The latest sit-down interview between Triple H and Michael Cole has been added to the official WWE YouTube channel. This week’s video, which you can view above, is accompanied by the following description: “The WWE COO announces the entire 2014 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony with be broadcast on WWE Network, and weighs in on the hunt for Randy Orton’s WWE World Heavyweight Title as Elimination Chamber draws near.”
– It’s rumored that The Usos will be getting a WWE tag team title shot against The New Age Outlaws at the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 23rd.
– Daniel Bryan’s opponent at WrestleMania XXX remains undecided. Following the WWE departure of CM Punk, Bryan has been discussed as a possible opponent for Triple H at WrestleMania There’s also talk of Bryan being added to the Randy Orton vs. Batista WWE World Heavyweight title match. However, based on the way Orton has been booked in recent weeks, it remains to be seen if Orton will still be champion in 2 weeks time.
It appears that Bryan’s proposed match against Shemus is no longer being considered and WWE might wait until after Elimination Chamber to make a decision.
Legendary Betty White Guest Stars on Raw . YES!
Betty White
Guest Star Betty White came out with The Big Show to kick of this weeks WWE Monday Night Raw live from Los Angelas. She said a few words and that she’s there to “Kick some Ass!” The Authority come out to start an in-ring segment. Later we see Betty White in a few segments with the New Age Outlaws. They attempt to give Betty White some spiked tea, however Betty turns the tables on Billy Gun and he ends up with the drink. How can I say something bad about Betty White? She’s a legend. It was exactly what you would have expected. The kick some ass line was charming. It was fine. YES!
https://www.wwe.com/videos/betty-white-guest-stars-on-raw-raw-feb-10-2014-26181110
Even Daniel Bryan couldn’t save this boring segment. NO!
The Authority – Randy Orton – Daniel Bryan
Another in-ring segment with The Authority followed by Randy Orton. Orton now wants to be on Kelly and Michael and truly be The Face of the WWE. Daniel Bryan comes out and reminds Randy Orton that he beat him clean last week. Bryan wasn’t happy he was laid out by Kane and Orton after the match, and wanted Kane on Raw. The Authority said that Kane was suspended, and that wouldn’t be possible. I can’t take these segments with Randy Orton and The Authority. Even my beloved Daniel Bryan couldn’t save it in my eyes. Perhaps Bryan goes over at the Elimination Chamber and becomes WWE World Heavyweight Champion. All I know is they need to stop these segments this way, I mean at least mix it up, have Bryan in a fiery rage from his “NO NO NO” days call out The Authority. All these segments are the same, and boring. NO!
Rey Mysterio, Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. The Wyatt Family
Amazing match from the Former Tag Team Champions, and Rey and the Wyatts. Bodies flying all over made for a great visual, and the quick hook of the Sister Abigail onto Rey Mysterio was awesome. Bray cuts a promo on The Shield for their upcoming match at The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View. Probably the match I’m looking forward to the most. Check out the match below YES!
Santino Marella (with Emma) vs. Fandango (with Summer Rae)
Another bizarre use of Emma here, backing a losing Santino. Emma did her dance during their entrance to Santino’s Music. I mean I understand Santino is wrestling, but isn’t her dancing gimmick attached to her music from NXT? The debut and usage of Emma is quite confusing to me. NO!
Sheamus and Cesaro getting it on in a great tag match on Raw YES!
Sheamus & Christian vs. The Real Americans
Antonio Cesaro is now just called “Cesaro”. Like Prince, or Madonna or Sting, if that means they are going to push him more you can call him Mud for all I care. Cesaro was great in this match, as was Sheamus and a very beat up Christian. Our friend The Solomonster has said on his podcast that his European Uppercut should be his finisher and I agree, after he hit the move in this match, it almost seemed the crowd expected the three count. As did I, it’s a great move. Good Match! YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
– During a commercial break of Monday’s WWE RAW, Shield member Seth Rollins grabbed a microphone and responded to fans chanting “CM Punk” by asking them, “CM Who?”
He continued, “That’s Dean Ambrose the United States champion. The man every guy wants to be and every woman wants to be with.”
The Shield did a similar routine over the weekend, running down CM Punk at live events.
