As noted recently, WWE Hall Of Famer Tully Blanchard suffered an injury while executing a run-in during his daughter Tessa Blanchard’s match at a recent Pro Wrestling Syndicate event.

Blanchard reportedly injured himself while getting in the ring for a run-in, but went on to perform multiple dropkicks.

The Pro Wrestling Syndicate promotion has reported that Blanchard suffered what is being described as a partially torn tendon in his left biceps. Tully commented, “It hurts to exert the muscle, but I’ll live.”

– The latest edition of the Steve Austin Show podcast, which is available right now, features a new interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Ivan Koloff. The official description for the show reads as follows:

SASc – EP179 – Ivan Koloff “The Russian Bear”

“”The Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff has plenty to say about winning the WWWF title from Bruno Sammartino, working tag with The Superstar Billy Graham, fighting the Iron Sheik on a commercial airplane, raising hell with Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer, and getting clean thanks to the help of Nikita Koloff! You’ll hear about kicking drugs, and starting his own ministry too!”

You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

– The latest edition of “RAW Fallout,” which you can watch below, features The Miz furthering his angle with Naomi.

The following are highlights of a new Associated Press interview with CM Punk:

On closing the door on a return to WWE: “They didn’t like me long before I left and there’s no reason to pretend there needs to be any kind of working relationship.”

On a comparison to the UFC for not being featured in WWE main events: “Imagine if UFC took Conor McGregor and they just put him on Fight Pass prelims, and they wouldn’t let him main event the big PPV or a big show. That’s how I felt. I was the main event on all the house shows, I was the only guy that was touring live every single day. When it came time for the PPV main event, oh, someone else is coming in.”

Check out the complete interview at AP.org.

Due to the fact that the WWE Network was not free in Canada during the month of November like it was in the rest of the world, Rogers Cable will be putting the live stream of the WWE Network up for free on a couple of upcoming dates.

The WWE Network live stream will go up for free on Sportsnet 360 this Thursday, December 25th from 10am to 4pm Eastern Time, and again from 7pm to 1am Eastern Time.

Additionally, the WWE Network stream will go up for free on Friday, December 26th from 6am to Noon and on Thursday, January 1st from 6pm until Midnight.

WWE aired a vignette on RAW hyping The Ascension’s main roster debut next Monday night.

After a strong run in NXT using a “gothic” gimmick, the duo has been repackaged as an old school late 80’s “Road Warriors” style team. They’ve worked WWE live events in recent months and even competed on Main Event several weeks back, but this will be their first appearance on RAW.

At one point there was talk of pairing The Ascension with Bray Wyatt, but it looks like they’ll be flying solo for now.

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s “NJPWWorld” on demand service (their version of the WWE Network) achieved over 10,000 subscribers in its first 3 weeks of service, according to a report at Enuhito.com. This translates to approximately 1.2 million yen per year in income for NJPW.

NJPW Takaaki Kidani previously stated 30,000 subscribers was a realistic goal for the first year, but now it appears they will reach that much sooner.

The NJPW Documentary series is said to be one of the most popular features on NJPWWorld. The first two editions focus on Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada.

WWE Diva Natalya tweeted the following childhood photo of her husband Tyson Kidd on Monday. As you may know, Kidd owns several cats and has wrestled many times with images of cats spray painted on his ring gear.

I promised @kiddwwe I would never show anyone this school photo of his. I lied. ?? pic.twitter.com/vwEnSeg2ES

— Nattie (@NatbyNature) December 22, 2014

WWE Diva Natalya posted the following photo of former WWE star The Boogeyman on her Instagram account. The photo was taken last night at Raw.

So great seeing my friend Marty (aka Boogeyman) backstage tonight in Minneapolis. He not only looks great, but is always so humble and classy… Despite the fact he eats worms in his spare time. ????

A photo posted by natbynature (@natbynature) on Dec 12, 2014 at 9:17pm PST

– The first guest on Taz’s new “Human Podcast Machine” on January 7th will be none other than WWE Hall of Famer Edge.

https://twitter.com/OfficialTAZ/status/547213927822950400

https://twitter.com/OfficialTAZ/status/547224065627672576

After Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air, Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt continued to brawl. Ambrose brought another table out, which led to Wyatt offering a handshake. Ambrose hit him with Dirty Deeds instead and then put him on the table.

Ambrose climbed a ladder and dove onto Wyatt, which got a huge pop from the crowd.

Referees checked on Wyatt, who indicated that he was injured. After being tended to by medical staff, he was eventually taken out of the arena and ambulance. Wyatt was then transported to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

We’ll post an update on the situation as soon as it becomes available.

