Chris Jericho will put his status as “The Ocho” on the line by defending his ROH World Championship against Bryan Danielson. Jericho will get home country love, but the American Dragon is over everywhere, so this should be a very fun encounter particularly in Toronto.
Billy Gunn, the one DX member who is not invited to the Raw reunion, will have his hands full anyway as he takes on Swerve Strickland. Considering Swerve won’t stay out of the tag team champs’ business, you can bet The Acclaimed will probably arrive for this one as well.
And a former friendship turned sour will be showcased when “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry faces Luchasaurus. The one-time tag team champions were bound to collide when the dinosaur man sided with Christian Cage, making this match as inevitable as Thanos.
Wait, that’s not all (said in infomercial voice)! Orange Cassidy still hasn’t won AEW gold, but he’ll get another chance when he faces Pac again for the All-Atlantic Championship. So this is definitely a worthy debut show all told.
WWE SmackDown preview – Friday, October 14, Smoothie King Center, New Orleans
As is normal when we’re at the beginning of a week, we only have a small snippet of what will happen this Friday on SmackDown in NOLA. Sami Zayn, the Honorary Uce, will take on Kofi Kingston in a match that spun out of things that went down on last week’s show. Can he prove to Jey Uso that he has things under control when left to his own devices?
Also, LA Knight is back! In the latest example of trying to kill something you’ve created. In this case, he’ll be attempting to put his Max Dupri persona behind him when he battles Mansoor of the Maximum Male Models.
Oh yeah, and maybe that Bray Wyatt fellow everyone seems to be talking about will make an appearance on SmackDown …
AEW Rampage preview – Friday, October 14, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto (taped on October 13)
This week’s Rampage is an unusual one: It’s not live, but it’s also not being recorded after Dynamite on Wednesday night. Instead, it will be taped during a separate show in Toronto on Thursday evening.
We’re not sure of any matches definitively set for Rampage, but as is typically the case, we should know at least two by the end of Dynamite.