– AJ Lee’s ex-boyfriend, ROH television champion Jay Lethal took a shot at her marriage to CM Punk during this past weekend’s ROH 13th anniversary pay-per-view. Prior to Lethal’s ROH TV title defense against Alberto El Patron, he cut a promo and spoke about how he would not take hand-me-downs from the likes of Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe or CM Punk, but that Punk would take his hand-me-downs.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk is the guest on the latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– In the latest edition of WWE’s “5 Things” web series, WWE busts five myths. You can check out the video below.
Raw emanated from the Garden State this week, but it was certainly no walk in the park for Seth Rollins. Fans were treated to two title matches during the show, as well as a special appearance from Jon Stewart. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The highlight of the night was Seth Rollins’ phony “Daily Show.” He immediately insulted the crowd by calling Newark the “armpit of America” before recapping his appearance on the real deal last Thursday. Mr. Money in the Bank had J&J rolling with a few corny jokes, while pondering the whereabouts of Mr. Stewart. His question was quickly answered, as Stewart showed up to a nice pop from the crowd. Stewart ripped on Rollins hard while displaying his knowledge of legends past in an absolutely hilarious segment that ended with Stewart delivering a swift kick to Rollins’ nuts. Entertaining top-of-the-hour segment, and it should provide a bit of crossover buzz heading into WrestleMania.
Triple H was so intense during his promo this week, and as always, his delivery was solid. Hunter took a few shots at the “kids” who think they know the backstage politics of the business, while threating: “I will make sure it is as if Sting’s career never existed.” Booker T’s involvement in the segment was refreshing and something new, even if it meant seeing The Game almost hand the five-time champ his walking papers.
Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper went into the “Pros” column before it even started. When you get two guys with this kind of talent in the same ring, it’s almost impossible to disappoint. Even though they weren’t given much time at all, the two worked a stiff match that saw both superstars take their fair share of abuse. Bryan was unceremoniously dumped over the top rope to the floor at one point, but was eventually able to counter a modified crossface into the Yes! Lock for the win. Following the match, Ambrose, Harper, Barrett, Ziggler, and R-Truth, all attempted to walk away with the Intercontinental Championship while Bryan looked on. It looks like our lineup for the WrestleMania ladder match is basically set.
It was a pleasant surprise to see Seth Rollins open the show, as he hyped his confrontation with Jon Stewart later in the night. He of course talked a little smack, saying: “Unlike the Daily Show where they give away their tickets for free, every single person in a seat tonight paid to see Seth Rollins.” The only downside to this segment was the involvement of Roman Reigns. He arrived, said a few words that weren’t exactly memorable, performed his two signature moves, and basically stood in the ring hoping to be cheered (he failed miserably, in case you’re wondering). It’s sad that even when the the company is using New Jersey’s own Jon Stewart to get Rollins heat, the crowd still universally boos the thought of Reigns becoming champion. Overall, it seemed like another lame attempt to get Reigns over, but Rollins was money.
The Miz “Niagara” commercial was on point. I loved Mizdow’s involvement in the backstage segment and commercial.
There weren’t many spots during the Ambrose/Barrett match, but it was pleasant. Most of the exciting action took place outside of the ring, with Ambrose diving through the middle ropes to take out Barrett and later delivering a big elbow from the ring apron. He eventually picked up the win after hitting Dirty Deeds following a distraction. It’s nice to see the company getting multiple midcarders involved in this Intercontinental Championship ladder match (including Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, probably Daniel Bryan as well). With that said, it is absolutely cringeworthy hearing JBL and Cole interact with R-Truth on commentary.
Alundra Blayze was announced as the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame. That’s cool, I guess.
Finally, John Cena cut his usual “inspirational” promo this week. It’s obvious Cena doesn’t possess the necessary credentials to warrant inclusion into the prestigious Andre the Giant Battle Royal, and Stephanie of course quickly shot down his hopes. The two engaged in their typical banter to start the nine o’clock hour. Stephanie declaring, “For once, I actually like this chant” when referring to the Yes! chant was humorous.
