The hottest event of the summer is practically hours away at this point. The card is set, the matches have been hyped, and it’s time to sit back and enjoy the show (after making a few predictions, of course). Here are my predictions for this Sunday’s pay-per-view.
AJ Lee (Divas Champion) vs. Paige
Paige has been a thorn in AJ Lee’s side since arriving on the main roster, especially since turning heel. She has had the upper hand on the champ over the past few weeks, even pushing her off of the stage on SmackDown at one point. Although Paige has been booked strong, the company realizes AJ Lee is the most marketable Diva on the roster right now. She retains after forcing Paige to tap out to the Black Widow.
Result: AJ Lee by submission
The Miz (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Since his return, the Miz has sort of fallen flat with the audience, especially since picking up the title at last month’s Battleground. Over the past year, it’s safe to assume Dolph Ziggler will lose any match of even moderate significance, but this could be different, as he has been booked strong and is still over with the fans.
The company is trying to promote the Miz’s dud of a movie that will soon be gracing dollar bins across the country, but I think they realize his title reign isn’t catching on. Dolph Ziggler will pick up the upset victory on Sunday after hitting a Zig Zag in what will likely be one of the shorter matches on the card.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler by pinfall
Jack Swagger vs. Rusev (Flag Match)
Call me crazy, but this is perhaps my most anticipated match on the card. The feud has been built very well and given adequate time to develop. Fans still aren’t entirely sure of what the rules will be for this one, but I’m assuming it’s going to involve the winning wrestler grabbing his country’s flag and waving it proudly in the center of the ring to end the contest.
This is the perfect opportunity for Swagger to go over Rusev and extend the feud a bit longer. He doesn’t have to pin the Bulgarian Brute to win so he won’t look as weak as he would if he lost via pinfall or submission. Expect the managers to also play a role in this one, and expect Swagger to walk out victorious to set up a rubber match at Night of Champions.
Winner: Jack Swagger
Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
Much like the Rusev/Swagger feud, this program has also been given a proper build. The promo/interview the two cut last week on Raw was awesome and really hyped the match well.
Jericho won last month after hitting Wyatt with a Code Breaker. It will be even tougher for Wyatt this time around, as both Harper and Rowan are banned from ringside. This will likely be a back-and-forth contest with several near falls, with the in-ring work hopefully being a little more polished than last month’s affair. There’s no way Wyatt loses again, however, and will walk out victorious after forcing Y2J to succumb to Sister Abigail.
The following are highlights of a new interview with Chris Jericho:
On who came up with the idea for his program with Bray Wyatt: “The office. I do what the boss tells me to do. In this timeframe I wasn’t going to come back unless it was something that interested me to do, and the Bray Wyatt thing was something that i pitched months ago and they finally came through and said ‘we want you to do something with Wyatt’, and that’s how that went down.”
On his awkward relationship with the fans: “I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad Jericho return at this point, because I think when I leave as frequently as I do that people are always excited to see me back. And always mad at me for not being here, and then mad at me when I’m here, and then mad at me when I leave again, so… people are just mad at me all the time, you know?
It’s funny, because I think last year it was like ‘Jericho never wins’, and it was like, I think I won almost all the matches, but just lost a few big ones, and then this year I beat Bray Wyatt and it’s like ‘Jericho’s burying the young talent’ and I’m just, like shut up! Just go away.”
– It was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW that on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, The Miz will host a “MizTV” segment with special guest Roman Reigns.
– Below is the one-on-one interview between Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho from Monday’s SummerSlam “go-home” edition of WWE RAW.
As reported on Wednesday, Triple H took part in a “Fireside Chat” with Senior Business Analyst Laura Martin this week and explained why he feels UFC isn’t competition for WWE. Below are additional highlights from the chat.
On a question about whether or not Vince McMahon is still active and engaged: “He’s the most active person I know. He works at two in the morning because he’s absolutely dedicated to driving himself and the executive team as hard as possible to create the best product as possible.”
On Husky Harris evolving into Bray Wyatt: “He wasn’t quite connecting with the crowd. Decent hand. Talented kid. Right person. They were going to let him go and I said, ‘Let me take him and do something with him.’ We moved that character to NXT. We put some other people around him that fit the package. Moved him back onto Raw and Smackdown, and he’s one of our most popular superstars Bray Wyatt. I’ll go out on a limb and say in 10 years Bray Wyatt will be one of the most memorable characters in WWE.”
