WRESTLING REPORT

The road to Wrestlemania is forming post Royal Rumble

The road to Wrestlemania is forming post Royal Rumble
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Coming off the heels of Sunday's Royal Rumble, some championships changed hands, some surprisingly didn't and the heat is building for WrestleMania.

Surprisingly Finn Balor didn't beat Brock Lesnar, but Seth Rollins did win the Men's Royal Rumble and at the end of RAW decided to challenge Lesnar for his title in the main event of WrestleMania. Ronda Rousey tried to cut a promo about being in the main even of WrestleMania but the fans weren't having it, further cementing the idea that the fans aren't enjoying a Rousey reign as Women's Champion and were chanting Becky's name long before Becky Lynch made a surprise appearance and cashed in the prize of her victory from the women's Royal Rumble and challenged Ronda to a title match at WrestleMania.

Two of the women's tag team entries into the elimination match for the women's tag team titles were set with both Tamina/Nia Jax and Liv Morgan/Sarah Logan qualifying for the match. Overall this was an average wrap up show with no real movement on anything although it looks like the Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins rivalry has come to an end as rumors are now abound that Ambrose won't be renewing his WWE contract and will likely be leaving post WrestleMania for those rumored greener pastures every wrestler's been dreaming about this year, All Elite Wrestling.

Yet again Smackdown launched with Lynch, her feud with Charlotte Flair continuing, but the crowd excited about her impending match with Rousey at WrestleMania also wasn't letting Charlotte talk, so they fought instead. R Truth had a great show as he first beat Shinsuke Nakamora and then Rusev immediately after to both win and defend the US Championship in the span of about twenty minutes.

The Mandy Rose/Naomi story took a slightly more believable turn as Mandy's desire for revenge was at least explained - even if it is paper thin - the tag titles are going to be put on the line against perennial tag team champ threats, The Usos. Smackdown lined up the Elimination Chamber main event with Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Mustafa Ali, Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles. This is great news if it was 10 years ago, because aside from Mustafa Ali this is one of the oldest main events in recent history, reminiscent of the Triple H vs Sting Wrestlemania match of a few years back.

The road to WrestleMania is shaping up and one thing is obvious, the year of Becky Lynch and the rise of the Women of the WWE may be two of the biggest storylines of 2019.

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The Angels beat the Astros, 4-1. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.

Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.

The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.

Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.

Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.

Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.

Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.

Key moment

Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.

Key Stat

Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.

Up next

Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.

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