Axel was easily the MVP of this segment though, and the crowd was eating it up big time. The two followed up the segment with a quick match, with Cena quickly forcing Axel to tap out to the STF. Rusev once again denied Cena his rematch following the match, keeping us all on edge as to whether this will match occur at WrestleMania.
On tonight’s edition of WWE RAW, which takes place in Newark, New Jersey, Paige will challenge Nikki Bella for the WWE Divas Championship.
Whether or not the Paige-Bella match plays into the planned angle heading into the tag-team Divas match scheduled for WrestleMania 31, which will feature Paige & AJ Lee vs. The Bella Twins, remains to be seen.
WWE Diva AJ Lee is currently backstage at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The former Divas champion has been off television since December’s TLC pay-per-view and has been recovering from various injuries. AJ Lee made headlines last week when she called out Stephanie McMahon for the way Divas are paid and portrayed on television.
There are rumors that AJ Lee is returning to be paired with Paige in a tag team match against the Bella Twins at WrestleMania, but that remains to be seen.
What will happen tonight when AJ Lee returns to WWE TV in front of her hometown crowd? We’ll find out in just a matter of hours.
– Even more details are coming in regarding the major argument between Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon that saw Lesnar storm out of last week’s WWE RAW without appearing on television, as scheduled.
While it was known that the issue was related to business matters (not creative plans), former WWE writer ‘MetsFan4Ever’ revealed that Lesnar told McMahon he wanted to attend Saturday night’s UFC 184 pay-per-view to discuss a potential deal with UFC President Dana White. McMahon was strongly against Lesnar attending the show, which caused him to storm out, leaving his WWE future in question.
As we saw over the weekend, Lesnar did in fact attend the UFC show and was seen cageside talking with Dana White. After talking with a few people in the know over the weekend, it looks like the chances of Lesnar returning to UFC are over 50% at this point.
– Bryan Alvarez of f4wonline.com has provided some new information regarding AJ Lee calling out Stephanie McMahon on Twitter last week regarding the way WWE Divas are paid and portrayed on television. While Lesnar’s walkout was a huge story last week, it’s said that there’s even more heat on AJ Lee.
– WWE performers Rusev (Miroslav Barnyashev) and Lana (CJ Perry), who as noted in the past are actually a real-life couple, purchased a home together in Nashville, Tennessee recently. The two bought a four bedroom, four bathroom home for $644,000. You can check out photos of the property at TMZ.com.
– Speaking of pro wrestling couples, CM Punk and AJ Lee attended a comedy show that featured Nerdist’s Chris Hardwick and Mike Lawrence at the Atheneum Theatre in Chicago, Illinois on Friday night.
– Former WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio continues to pile up the bookings, as he is now officially being advertised to appear at the London Film & Comic Con event on July 17th, 18th and 19th. For ticket information, visit LondonFilmAndComicCon.com.
We’ve got an update on the pipebomb dropped by AJ Lee on Tuesday night regarding the way WWE Divas are paid and portrayed on television. To recap, AJ tweeted the following to Stephanie McMahon:
“Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times, And yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster. #UseYourVoice”
Regarding Lee’s merchandise claims, while she was a strong merchandise mover when she was being pushed, the formula WWE uses for merchandise sales with a majority of the roster is the same, outside of a few top WWE Superstars who get higher percentages. None of the Divas in the company sell at the level of the top several Superstars.
As for Divas being involved in the highest-rated segments of WWE shows, their segments were rarely above average when weekly segment breakdowns were available. Despite that fact, AJ was fortunate enough to work various main event segments with stars like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, segments that usually did pretty strong numbers.
Regarding pay, it’s true that Divas on the main roster are paid considerably less than the men. It’s interesting to note that this is not the case in NXT. Most of the men at NXT came from the indy scene and are willing to accept lower pay just to get a foot in the door with WWE. Most of the NXT women, however, came from modeling agencies or had athletic backgrounds. Additionally, there’s said to be an idea that the women need to earn at a certain level to maintain the type of “look” that WWE desires.
