– WWE creative writers are considering giving “Mr. Money in the Bank” Damien Sandow a run with the World Heavyweight Championship in large part due to Rob Van Dam’s questionable future with the organization.
It has been reported that RVD has not agreed to a new contract with WWE. However, other organization sources claim he signed a deal where he continuously works three months and then takes three months off. Nonetheless, he is expected to disappear from WWE programming shortly after Sunday’s Battleground pay-per-view event.
The reason the belt may wind up in the arms of Sandow is because it would instantly lead to a feud with Del Rio and creative wants the Mexican wrestler to be continuously featured in a top program. Another idea batted around is Van Dam winning the strap from Del Rio, with Sandow immediately cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase to claim the gold. However, some people in WWE feel this idea is unlikely to occur since it happened just two months ago at SummerSlam.
– E!’s Total Divas, which is currently on hiatus, will resume on November 17, 2013 with six additional episodes. Regarding the possibility of episodes beyond the next batch, many people within WWE expect the reality series to be renewed for a second season beginning shortly after WrestleMania XXX.
– As of last week, former ROH World Champions Davey Richards nor Eddie Edwards have not heard back from WWE officials after participating in an evaluation session in August at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. According to reports from the session, both individuals were said to have stood out the most of the thirty athletes who participated.
When it comes to WWE signing prospective talent who participate in these sessions, various personnel observe, and then report on who they feel are the best prospects to Triple H. He then uses their feedback, and makes the final decision on who gets signed.
– With Rob Van Dam expected to be written off television within the next week or so due to a contract matter, an angle has been discussed where his current manager, Ricardo Rodriguez, turns on the former ECW standout to partner up with Alberto Del Rio once again.
– As announced this week, Susan G. Komen is once again partnering with WWE to Rise Above Cancer in order to end breast cancer forever. SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia announced Wednesday via Twitter that she’s a spokesperson for the campaign.
It will be announced on this week’s WWE SmackDown that WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel will defend his title against R-Truth. Bray Wyatt also teased an appearance at Battleground, which will likely be the rumored match we reported on Tuesday with Wyatt taking on Kofi Kingston. That match, however, is still strictly a rumor at this point.
With that now known, here is an updated look at the official lineup for Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view from Buffalo, New York:
Vacant WWE Championship
-Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan
World Heavyweight Championship
-Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Rob Van Dam*
WWE Intercontinental Championship
-Curtis Axel (c) vs. R-Truth
WWE Divas Championship
-AJ Lee (c) vs. Brie Bella
-CM Punk vs. Ryback
-Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns**
WWE Battleground Kickoff Show
-Dolph Ziggler vs. Damien Sandow
RUMORED Match:
-Bray Wyatt vs. Kofi Kingston
* – The Del Rio vs. Van Dam rematch will be contested under “Battleground Hardcore Rules.”
** – Dusty Rhodes will be in the corner of Cody & Goldust. If the Rhodes Family loses, all three men will never be allowed to work for WWE again. If they win, Cody and Goldust get their jobs back
Make sure to visit SESCOOPS.COM this Sunday night for the absolute best live results coverage of the WWE Battleground pay-per-view. The coverage will begin at 7:30pm E.T. with the WWE Battleground Kickoff Show, and will continue throughout the entire duration of the pay-per-view. Until then, stop by the SESCOOPS.COM Facebook Page and/or the SESCOOPS.COM Twitter Page to share your predictions for this Sunday’s pay-per-view!
-Current WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel (Joe Hennig) celebrates his 34th birthday today. Axel was born on October 1, 1979.
-WWE Hall Of Famer Mil Mascaras, who is the uncle of WWE Superstar and current World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio, will be starring in a new Sci-Fi Lucha Libre film. The film, which is called “Mission,” is currently searching for crowdsourcing. The official synopsis for the film reads:
“In this sci-fi adventure, “Mr. Personality” will have to go into a dangerous and remote jungle that serves as a den for mysterious aliens invading Earth in order to destroy it. “Mission” will feature werewolves, robots, spiders, jungle, missionaries, Aliens, spaceships … And wrestling, wrestling and wrestling!”
Several new matches and stipulations were added to the WWE Battleground event on Monday’s “go-home” edition of RAW. WWE Battleground emanates from the First Niagra Center in Buffalo, New York this Sunday, October 6, 2013. Below is an updated look at the official lineup for the first ever Battleground pay-per-view.
Vacant WWE Championship
-Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan
World Heavyweight Championship
-Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Rob Van Dam*
WWE Divas Championship
-AJ Lee (c) vs. Brie Bella
-CM Punk vs. Ryback
-Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns**
WWE Battleground Kickoff Show
-Dolph Ziggler vs. Damien Sandow
* – The Del Rio vs. Van Dam rematch will be contested under “Battleground Hardcore Rules.”