– The dark match main event that took place after RAW went off the air saw John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Batista defeat the Wyatt Family by disqualification. The finish came when Bray Wyatt and Eric Rowan attacked Batista, who had given Luke Harper a spear and was about to give him a Batista Bomb.
Cena and Bryan then chased Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper out of the ring, leaving Rowan alone with the babyfaces. Cena hit him with the AA, Batista hit him with the spear, and Bryan hit him with a running knee to end the show.
– The newest member of the WWE broadcast team, Byron Saxton, made his official main roster debut at Monday’s edition of RAW. Saxton served as a backstage interviewer in a segment with Sheamus.
– It was confirmed on Monday’s RAW that at the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Batista and Alberto Del Rio will be squaring off in one-on-one action. The match was made in a backstage segment that featured Triple H and Batista. With that match set, here’s the updated card for WWE Elimination Chamber:
Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship:
Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus Cesaro vs. Christian
Factions Collide:
The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family
The Animal Returns To Singles Action:
Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio
– Vince McMahon joked on Twitter that he has a date with Betty White, the guest host of tonight’s edition of WWE RAW. McMahon tweeted the following:
I have a date with @BettyMWhite tonight on #RAW. pic.twitter.com/vs6yf14NcX
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) February 10, 2014
– SESCOOPS.COM reader Jorge Romero recently tweeted me the following photo of Batista at the Imperials car club in Los Angeles with WWE Home Video filming his 1964 Chevrolet with Eddie Guerrero honored on the hood:
Batista showed off a 64 Chevrolet with #EddieGuerrero Painted On It during #WWE Shoot #Raw @MBoone420 & @RyanClarkWZR pic.twitter.com/h3k8oybDxc
— Jorge Romero (@Jromer0) February 10, 2014
The following are highlights from the latest Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On those who say the Steiner Brothers never hurt anyone in the ring: “They were physical guys and the business isn’t ballet. I loved the Steiner Brothers tag team.”
On what it was like to deal with Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie: “Really good men. Wish we had more of them. Solid citizens.”
On how much creative input The Undertaker and Paul Bearer had in their characters: “An ample amount. Always in the loop.”
On if Batista should have been kept as a Royal Rumble surprise entrant: “Key word here is hindsight. That’s the easiest thing in the world to do when it comes to many things including booking ideas. I had no issue on how Batista was handled.”
Check out more JR Q&A online at JRsBarBQ.com.
The following are highlights from a new Jim Ross Q&A update:
On why fans should take Randy Orton as champion seriously after losing multiple “non-title” matches: “It’s an old school philosophy. The champion losing non title bouts gives the impression that the title holder is vulnerable and ripe for the pickings.”
On his thoughts of a potential Daniel Bryan vs. Kurt Angle match: “If both were healthy and the match was creatively presented as it should, there is no doubt that those two wouldn’t have a great performance.”
On his thoughts on how WWE should handle the upcoming event in Chicago without CM Punk: “The show must go on and hopefully it will have enough good content to help some fans move on so as to not to negatively disrupt the broadcast to an unwatchable degree.”
On his thoughts of all the recent hatred from the fans towards Batista: “I’d guess it was merely the fall out of the Daniel Bryan situation and not directed directly at Batista.”
For more JR Q&A, visit JRsBarBQ.com.
Reports of Fans getting kicked out and CM Punk signs being taken away. NO!
CM Punk
CM Punk took his ball and went home. The longest reigning WWE champion in the Modern Era, seemingly quit WWE last week after a meeting with Vince McMahon. We are now in the age of the crowd hijack, so as expected chants rang out and signs for CM Punk were all over the place. rang A CM Punk sign was viable with in the first few seconds of the Raw preview. My biggest fear was that this was going to take away from Daniel Bryan, and It did. Omaha isn’t a big market to begin with, and I feel energy was wasted chanting CM Punk’s name. CM Punk may have left for “the right reasons” but I fear that now Daniel Bryan has to share the spotlight with the absence of CM Punk. Time will tell. NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton
I’m sick of Randy Orton and The Authority segments. I’m sick of Randy Orton. I’m sick of Triple H, who comes out to a moderate pop because, of course he is a very big star, and when you have Randy Orton out there whining and complaining, anything is better than Randy Orton. Stephanie McMahon saying “I can’t believe I’m saying this, Daniel Bryan might be the new face of the WWE.” Randy Orton will take on Daniel Bryan in a non-title match later tonight. As Triple H throws his hands in the air mimicking the yes chant. Michael Cole saying that he was leading the fans in the chant, nice try Cole. This segment could have been a 2 min promo backstage, it was a waste of time, and I was bored. NO!
