Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins made a surprise return to WWE RAW on Monday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Rollins returned on Monday’s show to accept the Slammy Award for the 2015 “Superstar of the Year,” beating out every other talent on the WWE roster, as the entire roster were eligible in the voting for the award.
Featured above is a video of Rollins’ Slammy Award acceptance speech from Monday’s RAW. For complete WWE RAW results, click here.
WWE RAW Results (December 21, 2015) From the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota Report by Jason Powell and ProWrestling.net
Stephanie McMahon & Roman Reigns Kick Off RAW
The 2015 Slammy Awards edition of WWE RAW opens with a lengthy video package recapping Mr. McMahon’s return and Roman Reigns’ WWE World Heavyweight Championship victory over Sheamus from last week’s show.
From there, we shoot live inside the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota where a professional announcer off-camera welcomes us to the 2015 Slammy Awards. Stephanie McMahon’s music then hits as Lilian Garcia introduces her and she makes her way to the ring. Michael Cole, JBL and Byron Saxton then appear on camera and reference last week’s main event as Stephanie finishes her entrance.
Stephanie welcomes fans to Raw and the Slammy Awards. She addressed Reigns winning the title and taking out her 70 year-old father last week. She said that unlike the fans, McMahons do not wallow in their own self pity. She said this is a night of celebration.
Roman Reigns’ entrance music played and he made his entrance through the crowd and let some fans touch the title belt before bumping fists as he headed to the ring.
Reigns said it seems like a good night and that Stephanie, he, and the fans were in a good mood. He said they were celebrating the Slammy Awards and a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Reigns told Stephanie that he doesn’t sweat her or her father, “and I damn sure don’t swear your husband Triple H.” Reigns asked why he would given that he hasn’t seen him since he laid him out at TLC.
Reigns told Stephanie to tell her husband that he’s not hard to find and he’s the guy carrying the gold. “Get out,” Stephanie responded. Stephanie told Reigns to march his way back up the stairs where he came from. Reigns laughed. Stephanie raised her voice when the fans chanted “no” and he told her they don’t want him to leave. “This is my ring,” she yelled. “Get out!”
Reigns told Stephanie that she sounds like a little kid. Stephanie told him to leave before she makes him leave. Stephanie’s tantrum continued. Reigns asked the fans if they want to see her get really bad. Reigns turned his back and she said, “How dare you turn your back to me.” Reigns smiled as he left the ring and played to the fans. Reigns walked back up the steps and bumped fists with the fans.
Stephanie announced New Day vs. The Uso Brothers in a handicap match to get revenge on Reigns. When that didn’t get a response, she booked Dean Ambrose in a cage match against Sheamus. Reigns laughed and held up the title belt. Stephanie there would be hell to pay because of Reigns.
Slammy Awards
The broadcast team set up the announcement of the first Slammy Award… Dolph Ziggler came out to present the award for Breakout Star of the Year. Ziggler said there’s no blueprint for breaking out, you just have to make an impact. Ziggler ran through the nominees and they went to break.
After the break, Ziggler announced that Neville won the Breakout Star of the Year.
Neville came out and gave a brief speech before he was interrupted by Kevin Owens, who said he should have won. He received some cheers that were drown out by boos. Neville told him “whatever, Kevin” and then left. Really? Owens said he’s seen a lot of ridiculous things happen in WWE, but this one takes the cake.
Owens boasted that he beat John Cena in his first match. Owens turned to Ziggler and asked him what was so funny. He told him the only way Ziggler would win a Slammy is if they have a Has-Been of the Year category. Ziggler attacked Owens, but they were quickly separated by referees.
Bray Wyatt vs. Kane
The Wyatts were in the ring coming out of the last segment and then Kane made his entrance for the match. It didn’t last long, as the rest of the Wyatt Family attacked Kane at ringside for the DQ. The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer ran out for the save and there was an ECW chant.
WWE announced the winners of some of this year’s Slammy Awards categories via WWE.com on Monday evening prior to the special Slammy Awards edition of RAW. Below is a recap of the winners announced thus far.