On how they prevent “being held up” by talents: “There is no one performer who is bigger than the WWE. There are superstar performers and megastar performers like John Cena. But he’s still not bigger than the WWE. Why doesn’t anyone ‘hold us up’? Because it would only be a short-term gain. There’s no upside for them behind it
On the WWE creative team: “We have a whole creative writing team that fluxes over time. We produce eight hours of in-ring content each week. It’s a ton of content. There can be anywhere from 20 to 35 writers on with us. There’s a churn rate on that as well. At the end of the day, it’s all about churning out as many storylines as possible and looking at the business as a whole. You can write the greatest story in the world and have an actor with no charisma. The story will tank. They’re interdependent on each other.”
The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase:
On Bray Wyatt and different characters: “I think [Mike Rotunda aka IRS] son, this Bray Wyatt is one of the best new characters that they’ve had in a long time. I really, really like it… I went back to work for them for a short time back in ’06, and they said, “Watch the shows tell me what you think,” and I said, ‘Everybody’s the same.’ You know, back then I said, ‘Everybody’s bald head, tattooed, trying to be Stone Cold Steve Austin.’When I was there it was a variety of characters. You had the guy with the snake, you had the rich Snidely Whiplash- me, and then you had a hillbilly, you had a sumo wrestler, you had all these characters. To now, nobody wears a ring jacket anymore, everybody looks the same. So I think they’re starting to get back to that and that’s good.”
On the Undertaker’s Streak: “My personal feeling is that wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t know for sure, I hadn’t spoken to anybody that night, I haven’t spoken to anybody since but, I was told, somebody said that when ‘Taker when he got back through the curtain, he collapsed. And I think that whatever the move was, I think he got knocked out and he didn’t kick out because he was out. As I was watching it I saw the expression on [Paul Heyman]‘s face I thought, ‘Something ain’t right.’ So I really think that wasn’t supposed to happen… If I were going to do it, the Streak was such a thing, a big deal with fans, I would either never beat him at WrestleMania or if I did beat him I would do it with somebody you’re really gonna give a big push… Obviously, Brock’s great, but he didn’t need it.”
– It was announced during Monday’s RAW that on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, the featured match will be Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio. WWE Main Event airs live on the WWE Network on Tuesday night at 8pm EST.
– Also announced during RAW this week was the confirmation that Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt will meet again at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view in August. The match was confirmed during a RAW segment that featured Chris Jericho making fun of Stephanie McMahon, all-the-while angering Triple H. As noted previously, Jericho and Wyatt are expected to work matches against each other in three consecutive pay-per-views — Battleground, SummerSlam and Night Of Champions.
WWE Superstar Bo Dallas spoke to ChicagoNow.com this week to promote the September 29th episode of RAW. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Fans Booing When He Tells Them To Bolieve: “I take every situation as a positive. Bolieving is definitely a positive. If you are having a rough day, sitting in traffic, late to work you have to take a step back and realize this day could be better. All you have to do is bolieve. It’s something that I take to heart and every time I’m out in the public, I get nothing but positive reactions.”
“Bolieve is something that is great to use and think about because it will make somebody’s day better.”
His Time As NXT Champion: “I can’t say anything but, it has helped me immensely. It really has helped me develop greatly into a professional wrestler and hone my craft. I wouldn’t be where I am today without being given the opportunity to be champion in NXT. I’m glad the powers to be gave me that chance to excel.”
His Brother Bray Wyatt: “We both came into this with the same mindset, that we are going to be our identities. We wanted our success to be for ourselves. As much as we respect and love our father, grandfather and uncles, we didn’t want to become molds of them. We wanted this path to be our own. So far I think we accomplished that. I don’t think you look at myself or my brother and say, ‘Oh, that’s the sons of former wrestler IRS’. To have the family on the road with you it’s great to have somebody bounce ideas off of and help you critique you. You can trust those people and you can’t buy that relationship; it’s a beautiful thing.”
“Right now I think Bray is [playing a heel] quite well and I have my own agenda. But you never know maybe one day down the road maybe Bo Dallas will cross paths with Bray Wyatt. Maybe our differences will come to a head in the future. With the WWE you just don’t know.”
WWE has announced a return to Mexico, as they will be bringing shows to the Arena Ciudad in Mexico City on October 18th and in Monterrey on October 19th. Additionally, there will be two other shows. One in Bogata, Columbia and another in that region, both of which have not been given official dates as of yet.
John Cena, Bray Wyatt and Alberto Del Rio are listed as the top stars of the tour, which will include most of WWE’s top performers.
This week’s Raw took place in Miami, Florida in the home of the Miami Heat. LeBron James and Flo Rida both made appearances, and Triple H crowned a new number one contender.
Overall, it was a rather exciting episode of Raw, with the build to SummerSlam officially underway. As always, a few questions were answer, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.
5. Is Poor Booking Hurting the Wyatt Family?
Bray Wyatt attacked Chris Jericho backstage at Raw last night and commandeered the Highlight Reel. Wyatt of course lost to Jericho clean at Battleground, while Luke Harper and Erick Rowan also failed to capture the Tag Team Titles once again.