According to a source close to this story, AJ Lee caught the company completely off-guard with her comments. Stephanie McMahon in particular was said to be furious at being made to look bad on a public forum by one of their employees. Vince McMahon, in looking at the big picture, reportedly told Stephanie to reply with the tweet that she sent, which simply thanked AJ for her opinion.
WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon has responded to the #GiveDivasAChance movement, assuring fans that WWE is well aware of the latest viral backlash campaign.
The trend is the product of widespread frustration surrounding the way women’s wrestlers are used on WWE television. It’s not a new situation, but it’s finally gaining some mainstream exposure due to fans being fed up and WWE’s top Divas speaking out publicly about it.
Earlier this month at a Wizard World Comic Con event, the Bella Twins spoke about the Women in NXT getting much more time int he ring than the Divas in WWE.
On Tuesday night, after #GiveDivasAChance had been trending for nearly 24 hours, AJ Lee sent Stephanie McMahon a series of tweets pointing out that Divas do not get equal TV time or compensation compared to the Superstars. (Read Her Tweets Here). Stephanie has since responded:
WWE Diva AJ Lee is getting in on the #GiveDivasAChance movement with a series of tweets to Stephanie McMahon. McMahon first tweeted actress Patricia Arquette about her speech at the Oscars about women’s rights and wage equality for women:
Although she was initially scheduled to return at this weekend’s WWE live events in her home state of New Jersey, WWE Diva AJ Lee has since been pulled from the advertising for the shows.
Lee noted on January 10th that she was nursing a neck injury that she suffered the week before WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Whe asked by a follow of hers on Twitter recently if she was 100 percent physically, Lee simply replied by saying, “nope.”
– WWE has pulled Randy Orton from the advertisements for the live events this coming weekend, however he is still listed, including in new ads, for the 30-man Royal Rumble match on Sunday in Philadelphia, as well as next week’s RAW in Hartford and SmackDown in Boston.
– WWE Diva AJ Lee was backstage at the RAW Reunion show in Dallas on Monday, despite not being used on the show. It’s been reported for a while that AJ will make her return at the live events this coming weekend in her home state of New Jersey.
While WWE Diva AJ Lee is advertised to return at the WWE live events during Royal Rumble weekend later this month, there was initially a plan to bring her back at the first edition of WWE RAW of 2015.
WWE was hoping to bring Lee back during the first RAW of the year as a surprise return on January 5th, however due to her neck injury, she was unable to make the appearance.
Last weekend, AJ updated fans on why she’s been off WWE television since dropping the Divas Championship Nikki Bella at TLC last month, denying she’s pregnant:
Finally nursing a neck injury from the week before SummerSlam. Not preggers, guys. Way too attached to my abs.
Tickets for the 2015 WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony are scheduled to go on sale to the general public on Saturday, January 17th at 11:00am EST. The 2015 WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony will be held at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on March 28th.
As far as a pre-sale is concerned, WWE usually offers a pre-sale event. Whenever any pre-sale information becomes available, including code words needed to purchase tickets in advance, we will be sure to update you.
– AJ Lee tweeted the following on Saturday updating fans on why she’s been off WWE television since dropping the Divas Championship Nikki Bella at TLC last month:
Finally nursing a neck injury from the week before SummerSlam. Not preggers, guys. Way too attached to my abs.
– AJ Lee is being advertised for the WWE SuperShow on January 24th, which takes place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ, close to where she grew up.
– David Otunga is scheduled to appear at tonight’s WWE live event from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He’s been doing media appearances for WWE in recent months but hasn’t competed since the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 30. He’s made it clear in various interviews that he plans to continue his pro wrestling career.
– The following is a preview for Sunday’s Total Divas season premiere on E!:
As noted earlier this week, AJ Lee appeared to be on vacation, as the WWE Diva posted a photo on social media of a beach, indicating that she was enjoying some of her time off from WWE, which as reported, is due to injuries.