WWE Tag-Team Of The Year
Winners: The Usos
Other nominees included The New Day, The Prime Time Players, Tyson Kidd & Cesaro and The Lucha Dragons.
Best John Cena U.S. Open Challenge
Winner: John Cena vs. Cesaro (Raw, July 6)
Other nominees included John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler (Raw, Oct. 12), John Cena vs. Sami Zayn (Raw, May 4), John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose (Raw, March 30) and John Cena vs. Neville (Raw, May 11).
Hashtag Of The Year
Winner: #SuplexCity
Other nominees included #GiveDivasAChance, #SaveTheTables, #AxelMania and #RKOOUTTANOWHERE.
Celebrity Moment Of The Year
Winner: Stephen Amell dives onto Stardust at SummerSlam
Other nominees included The cast of “Entourage” introduces Zack Ryder (Raw, May 25), Kevin Owens powerbombs Machine Gun Kelly off the stage (Raw, June 15), Jon Stewart gets involved in John Cena’s match at SummerSlam and Wayne Rooney slaps King Barrett on Raw (Raw, Nov. 9).
“Tell Me You Didn’t Just Say That” Moment of the Year
Winner: Brock Lesnar coins “Suplex City” at WrestleMania
Other nominees included Dean Ambrose calls Seth Rollins “Justin Bieber” (Raw, May 25), Seth Rollins calls Johnny Manziel “Johnny Idiot Face” (Raw, June 15), Seth Rollins disses Kane while celebrating The Authority’s WrestleMania accomplishments (Raw, April 6) and Paige spoils Charlotte’s Divas Championship celebration (Raw, Sept. 21).
NOTE: For the rest of the 2015 Slammy Award winners, read our WWE RAW Results for this week. Slammy Awards presentations are listed under bold sub-headers.
– ECW Original Jerry Lynn, who has been appearing for ROH in a non-wrestling role as of late, recently spoke with Bill Apter for the latest edition of “The Apter Chat.” In the new video chat, which you can watch above, Lynn talks about his new look, as he cut his long hair and shaved off his facial hair, and also discusses his neck surgery.
– WWE Diva and Total Divas star Rosa Mendes indicated via social media that she and her fiancee’ recently purchased a home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and are moving from California this week. As noted, the two are expecting their first child in a couple of months. The two had goodbyes with friends and family in California this week. Rosa posted this photo on her Instagram page with a caption that reads as follows:
“Bobby and I are so lucky to have such good people in our lives. Treasure those who have shown you how much they value your friendship, hold on to these people forever because they are very hard to find.”
The Miz announced that he will be hosting a special online edition of Miz TV this afternoon at 4pm EST. His guest will be none other than Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose.
WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil recently spoke with The Miami Herald about his experience at the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum’s 30th annual Muster And Music Festival Weekend and his close friendship with part-time WWE Superstar and emerging actor Batista. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On Batista joining him at the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum’s 30th Annual Muster & Music Festival Weekend:
“Once the Navy SEALs asked me to do it, I shared that great news with people who are close to me, and Dave [Batista] immediately text me back and said, ‘When is it?’ He was also there for me in Chicago when I got the humanitarian award from Jesse Jackson [at The Rainbow PUSH Sports Awards in 2014]. He always wants to be there for me in big moments. Same with me. I always want to be there when he’s doing movie premieres and stuff like that.”
On Batista making time to be there despite his own hectic schedule:
“He’d been on a whirlwind media tour. He literally got home late that Friday night and came over that Saturday morning early. He got home in Tampa, and then a buddy of mine drove him over, so he could rest and sleep in the car. He just came from promoting 007 [the James Bond film] ‘Spectre.’ [Batista plays villain Mr. Hinx.] He’d been overseas, everywhere. So for him to be there for me. He is one of the closest friends that I have. He’s like a brother to me, a big brother to me, and he always has been, even before I got into WWE. I was very proud to have him there, and a lot of people were very excited about having him there, too.”