A few weeks back, fans were chanting “boring” during Wyatt’s promo, leading me to wonder if poor booking is hurting he and his family. Ultimately, I think they will be fine, as they are some of the best talents in the business, but better booking could help make them appear stronger and increase their popularity. Here’s to hoping for a clean Wyatt victory at SummerSlam.
4. Has Bo Dallas Actually Won Me Over?
When Bo Dallas first appeared in the WWE, I thought his character was destined for failure. He seemed to be nothing more than a troll hell-bent on annoying anyone within a thousand-mile radius. He was once again victorious last night, extending his undefeated streak.
I must admit though, Dallas has really won me over in recent weeks. His promos have been hilarious and his in-ring work has seemingly improved on a weekly basis. I still feel that he needs a new finisher before he can be taken too seriously, but I’m sure that will come with time. I never thought I’d say this, but I believe Dallas could be one of the better midcard superstars and a run with either the US or IC title could restore some interest in the midcard championships.
Chris Jericho defeating Bray Wyatt at Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view caught a lot of people by surprise and it turns out that Wyatt was originally booked to win the match.
Leading up to Battleground, betting lines showed Bray Wyatt as the clear favorite over Chris Jericho. During creative meetings that took place on Saturday afternoon, Wyatt was still penciled to win the match. Some time after those meetings, Vince McMahon made the call for Jericho to go over.
With Jericho committed to WWE through September, the plan is for him and Bray Wyatt to wrestle at SummerSlam as well as Night of Champions in September. Jericho’s last scheduled appearance with WWE is RAW the night after Night of Champions.
We’ve got another exclusive scoop headed into tonight’s episode of WWE RAW involving Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt.
Last night at WWE Battleground, WWE taped a segment featuring The Wyatt Family beating the crap out of Chris Jericho. Jericho will not been RAW tonight to sell the effects of the attack. This is a continuation of their feud and will lead to a rematch at SummerSlam.
We have also been told there is a major segment involving Bray Wyatt planned for RAW.
The top superstars in the WWE will compete at this Sunday’s Battleground pay-per-view. Headlining the event is a fatal four-way matchup for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
In all, there are eight matches scheduled for the event, and nearly all of the company’s titles will be up for grabs. Here are my predictions for Sunday’s Battleground.
Cameron vs. Naomi (Pre-Show Match)
These two have been at each other’s throats since the breakup of the Funkadactyls. Cameron has become increasingly problematic for Naomi, as she continues to rack up wins and have success in the Divas division. I think Naomi will finally put the Funkadactyls by hitting the Rear View for the win.
Winner: Naomi by pinfall
Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal
This should be one of the most exciting matches of the night, as a number of viable contenders will be battling to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Bad News Barrett will also be on hand to present the title to the new champ.
It would appear that only a few of the entrants have a legitimate chance at winning the title, including Sheamus, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler and Bo Dallas. I think it comes down to Dallas and Cesaro at the end, with Cesaro ultimately coming out on top. An attack or provocation by Barrett could also turn Cesaro face once again and start a feud, as it appears his days as a Heyman guy are nearly over.
Winner: Cesaro
The Usos (Tag Team Champions) vs. The Wyatt Family (2-Out-Of-3 Falls Match)
These two teams have been battling one another for what seems like forever at this point. I think this is the point where the Wyatt Family finally breaks through and strikes gold. The teams will split the first two falls before the Wyatt Family becomes the new Tag Team Champions after Luke Harper hits a clothesline to win the third fall.
Winner: Wyatt Family by pinfall
AJ Lee (Divas Champion) vs. Paige
I’m not really sure what the plan is with this one. It appeared that they were trying hard for a double turn on the night of AJ Lee’s return, but the crowd wasn’t really having it. The two have now developed into so-called “frenemies.”
This should be a close matchup that will hopefully receive at least five to ten minutes. AJ Lee will struggle throughout, but will ultimately come out on top after locking in the Black Widow and forcing Paige to tap out. Don’t be surprised if Paige attacks AJ after the match in an attempt to turn her heel.
The Miami Herald has published part two of their two-part interview with Chris Jericho. During the interview, Jericho offered the following comments about his Battleground opponent, Bray Wyatt:
“It’s different. It’s something nobody’s ever seen before. It’s a character that he’s really dropped into. People believe it’s real, and when people believe it’s real, they get into it. Same thing as heel Jericho from 2008 and 2009. People wanted to fight me on the streets for real. I was getting in fights with fans. People believed this character was the biggest %$#^& on earth, because that’s the way I played it.”
“It’s like an Academy Award winning actor. When he wins an award, there’s a reason for that, because you believed the character. That’s what Bray’s doing. He dropped into it. He’s embraced it. He created it. It’s real. So it’s something the people haven’t seen before, and that’s why it’s getting over as good as it is.”