** – Dusty Rhodes will be in the corner of Cody & Goldust. If the Rhodes Family loses, all three men will never be allowed to work for WWE again. If they win, Cody and Goldust get their jobs back
Make sure to visit SESCOOPS.COM this Sunday night for the absolute best live results coverage of the WWE Battleground pay-per-view. The coverage will begin at 7:30pm E.T. with the WWE Battleground Kickoff Show, and will continue throughout the entire duration of the pay-per-view. Until then, stop by the SESCOOPS.COM Facebook Page and/or the SESCOOPS.COM Twitter Page to share your predictions for this Sunday’s pay-per-view!
WWE returns live to Biloxi, Mississippi on Monday night for the WWE Battleground “go-home” edition of RAW.
The main item heading into this week’s show is the Rhodes Family being “invited back to RAW” for a “business proposal” from the WWE COO Triple H. As noted, the Rhodes Family will be on RAW this week to build towards the six-man tag-team match against The Shield.
Also advertised in advance for this week’s RAW is the debut of the Los Matadores tag-team, which is the repackaged duo formerly known as Primo and Epico. After weeks of vignettes hyping their debut, Los Matadores will finally arrive on RAW in Biloxi on Monday night.
Outside of the aforementioned items, the main focus on this week’s show will be the final build towards the three previously announced WWE Battleground main events which consist of Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship, the “Battleground Hardcore Rules” match between Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam for the World Heavyweight Championship and the CM Punk vs. Ryback match.
The officially advertised talent roster for this week’s show includes Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Paul Heyman, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Alberto Del Rio, Rob Van Dam, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, Zeb Colter, Damien Sandow, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, A.J. Lee and Kaitlyn.
There are two advertised dark match main-events for this week, as Orton will take on Bryan and Punk will take on both Heyman and Axel in a Handicap Match.
Stay tuned to SESCOOPS.COM throughout the day for continued updates on this week’s live edition of WWE RAW.
Following Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, a stipulation is now official for the World Heavyweight Championship match at the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view on Sunday, October 6th.
It was revealed on the weekly SyFy wrestling show that the Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam rematch for the title at WWE Battleground will be contested under “hardcore rules.”
With that now known, here is a look at the official WWE Battleground pay-per-view lineup:
-Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton [Vacant WWE Championship]
-Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Rob Van Dam [Hardcore Rules For World Heavyweight Championship]
-CM Punk vs. Ryback
Make sure to visit SESCOOPS.COM on Sunday, October 6th for the best WWE Battleground live results coverage on the internet.
WWE announced that injured Superstar John Cena will be a part of the upcoming live event tour in Europe, which kicks off in November. Obviously Cena will be unable to wrestle actual matches, but he will be traveling with the company and making special appearances at the shows.
Cena will be a part of the show in Munich, Germany on Saturday, November 9th. That event will be headlined by CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman and Ryback in a Handicap Match. Also announced are World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio and The Wyatt Family.
For the live events on Wednesday, November 13th in Zunish, Switzerland and Saturday, November 16th in Vienna, Austria, WWE announced Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship as the headline attraction. Also announced for both shows are The Shield and Big Show.
-Recent plans have WWE talent Ricardo Rodriguez continuing to manage Rob Van Dam until RVD takes some scheduled time off from WWE in October. Once Van Dam is on hiatus, it is possible that Rodriguez may be put with the returning Rey Mysterio as his “personal ring announcer.”
-Expect stipulations to be added to the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam vs. Alberto Del Rio rematches scheduled for the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view.
According to one report, there is discussion of the Bryan-Orton pay-per-view rematch being contested under “Iron Man” match rules. This would allow WWE to book the match in a way where it leads to another inconclusive finish, which could lead to the final showdown in a cell at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
It was announced during the WWE Main Event television taping on Tuesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio that Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton will meet in a rematch from their controversial WWE Night Of Champions match at the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view for the vacant WWE Championship.
It was also announced, this time during the WWE SmackDown television taping, also taped on Tuesday night in Cincinnati, that in another WWE Night Of Champions rematch, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio will again defend his title against Rob Van Dam.
For those interested, both the WWE Main Event and the WWE SmackDown taping results for this week are up on the main page right now.
WWE returns to Cincinnati, Ohio on Tuesday night to tape this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event.
While no official matches or segments have been announced ahead of time, WWE will obviously continue to push the situation surrounding the vacant WWE Championship, as well as the latest developments in the Triple H, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan saga.
WWE will also focus on the World Heavyweight Championship picture and feud between Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam, which the controversial intentional disqualification during their match at Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Advertised for tonight’s WWE television tapings are Triple H, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio, Rob Van Dam, Ricardo Rodriguez, Stephanie McMahon, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, The Shield, The Real Americans, The Wyatt Family, Big E. Langston, AJ Lee and Kaitlyn.