Lee and her husband, former WWE Superstar and current UFC fighter CM Punk, were in Puerto Rico for New Year’s Eve, visiting Lee’s family on the west side of the island.
On a related note, Punk begins his official full-time training for his UFC debut at “Roufus Sport” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this Monday.
Punk took part in a live UFC Fight Club Q&A in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, fielding a number of pro wrestling and MMA related questions from a rowdy, mostly drunk UFC crowd. You can check out a full video archive of the Q&A session by clicking here.
The following are highlights of a new Miami Herald interview with WWE Diva Paige:
On why officials wanted her on Total Divas: “That’s the thing about ‘Total Divas’ because you don’t expect me on it; so it brings something new to the table. That’s pretty much why they wanted me on it in the first place. They wanted me a while back. At first, I was like, ‘No.’ It was wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. After a while, I spoke to my family about it. Then when the opportunity came again, it was like, ‘You know what. Yes. I’m going to do it.’ It was an opportunity I didn’t want to regret later on. These are girls I work with all the time, and they are great people. So I thought, ‘Why wouldn’t I want to work with them on a reality show, too?’ The only thing I was worried about is that I shut off from my personal life. I’m not good at opening up with people. It took me a while on the show to do it, but when you see it you will say, ‘Okay. That’s the reason why.’”
On what to expect from her on the show: “You’re going to see me be very blunt with people. You’ll see me have some kind of confrontation, whether it be physical or verbally. You’ll see me make terrible decisions. You know what though; that’s me. I just like people can see it. They can see I am completely different than the rest of the girls. I change the whole dynamic. You’ll see me open up. I’m going to share a lot, which I never do. I’m going to share a lot of my background and a past relationship. You’ll see a lot of that, but then you’ll also see the crazy stuff I’m up to because I try to make the most out of my days off. When we are home, you run errands typically. But I’m like, ‘No, I’m going to do this or that.’ I’m a little bit of an adrenaline junky. I’m doing a lot of crazy stuff, and I drag Foxy [Alicia Fox] and Rosy [Rosa Mendes] along for the ride.”
On her relationship with AJ Lee: “She is actually one of my best friends. She knew I was coming up, and this was my debut. Here is me, this girl from NXT that wins the championship on her first day. AJ was so sweet and so humble, and she helped me every step of the way. She was incredibly nice. She gave me tips. Before she went away for a little bit, she told me what to do and how to react. She helped me with promos. I would go to her and say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ Then she would say, ‘That’s good, but what if you did it this way?’ She is so helpful. We travel together. I’m so lucky to have her and work with her. She has always been this different diva, kind of like the anti-diva. I really looked up to her. I’m happy to have had a storyline with her.’”
Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.
As noted recently, WWE Diva AJ Lee is currently on the sidelines dealing with an injury. Apparently she is healing up from a few minor injuries, not just one. She is, however, expected back at some point in the near future.
Additionally, Lee tweeted the following photo recently, indicating that she is on vacation somewhere.
Apparently there’s a lot of negative talk about AJ Lee within WWE in recent weeks. Her “Slammy Awards” acceptance speech, which wasn’t scripted the way she delivered it, was viewed as a big shot at every Diva in WWE, outside of Paige.
There was also some negative talk about her taking time off from WWE to be with CM Punk for his UFC signing announcement at the UFC 181 event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Additionally, there appears to have been another incident with AJ. She was taken off an episode of WWE Main Event a month ago and that was reportedly linked to some kind of incident that happened backstage, described as a “hiccup” with her.
Controversial DRUG-Related Scene On Next Season Of TOTAL DIVAS
(News from The Wrestling Observer was used in this post. Visit F4WOnline.com for subscription information.)
WWE Diva AJ Lee is currently on the sidelines with an injury. She had previously been working hurt so that WWE could wrap up her feud with WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella.
WWE originally intended to do a significant injury angle to write her off of television, but for whatever reason those plans were scrapped.