Credit to Raj Giri of WrestlingINC.com for information used in this report.

It was announced on this week’s special Christmas-themed edition of WWE RAW that next week’s show will “totally reek of awesomeness,” as we will have special guest hosts.

Hosting next week’s show, which is the final RAW of 2014, will be the former multiple-time WWE Tag-Team Champions, Edge and Christian.

Santa Hogan (Ho-Ho Hogan), John Cena & Seth Rollins Open Up RAW

The Christmas-themed edition of WWE RAW opens up with a shot of the stage, which is decked out with a few Christmas trees and other holiday-themed decorations. We are then shown a graphic that promotes a special “Piper’s Pit” segment with Roddy Piper and special guests, Rusev and Lana. Then, we are told that Roman Reigns and Big Show will go one-on-one in a singles match and Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt will square off in a “Miracle on 34th Street Match.”

From there, a familiar theme song plays as WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan, tonight’s RAW guest host, comes out dressed up as Santa Claus. He’s got the hat, the beard, the suit. The works. You can’t even tell it’s Hogan.

“Ho Ho Ho, Brother!” begins Hogan. He says tonight, Ho-Ho Hogan is here to spread cheer all over Monday Night RAW, “brother.” The fans break out in a “Hogan! Hogan! Hogan!” chant. He corrects them and gets them to chant “Ho-Ho Hogan! Ho-Ho Hogan!” He says tonight he’s going to be giving presents to all of the WWE Superstars and to us, the WWE Universe. He promotes some of the aforementioned matches and segments announced for tonight’s show.

As he goes to wrap up, John Cena’s theme song hits. Out comes the leader of the Ce-Nation to a loud, mostly positive reaction. When the music stops, the “mostly positive” reaction switches quickly to a loud mixed-bag reaction. Cena goes into a rant about Santa Claus and Hulk Hogan being icons. The fans break out in another “Ho-Ho Hogan!” chant. Cena sings and jokes about what he wanted for Christmas, but says that changed when “this happened.” With that said, we see a shot of last week’s cage match on RAW when Cena was attacked by Brock Lesnar and then Paul Heyman shook hands with Seth Rollins.

After the video package ends, the fans break out in a loud “We Want Lesnar” chant. Cena says he wants Lesnar too — he wants to kick his teeth down his throat. Cena says most people would complain about what happened in last week’s cage match, but not him. He says last week he lost to Rollins fair and square, but after that loss he changed his Christmas wish. All he wants is a match — tonight — versus Seth Rollins. He promises he’ll be ready for anything tonight. He asks “Ho-Ho Hogan” what he thinks.

Before Hogan can answer, Seth Rollins’ theme song hits. Out he comes with Joey Mercury, Jamie Noble and a shiney, dented-up golden briefcase. Rollins says he can’t believe what he’s hearing out here. He brags about Curb-Stomping Cena’s head into the mat last week. He tells Cena he told him a couple weeks ago that nobody wants to hear his “stupid voice” anymore. He says he didn’t come out here to disrespect anybody. He says Hogan and Cena are absolute legends. He says in their respective eras they took WWE to big heights, but he says Cena’s time is up, and his time is now. The fans boo. Rollins says he’s the future of WWE, the new standard bearer. He warns Cena that if he wants to last one more day in the Rollins era, that’s something he’s going to have to accept. The fans start chanting “You Sold Out.”

Rollins says the real reason he’s out here is to tell us that “Ho-Ho Hogan” shouldn’t be running RAW tonight, it should be The Authority. The fans chant “Ho-Ho Hogan” again. Rollins says Triple H and Stephanie McMahon deserve to be here tonight. The fans boo, so Rollins says that boo’ing that is not the holiday spirit. He says people like Hogan running this show is what is running this company down the toilet. He says all of this started at Survivor Series when “The Vigilante” Sting stuck his nose in their business. He tells Santa that if he doesn’t grant him his Christmas present, he’s not gonna be so lucky. He says what he wants is for Hogan to force Cena to do the right thing and bring The Authority back.

“Would you just shut up. Shut up. You’re putting these poeple to sleep damnit, shut up,” says Cena. He goes on a rant about how Rollins has become a complete scumbag. He says if Rollins comes down to the ring, he’ll give him a shiney pair of green sneakers up his ass. Is that a PG comment? He tells Rollins to come down here and shut him up or walk away like the coward he is. He tells him he’s not bringing The Authority back.