On Batista encouraging him to try his hand at pro wrestling/sports entertainment:
“I literally got started when I was driving to South Tampa one day to pick up a pair of dress shoes, and I saw the building where he told me FCW was, which is now NXT [in Orlando]. I called him and said, ‘Is this black and yellow building the place you were telling me about to speak to someone to look into this?’ He said, ‘Yea,’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m going to poke my head in and see what it’s about.’ Two weeks after I poked my head in, I was in that same building learning how to become a WWE superstar.”
Earlier this week, ROH star Adam Cole spoke with the folks at Busted Open Nation about the ROH-PWG working relationship. Below are Cole’s comments on the subject.
“I think really what it is as far as just us getting started, Ring of Honor is a very cool company and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is a very, very cool company. I think a lot of our guys in our locker room enjoy working there, enjoy the prospect of working there. Guys in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla would love to entertain the thought of coming to work for Ring of Honor. The fact that guys in the Ring of Honor locker room are so passionate, guys in the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla locker room are so passionate, of course, some relationships had been created and relationships have been made so in turn there’s a lot that Ring of Honor knows about PWG and PWG knows a lot about Ring of Honor.
“Long story short, I really feel like the company realizes how much it can benefit from each other. PWG has a very strong West Coast presence. Ring of Honor is pretty much in control as far as independently goes in the United States and we’re on television so we’re not even an independent anymore, even though some people view us that way. Again, the potential growth with the two of us coming together is stronger than doing this by our self. It’s kind of like a strength-in-numbers thing. With NXT being around, I think a company like Ring of Honor and PWG being together is just going to help our cause. It certainly won’t hurt us.”
Big E recently spoke with Mlive.com to promote the December 26th WWE live event in Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On keeping an eye on NXT:
“I think the three of us tend to look at NXT. I think it’s always important to look at the future of the company. We are excited about giving a younger team an opportunity. There’s a lot of great teams in NXT, but if I had to pick one, I’d say Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady might be the best. I think they’d provide a different rivalry for us.”
On who he would choose to wrestle that he hasn’t faced yet:
“I’ve been around long enough for the most part that I’ve wrestled mostly everyone. I haven’t wrestled Big Show yet. I think Brock Lesnar stands out as a big name. If I had to choose one person to wrestle who I haven’t wrestled yet, it would be Brock.”
On his “Five Count” gimmick in NXT and working with The New Day:
“I had a lot of fun doing the five count thing in NXT. It was a crowd favorite baby face role. But, what we’re doing now has been the best time of my career as far as visibility and progression and just enjoying it. I feel like we are uninhibited and having a lot of fun.”
Kurt Angle recently spoke with the folks at WrestleTalk TV about the impact Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff had on TNA — both negative and positive — when they had their run in the promotion. Below are some of the highlights from the interview, which you can watch above.
On Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff costing TNA money:
“I love Hogan, I love Bischoff. Never had problems with either of them. Terry, we’ve always been close. I believe they did good for the company, TNA. I believe it was very expensive. They probably came up with the idea of TNA traveling town to town every week. It’s a great idea, but where are you going to get the money?”
On TNA going on the road nearly causing the company to go out of business:
“I think it really put the company in a position where it almost went under again. I know it went under at the very beginning, but it looked like it was about to go under again. TNA is a great company, but it’s not a WWE. We don’t have the extra funds to take chances, to waste a few million today and tomorrow will be fine. Every penny counts.”
On Hogan and Bischoff ultimately being good for TNA despite making decisions that cost the company a lot of money:
“Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were very good for our company. Did they spend a lot of money? Yes. I’m sure it cost a lot of money to get them in there, and I’m sure they had ideas that cost us a lot of money. It was a good thing and somewhat of a bad thing, but I love the guys.”
Former WCW mega-star Bill Goldberg recently spoke with Sportstown Chicago to promote his new film, “Checkpoint.” During the interview, Goldberg spoke about his match against Diamond Dallas Page at WCW’s Halloween Havoc 1998 pay-per-view and how DDP had a lot to do with the success he had in his pro wrestling career. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On if he agrees that his match with DDP at Halloween Havoc 1998 was one of the best of his career:
“Absolutely. And I agree to that because of who my dance partner was. And it was Dallas Page.”