Jerry The King Lawler with weaker content than BNB. NO!
Bad News Barrett & Jerry Lawler
Wade Barrett, with a useless generic heel post superbowl “you stuffed your faces” corny promo. Yelling and screaming. Out of no where Jerry Lawler is on a mic cutting off Wade Barrett with the weakest retort I’ve ever heard from Jerry, saying “I have some bad news, maybe you won’t be here next week.” Crowd was just as confused as I was. That was it? Terrible NO!
The Shield vs. Rey Mysterio, Big E. Langston & Kofi Kingston
Roman Reigns busted open the hard way in this match and required stitches after the fact. He will truely be a big star in the very near future, and it’s exciting to see him work. Dean Ambrose tagged Roman at the last moment to get a pinfall victory on Big E. Langston, after Roman did all the heavy lifting. This will further increase tension amongst The Shield, which is fine, but why does the Intercontinental champion have to take the fall? Can’t Kofi or Rey lay down? WWE continues to make their secondary champions look weak. However since Dean did get a pin-fall victory over Big E. perhaps this could set up a unification between the US and IC Championships, which needs to happen. After the Match The Wyatts cut a promo on the RawTron as the Shield looked on. YES!
Road Dogg should have caught Cody, but the match was a YES!
WWE Tag-Team Titles: New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes (Steel Cage Match) I enjoyed the tag team re-mach in a steel cage. However why in a match that has no disqualification would there be a requirement to tag in an out? #WWELogic I suppose. Cody Rhodes climbed the cage to deliver a moonsault much like The Moonsault he did In Madison Square Garden. However he missed, and I dont’ think he was supposed to, I think Road Dogg botched this move by not getting out in front of him. Billy Gunn would have been there to deliever his finisher if Cody hit the move, and the result would have been the same. I was fully expecting a Golddust beat down in the cage, so kudos to WWE for not being predictable. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
As noted, there have been a number of creative meetings in the past week regarding booking the card for WrestleMania XXX. At this point, the only match that is considered a lock is John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt.
According to one source, there is a lot of back-and-forth discussion regarding Brock Lesnar’s match on the show. The original plan was for Lesnar to face The Undertaker, however some are of the belief that there is something to the tease between Lesnar and Batista on RAW recently.
Additionally, there is a lot of talk about how to use Daniel Bryan on the show. Originally, Bryan was to work with Sheamus at WrestleMania. After the crowd hijacking at the Royal Rumble, there continues to be talk of featuring Bryan in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.
(Credit: PWInsider.com)
– The official WWE website ran a poll recently asking fans who is the bigger success story to come out of the Evolution faction, Batista or Randy Orton. At last check, Orton was in the lead with well over 50 percent of the vote.
– Kid Rock’s song “Celebrate” will be used one of the themes for Wrestlemania XXX.
– The Wrestlemania XXX DVD and Blu-Ray sets will be released on 5/13, according to Amazon.com.
– UFC President Dana White was not happy about Allistair Overeem calling out Brock Lesnar at Saturday night’s post-show press conference. Dana White appeared on FOX Sports last night and said:
“It was a crappy performance by Alistair. Then, he calls out someone who doesn’t even fight in the UFC. It was not a great night for Overeem.”
– As previously reported, WWE Superstar Batista signed a two-year contract with WWE. While Batista isn’t under the same type of “special deal” that a Brock Lesnar or a Rock would be under, he is going to be taking an approved hiatus due to some film promotional commitments that he is scheduled to be a part of at different times.
– Speaking of WWE contracts, it’s quite possible that “Nature Boy” Ric Flair is back under a WWE deal. Speculation pointing to this comes from the fact that Flair was in talks with an independent wrestling promoter to work some local events, but told them that he would need to get it approved by WWE.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE is in the midst of one of the most eventful weeks in years – and the company’s existing storyline plans through WrestleMania could be scrapped entirely by Friday night.
WWE has called for all-day creative meetings on Thursday and Friday, according to a report by Wade Keller of PWTorch.com. A source says that “nothing is sacred” in terms of long-standing booking plans plans and “everything will be reevaluated.”
