– While he did mention the name Rusev on Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart did not reference his current angle with Seth Rollins.
– The dark match main event after Monday’s RAW saw Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and John Cena beat Big Show, Kane, Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins. The finish saw Reigns hit a spear on Big Show, with Cena following up with an Attitude Adjustment for the 1-2-3.
The plan as of this week is to keep The Undertaker off of television until his appearance at the actual WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view itself.
Unless something changes soon, Undertaker is not scheduled to appear on RAW or SmackDown to help build the storyline behind his match with Bray Wyatt.
The general idea is that if Undertaker is kept off of television, we won’t know where he’s been, what he’s been doing, what he looks like or what kind of condition he’s in, this way it will be a bigger surprise when he does finally show up at WrestleMania.
(Credit: PWInsider.com)
WWE Fastlane was held in Memphis last night at the FedEx Forum. It was a fitting venue, seeing as they pretty much mailed it in for most of the night. After a night of action, we now have a pretty clear idea of what WrestleMania will look like in five weeks. Here are the pros and cons from last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.
After a night of non-finishes and botched endings, the main event between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns was an absolute treat. These two guys started off a bit slow, but once they got going, they really gelled well. Bryan’s wrestling style went so well with the brawling style of Reigns, and it was nice to see both guys getting support from the crowd.
A few of the highlights included Reigns countering Bryan’s dive to the floor into an overhead belly to belly suplex, Bryan countering the spear into a beautiful small package, and also Reigns turning a potential hurricanrana into a brutal powerbomb from the top rope. These two also employed some solid in-ring psychology due to Reigns selling Bryan’s kick to the liver as he tried to hit a Superman punch. Overall, it was an exciting match, both guys looked great, it ended clean, and it’s always nice to see a main event end in a handshake.
The tag team match was a close second for match of the night. These two teams have so much chemistry and it’s really a pleasure to watch them do their thing. Cesaro’s half crab Cesaro swing was cool, as was the combination of Cesaro’s suplex from the apron into a springboard from Kidd.
The Usos looked good as well, teaming up for a double team Samoan drop that I don’t recall seeing them bust out before. In the end, new champions were crowned after Kidd picked up the victory with a swinging fisherman suplex. After their victory, it was nice to find out that they are “still the new WWE Tag Team Champions” (perhaps suggesting the outcome was changed last minute, as the odds shifted after the “smart money” was in).
The Bray Wyatt segment was enjoyable. He had the crowd going nuts in anticipation of the Phenom, only to shatter their dreams by popping out of the coffin. Wyatt called himself “the new face of fear,” and said: “At WrestleMania, I will claim the soul of the Undertaker.” This feud should be entertaining, but it would have been nice to see Wyatt play up the fact that fans weren’t getting ‘Taker, as the company needs more dislikable heels right now.
I’m not totally sure how I feel about the Sting and Triple H segment, so I’ll go ahead and put it in the pros section. Triple H of course continued to bury a long dead company, stating: “My legacy is putting your legacy out of business.” He also threatened Sting with the Benoit treatment, saying he would wipe him from the history books if he didn’t cooperate. It was cool to see Sting use his signature black bat though, and Hunter was very intense throughout the segment. Overall, it could have been better, but it was a decent setup for their match at WrestleMania.
Finally, the Rusev and John Cena match was far from perfect, but it worked out well. There was some hard-hitting action throughout, including a big spinning side slam from Rusev. The action was slow-paced and methodical, but it was entertaining for the most part. It of course ended in another non-clean finish, but it worked well in this case. I have to say, seeing Cena stagger out of the arena was pretty satisfying, even though it means he will definitely get redemption at WrestleMania.
WWE finally pulled the trigger and set the stage for an Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt match at the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view event on Sunday night in Memphis, Tennessee.
In a segment that took place a little over half way through the show, Undertaker’s gong hit as druids came out holding torches. His actual theme song hit as two final druids rolled a casket to the ring.
Once the casket reached the ringside area, the casket lid popped open and up sat Bray Wyatt. Wyatt cut another promo in keeping with his recent work the past few weeks, directing his comments at Undertaker without saying his name.
The segment ended with Wyatt outright saying at WrestleMania, “he will claim the soul of The Undertaker.”
– WWE is running a poll on their official website asking fans who they think Bray Wyatt is referring to in his recent promos on television. With over 70-percent of the vote, fans went with The Undertaker. Following him was “A Superstar We Haven’t Seen Yet” and Sting.
– Darren Young rebelled against WWE again, posting the following tweet shortly after WWE posted on their official Twitter account their backing and support of Floyd Mayweather in the boxing super-fight with Manny Pacqiuao:
I guess there's no such thing as an honest opinion these days. I hope Manny handles Money on May 2nd. Period. Pass a long and move on. :)
— nodaysoff FRED ROSSER III (@realfredrosser) February 22, 2015
WWE Hall Of Famer Jake Roberts recently spoke with the folks at Nerd Repository to promote his new documentary, “The Resurrection of Jake “The Snake” Roberts.”