“Ho-ho-hold on a minute,” says Hogan. He says tonight, Seth Rollins is gonna face John Cena in the first match tonight on RAW. “So Ho-Ho-Ho!” finishes Hogan. Cena takes his shirt off and prepares for battle. Hogan puts his Santa hat on Cena. “So whatcha gonna do, when Hulk Hogan, the WWE Universe and all of the Christmas cheer run wild on you, brother!” Hogan’s music hits and we head to our first commercial break of the evening. Cena-Rollins is up next.

UPDATE:

– WWE has announced that WWE Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper will be on tonight’s RAW. Piper will be hosting a special “Piper’s Pit” segment with Rusev and Lana as the guests.

– Also announced for tonight’s RAW is a “Miracle on 34th Street Match” between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose.

– As noted earlier, Roman Reigns vs. Big Show has also been made official for tonight’s show.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan is scheduled to serve as the guest host of tonight’s Christmas-themed edition of the show.

ORIGINAL STORY:

WWE has announced a singles match between Roman Reigns and Big Show for tonight’s Christmas-themed edition of WWE RAW.

Also announced for tonight’s show is the return of WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan.

Make sure to join us here tonight for live RAW play-by-play results coverage.

A lot of the factors in pro wrestling are subjective. Some people enjoy this, some people enjoy that. Some fans prefer a better in-ring technician, some like a strong promo guy and others enjoy a great character. No one is wrong, because it’s all personal preference.

Generally speaking, when an editorial features a list, it’s “the best of” or “the worst of.” Today, we are going to switch gears a bit.

In keeping with the subjective theme, today we are going to look at who I personally consider to be the five best factions in the history of the business. Not the five best, my five favorite. And I’ll explain why, starting with …

#5. The Varsity Club

Many of the current generation of wrestling fans may have never even heard of The Varsity Club. Growing up, they were one of my favorite wrestling stables.

The original group consisted of Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner, all of which wore their amateur wrestling letterman jackets. The guys were among the most legitimate tough guys in the business at the time, and the group had the perception of being the baddest son of a bitches on the planet.

As is the case with any wrestling stable, as time went on the group was watered down. Members such as “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and “Dangerous” Dan Spivey were added to the mix, and before too long, the group ceased to exist. While they were around though, in my opinion, they were pretty damn cool.

#4. The Fabulous Freebirds

As far as I’m concerned any writer who doesn’t include The Fabulous Freebirds on their “top stables” or “top factions” lists should have their head examined. The Freebirds were as cool as it got when I was a youngster.

The group was led by Michael “P.S.” Hayes, a current WWE creative team member who is credited with introducing theme music to the ring-walk portion of the professional wrestling presentation. The group consisted of Hayes, Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy and Buddy Roberts. Roberts was considered a great in-ring technician, and prior to the Birds, had a lengthy career worthy of Hall Of Fame status. In fact, Roberts was part of the original “Hollywood Blondes” tag-team, a name that was later used for the team of “Stunning” Steve Austin and “Flyin'” Brian Pillman. Gordy was a legend in Japan and portrayed the “enforcer” role in the group. Hayes was a rock star and easily one of the most charismatic wrestlers of his time, if not of all-time.

Later on, Hayes and Jimmy “Jam” Garvin would bring back The Fabulous Freebirds as a straight tag-team act. How this group has yet to receive an induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame confuses me to this very day.

#3. D-Generation X

I’m of the belief that there is not a fan of North American professional wrestling that has not heard of D-Generation X. That would mean they did their jobs and left a lasting legacy in the business.

D-X consisted of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna and Rick Rude. When the group officially formed, you could make the argument that along with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, they officially ushered in the infamous “Attitude Era” in WWE. They did things for shock value at a time when Howard Stern, The Jerry Springer Show and many other shock-television style shows reigned supreme. It was a natural fit, and the group really cemented Triple H as a main event performer in WWE.

Later on, as is the case with every faction or stable in history, an attempt was made to get the gang back together, only this time — it worked. You could argue that the second version of D-X was actually more successful than the first. The second group featured Triple H as the leader instead of Michaels, and his group consisted of Chyna, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn and “The Road Dogg” Jesse James. Anyone who saw WWE RAW the night that D-X “invaded” WCW will never forget that moment. It was amazing entertainment and really symbolized the “Monday Night War” going on at the time between WWE and WCW.

D-X was brought back again in the 2000s as a straight tag-team act that featured the two original members — Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Personally, I didn’t enjoy that run nearly as much as their first run, but it was still a cool thing to see the two back together having fun.

Continued on page two …

2014 is coming to a close. Aside from two episodes of Raw that most likely be forgettable, fans have seen everything the WWE has to offer this year. Here is a look back at all 16 pay-per-views (including NXT), with each event ranked and summarized.

