New Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins may not be out of the woods with Finn Bálor, but the good news is that he has no shortage of allies when it comes to dealing with The Miz.
After a brief confab between Rollins and The Extraordinary Man (wherein a handshake — though non-binding — deal was struck to battle for the title), former champion The Miz resurfaced to reprimand Rollins for defeating him at WrestleMania, as the loss had made his baby daughter cry… which, in turn, made his wife cry… which made Miz himself cry.
That said, Miz — who made a point of saying he only dismissed The Miztourage at WrestleMania to avoid accusations of playing dirty — wasn’t about to invoke his rematch clause on The Kingslayer. He opted instead to call his shot for WWE Backlash, though he was more than willing to battle Seth and Finn in a 3-on-2 Handicap Match. Alas, that plan was thwarted by the arrival of Jeff Hardy, last seen haunting The Hardy Compound during The Ultimate Deletion. Jeff returned more than willing here to help Rollins and Bálor send Miz and his crew packing. Given that Kurt Angle sanctioned a Six-Man Tag Team Match for later in the evening, The Charismatic Enigma may well be willing to do a little more before all is said and done.
“Woken” Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Titus Worldwide in a Tag Team Eliminator Match
Last night, Bray Wyatt rose from The Lake of Reincarnation to help “Woken” Matt Hardy win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, signifying the beginning of a wonderful new partnership. On Raw, the two former rivals made it official, teaming up for the first time and notching a Tag Team Eliminator victory that doubled as the start of their “Expedition of Gold.”
With Wyatt “rid of the succubus known as Sister Abigail” and Hardy bolstered by the presence of Humungous Wonder Number Eight, they were near-flawless against Titus Worldwide, despite having never competed together. The Eater of Worlds seemed to have picked up a few of Hardy’s mannerisms as well — he decreed Apollo’s athletics to be “Wonderful!” — but Wyatt still relied on his punishing power moves to take the wind out of Apollo’s sails. A Sister Abigail-Twist of Fate combo landed Hardy & Wyatt a victory, The Expedition of Gold is officially a go, and The Revival await in the distance.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy is headed to The Hardy Compound, and “Woken” Matt Hardy has Bray Wyatt of all people to thank for it.
In the first match of the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff, at the site of the very first Andre Battle Royal — the sold-out Mercedes-Benz Superdome — the Woken Superstar procured the prestigious prize by eliminating former trophy winner Baron Corbin to claim The Show of Shows’ annual over-the-top-rope fray.
With dozens of Raw and SmackDown Superstars eying the vaunted trophy, the victory was anything but easy. As soon as the opening bell rang, the field of competitors burst into action. Aiden English had the unenviable distinction of being the first man eliminated, a rough way to mark this particular Rusev Day. Dolph Ziggler doggedly avoided elimination at every turn, skinning the cat more than a fellmonger.
Golden Truth reunited briefly before Goldust double-crossed R-Truth and sent him flying (a feat that The Bizarre One topped off with a celebratory dab). As the pack continued to thin, Zack Ryder signaled for a Broski Boot on Ziggler but was cut off by a brutal pounce from another past Andre Battle Royal victor, Mojo Rawley, resulting in the elimination of his onetime Hype Bro teammate.
Eventually, the Battle Royal dwindled down to Hardy, Corbin and Rawley. Corbin and Rawley forged an unlikely alliance and put boots to Hardy. But just when things looked bleakest for The Woken One, Wyatt appeared seemingly out of thin air, marking his first time back in the ring since before Hardy defeated him in The Ultimate Deletion.
To the astonishment of everyone, especially Hardy, Wyatt’s arrival was a blessing in disguise. The New Face of Fear helped Hardy eliminate Mojo, but was almost immediately met by an End of Days from Corbin. With his attention diverted, Corbin stumbled into a waiting Hardy, who backdropped The Lone Wolf onto the floor for the win.
“Woken” Matt thanked Wyatt (as did the WWE Universe, with chants of “Thank you, Wyatt”), and the two twisted forces embraced.
With his challenge to The Undertaker still unanswered, John Cena sat among the WWE Universe with a stunned expression on his face. His reaction said it all. A new and confounding alliance has arrived in WWE.
Credit: WWE.com
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Goldust is headed to WrestleMania after making a “Princess Bride”-themed declaration for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but it’s looking like “Woken” Matt Hardy might be the Raw Superstar to beat in the fifth annual edition of the melee. The Woken One, returning to in-ring action for the first time since The Ultimate Deletion, maintained his momentum by overcoming a resilient effort from The Bizarre One moments after the former Intercontinental Champion’s Battle Royal announcement.
If it seemed like a particularly inspired performance by the victor, it soon became clear where Hardy got that inspiration from: Matt made a beeline straight for the Andre trophy at ringside, seemingly carrying on a conversation “Humungous Wonder No. 8” that ended in a new mantra of sorts for The Woken One: “Procure!”
Credit: WWE.com
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Last week, “Woken” Matt Hardy seemingly vanished Bray Wyatt from the face of the earth at the end of the bizarre, Internet-breaking match known as The Ultimate Deletion. This week, The Woken One followed up his triumph by booking his ticket to WrestleMania as Raw’s latest entrant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. His warning that anyone who opposes him would face deletion for their actions may have seemed like bizarre bluster just weeks ago, but given the events of The Ultimate Deletion, it may well end up being a most potent premonition.
Credit: WWE.com
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Screen Captures > WWE Programs > RAW > 2018 > March 26th – Woken Matt Hardy Promo
“Woken” Matt Hardy has fulfilled the promise he made upon his rebirth several months ago: Bray Wyatt has been deleted.
Their highly-anticipated final battle, dubbed “The Ultimate Deletion” and set within the sprawling grounds of The Hardy Compound, began as a one-on-one contest in a ring, but it quickly turned into a pursuit across the compound once Hardy’s drone, Vanguard 1, ignited the “Boomstick Protocol” and showered the ring in fireworks to allow The Woken One to escape his opponent.
The Eater of Worlds pursued his foe through “The Dilapidated City” (which bore an eerie resemblance to Wyatt’s own destroyed compound), lost track of Hardy in “The Land of Obsolete Men” (where The Woken One led Wyatt on a frantic pursuit among a yard of ornate tombstones) and nearly met his doom in “The Dome of Deletion,” when Hardy commandeered a lawnmower and drove it toward Wyatt while “Ode to Joy” blared through the Compound.
Wyatt recovered, however, and their battle culminated on the shores of The Lake of Reincarnation, when several members of The Woken Family convened to save their patriarch from defeat. Vanguard 1 distracted Wyatt as he was about to administer Sister Abigail, while Hardy ran for cover underneath Skarsgård, his trusty dilapidated boat. When Wyatt moved the boat aside, however, it wasn’t Hardy waiting for him but Señor Benjamin, who tossed a globe at Wyatt and began to sing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” with an assist from a zombie-eyed Jeff Hardy.
With Wyatt thrown, Matt re-emerged with a Twist of Fate that ended the match, and The Woken One charged The Reaper of Souls to send him tumbling into The Lake of Reincarnation. When Señor Benjamin attempted to retrieve Wyatt from the Lake, he found that the former WWE Champion had vanished altogether. As Hardy celebrated his “delightful” victory, Vanguard 1 flew away with a message flashing across its display: “Deletion: Complete.”
In other words? It’s OVAH.
Credit: WWE.com
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Screen Captures > WWE Programs > RAW > 2018 > March 19th – The Ultimate Deletion