The roller coaster ride began on Sunday night when it became apparent to fans that Daniel Bryan would not be part of the Royal Rumble match. The strong negative reaction to Batista winning the Rumble, Daniel Bryan’s continuing popularity growth and the shocking departure of CM Punk from the company are all being cited as reasons for the shakeup.
We’ll have more details on this story later in the week, but it appears that things are going to get even more interesting by the time the week is over.
As previously reported, CM Punk held a Q&A session at the Wizard World “Portland Comic Con” event on Friday. Here are the highlights:
– Punk said he doesn’t think Sting should come to WWE because he doesn’t have “anything left in the tank.” He thinks Sting would take another spot away from WWE’s younger superstars who are trying to make it to the main event level.
– Punk said Batista is his friend, but he doesn’t feel the time is right for him to return, for the same reason Sting shouldn’t be brought in. Punk said it’s Daniel Bryan’s time and Bryan should be in the main event of WrestleMania.
– He has been frustrated with WWE’s direction for a while and feels that the writers aren’t in touch with what fans want.
– He has been saving a lot of money and he would be fine if he wasn’t receiving a paycheck from WWE anymore.
– He’s entertained the idea of fighting for UFC, but he doesn’t know if his body could handle it at this time.
– Punk said his health has been bad for months, especially September through November of last year. At that time, he was getting weekly MRI’s and blood work done, but doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong. He started eating meat again and is starting to feel better, but isn’t close to 100%.
The Raw after the Royal Rumble saw action, matches set up for The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View and more. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Royal Rumble: Everyone who watched The Royal Rumble, or heard about it, know that the crowd was completely upset that the 10 or so unadvertised spots did not go to Daniel Bryan. Loud Boos directed at Rey Misteryo who was number 30, and Batista (who I will from now on refer to as #Bootista) who won the 2014 Royal Rumble were heard loud and clear. I know this because, I was there. Yes I few out to the 2014 Royal Rumble in frigid Pittsburgh, PA to watch that Pay-Per-View live, and yes Daniel Bryan wasn’t scheduled to be in the Rumble, but not only did everyone want him in the thing, they wanted him to win. Congrats to the live crowd for making their voices heard. Hopefully this will induce change, because I dare the WWE to put on Batista vs Orton in the main event at WrestleMania XXX and not get booed out of the building.
Triple H and Daniel Bryan Face to Face. YES!
The Authority, Daniel Bryan
With the largest story out of the Royal Rumble being Daniel Bryan not being in the Royal Rumble, WWE Raw kicked off right away with The Authority, and Daniel Bryan. Daniel talking about the #YesMovement and how he wanted to be in the Royal Rumble but The Authority wouldn’t let him. Daniel Bryan then gets in Triple H’s face and demands to be in the Elimination Chamber Match. Triple H then brings out the shield to beat down Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and John Cena make the save. I would have liked Raw to start with Daniel Bryan calling out The Authority, also I would have liked Daniel Bryan to beat the crap out of Triple H, the second The Sheild’s music hit. But for what it was, it was okay, and at least the segment didn’t end with Daniel Bryan being killed. It doesn’t happen often, but did you see Seth Rollins slip on his entrance? YES!
Bad News Barrett Segment
You know it’s funny, I was in Pittsburgh with 13 other insane wrestling fans, some who like me flew in for The Rumble, and one my friends does a great Wade Barrett impression, and he was hilarious. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.” I heard that BNB used to be a fixture of the JBL & Cole show, and he was hilarious. I’ve come to the realization, that there are three main reasons I HATE Bad News Barrett on WWE Raw. NO!
What happened to this man? NO!
Three Reasons I hate Bad News Barrett
1. Yelling
I know he’s in the arena, but I don’t think he needs to yell as much, I think it’s annoying. If he did it more soft spoken, even if it was backstage being shown to the crowd, it would come across better.
2. Podium & Gavel
The podium and gavel is just plain silly and stupid. Is he a judge? Is he a preacher?
3. The Material
So generic dising a local city, and their sports team. Wade Barrett can cut a great promo, we’ve seen it years ago in The Nexus and The Coree, why is he wasting time with cheap heat? Dumb!
#BOOtista, Orton and Brock Lesnar, on Raw. NO!
