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WWE has always been full of surprises! Whether it’s the in-ring competition, or the backstage chatter, fans have always waited for something or the other to happen in the company, and that has yielded both positive and negative results.
Last Sunday, we watched the Royal Rumble of the year which is usually packed with surprises. However, this year the event was more or less predictable, but was still a very good event.
As the week went on, fans expected some surprises to come out of all the brands out of the company, and they were not disappointed at all.
While there were many unexpected happenings during the week, some were expected and were carried out in grand fashion.
So here we take a look at five of the biggest surprises from WWE this week which have shaken up the two main brands and the cruiserweight division of the company.
#5 Hideo Itami’s release from the company
Hideo Itami was signed with WWE in 2014 with much fanfare as he was seen as one of WWE’s biggest signings of the 2010s. Hulk Hogan personally flew to Japan to help make the official announcement, as Itami made a prominent name around the world for himself as KENTA.
Shortly after this week’s edition of 205 Live on Tuesday night, it was reported that Itami had officially asked for his release from the company and that it had been granted.
On Tuesday night's 205 Live, Itami was seemingly written out of the weekly show when he was attacked by former friend Ariya Daivari.
As one of the biggest superstars from NXT and then 205 Live, we were surprised to learn that a superstar of his caliber who had signed on to the company to much delight of his fans had sadly decided that it was time to part with the company after five years.
While WWE is yet to confirm the news of Itami, real name Kenta Kobayashi, it seems all but likely that Itami, one of the biggest cruiserweight superstars in the world, is leaving the company for good.
#4 Seth Rollins’ beatdown at the hands of Brock Lesnar
Almost the entire WWE Universe knew who would win the Royal Rumble match and who they’d go on to challenge for WrestleMania 35.
Even though that was the case, Rollins’ win at the Royal Rumble received one of the biggest pops of the night, and it was certain that he would challenge Brock Lesnar sooner than later.
When Rollins came out on Raw the next night, Triple H asked him to make his decision the same night and inform the WWE Universe who he would challenge for the title at WrestleMania 35.
While we waited till the end of the night for Rollins to walk out and announce his decision, no one expected The Beast and his Advocate to show up first, and then for Lesnar to hand Rollins an unforgiving beating.
Rollins was put through multiple F5s that left him almost lifeless on the ring mat. While the match between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship is set in stone, no one expected it to be set in such a manner.
#3 Becky Lynch’s challenge to Ronda Rousey
Becky Lynch is afraid of no one, and her new character clearly lets that shine out bright. She lost her match against Asuka for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble but made her way into the women’s Royal Rumble match to win it at the end.
Most fans were aware that Lynch would challenge Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Championship for WrestleMania 35, though no one was sure when she would do it and in what manner.
While Lynch has become a master of social media, she did not hide behind a keyboard to challenge the former UFC champion.
Instead, she surprised everyone by making her way out on Raw right after Royal Rumble and laid down the challenge to Ronda face to face after her match with Bayley.
The match between the two women is now set for the Grandest Stage of Them All, and we could well see it headline the event!
#2 R-Truth’s United States Championship win
Rusev beat Shinsuke Nakamura to win the United States Championship, and his first defense came against Nakamura himself a couple of weeks later at the Royal Rumble.
Surprisingly, Rusev lost the title again to Nakamura in his first defense due to a distraction that was caused by his wife Lana getting injured.
A couple of nights later on SmackDown Live, Nakamura defended his newly won United States Championship against veteran wrestler R-Truth. While we all expected the match to just be another entertaining one involving Truth and have Nakamura use his heelish tactics to get over the babyface, it wasn’t so.
To the surprise of the WWE Universe, Truth rolled up Nakamura for the pin to win the United States Championship. He later defended the title against Rusev on the same night, and managed to beat the Bulgarian Brute too!
Whatever the creatives were thinking, this was definitely the wildest thing they could have come up with for SmackDown Live just 48 hours after the Rumble.
#1 News of Dean Ambrose’s departure
The news that has raised many question marks came just after Raw this week. On this week’s episode of Raw, Dean Ambrose came out to interrupt a segment between Triple H and Seth Rollins and managed to get a match against his former Shield-brother.
Ambrose went on to lose the match cleanly and was later attacked by Nia Jax on his way out of the ring.
While the latter part confused fans, news soon came out that Ambrose is planning to leave WWE as he is not resigning after his contract expires in April after WrestleMania 35.
The reasons given is that he is unhappy with the direction of his character, and the storylines that he’s been made a part of. Not only has this surprised fans of The Lunatic Fringe, but also surprised many superstars backstage.
While it isn’t clear whether the news is genuine or just a work by WWE which will lead to something new for the superstar, the news itself is quite concerning for the wrestling business.