While it is subject to change, the advertised post-show dark-match is Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship, as well as a six-man tag match involving The Shield and a trio of babyfaces.
Anyone who is attending tonight’s WWE television tapings in Cincinnati, feel free to send in a live report to be published here on the website.
-Shares of WWE stock dropped below $10 per-share in early trading on Monday morning. This comes after WWE released a statement on Friday downgrading their 2013 Business Outlook, particularly for the second-half of 2013. As of this afternoon, shares of WWE stock were down 4.2 percent from Friday’s close.
-The infamous Reddit user, Dolphins1925, missed one of his predictions for the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view. Dolphins1925 predicted Del Rio would win the match, however, the match ended up in a disqualification, which means Rob Van Dam technically won the match. While Del Rio did retain his World Heavyweight Championship as a result, the match goes down as a loss for the current champion.
-WWE executive and part-time Superstar Triple H recently posted a tweet on his official Twitter account hyping tonight’s Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez boxing pay-per-view, including information on how to order the show (which happens to be the same weekend that WWE is asking their fans to buy their show the very next night). HHH wrote:
“You going to watch @FloydMayweather fight? I am!!! 45-0– Order the fight by going here http://sports.sho.com/order #TheOne”
-WWE’s Vickie Guerrero announced on this week’s SmackDown show that Ricardo Rodriguez would not be allowed to be in Rob Van Dam’s corner this weekend at Night Of Champions when he challenges Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Rodriguez reacted to the news on Twitter, writing:
“Im sorry guys. I really tried against Del Rio but came up on the losing end tonight on Smackdown. Guess I won’t be at #NOC :(“
The following are highlights from a recent Sky Sports interview with WWE Superstar and 3MB member Drew McIntyre:
skysports.com: Do you enjoy being part of a tag team or do you prefer singles action?
DM: I am happy to do anything that comes my way and I will always do my best in anything that presents itself. However, I will be getting in the ring a lot more now that my wrist injury has cleared and I am back to 100 per cent.
skysports.com: Do you sense there is a resurgence in tag team wrestling at the moment?
DM: I love tag team wrestling. I held the titles in the past with Cody Rhodes – who has just been fired – but tag teams seemed to take a back seat after that. Now, though, with 3MB, The Shield, The Usos and The Prime Time Players, it is coming back in a big way. That’s great because tag teams are a big part of wrestling and we had brilliant teams, like The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, and Legion of Doom, before.
skysports.com: You are good friends with Alberto Del Rio. How did that relationship blossom?
DM: You can probably imagine how a Scot and a Mexican became such good mates! We are very similar personality-wise, we both love wrestling – he grew up in a wrestling family and I’ve always wanted to be a wrestler – and we are both very passionate about what we do and very driven.
skysports.com: Which titles in WWE do you consider to be the most prestigious?
DM: The WWE and World Heavyweight Titles are the ones everyone is aiming for and if you’re not aiming for them you are in the wrong business – and I like to think that when the time is right I will get my shot. I have just turned 28 and have lots of years left in me and after being hindered by injury I am ready to get going. I am hungrier and more vicious than I have ever been and I don’t think anyone can match my aggression.
Check out the complete interview online at SkySports.com.
WWE RAW emanates live from Des Moines, Iowa tonight for the Labor Day edition of the show.
The main focus of tonight’s show will be on the Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton feud, with all of the outside involvement from Triple H, as well as Vince and Stephanie McMahon. Also, heavy focus will remain on the storyline involving CM Punk and Curtis Axel/Paul Heyman.
There will be more follow-up on the World Heavyweight Championship program, which features champion Alberto Del Rio and his former manager Ricardo Rodriguez, who is now with Del Rio’s opposition, Rob Van Dam. They will continue the build to their title bout at the upcoming Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
The full talent roster advertised for tonight’s show in Des Moines is as follows: Orton, Bryan, Punk, Heyman, Axel, HHH, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Del Rio, Van Dam, Rodriguez, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Wade Barrett, AJ Lee, Kaitlyn, The Shield and The Wyatt Family.
The scheduled dark match main event for tonight’s show is The Shield vs. Rob Van Dam, Mark Henry and The Big Show. With Henry being injured, plans for that match may be off the table.
SESCOOPS.COM reader Bootleg Kev sent along the following:
I got to sit down with WWE Heavyweight Champ Alberto Del Rio right before this past Monday’s WWE Monday Night RAW. We speak on his current run as WWE Heavyweight Champ, the double blackeyes he was wearing last week on raw, his recent run as a baby-face, whether he prefers the baby-face or heel role, his upcoming storyline with RVD, how he feels about Darren Young coming out of the closet, who his dream tag-team partner would be, who some of his close friends in the locker room are, and of course the departure of his beloved ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez.