Below are highlights from the interview:
On when he found out pro wrestling wasn’t “real”: “It was horrible, man. All my life, I had always been worried for my father’s health. The matches he was going through, he was a main eventer, so he was doing a lot of cutting and bleeding… he was the focus on all the cards he was on. So to be terrified, as a child, thinking your dad’s gonna get killed… it really broke my heart, man. I was very upset, because I realized my father had played all of us kids. All those years, when we were scared to death for his safety, he was playing it… You look at your dad as the guy that would never lie to you, and never do anything wrong to you, and then you find out he’s a total con artist… I really wanted to throw up, man. I was devastated.”
On the positive reaction to his new documentary: “It feels great, and it also feels great when I’m getting feedback from people who are struggling with the problem that I had, or people that have maybe washed their hands of somebody in their family. Or maybe it’s a great friend they’ve washed their hands of, because that person has a problem. These people now are rethinking, they’re going out and giving that person another chance, and trying to help them.”
On if he’ll ever return to the ring in WWE: “I hope so. I’m going to talk to Vince McMahon [about it] at WrestleMania. I would like my last match, forever, to be at WrestleMania next year in Dallas, Texas. I would love to be on that show. I want to go out and give it my best, and I would be in much better shape than I probably was at the end of my career. I still believe there’s a lot of people out there who would like to see me have one more match. I would certainly like to do it… That would certainly be the greatest way to go out. I think that would be awesome, man.”
On who he’d like to face if he ever did return to the ring: “I’d like it to be a situation where it would help him. I can think of a thousand scenarios… ideally, it would be something with Bray Wyatt… [but] he doesn’t need Jake Roberts. So it’s gotta be somebody that’s on the way up, that needs a little extra ‘oomph’ like Steve Austin did. And we’ll see if I can’t help them out. Maybe it could be a situation where the winner must use the DDT, and from that point on, they’re the master of the DDT. How about that?”
Check out the complete interview at NerdRepository.com.
– Regarding Bray Wyatt vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31 this year, if WWE wants to have both guys do their normal ring entrances with the lights out, they will have to schedule the match very late into the show because it will still be daylight time for the majority of the event. Sunset in Santa Clara, California in March, the location of this year’s show, is generally around 7:30pm local time, which would be hours into the event.
– WWE has been touting some of the following stats recently:
300,000 fans use the WWE App during RAW on Monday nights
The WWE App has 6.6 million downloads
The WWE YouTube channel is the number one sports channel online, surpassing the NBA
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt appeared on the Gater 98.7 radio show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Tuesday to discuss his recent cryptic promos on WWE television.
The host asked Wyatt outright if his promos of late have been about The Undertaker. Wyatt responded by saying sometimes things are better left unsaid.
Wyatt explained that he likes to surround himself with mystery and encourages fans to “dive a little deeper” into some of the “clues” he’s been leaving behind in his promos.
Wyatt continued, pointing out that there is a lot more to the promos than what people may think, and even said he’s surprised and a little sad that fans haven’t picked up on some of the clues he’s given.
You can listen to the complete audio above.
As the entire northeast freezes under a mountain of snow, the WWE decided to dip down to Orlando in an attempt to heat things up heading into Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view. The show featured eight matches, as well as appearances from Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler was pure gold. Before the match, the two engaged in a hilarious back and forth, with Rollins laying down some burnsauce by telling Ziggler: “I know you fancy yourself a comedian but the only thing funny about you is that joke you call a career.” It was also hilarious to hear Ziggler question whether J&J getting him the wrong chocolates ruined his Valentine’s Day. Something tells me his Valentine’s Day was ruined for other reasons… As for the match, it was fast paced, full of spots, and exactly what you’d expect from two of the best workers in the business. Other than the J&J interference and non-finish, this was pretty much perfect on every level. I suspect a match between these two will be added to Fastlane after Smackdown. Here’s to hoping they give these guys 15 minutes and let them tear the house down. Highlight of the night by far.
I enjoyed the Dusty Rhodes backstage segments. The match between the New Day and Gold and Stardust was also nice, as it served as a nice juxtaposition between the brawling opening contest between Ambrose and Harper. Following the match, Stardust attacked his brother and called Dusty a “polka-dotted freak of a father.” I’ll admit, they’ve dragged this out forever and I wasn’t too excited at first, but I’m now getting into it.
Roman Reigns was the man last night. He sounded like a completely different person during his backstage interview before his match with Kane. His calm, confident, and collected demeanor is a stark contrast from the nervous guy we saw out there a few weeks ago talking about beanstalks while stumbing over every other word. His match with Kane was actually decent too, with Reigns winning via countout after hitting a big Spear. Daniel Bryan was on commentary during the match, with he and Reigns playing off of one another very well. It was also humorous to hear Michael Cole state: “Daniel Bryan is trying to steal Roman Reigns’ thunder. Roman Reigns just beat Kane, guys!” That means about as much as beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015.
For a comedy segment, the Paige bit was actually hilarious. The outfit was funny, it actually served some sort of purpose in furthering her feud with Nikki Bella, the fans seemed to be enjoying it, and the match with Summer Rae was good for the time they were given.
The Dean Ambrose “weekend update” promo, where the Lunatic Fringe was parked at a desk looking like a shady used car dealer, was also entertaining. His match with Luke Harper featuring some nice, brawling action and was a good opening contest. JBL’s “we’ve got an air psycho” line had me cracking up, and his plot to force Barrett to sign the contract for Sunday was perfect. Nobody in the midcard deserves the IC Title more than Ambrose, and it looks like he’s going to find a way to capture the gold on Sunday.