On DDP having a lot to do with the success of his wrestling career:
“Dallas had a lot to do with the success of my career. When he approached me with a 14-page wrestling match, I was a bit indifferent. You just got to wrangle Dallas a little bit. He’s very enthusiastic, he’s got a very creative mind.”
On why the DDP match at Halloween Havoc 1998 was so special:
“I obviously never replicated a match like that because I never had a main event like that with Dallas again and that should show you and tell you who was responsible for that match. Obviously it takes two to tango but I was absolutely honored to take part in a monumental match with Dallas. It was awesome, it really was. There’s no doubt it was the best match of my career.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on some of the problems with WWE’s weekly television presentation, as well as a “strange” chant he noticed during the NXT TakeOver: London special on the WWE Network. Below are some of the highlights.
On the trend of wrestling matches stretching through commercial breaks on WWE TV:
“I see the reason that some wrestling TV shows need to stretch some bouts through one or more commercial breaks but I’m sensing that most matches that carry through a break, or two, disconnect from many fans thanks to the three minute commercial break or even a two minute break. I’d like to see more matches start and end in the same segment which should help maintain the focus of the fans and consequently help get talents over more, or so I feel. If that means that if a promotion has to format a shorter, reset segment to get back on their timeline then so be it.”
On the problem with heavy advertising on commentary during WWE TV shows:
“Broadcasters who are forced to speak on loosely connected topics such as what’s trending on Twitter even though it’s graphically displayed on the TV screen and don’t stay true to the talent are on course to not get the talents over. If I’m watching TV and am visually seeing physicality and athleticism but I’m hearing yet another train of thought what of it am I supposed to process? Exactly.”
On “strange” crowd chant during Bayley’s match at NXT TakeOver: London:
“I went back and looked and the live audience at the NXT Takeover London event and the live crowd did actually sing a pop tune while Bayley was ‘selling’ and it did feel strange. Is this type of crowd reaction good for the business? I’m leaning toward the negative side of that answer. But as everyone knows, I’m an old school, bitter dude who’s angry at the world and I yearn for the days of wool tights and mullets.”
ECW Original Tommy Dreamer recently spoke to the folks at Busted Open Radio about his most recent WWE run. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On elevating young talent such as The Wyatt Family:
“If you look at when the Dudleys returned and they worked with the New Day, look how the New Day got elevated. This business is about that. I was blessed to have veterans do that for me and with me. That’s part of the evolution of the business.”
On this latest run with WWE and reflecting on his career:
“For me to be performing, I was very, very sentimental driving up to Boston. That was the first town I ever wrestled in outside of New York when I was coming up on the indies. Passing North Chelmsford, where I worked Big Vito’s first match in North Chelmsford High School and I’m 19 years old and Taz is next to me, and just all the times I’ve been there. That was my first Royal Rumble and then, again, to be back on that stage and that place was sold out and the crowd was electric. I thought it was a very, very strong pay-per-view for in-ring performances and again, for me just to be back there and the week before, wrestling against the Usos who I’ve known since they were kids or Roman Reigns who I met when he was a teenager because I know his brother and wrestled his brother. It’s great to still be at this age and still be able to compete and still be able to contribute to the business that I love.”
Brock Lesnar made his WWE in-ring return at the live event at The Forum in Inglewood, California on Saturday evening, defeating WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio via disqualification.
Lesnar returned with Paul Heyman by his side at the WWE live event last night, picking up the win via DQ over Del Rio when Rusev hit the ring and attacked “The Beast Incarnate” just as he was taking the U.S. champ to “Suplex City.”
Lesnar ended up fighting off Rusev, hitting him with a German suplex and an F-5. He teased leaving the ring at this point, however decided to turn around to hit Del Rio with a German suplex and an F-5 for good measure.
For what it’s worth, Seth Rollins is being advertised to appear at Monday’s Slammy Awards edition of WWE RAW from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
It’s worth pointing out that Rollins is only being advertised for the show on the official website for the Target Center, as WWE’s official website does not have the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion advertised for the show.