On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, new matches, with some interesting stipulations, were added to the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, scheduled September 15, 2013, which will be headlined by Daniel Bryan challenging “the face of WWE”, Randy Orton, for his WWE Championship.
WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam, through the help of a quick distraction by his new manager, Ricardo Rodriguez, defeated Alberto Del Rio to earn a World Heavyweight Championship match against the champion at the pay-per-view in three weeks.
Also added to Night Of Champions on RAW was a Handicap Elimination match featuring CM Punk against both Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman. It was noted that if Heyman doesn’t fight, he will have to leave WWE.
Here is an updated look at the official WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view lineup thus far:
WWE Championship
-Randy Orton (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
World Heavyweight Championship
-Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Rob Van Dam (with Ricardo Rodriguez)
Handicap Elimination Match
-CM Punk vs. Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman
Stay tuned to SESCOOPS.COM for continued updates on the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
It was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Phoenix, Arizona that if Rob Van Dam could defeat World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio in a singles match on the show, that he would receive a shot at the title at the upcoming WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Van Dam, with help by way of distraction from his new manager, Ricardo Rodriguez, picked up the win over Del Rio. So in three weeks in Detroit, Michigan, at Night Of Champions, Del Rio will be defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Van Dam.
WWE.com recently confirmed an additional match for tonight’s edition of RAW.
Already announced, in one of tonight’s main events, is a match between CM Punk and Curtis Axel (with Paul Heyman). While the bout was announced as a non-title match originally, the latest online rumors point to it most likely being for Axel’s Intercontinental Championship.
Additionally, WWE announced a match between World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam for the show tonight.
-WWE Superstar Ryback, who has been portraying the bully character on television recently, is reportedly in line for a big push from the WWE creative team.
According to reports, the employees who work in the merchandising branch of WWE have been informed to come up with as many ideas as they can for Ryback. Generally, when WWE amps up the merchandise for a character, it means that not only is that individual in line for a major push, but it usually means they’re going to be a babyface.
-WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio will be appearing at the Walmart on Unser Blvd. in Rio Rancho, New Mexico on Sunday, August 25th at 3pm. The signing is open to the first 300 fans who show up. WWE will also be holding a live event in the city this weekend.
-The website ContactMusic.com has an article up with an update on the Hulk Hogan movie idea. They note that Hogan thinks the actor that played Thor would actually be a better fit as the person to play him, instead of his son Nick. You can read the full article online at ContactMusic.com.
-Pro Wrestling Illustrated has released their latest PWI 500 list, which you can check out at PWI-Online.com. The top ten, in order, for 2013 are: John Cena, CM Punk, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Bully Ray, Kazuchika Okada, Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Steen.
More details have come to light regarding the brawl that took place this weekend involving WWE Superstars Alberto Del Rio and Drew McIntyre.
Apparently the altercation took place at approximately 3:00am on Saturday. As the story goes, Del Rio and McIntyre went to an Irish bar together. Someone allegedly said something to the girl that McIntyre was with, which prompted Del Rio to step in. From there, somebody reportedly blind-sided Del Rio over the head with a bottle, and things escalated from there.
McIntyre came out of the fracas sporting a black eye, and Del Rio as well suffered a black eye, along with a lot of bad swelling and bruising in his face.
More details have come to light regarding the story we published late Sunday night involving the real-life brawl featuring WWE Superstars Alberto Del Rio and Drew McIntyre.
As the story goes, the two were at an Irish pub on Saturday night and a physical altercation broke out between Del Rio and several of the patrons at the establishment. According to one eye-witness, Del Rio got involved in a verbal confrontation with a gentleman, when several of his friends stepped in. This led to the physicality that broke out, and apparently fellow WWE Superstar McIntyre jumped in on behalf of Del Rio. Apparently the two were beaten up pretty good.
When Del Rio returned to the hotel, he had two black eyes, bad bruising and swelling, and was attempting to cover his face so that he would not be spotted by anyone in the lobby. Del Rio was accompanied by McIntyre, who didn’t have as much actual facial damage, but was said to be pretty lumped up as well.
According to reports, the reason Alberto Del Rio was sporting a black eye heading into his match with Christian at the SummerSlam pay-per-view on Sunday night was because of a physical altercation that took place either late Saturday night, or early into Sunday.
While there isn’t a lot of specifics that can be provided at this point, it is known that the World Heavyweight Champion was involved in a real-life brawl with fellow WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre. Apparently the two got into a scuffle at some point, and the fight resulted in noticeable physical damage to both men.
WWE explained the black eye during the pay-per-view by saying it was the result of Christian hitting the Killswitch on Del Rio during Friday’s edition of SmackDown. However, the black eye, as well as a lot of the bruises on Del Rio’s face, were the direct result of the fight with McIntyre.
We should have an update on this story early Monday morning.