Bray Wyatt’s promos are starting to become a bit repetitive, but I still enjoyed his work this week. He once again attacked the Undertaker, stating: “You’re an empty shell, and any fear that I once of you has turned into nothing more than putrid, hateful pity.” I can’t wait to see this program.
– The unidentified wrestler that teamed up with Darren Young on last night’s RAW was independent wrestler Kevin Kross. He’s wrestled for Future Stars of Wrestling out of Las Vegas, Nevada.
– The dark main event after Monday’s RAW from Orlando saw John Cena defeat Bray Wyatt. Wyatt dominated Cena for most of the match, until Cena made a come back and won with the Attitude Adjustment.
During the match, Wyatt got sick in the ring and threw up a “significant amount.” At one point, Wyatt lifted John Cena up, but lost his grip and dropped Cena, who suffered a cut from the botched spot.
Dark match. John Cena got cut on his face and Bray Wyatt is puking his guts out. Seriously. Wtf
— THE™ Jessi Davin (@jessithebuckeye) February 17, 2015
Even though Bray Wyatt puked like crazy and John Cena got sliced in the face, they still finished the match. RESPECT. #RAWOrlando #RAW
— THE™ Jessi Davin (@jessithebuckeye) February 17, 2015
– Bray Wyatt’s “spider walk” is arguably one of the creepiest things on WWE television – but somehow it’s less creepy when performed by the world’s top super model. Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle site has published a photo of a certain Victoria’s Secret Angel showing that she’s make one hell of a Sister Abigail.
– NXT Superstars and Divas will be greeting fans as they enter the arena at tonight’s RAW from Orlando and tomorrow’s SmackDown taping from Ft. Lauderdale.
– There was a photo circulating online over the weekend showing a post from WWE’s Instagram page announcing that CM Punk has quit UFC and will be appearing on RAW tonight. We’ve received a lot of emails about it and can confirm that the “screenshot” is a fake and there is no truth to Punk quitting UFC or returning to WWE.
– Bray Wyatt suffered a busted nose after taking a bad dropkick from Dolph Ziggler during this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Columbus, Ohio. Wyatt was fine afterwards, and even worked the WWE SmackDown television taping the next night in Dayton, Ohio.
– The man who was dressed up as Sting during the segment with Triple H at this past Monday’s RAW was veteran independent wrestler Cody Hawk. Hawk has worked in the indy wrestling scene in Ohio for quite some time.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The Road to WrestleMania took a brief detour last night, stopping at THE Ohio State University for Raw. Sting finally answered Triple H’s challenge, and the show was bookended by a pair of nearly identical matches. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
The highlight of the night was easily Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt. These guys have competed over the past two weeks, and have exhibited amazing chemistry on both occasions. There were a number of impressive spots in this one, including Wyatt delivering a brutal blow to Ziggler’s midsection and a devastating clothesline outside the ring that eventually set up Sister Abilgail for the win. Wyatt later cut another promo, presumably directed toward the Dead Man.
Triple H calling out Sting was a close second. The video package, which featured Sting’s makeup being transposed onto Triple H’s face, was both eerie and entertaining. The only downside to this was the absolutely dreadful Sting doppelganger they sent into the ring. With that said, I absolutely can’t wait to see what these guys have planned for Fastlane.
The Usos squared off with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Kidd and Cesaro put in some decent heel work by crashing the dinner party on SmackDown, and it’s certainly nice to see them getting some television time.
Rusev continues to improve on a weekly basis, in my opinion. I loved his promo, where he made claims such as, “You don’t want me. I am a hero.” His brawl with Cena was also entertaining and helped further their feud heading into Fastlane.
The opening promo was also entertaining, but nothing to really write home about. Reigns seems to be more confident on the mic each week, despite a minor flub. It was also nice to see Bryan on the mic, taking a humorous shot at Triple H for his involvement in the Katie Vick storyline.
It’s nice to see Axel getting more time on the mic. His promo was humorous, even if he was quickly dispelled after being hit with Dirty Deeds. Barrett’s new BNZ segment could also be entertaining, but I’m not totally sure how much shelf life it has.
Finally, the main event helped further the tension between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. The match was nothing incredible, by any means, but there were a few memorable moments, including Dolph Ziggler getting involved at the end. Roman’s spear to Bryan was also the perfect way to end the show. It seems like the next step in Roman’s evolution will be to turn him heel and possibly pair him with Heyman following WrestleMania.
After being postponed last week due to snow, the good ole live, in-ring version of Raw was back last night, emanating from the Mile High City. The company was back in full force, with Triple H making a “major announcement” and a big main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
The clear highlight of the night was the main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Anytime you get two guys with this type of talent in the same ring, you know you’re in for a treat. They certainly didn’t disappoint either, pulling off a number of impressive spots and exhibiting impeccable chemistry. The spot of the match was probably Rollins countering Bryan’s Running Knee finisher into a Powerbomb. In the end, Bryan picked up the win and will face Roman Reigns at Fast Lane for a chance to go to WrestleMania (more on this later).