In-Ring Segment: Randy Orton, #BOOtista, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman
I said it already once, but I dare WWE to put Randy Orton vs #BOOtista in the Main Event at WrestleMania XXX. Daniel Bryan chants ring though the arena, even though Daniel Bryan is not supposed to be involved with this segment. Brock Lesnar and Heyman come out to challenge Batista or Randy Orton, tonight on raw. But if you think you’re going to get a free Brock Lesnar match on TV, you must also believe the tooth fairy, was the one who gave you the five bucks under your pillow. NO!
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz
The battle of Cleveland as these two are locals, I couldn’t help wondering how WWE was going to screw both of them, being WWE loves to beat guys in their own hometown (See: Jim Ross). Dolph wins it, and maybe his punishment is over? Probably not. YES!
WWE Tag-Team Titles
Brock destroys the Rhodes Brothers. YES!
New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
Some trash talking from The Road Dogg before this matche gets underway. I’m okay with NAO as the WWE Tag Team Champions. I’m assuming they will defend them at WrestleMania and lose it to a good team like The Usos. Brock Lesnar comes out destroys the Rhode’s brothers, which I was also okay with. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
After the resounding negative reaction that WWE received at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, there have been significant changes to WWE’s upcoming storyline plans.
As of this week, there is talk of Daniel Bryan winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
Bryan winning the title at Elimination Chamber would accomplish several things. First, it would likely pop a big rating the RAW rating the following night, with the WWE Network launching as soon as RAW goes off the air. WWE is already planning on bringing in several major names (including Hulk Hogan) the RAW the night after Elimination Chamber. Secondly, it would change the previously planned Batista vs. Randy Orton WrestleMania main event, which WWE now feels is at risk of getting a very negative reaction from the rowdy WrestleMania crowd.
If Daniel Bryan does win the WWE World Heavyweight title at Elimination Chamber, the scenario that’s being discussed is for Randy Orton to invoke his rematch clause at WrestleMania, making the main event a triple threat match between Bryan, Batista and Orton.
– WWE officially added a match featuring “WWE World Heavyweight Champion vs. Batista” to their WrestleMania XXX section on Monday.
– WWE Superstar Mark Henry is scheduled to appear at the Showtime and Food Network’s “Ultimate Tailgate Experience” in New York City on January 29th.
– In addition to Ben Roethlisberger, a number of other members of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers were in attendance at the Royal Rumble show on Sunday night.
– Apparently Batista upset some company officials within WWE with the way he handled the reaction he received in Pittsburgh on Sunday night following his Royal Rumble victory. As noted, Batista yelled at fans and flipped them off after the show went off the air on Sunday night.
– Randy Orton was said to be angry backstage following his match with John Cena at the Royal Rumble. Apparently the crowd reactions on Sunday didn’t only get under Batista’s skin, but “The Viper’s” as well.
(Credit: PWInsider.com, F4WOnline.com)
According to several live reports from fans who were in attendance at last night’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Rumble winner Batista mocked Daniel Bryan after the show went off the air. After the show ended, Batista was walking around the ring and fans were mercilessly booing him. Batista proceeded to “flip off” several fans, which WWE officials were not happy with:
When Batista got to the entrance ramp, he then mocked Daniel Bryan by doing the “Yes!” hand motion before heading to the back. Check out this photo, courtesy of WrestlingINC:
WWE Superstar Batista tweeted the following regarding his win at the 2014 Royal Rumble:
Awesome night! And @VinceMcMahon walked away from my Royal Rumble win healthy and happy.. Love me or hate me thanks to everyone who watched.
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) January 27, 2014
This week on Because Wrestling, it’s time for our WWE Royal Rumble recap! Were you saying “boo” or “BOO-tista”? (more…)
– Following an absence due to minor surgery, Charlotte had her first actual match at the WWE NXT live event on Saturday night in Sebring, Florida.