16. Battleground

This event took place during July, and boy was it a hot mess. The opening contest between the Usos and Wyatt Family was money, but it was downhill from there, as fans were subjected to one dud contest after another.

The biggest mistakes involved advertising a Rollins/Ambrose match that didn’t take place, and using the same predictable ending sequence during the main event. Overall, this was completely forgettable and easily the worst pay-per-view of the year.

Worst Match: Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt

Best Match: The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family

15. TLC

The final pay-per-view of the year was certainly not the best the company has to offer. Overall, this event suffered from a thin roster and overcomplicated booking. Like many pay-per-view events, it started off strong before derailing.

Ziggler and Harper stole the show during the opening contest. However, lame gimmicks (Stairs/Chairs Matches) and cheesy endings (Wyatt/Ambrose, Cena/Rollins) really held this event back and prevented it from being a success.

Worst Match: Ryback vs. Kane

Best Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper

Former NXT Champion Adrian Neville recently spoke with the U.K. Mirror about WWE Hall Of Famer Pat Patterson attending the recent NXT Takeover: R Evolution special.

Below is an excerpt from the interview.

“Pat wasn’t scheduled to come out at all, he happened to be backstage. He comes along occasionally to NXT and lends his advice to some of the younger guys. Apparently, watching the match, Pat wasn’t meant to come out but he just foxed his way through — he said he was going to jump the railings, no matter what Triple H said!

He just shook my hand and congratulated me and told me he’d enjoyed the match which coming from someone like Pat is huge. It was surreal. Someone like Pat giving you that nod, it is unbelievable.”

Check out the complete interview at TheSun.co.uk.

– NXT Superstar and former strongman Braun Stowman made his official in-ring debut at the NXT live events in Jacksonville and Lakeland this weekend, defeating Chad Gable of the Shoot Nation faction.

– Mika Rotunda, sister of WWE Superstars Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, posted the following photo of the three siblings together with their father, WWE legend Mike “I.R.S.” Rotunda.

Thanks be to your sacrifice & service. Merry Christmas,from my family to yours troops. @WWEBrayWyatt @TheBoDallas pic.twitter.com/ptCMRAbus8

— Mika Rotunda (@MikaRotunda) December 21, 2014

– Bo Dallas is expected to make his return to the ring before the end of the year. It’s possible that WWE keeps him off of television until the Royal Rumble, however he is reportedly physically ready to return in the very near future. Dallas suffered a foot injury back in early November and it was announced that he would be out of action for six-to-eight weeks.

– Roman Reigns granted his first individual “Make-A-Wish” on Saturday prior to the WWE live event in Sioux Falls, Iowa. Below are photos of Reigns with the “Make-A-Wish” kids.

.@WWERomanReigns took part in his 1st solo #MakeAWish with Andjron and his family before the show in #WWESiouxFalls! pic.twitter.com/LKrUJDugc2

— WWE Community (@WWECommunity) December 21, 2014

– NXT Superstar Mojo Rawley appeared at the NXT live event in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday night with his shoulder still in a sling. He told fans that he would be back in two months and also tweeted the following about his recovery.

https://twitter.com/MojoRawleyWWE/status/546359362231742464

– Former WWE Diva Melina has posted her first “Getting Real with Melina” video blog in six years. You can check it out below.

http://youtu.be/-z0Nxv0S0nA

THE BUNNY Caught In Backstage Segment WITHOUT His Mask On! Who Is He? [PHOTOS & VIDEO >>]

– Randy Orton will return to action this Friday night for WWE’s annual post-Christmas live event at Madison Square Garden. Orton was reportedly spotted in New York City on Monday.

– WWE NXT Diva Dana Brooke will be competing in the Fitness International at the 2015 Arnold Sports Festival (formerly the “Arnold Classic”), which takes place on March 6th, 2015 from Columbus, Ohio. Brooke, a former fitness model, is one of 14 women who were invited to compete.

– WWE personalities booked to appear in the next WWE Scooby Doo animated film (scheduled for a 2016 release) include Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rodes, The Miz, Rusev, Lana, Paige, El Torito, Goldust, Stardust, Kofi Kingston and Sheamus.

(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)

– The newest edition of WWE’s “Monday Night War” documentary series, which premieres this Tuesday on the WWE Network, will take a look at Eric Bischoff’s role in the WWE vs. WCW battle. The official description for the show reads as follows:

“The strategies that helped Eric Bischoff build WCW would hasten the decline of both he and his company.”

– The latest edition of WWE’s “30 Second Fury,” which you can watch below, takes a look at “spine-wrecking powerbombs.”