The second best part of the night was probably the segment involving Curtis Axel and Dean Ambrose. It’s sad when the first thing Axel has to say when coming out is, “Don’t change the channel.” It’s like he’s a mind reader or something. Anyway, it was hilarious to see Ambrose quickly toss Axel over the top rope before telling him he’s now eliminated. Even more exciting was that Ambrose called out Bad News Barrett. This is a program that really needs to happen, as Ambrose is the type of guy who could bring some prestige back to the Intercontinental Title after the company has played hot potato with it over the past few years.
Bray Wyatt had a big night. His match with Dolph Ziggler was incredible, and it was nice to see two guys who don’t work together much get a chance to shine. Wyatt hit a devastating Sister Abigail that Ziggler sold better than anyone to end the match. Later in the night, he cut a promo saying things like, “I am the new face of fear” and, “We cannot wait to see you again.” It looks like they are going with the rumored Wyatt/Taker program for WrestleMania and I, for one, cannot wait. If only they had gone this route last year instead of wasting the streak on a part-timer…
Rusev’s beating of Rowan and post-match promo was money. I absolutely love this guy and he played off of the Russian flag miscue perfectly. Please push this guy to the top and don’t feed him to Cena.
Jimmy Uso and Cesaro looked great together. The highlights were a Cesaro Swing into a Half Crab and a brutal uppercut to end the contest. It was nice to see Cesaro pick up a victory, but the only downside was that they are already teasing tension between Cesaro and Kidd. I’d like to see these guys stick together for a while and get a run with the titles.
Finally, the Miz/Mizdow promo was absolutely hilarious. It was nice to see the Miz berate his now former stunt double and put the wheels in motion for a breakup. Here’s to hoping for a payoff at WrestleMania.
There is a lot of speculation surrounding Bray Wyatt’s cryptic promo from this past Thursday night’s live edition of WWE SmackDown. The belief is that Wyatt was referring to The Undertaker when talking about being afraid of nothing, “living or dead.”
The official WWE website appears to be adding fuel to the fire, as they recently wrote the following while promoting Monday’s WWE RAW:
“Following a dominant performance in the 2015 Royal Rumble Match, lasting more than 45 minutes and eliminating six Superstars, Bray Wyatt delivered a bizarre message on Thursday’s SmackDown that was even more cryptic than his usual proclamations. Asking “what makes you smile?” Wyatt claimed that he fears “nothing, living or dead.” He then promised that after what happens next, “it will be hard for you to ever smile again.” To whom was Wyatt speaking, and to what was he referring?”
Additionally, WWE.com wrote the following about Daniel Bryan, further hyping up the rumored match between he and Dolph Ziggler for this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view:
“But where will Bryan’s journey take him? Based on his interview on last week’s Raw, the leader of the “Yes!” Movement still has his sights set on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but his unceremonious ousting during the Royal Rumble Match by longtime nemesis Bray Wyatt has seemingly denied him his return to the WrestleMania main event. Will Bryan seek retribution against Wyatt for dashing his dreams for WrestleMania? Will Bryan’s social media exchange with Dolph Ziggler about a friendly match at WrestleMania 31 lead to a Show of Shows dream match for the two fan-favorite Superstars? Perhaps we’ll learn more about The “Yes!” Man’s next move on Raw.”
– The dark match main event after last night’s live editio of WWE SmackDown saw John Cena and Dean Ambrose defeat Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt in tag-team action.
– The first of a three-part SmackDown Fallout for this week, which you can watch below, features Goldust telling Stardust to get his head on straight. Whether or not this is the beginning of a Goldust vs. Stardust feud, which has been rumored for quite some time, remains to be seen.
– In part two of this week’s SmackDown Fallout, which you can see below, Seth Rollins complains about Ryback, Dolph Ziggler and Erick Rowan getting into his business again.
– Finally, in the third and final portion of this week’s SmackDown Fallout, Kane rises from the casket after being defeated by Daniel Bryan.
– WWE is reportedly no longer branding WrestleMania with numbers, at least with the logo. Instead, symbols are being used to distinguish each event.
It was announced last week that WrestleMania will come to AT&T Stadium in Texas on April 3, 2016 and “32” is nowhere to be seen on the logo. It instead features a star to represent the “Lone Star State.” On top of that, the logo for this year’s WrestleMania features a “Play” button to represent Silicon Valley’s Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
This is according to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com, who said on Wrestling Observer Radio today that the events are no longer being branded with numbers “because Vince thinks it makes it sound too old.”
– E! has released this preview clip of the next all-new episode of Total Divas, which airs two weeks from now on Sunday, Feb. 8. It is centered on Alicia Fox and Cameron, who dislike each other.
The synopsis of the episode is as follows: “The future of the Bella Twins is in question after Brie’s admission that she doesn’t use protection; Nattie is forced to work with TJ even though they are separated; and Ariane makes a disastrous attempt to find out why exactly Alicia hates her.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r96QwmWlVXM
– Bray Wyatt granted his first wish to Jovanni of Marty Lyons Foundation before the Royal Rumble on Sunday. The official WWE website has published a photo gallery from their meeting.
It happened again.
All the signs were there, yet somehow WWE didn’t see it coming.
At the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night, the rabid, passionate fans in Philadelphia completely turned on what is generally a very popular, fun, 30-man annual match.