Lee being away is also said to be the main reason why Naomi and Natalya were moved into title contention. Original plans were going to be Naomi going for Bella’s title, however they may be leaning towards Natalya at this point.
As far as AJ Lee is concerned, the belief among those in the company is that she will be back at some point in 2015.
As promised, here are the top pay-per-view events from 2014.
8. NXT Takeover
This event started off sluggish but certainly ended with a string of entertaining matches. In particular, the match between Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn featured solid in-ring work and highlighted why both of these guys could succeed if given the opportunity.
The real treat during this pay-per-view, however, was the final two matches of the evening. The match between Charlotte and Natalya for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship was probably the most technically sound women’s match I’ve ever seen, and the main event between Neville and Tyson Kidd was the perfect way to end the show. In my opinion, this was the event that made fans realize NXT is more than simply a developmental league for the main roster.
Worst Match: Adam Rose vs. Camacho
Best Match: Charlotte vs. Natalya
7. Payback
There was some worry heading into this one, largely due to the absence of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The event would carry on just fine without the title, however. It started off strong with a bruising contest between Sheamus and Cesaro.
From there, the Last Man Standing match was entertaining, even if it would have been nice to see Wyatt pick up the victory. With that said, this pay-per-view is all about the main event. It was an awesome 30-minute affair that featured memorable spots, brutal action, and a decisive Shield victory. This was also important because it would set up Seth Rollins’ heel turn the next night on Raw.
There was talk at one point of adding Brie Bella to the WWE Divas Championship match between Nikki Bella and AJ Lee at the WWE TLC pay-per-view. Obviously that never happened, however it is one of many signs that WWE officials have been going back and forth on what to do with the Bella Twins.
Additionally, it’s said that WWE considered having AJ defeat Nikki for the title at TLC, although that obviously didn’t happen either.
TLC came and went last night, leaving behind a trail of broken tables, dented chairs, and fried television monitors. There were plenty of highlights last night, but the company certainly took a few missteps as well. Overall, here are the pros and cons from last night’s TLC pay-per-view.
Pros
The show got off to a hot start last night with the ladder match. Ziggler and Harper really gave everything they had, as both were men were bruised and bloodied by the end of the contest. There were a number of memorable spots (especially when Harper catapulted Ziggler into the ropes with the ladder), and overall, it ranked up there with some of the best ladder matches in company history. Amazing way to start the show, and unfortunately for WWE, the rest of the show paled in comparison.
Ambrose and Wyatt also put on an amazing show. This was about as brutal as it gets during the PG era, with Ambrose leaping from the top of a ladder to drive Wyatt through a table on multiple occasions. It was also nice to see the company have the confidence to let these guys close the show, although the ending was less than desirable (more on that later).
As expected, Damien Mizdow was over big time with the crowd, with the fans even booing Miz in his hometown of Cleveland in favor of Sandow. I couldn’t help but crack up when Mizdow started emulating the half crab on the apron. The guy has major star potential, and he and the Miz play perfectly off of one another.
Although the booking was atrocious, Rollins proved why he is a future star during his match with John Cena. Join me in the “Cons” section to read more about this one.
Finally, I thought it was a decent decision to have Nikki Bella retain the title, and honestly, it was far from being the worst match of the night. It seems like the company has being playing hot potato with the Divas Championship since AJ Lee’s long title reign ended so it’s nice to see the title stay around someone’s waist for more than a month.
Here is an injury report from Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view, courtesy of the WWE website:
– Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper were treated for wounds following their Intercontinental Title Ladder Match. Harper received five staples to the side of his head and Ziggler had a laceration on his head as well, which was treated with skin glue and bandages.
– AJ Lee was tended to by trainers after TLC due to a “scary incident” in which Nikki Bella blinded her with the hairspray in their match.
WWE’s Dr. Stephen Daquino told WWE.com that AJ suffered “chemical conjunctivitis” but they were able to flush her eyes with saline. Dr. Daquino said that the quick treatment helped prevent any long-term damage to AJ’s vision.