It’s possible that Rollins appears for some of the Slammy Awards he is nominated for, although that has not been confirmed. Xavier Woods did tweet about filming Rollins vs. Jack Swagger in the Madden tournament finals for his “UpUpDownDown” YouTube channel, which some claim could be a sign that Rollins will at least be backstage at the show.
In a related note, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported earlier this week that despite not being advertised for the show, both John Cena and Brock Lesnar could possibly make surprise appearances on the show.
– The Thursday, December 17th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.68, up from last week’s 1.55 final draw. Thursday’s SmackDown averaged 2.332 million viewers, also up from last week’s show, which averaged 2.133 million viewers.
– The latest edition of “The Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond,” which is available for download right now at Play.it, features ROH’s Adam Cole and former head WWE writer Vince Russo as guests. The official description for the show reads as follows:
“The Taz Show has Adam Cole on to discuss Ring of Honor! Taz also welcomes Vince Russo as an impromptu guest and gets into a disagreement about Kevin Owens. Lastly, Taz chats about Smackdown from Newark, NJ.”
– John Cena checked in on social media on Saturday, praising the efforts of both the WWE and NXT brands during his absence to film various television and movie projects. Cena wrote the following on his official Twitter page on Saturday afternoon:
It is always heartbreaking to be away from the @WWE but gives me great pride to see the success of many new faces as well as @WWENXT#evolve
Tickets for the NXT TakeOver: Dallas event scheduled for WrestleMania 32 weekend (4/1/16) officially sold out moments after going on sale to the general public on Saturday morning. It’s another sign that the NXT brand is on fire as they continue to draw extremely well in new markets.
It’s worth noting that there are a ton of NXT tickets available on the secondary market and sites like Stubhub.com. The hype surrounding these shows drives up activity by scalpers. Fans looking to attend who got shut out initially will have to fork over well over value to see NXT live in the coming months.
Triple H touted the sell outs for NXT TakeOver: Dallas as well as NXT’s January tour:
– Instead of the usual RAW pre-show, this Monday on the WWE Network there will be a Slammy Awards pre-show special airing in the 7:30pm EST. time slot. The official description for the Slammy pre-show reads as follows:
“The WWE’s answer to the Oscars gets underway on the Slammys Pre-Show with 4 exclusive awards plus a preview of the awards to come to Raw.”
– After Monday’s Slammy Awards edition of RAW, a new episode of WWE Breaking Ground will premiere on the WWE Network. The description for the episode reads as follows:
“Sami Zayn struggles with his place in WWE during recovery, meanwhile Legend Scott hall visits the PC and imparts his wisdom on the roster.”
– Dolph Ziggler will be Renee Young’s guest on the latest edition of her “Unfiltered” show on the WWE Network. The description for that episode, which premieres on the WWE Network at 10pm EST. on Tuesday night reads:
“On this holiday edition of Unfiltered; Renee talks to Dolph Ziggler about stand-up comedy, pranks, and being a dancer for Britney Spears.”
– Kristen Paige-Kirby of The Washington Post gave John Cena a positive review for his performance in the new Tina Fey and Amy Poehler film, “Sisters,” going as far as to compare his comedic abilities to that of The Rock. Kirby wrote the following of Cena’s performance in the movie:
“In “Trainwreck,” Cena’s effectiveness largely came from the fact that he was playing against type — big guys aren’t supposed to love independent film and cry easily. In “Sisters,” in which Cena plays a drug dealer named Pazuzu, his intimidating look makes more sense, so he can’t rely on visual incongruity to bring the funny. Cena still gets the laughs, though, because he has the rare ability to say ridiculous things with utter sincerity. That’s not something that comes easily, and it takes an immense amount of smarts to pull off.
Cena’s comedic gifts — like those of Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum, who are also in that very-low-body-fat boat — prove that to build your muscles you don’t have to shrink your brain.”