Things started off just fine. The momentum was great coming out of what was an excellent triple-threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Seth Rollins. Everything was in place. One left turn when WWE should have gone right, however, and everything could potentially fall apart.
WWE went left.
The match began like every other year. Out first comes The Miz, followed by R-Truth.
Whatever.
But then the countdown clock hit, the fans counted from ten to one and we had our first surprise of the night. Bubba Ray Dudley, the former “Bully Ray” in TNA Wrestling, was our first unexpected entrant of the match.
The fans were hot in Philly for their former ECW original. Dudley borrowed R-Truth for a few minutes, turning him into his own personal D-Von Dudley replacement, and the fun began.
“Wazzupp?!”
“Truth! …Get the tables!”
“3-D!”
The match was going along smoothly.
Dudley was eliminated a few minutes after popping up in WWE for the first time in ten years.
That was their first big mistake.
Seven entrants later — enter the leader of the “Yes! Movement.” Straight out of the gate it was clear — Philadelphia came to see Daniel Bryan win the match that he wasn’t even entered in last year.
It was going to be an ugly night.
Daniel Bryan was only in the match for a few minutes before being eliminated by Bray Wyatt. He was the eleventh Royal Rumble entrant to be eliminated this year. From there, the rest of the show completely fell apart.
WWE clearly had a game plan. Get Bryan’s elimination out of the way early, give the fans time to get the “boo’ing” out of their system, and then hopefully we’ll go along with our business.
Well, that didn’t exactly happen, did it?
What in the world did WWE expect to happen? Did they learn nothing from 2014?
Apparently not.
I’m assuming WWE was under the impression that once Bryan was out of the way, they would get behind Roman Reigns, and if they didn’t, when The Rock came out to endorse him and help him win, surely at that point the sheer excitement of seeing a big movie star for a few minutes would make them forget that they’re favorite wrestler had been screwed for the second year in a row.
Right?
Wrong!
Of course that wasn’t going to work. There were many other options WWE could have tried that would have saved the show from completely falling apart. For those who missed it, from the point Bryan was eliminated, throughout the rest of the entire match, except a couple of pops here and there, the rabid Philly fans boo’d the living crap out of everything that was happening.
Bryan was only cleared to return to the ring a few weeks ago. Knowing the Royal Rumble was coming up, if you’re not planning on having him win the match, why even have him return? Why not wait until after the Royal Rumble to bring him back?
Well, they had already brought him back, so that’s out. Knowing he’s back, however, why not save him for the final two? If you’re hell bent on having Reigns win the match, at least you have the fans turn on him at the very end of the match. They boo the finish. It sucks, but it’s better than 20-30 minutes of guttural boo’ing and madness.
Going forward, Roman Reigns is expected to be “the guy.” The next John Cena, if you will. If this is his launching off point, they better have their writers quickly figure out a way to turn him heel and capitalize on momentum that is already in place, because if they think that was a one time thing, they’ve got a rude awakening coming in their future.
Fans don’t forget. Reigns’ push had already peaked and started going down several weeks ago. His promo work isn’t there yet. His matches, while good, are not so good that fans will overlook the rest of the missing pieces of the puzzle. He’s simply not going to work as the top babyface superstar in the company. It’s not going to happen. Not yet, at least.
Regardless, another Royal Rumble is in the books. Another year of fans completely turning on WWE and crapping on their choice for a top guy, or a top match for WrestleMania, and they let it be known. Now, all that’s left is to wait and see if WWE smartens up and finds a way to give them what they want.
WrestleMania 31 — Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan.
Personally speaking, I don’t like the sound of that. Another triple-threat main event for the title? I’m not into it. But it’s pretty clear that the fans are choosing Daniel Bryan as their guy. Why WWE is so dead set on fighting it is completely beyond me.
But hey, I guess there’s always next year!
What are your thoughts on this year’s Royal Rumble and the fan reaction to the match? Let us know by posting your feedback below. You can also add me on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or follow me on Twitter @MBoone420.
Last night, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared to tease an appearance at the Royal Rumble by posting a photo online of himself in Philadelphia. Of course, the event will be held tonight at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. It was later reported by F4WOnline.com that Johnson is expected to appear at the event in some capacity.
According to MetsFan4Ever of Reddit.com, a former WWE employee who maintains contact with people in the organization, he was told in recent weeks that company officials have had serious discussions of Johnson making a surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble Match and ultimately winning it. This would lead to Johnson facing Brock Lesnar in the main event at WrestleMania 31 in Santa Clara, California.
MetsFan4Ever was also told that if the deal falls through, Johnson was willing to at least make an appearance on the show. This could include putting Roman Reigns over in a backstage segment.
He also says that WWE officials have considered having Bray Wyatt win the Royal Rumble Match. Many people in WWE have high hopes for Wyatt and “feel the sky is the limit for him.”
MetsFan4Ever added there has been talks of Sheamus returning to WWE tonight in the Royal Rumble Match, but as of last night, he was at home in Florida.
Tonight, fans will be treated to perhaps the most exciting sixty-plus minutes of action all year. Bodies will be flying, dreams will be shattered, and ultimately, one man will punch his ticket to WrestleMania. However, there are still many questions to be answered before we start discussing ‘Mania. Most importantly, here is how I believe this Sunday’s Royal Rumble will play out.