– WWE’s official Japanese website will soon begin running a weekly column from NXT Superstar Hideo Itami. The column, which will debut on December 26th, will feature Itami writing about his experience in NXT with photos and more.

– NXT Superstar Cal Bishop may have suffered an injury of some kind during the finish of his match with Solomon Crowe at the live event in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday night. We’ll update you when more details become available.

– WWE is reportedly planning a major storyline for the first RAW of 2015 that will “kick off WrestleMania 31 season in a big way.” The show is scheduled for January 5th in Corpus Christi, Texas.

– The latest edition of “WWE Top 10,” which you can view below, takes a look at the best WWE Superstar taunts.

The following are highlights of a new Big Lead interview with Jim Ross:

On what it was like on the road with Ric Flair: “Being on the road with Flair was like a never-ending party. He had two great passions: in-ring wrestling and his social life. He was always the life of the party, so if you traveled with him on the road you kind of agreed to those terms. If you’re gonna ride in a limo and fly first class, like he’d facilitate in one way or another, you were essentially signing up for very late hours and ample alcohol consumption. He would tell you himself that he was known to forget on occasion that he was a married man. That’s not a secret, he’s written and spoken about it. That’s just Ric, and the thing about him is that even in his mid-60’s he still loves to be … social. Sometimes you wanted to avoid the ride with him because you needed to sleep. He could operate on a higher level with less sleep than just about anybody I’ve seen — other than Vince McMahon. He’d get up early in the morning, go to the gym, and do over an hour of cardio. He and Ricky Steamboat used to have contests with each other on the Stairmaster machines that bordered on suicidal.”

On CM Punk’s problems with the WWE medical staff and his staph infection being misdiagnosed: “I was very surprised to hear that because I know from experience that WWE has invested untold sums of money on their medical staff. Full-time doctors, full-time certified trainers, CTE testing and things that are actually being followed by some of the other leagues. I know that the health of their performers is a high priority, and that anytime I ever had an issue that was job-related or in-the-ring, I always got excellent care and I communicated with the medical staff on a regular basis. They’d call me when I was home. I was obviously not a trained in-ring performer. I did a lot of bits, that I equate to being a cow on ice, and I was a little clumsy and untrained. But I was cast in that role for that show, so I did my job — because I certainly could cash the checks. So I was surprised to hear that. I’m not disputing his claim because I wasn’t there and haven’t seen the medical records, but the issue is that it seems like it comes back down to communication. If I was in Punk’s place — and maybe he did this, I don’t know — and I was displeased by the doctor’s feedback, I would have gone to Vince after that, and said I believed the diagnosis to be incorrect. I don’t know if that ever happened.”

On if Punk leaving WWE and Vince McMahon to go to work for Dana White and the UFC is a case of the “devil you don’t know”: “No, I don’t think so. This whole thing has been a very dramatic matter, made even more so by those of us who write about and speculate on it. I look at both Dana and Vince as smart businessmen. Are they alpha males? You’re damn right. Have I always agreed with everything McMahon wanted me to do or all of his basic philosophies? Not every one of them, no. He’s a very strong alpha male, and I broke into the business with one that is even stronger in his presence than Vince ever was — Bill Watts — so that’s how I thought the business was just always gonna be. I think Dana’s a smart businessman, and the Punk signing was money from the get-go. As we speak, Punk is going through the ESPN car wash. That’s a nice get for UFC. The reason he’s on there is the same reason everyone is gonna buy his first PPV — he has global name identity. Where did he earn that? WWE. Where did he earn the money to live the lifestyle and be able to establish himself for independent ventures? Same as me — WWE.

“He had these issues with McMahon. I’ve heard one side of the story. I’ve read about it a lot, but I have not heard the podcast. I’ve always said that wrestlers leave companies because of the two c’s — cash and creative. Apparently Punk had issues with those. Nothing new. Not a revolutionary statement. It’s just the way it is. I’m thinking the WWE opened a lot of doors for him, it’s unfortunate they got into a pissing contest at the end, but as I’ve said before I think this all came from a basic lack of communication. The problem festered and it was allowed to get out of hand where it got past the point of no return, for now.”

Check out the complete interview at TheBigLead.com.

WWE released information that claims their Survivor Series 2014 pay-per-view drew 103,000 buys on pay-per-view. By comparison, Survivor Series 2013, before the launch of the WWE Network, drew 177,000 buys on pay-per-view.

It’s worth noting that Survivor Series was available on the WWE Network during the period where the Network was available for free, so all things considered, it’s pretty impressive that 103,000 people ordered it on traditional pay-per-view.