– The United Service Organizations (USO) chapter out of Washington, D.C. has awarded Stephanie McMahon and WWE with the first-ever “Golden Boot Award.” WWE has worked closely with the USO, which supports active duty service members and their families, for years. Stephanie tweeted the following photo of herself holding the Golden Boot Award.
The team of Hansen and Ray Rowe defeated Michael Bennett and Matt Taven at the Ring Of Honor: “Final Battle 2015” event on Friday night to become the new ROH World Tag-Team Champions.
As noted, WWE has expressed interest in Bennett and Taven, both of whom have been working without a contract in ROH as of late.
The following are complete quick-match results of the ROH Final Battle 2015 show:
ROH Final Battle 2015 Results
– ANX def. The Young Bucks and The Briscoes
– Silas Young def. Dalton Castle
– Michael Elgin def. Moose
– Adam Cole def. Kyle O’Reilly
– Alex Shelley, ACH & Matt Sydal def. Addiction & Chris Sabin
– Roderick Strong def. Bobby Fish to retain the ROH World TV Championship
– Hansen & Ray Rowe def. Michael Bennett & Matt Taven to become the new ROH World Tag-Team Champions
– Jay Lethal def. AJ Styles to retain the ROH World Championship
Vince McMahon, Big Show, R-Truth and Alicia Fox made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to meet with some of the United States Troops on Friday night.
Below is a photo that was re-tweeted by Triple H last night, along with an earlier photo posted by Vince McMahon, which also appears to be from this week.
Footage of WWE’s trip to Afghanistan will likely air as part of this week’s WWE Tribute To The Troops special on the USA Network.
John Cena recently spoke with GQ Magazine about balancing his wrestling and acting careers, the possibility of making more music and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On balancing John Cena the wrestler and John Cena the actor:
“Because I’ve been in it so long, and if you look at Dwayne [“The Rock” Johnson], he had tremendous success in the WWE, but his success was short-lived when he left full-time for Hollywood. I think he had to do a tremendous switch, but I know he had the ultimate goal for coming back to the WWE and making it a better place. But for me, at this point, so much of our audience loves me, and so much hates me, I kind of just realize I am who I am, and I am John Cena, I’m not “The Rock.” So, yeah, that gray area gets super gray, so it’s challenging at times.”
On if The Rock’s career is something to model his own career after:
“He’s sort of in a universe by himself, and I don’t know if that kind of success is achievable by anyone else. The work ethic of that young man and the desire he has to just keep moving is… I talk to him every so often and tell him he truly sets the pace and the rest of us are just trying to not lag too far behind. I’m really happy to have had the success I’ve had and do the things I’ve been able to do, and excited for some things coming up, but it’s all way too new for me to say, “Oh, yeah, I’m definitely going to do this.” I really love being in the WWE, so it would have to be something where I get to work with a Judd Apatow or Amy Schumer, or an opportunity with Tina and Amy, to pull me away for a small period of time to do something.”
On if we can expect more rap music from him any time soon:
“That’s a young man’s game. If you’re gonna expect music, it would be a soul, R&B, rat-pack-type of thing. Maybe classic. Every once in a while I’ll listen to hip-hop, but it’s all stuff from the early ’90s and late ’90s. I’m kind of out of touch with everything. The song is definitely part of what launched me on this journey…but I think had I just kept being “the rap guy,” I think that would have been short-lived, because it’s so one-dimensional. I’ve never lost my connection to hip-hop, I just don’t know what’s popular today.”
Former TNA star Magnus recently spoke with Inquisitr about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On almost quitting TNA years ago:
“I remember Vince [Russo] specifically saying to me ‘What? You want to be World Champion or something?’ and me saying ‘Yeah’ and he’s like ‘That will never happen, you’re a Brit.’ I remember I almost quit then and there because what’s the of the point of being there?”
On the James Storm / Mickie James train skit:
“We hated it, we all hated it. When it was pitched to us, we all tried desperately to change it to something else but the guy in charge wasn’t having anything to do with it and was convinced it would be great.
“That’s just a perfect example of one of the reasons why I left, we all said that was a bad idea and we all gave what I thought were good alternatives and were basically told ‘do what we tell you.'”