The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose
It’s sad to see Kidd and Cesaro once again relegated to the pre-show, but at least they are getting some airtime, I suppose. On one hand, I expect Adam Rose to find a way to screw things up and cost Kidd and Cesaro the match. With that said, the New Day got the upper hand on Raw by picking up a clean victory, so based on WWE logic, it’s Kidd and Cesaro’s turn to win.
Winners: Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose by pinfall
The Usos (Tag Team Champions) vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow
Am I going crazy, or have we seen this matchup way too often in recent months? It seems unlikely that Miz and Mizdow would pick up the titles shortly after dropping them, especially as they continue to tease tension between the two. I think Miz once again tries to steal the show and refuses to tag Mizdow, eventually costing the team the match. This will further tension between the partners, eventually resulting in a breakup and payoff match at WrestleMania.
Winners: The Usos by pinfall
Paige and Natalya vs. The Bella Twins
This was basically slopped together so there’s not much to analyze or discuss. Either Paige or Natalya (whichever they want to challenge for the Divas Championship next month) forces Nikki to submit for the win.
Winners: Paige and Natalya by submission
The following are highlights of a new Jim Ross interview with The Rack:
His thoughts on the College Football Playoffs and if he thinks they worked: “Yeah, I think it works; I think, well, for the teams that were omitted from the final four, I think it speaks very clearly that eight teams would be better than four and I think, eventually, the eight-team playoff system will be initiated. But, in any event, that fact that the game, the championship of college football, was decided by the teams on the field as opposed to balloting or voting or polling, whatever, is, I think, a real good thing. So, I enjoy the tournament format; its great episodic programming a tournament is, that’s why NCAA Basketball in March is the big deal, because of Mar5ch Madness; the NFL Playoffs, it’s the same thing. So, I like the system and I’d like to see more teams get the opportunity to participate and if the television ratings are any indication, fans would certainly invest their time in watching a tournament an extra week.”
What it was like commentating the ““GFW Presents New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 9” event: “It was fun. Once you get past the travel, and you can navigate around the language barriers in Japan, then everything else is really positive. The event was in the Tokyo Dome, 40,000+ fans on hand I think, and it was the first time we’ve aired, or anyone aired, a New Japan pay-per-view in North America and it did really well. It’s been critically acclaimed as one of the better pay-per-view wrestling shows in years and it was really neat to be able to be part of that. For me, after 40 years in this business, and then being out from the play-by-play table for a while, you have those doubts and wonder how much gas is left in the tank and are you going to endure this four-hour pay-per-view with the last hour is your most important because your matches, those are the main event? So, I had a great time; it was unique, not quite what I’m used to here in Oklahoma, but it was a good, fun experience and I hope we get to do some more; those talks are ongoing. I signed a contract to do one, but I’d certainly be interested in doing more if it’s the right place, right time and all those clichés. But, I had a great times and it’s good to know I hadn’t forgotten how to do my old job so there’s a lot of nostalgia in that regard.”
If he thinks New Japan could do well in the US market: “I think they could if they started airing; I mean they started airing on Friday nights an hour-long TV show with English commentary on AXS TV, formerly HDNet, Mark Cuban’s outfit. Depending on what kind of audience they pick up, they’ll be able to measure the popularity and then once all the pay-per-view numbers come in on that show that will be another gauge that they can utilize; as long as you have English-speaking commentators, who can explain who all these men and women are, then I think they’ll do well because their product is really sound and their in-ring psychology is very old-school oriented but is surrounded with all these modern accouterments. So, I think it has a real good chance of being bigger; I’m not sure how it’s going to do on weekly TV, and I don’t know how well AXS TV does in general, but if it did well on pay-per-view, then that gives you some indication that there’s people willing to invest in it and if that the case, just like with any other entity, it’s all about the cash. So, if it does well, I would think you’ll see more.
I had a great time with it; I love the product. It’s very hard-hitting, they demand physicality from their talents and it’s a little unique. It’s a different presentation than you see in North America; I’m not telling you it’s immensely better, I’m just telling you it’s different because everyone has a brand that they like. It’s like buying barbecue sauce; you can buy JR’s BBQ sauce or Sweet Baby Ray’s or your local flavor. But the bottom line is there is enough audience to go around, so I think that they would do well here, if they could just get a foothold.”
What can audiences expect from his one-man shows: “Well, I got into the wrestling business, when I was 22 and very accidentally and thought it would be a good summer job that I could make some money and then go back to college and finish my last semester of college and graduate. Forty years later, I’m still waiting on that dream. I liked what I was doing; I read somewhere one time ‘If you’re lucky enough to find a job that doesn’t feel like work, grab it and embrace it’ and I found that situation in that very unique genre. Then, from 1974 until now, there’s been immense changes, going from relying on syndicated TV to getting on national cable and then getting on satellite television, getting involved in pay-per-views and corporate ownership like Turner Broadcasting and WWE, both corporately owned and publicly traded or were publicly traded as there is no more WCW.