– WWE Superstar Batista recently mocked Vince McMahon in a new tweet where he recalled the infamous Royal Rumble where McMahon blew both of his quads out while getting into the ring. Batista tweeted:
Win or lose tomorrow…..I will just be happy if @VinceMcMahon doesn't run in and blow his quads out! DOH!! #flashback
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) January 26, 2014
Former WWE Superstar Chavo Guerrero appeared on AfterBuzz TV earlier this week. The following are some highlights from his appearance:
On Batista’s return at RAW: “If you guys know Dave, he’s got some massive legs. Maybe the [jeans he wore on RAW] weren’t skinny skinny jeans. Maybe they were normal jeans, but they look skinny on him…[Batista] looks like he’s shrink wrapped. I mean he’s so thin. The guy is in crazy shape… He’s like a genetic freak. He really is. You could work out as much as you want and never look like him. I mean, I don’t [look like him] and I work out a lot.”
On a memory he has about John Cena: “One time, and this is a true story, we were in South Africa and [Cena] started battle rapping. He started rapping with someone and it was awesome. He went five minutes just talking about things around the room. And we were like, ‘Oh my gosh. Where did that come from?’ Tommy Dreamer heard it and Tommy took it to Shane McMahon and Shane McMahon heard it and took it to Vince McMahon and next thing you know he’s a rapper on TV…and he had already been with us six months or so. Slowly but surely he just became John Cena the superstar.”
On Eddie Guerrero: “[Eddie] was told he was a great performer, was always really really good. But he was told, ‘You’re a cruiserweight. You’ll always be a cruiserweight.’ And then when he left and got clean and sober and then came back, the fans just related with him so much and it was undeniable. They had to use him. They had to push him and he became who he was…When he passed, I would be walking in the airport and people would stop and look at me and hug me. They would give me a hug. I remember a TSA agent one time looked at my ID, looked up and looked at me. He didn’t say anything he just grabbed me and hugged me.”
On Eddie’s daughter, Raquel Diaz in NXT: “It’s really cool to see her follow the footsteps of the family…I have given advice and I’m always here for her. I don’t want to coddle her because she needs to do it. But she could call me any day and time and place and I’d be there for her. I just want to see her succeed. She’s got that Guerrero blood in her and people tell me that she’s really, really good.”
You can watch the complete appearance above.
– WWE Superstar and Shield member Seth Rollins made headlines on TMZ for admitting that he once urinated during a live wrestling match. The headline emanates from an interview Rollins did on “Talking With Soup,” which we posted earlier today.
You can check out the TMZ article online at TMZ.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair recently posted the following tweet to his former Evolution running-buddy Batista:
Best of luck to my old Evolution running buddy @DaveBautista. Style and profile all the way to WrestleMania! #RoyalRumble
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) January 25, 2014
WWE Superstar Ryback to DirecTV.com this week to promote Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Batista’s WWE Return: “I’m offended that he’s back. I’m the one and only “Big Guy” in the WWE. I go out there each and every night. I work the full schedule. I do all the cool power moves that you don’t see anybody doing anymore. I go out there and wrestle for 30 minutes, which you don’t see a lot of 295 lb. guys doing. I take a lot of pride in being big and having a lot of endurance and doing things that not everyone can do. So Batista is back, and it’s cool from a fan’s point of view, and I know he has some lofty goals, but this is my time now. I’m not taking a backseat to anyone. So if we end up in the ring together, it would give me great pleasure to throw him right over the top rope.”
Which Surprise Royal Rumble Entrants He Wants To See: “I’m sure a lot of people would love to see Goldberg show up and spear me right over the top rope. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. But I also heard Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts mention that he wanted to be in the Royal Rumble. Obviously, from watching him as a kid, it would be pretty cool to be in the ring and hear that music hit. Or someone like Hulk Hogan would be pretty surreal. But I wouldn’t hesitate to throw either one of them over the top rope. My main thing is going out there and winning it.”
His Dream Tag Team Partner: “There’s so many, but I’d love to be able to tag with Triple H, and not just because he’s my boss. Just from the conversations we’ve had, he’s on a whole other level. We don’t have too many guys like that left – guys like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart. Or a guy like Christian, who I’m looking forward to coming back. There’s so much knowledge in his brain. He’s wrestled all the greats – Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, guys like that. And I really wish Edge were still here. It killed me when I was out injured and he ended up having that final match with Alberto Del Rio. He was there while I was with the Nexus and he was just such a joy to be around. He’s a good human being and just knew so much. He was always helping. Its guys like that that I wish were around still. But yeah, off the top of my head, Triple H would be pretty cool.”
He also talked about his favorite Royal Rumble memories, his experience at NXT and more.