On working for GFW:
“The structure of GFW is completely different, it’s very much to me how I always imagined a wrestling company should be. You know, it’s very much like everyone is on the same page, everyone is treated with respect and there’s no ego when it comes to the people in charge. There’s Jeff [Jarrett], there’s Scott D’Amore, Kevin Sullivan, and Keith Mitchell is at TV’s, Sonjay [Dutt] has a big role and wears a lot of hats in GFW. No one there is walking around like ‘I’m the big boss, everyone has to respect me and if you get on the wrong side of me, you’re gonna pay, I’m gonna bury you,’ there’s none of that.”
The Wednesday, December 16th edition of TNA Impact Wrestling, the final show on Destination America, drew 155,000 viewers in the 11pm time slot.
The 155,000 figure marks a 42 percent decrease from last week’s show, which drew 269,000 viewers in the regular 9pm time slot.
For the second week in a row, Impact Wrestling failed to make the top 150 shows on cable television.
With TNA wrapping up on Destination America, Impact Wrestling will be moving to POP TV with the finals of their World Title Series tournament on January 5th.
Chris Jericho recently spoke with Maria Menounos on SiriusXM’s “Conversations” about what is missing from the WWE product right now. According to Jericho, the company lost some of its’ creativity and spontaneity when the company went public in 1999.
“When I started it was the wild west, like, just gypsies, tramps, and thieves, like, lunatics. It was worse than rock and roll. Yeah, it was. And then, when you start moving into the late 1990s and early 2000s, it started to have a little bit of a cultural shift where more writers were coming in and the product was kind of cleaned up to be more of a corporate type of thing when Vince [McMahon] went public, right? And then he was trying to get Coca Cola as a sponsor, like the big time family friendly [companies], which is cool. But what happened was you did lose a little bit of that maverick spirit, of that, not so much rebellion, but just, ‘I’m going to take a chance and if it sucks, okay, and if it works, suddenly, you’ve done something different.'”
Jericho continued, explaining why WWE needs to give talent more freedom to make mistakes.
“You don’t have that freedom to try as much anymore because it [has] really gotten into, ‘here’s your script’ like a TV show, but it’s not a TV show.” Jericho continued, “no other entertainment entity is like it, so you have to have that element of giving girls and guys a chance to fail. If it doesn’t work, at least you tried. At least you went outside the box. And I think there is a little bit of that missing where it can still come back, but the opportunities to try stuff [are] becoming less and less. It’s more of, ‘this has been approved. Read this. Memorize these lines and say it.’ I can memorize a Shakespearean play, [but] it doesn’t mean I can say it with any conviction whatsoever. You have to believe in it and you have to commit.”
The first ever undisputed WWE Champion also spoke about part of the problem being that many performers are afraid to be “true heels.”
“Everybody wants to have the merch. Everyone wants to have the t-shirts. I would always say, like Big Show was my [tag team] partner for a long time. We had a great, great partnership. And we were up against DX. And he was like, ‘we [have] got to do these Jeri-Show shirts.’ I’m like, ‘no, we’re not making shirts.’ [He replied] ‘what do you mean? We’re losing money.’ I said, ‘no, we’ll make more money as hated heels against DX in main events at pay-per-views and live events than we ever would selling t-shirts.'” Jericho added, “if you’re going to be a heel, don’t be afraid to get booed and don’t be afraid of having people legitimately not like you. If you can do that, you can accomplish your goal.”
– Although he noted on social media that he checked out fine and suffered no fractures, WWE kept Stardust out of the ring again this week. As noted last week, Stardust appeared to suffer an injury during his match against Jack Swagger on the December 7th edition of RAW, and was taken to a local hospital immediately after the show to be evaluated.
– A fan hit the ring at the NXT live event in Sheffield, England as part of the NXT U.K. Tour this past Sunday, December 13th. One of the NXT crew members, possibly Ryan Katz, stopped the fan before anything serious happened. The fan run-in spot took place during a tag-team match that featured The Mechanics vs. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable.