My point is by seeing the evolution of the business change drastically on several fronts, I worked with some compelling, gregarious, amazing entertainers in those 40 years; went on a lot of trips and a lot of events in a lot of countries and cities. So, the stories are really unique and in my show, I try to take those first 10-20 minutes and try to create a GPS of where were going and hit some highlights and tell some stories that are either poignant or humorous or motivational but entertaining bottom line and then I turn it over to the audience and then the audience are able to ask any questions they choose and wrestling fans are always looking for a forum in which to express themselves, that’s why there are so many wrestling websites and there are so many on twitter following wrestling people; they enjoy the communication and interaction and I feel like I owe the fans a great deal for supporting me for 40 years so this is a small down-payment on what I owe people back. I love to engage the Q-and-A’s, they’re poignant sometime; they’re inquisitive, you scratch your head wondering ’Why did you ask that question?’. But, I tell them upfront, if you’re nice enough to come to my shows and we have fun, I’m not going to restrict the subject matter of the questions. So, I’ll answer every question to the best of my ability and as honestly as I know and that makes every show different. It makes every show have its own vibe, its own energy and that’s what we’re expecting over Royal Rumble weekend.
I’ve never been to Sayreville, New Jersey at the Starland Ballroom. I’ve been to Philadelphia many times and our show in Philly will be on Royal Rumble Sunday at 3:00 in the afternoon. I enjoy meeting the fans at the VIP meet and greets, which start 2 hours before show time and we meet the fans one-on-one, take pictures and chat with them and I enjoy visiting and hearing what’s on their mind. I mean I’m a fan so we talk the same language. Philadelphia has been really important to me, really important to my career when I really needed it so I’m excited for the Royal Rumble weekend with a Friday night show in Sayreville, NJ and a Sunday afternoon show in Philadelphia. I’m excited about the whole process, should be fun. I figure I’m probably going to gain some weight because I can’t pass a Philly cheesesteak place without at least checking it out and smelling, you know; you smell a good cheesesteak, you have to at least try some.”
His thoughts on the Undertaker: “He’s a guy I have great respect for. When I was in charge for hiring the talent for WWE and the talent department as an Executive Vice President of the company, he was a very strong, positive influence in the locker room. He was the captain of the team, for lack of a better term; so if there were issues that I needed support on or advice on or needed a to go guy to get honesty and hit you right in the gut with the truth, it was the Undertaker. So, I always got plenty of Undertaker stories.
Actually, he was wrestling under a mask in Dallas when I saw him, and we brought him to WCW and then he stayed in WCW and one of the officials there, his contract was coming up and I said ‘We should renew his contract’ and this guy says ‘Well, obviously, you don’t know anything about talent because he’ll never draw any money and he’ll never be a big star.’ SO, I go to the Undertaker and I said ‘Look, don’t try to broadcast this, but you need to try and get that WWE offer nailed down because they’re not going to give you a raise here and you need to know the honest truth.’ And Vince saw what I saw; here’s a 6’9” guy who’s very athletic and it’s up to the promotion to find the right creative for this or all the talent; it’s up to a coach to put the guys in the right position to win the games, to have the right game plan.
So, yeah, I do have a lot of stories about Taker, he’s a wonderful guy and obviously coming to the end of an amazing career. I don’t know how many he’s got left in him, I don’t have any idea if he’ll be at WrestleMania this year or not. My sense of it is that he will; that’s only my intuition, because I think the day the Undertaker retires will be the cause of a huge promotion, well-planned, well-thought out celebration of his years of contribution and I haven’t heard any chatter on that matter. I just can’t see him ‘Ok, he got beat by Brock Lesnar last year and the streak at WrestleMania is over, so he’s just fades away’; I just can’t see him fading away without some sort of classy send-off and maybe that’s at WrestleMania this year, I don’t know. It’ll be a sad day when he’s no longer back in the ring, but it happens to everybody; there’s a DNA expiration date on everyone’s body, somewhere in wrestling, where it tells you enough is enough and maybe he’s hearing those whispers now from himself, I don’t know. But he’s a class act, a first-ballot Hall of Fame guy and he’ll always be part of the company no matter what role he may assume once his wrestling days have completed.”
His thoughts on Bray Wyatt and a possible likeness to the Undertaker: “I like Bray Watt, I liked his grandpa Blackjack Mulligan too. I liked his dad Mike Rotunda. I think Bray Wyatt is a very unique character and I’m not sure if WWE knows exactly what they have on their hands because the character is still evolving and that’s much like the Undertaker in the early going, they weren’t sure where this was going to evolve to but it seemed to feel right. So, that’s where I kind of sum up the situation; the somewhat of a macabre aura around the Undertaker, obviously, and this kid comes in, Bray Wyatt, and he assumes this character, makes it his own in that sense of a TV persona and he’s really good at what he does.
So, I think he’s got great potential to have a very successful career but I really believe we’re not going to know exactly what color to pain that character, what brush to use, until it evolves a little bit more. But, the good news is, however it evolves, it’s going to be a successful evolution. He’s a very talented kid, he’s unique and different; people notice him and he does unique things. All those things are prerequisites to become a pro wrestling star: you’ve got to get noticed and remembered for the right reasons by your consumer base or fan base, and Bray Wyatt has those traits. I’m excited to see how he advances in the future; he’s certainly a keeper and if he has half the success the Undertaker did, WWE should feel very fortunate.”
Check out the complete interview at WildTalkRadio.com.
The following was taped on Tuesday night for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event in Austin, Texas.
– JBL and Tom Phillips came out to a good reaction from the crowd.
– Kofi Kingston def. Tyson Kidd with a roll-up after countering a Sharpshooter attempt. Adam Rose and Cesaro, who were at ringside, joined in to beat down The New Day afterwards.
– The Miz and Damien Mizdow def. Los Matadores when Miz hit his Skull Crushing Finale for the 1-2-3.
– Natalya def. Summer Rae in Divas action.
– Bray Wyatt def. Jack Swagger with his Sister Abigail finisher for the pin.
– The Usos def. Goldust and Stardust in a non-title match, which served as the main event of the taping.
A lot can change over the course of a year, especially in the WWE. At last year’s Royal Rumble, Batista earned the opportunity to headline WrestleMania, going from fan favorite to Bootista in a matter of moments.
It will be Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, and a whole slew of others hoping to earn that opportunity this time around, as the card for this Sunday’s Royal Rumble appears to be officially set. Here is a look at the superstars who have taken a leap forward over the past year, as well as those who have taken a step backward.
1. The Shield
Nobody has progressed over the past year more than the three men who formerly comprised The Shield. Roman Reigns set the record for the most eliminations at last year’s Rumble, although he was never really seen as a serious threat to win it all. This time around, he’s the odds-on favorite to win the Rumble and headline WrestleMania.
Reigns eliminated his former partners at last year’s event as a means to tease tension between the former Hounds of Justice. Both of those men have moved onto better things. Seth Rollins will be challenging for the title this time around, and Ambrose is seen as one of the most credible entrants in the Royal Rumble match. Believe that.
2. Brock Lesnar
Lesnar destroyed Big Show’s back at last year’s Rumble, walloping him with a chair about 50 times in a match that lasted two minutes. His character’s direction was unclear at the time, having engaged in various feuds in 2013 that didn’t really go anywhere, largely due to Lesnar’s limited schedule.
A few accomplishments have been added to his resume since last time around. Most importantly, he apparently broke some sort of WrestleMania undefeated streak that fans held dear to their hearts. Cena and Rollins will attempt to slay the Beast this year, as he comes in as WWE World Heavyweight Champion and undisputed top dog in the company.
– The advertised dark match main event for next week’s WWE SmackDown television taping, which takes place in Boston, is John Cena, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Kane, Seth Rollins, Big Show and Bray Wyatt.
– WWE returns to Austin, Texas, which was the site of this past Tuesday night’s SmackDown taping, on April 6th for a live RAW show. The pre-sale code for tickets to the event is WWEAUSTIN.
– Philly.com is reporting that the city of Philadelphia is still interested in hosting a future WrestleMania event. Philadelphia was unable to make a bid for WrestleMania 31 or WrestleMania 32 due to scheduling conflicts with local venues, but claims they will be bidding on future events.
Last night’s Raw was held in Dallas, TX and was the final episode before the Royal Rumble. There were plenty of surprises, and after weeks of terrible programming, perhaps the biggest shocker was that the company put on an episode of Raw that wasn’t half bad. Without further ado, here are this week’s pros and cons.
Pros
There were a few highlights to choose from, but for me, the final segment easily takes the top spot. The action during the contest was commendable, but the real excitement occurred after the match. Sting’s appearance was completely unexpected, especially an in age where nearly everything is spoiled online beforehand. The Stinger looked great (much better than he did at Survivor Series, imo) and held the pose long enough to make everyone wonder if it was a picture to distract the Authority, or whether he was really in attendance.
Fans quickly found out the answer, making a match between Triple H and Sting at WrestleMania all but official. Sting’s appearance, followed by Lesnar’s destruction of everything in sight, was an amazing way to end the show and sell Sunday’s Rumble. Speaking of Lesnar, the crowd is dying to cheer this guy. He could have a monster face run if he decides to stick around after ‘Mania.
A close second goes to the nWo reunion. The Ascension is completely laughable and unconvincing as intimating heels (Hall was straight-up laughing at them throughout the segment). I predict they will be dancing on the WWE comedy circuit within a year. With that said, it was awesome to see JBL finally take out his anger on these fools. It was hard not to mark out at the Clothesline From Hell, and it was pleasant to see actual planning and some sort of payoff for once.
The legends panel was decent, even if it’s the same three guys that are there every time a group of legends rolls into town. However, it was nice to see three Rumble winners talk about their victories, with Shawn Michaels saying, “There would be no Mr. WrestleMania without the Royal Rumble.” It was also humorous to watch Big Show bring up talking points from about two decades prior and refer to anyone as “three washed-up has-beens.”
In terms of wrestling action, the best match of the night, in my opinion, was Dean Ambrose and Bad News Barrett. These two had good chemistry and pulled off a number of impressive spots. In particular, Ambrose’s reversal of Wasteland into Dirty Deeds was an awesome way to end the match. I wouldn’t mind seeing these guys work a program for the IC Title at WrestleMania.
Finally, Sandow posing as X-Pac backstage was absolutely hilarious. This guy deserves bigger and better things. Hopefully the company comes to the same realization before it’s too late.