“[The music] really fits the character. It’s a swampy type, groovy, New Orleans Cajun type vibe. It’s a little bit creepy, and that’s basically what the Wyatts are as well. It’s very important to have a good ring song that really matches your character to help you get into that character, before you go on stage. That’s very, very important.”
As noted recently, Bray Wyatt had his eye swollen shut after receiving a stiff shot from Ric Flair during the recent WWE live event in Madison Square Garden. Wyatt spoke to the local CBS affiliate in Tampa today to discuss the situation.
“I look at it as an honor,” said Wyatt. “Madison Square Garden. Ric Flair. John Cena. At the end of a long, long, long war, a little [bruise] is not so bad. I’m used to having stitches and things all over my body, so I didn’t even know I was bleeding.” Wyatt concluded, “I thought I was blind!”
The following are highlights of a new interview with Bray Wyatt:
On the last year since he debuted with the WWE: “It’s been a whirlwind. I always expected to be successful. I don’t remember being a child and plan on doing anything but what I’m doing right now. I was kind of born to do this and this past year has been rewarding. I like the grind of things. I like to keep my ear to the ground and just keep moving forward. It’s been crazy but I expect it to get much crazier as it continues with my career and my growth and a unit especially.”
On Bray Wyatt is really him just amplied: “Right. 100%. I couldn’t create something if I didn’t feel it. When I say things, when I speak on television, I’m not making stuff up. I’m not like sitting in the back with a notepad thinking “maybe this will make them think I’m crazy”. That’s how I really am you know? My views on this and that, which I really don’t want to delve into, but my views are that of the real me. There is no character. I think that’s the biggest mistake people think when they approach me, they think “you’re some character you know, I love the character you play”. You don’t really know who I am.”
Check out the complete interview above.
MMANEWS.COM: Jim Ross To Work For UFC? Is Brock Lesnar Retired From MMA? [>>]
WWE announced Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair as “co-hosts” for an upcoming non-televised live event in San Jose, California.
The show, which takes place on August 16th, will feature the kick-off of ticket sales for WrestleMania 31.
Already scheduled for the card are the following matches:
– John Cena vs. Kane [Street Fight]
– Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns
– Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt [Ric Flair as Special Referee[
– Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
WWE asks, “What would happen if The Phenom of WWE went one-on-one with the Icon of WCW?” You can view the video at WWE.com.
– Bray Wyatt continues to earn the respect of everybody in the WWE locker room, including his peers and the legends working as producers. Wyatt got a lot of praise for the way he handled himself backstage at the WWE live event from Madison Square Garden.
Wyatt was busted up “the hard way” by Ric Flair, taking a punch to the face that left a bad cut that required a lot of work to cover up on Monday’s RAW. Wyatt was said to be very “light hearted” and cool about the situation, which impressed a lot of people. It’s understood that Wyatt is still early on in his career and has some time before he’s solidified as a top act, but so far he’s on the right track.
– Bray Wyatt required a lot of work on his eye to make it look presentable for last night’s RAW. As previously reported, Wyatt was busted open the hard way by Ric Flair at Saturday night’s WWE Live Event.
When he arrived at the arena for RAW, his eye was almost completely swollen shut. WWE’s medical staff had to drain the swelling and a lot of make-up was applied for his segment with Chris Jericho.
– After having an injury scare during the main event of Monday’s RAW, Seth Rollins is not expected to miss any ring time. He landed badly on his knee after being thrown out of the ring by Roman Reigns and had to be helped to the back by WWE staff. When he got backstage, he was able to walk around and luckily it was not anything serious.
– Dean Ambrose did not suffer any significant injuries as a result of the beatdown he took from Randy Orton and Kane on RAW. He did cut his mouth from the attack but that’s it.
* RAW REACTION: Highlights, Lowlights & Random Thoughts
– WWE will be airing a WCW special in place of the RAW Backstage Pass post-show this week on the WWE Network. The official synopsis for the WCW special reads as follows:
“The Very Best of Nitro showcases the groundbreaking Cruiserweight Division, celebrities and the introduction of the Nitro Girls!”
– The latest edition of WWE’s “30 Second Fury” features Bray Wyatt. You can check out that video below.
– Mark Henry made his return at the WWE live event in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Henry served as one of the lumberjacks that was led by Ric Flair. According to live reports, Henry actually turned heel during the match and threw John Cena into the ring post.
– Speaking of Ric Flair, it’s said that when he and Bray Wyatt got physical after the end of the Wyatt-Cena lumberjack match, Flair accidentally busted Wyatt open. According to reports, Wyatt was said to be nearly covered in blood. Here’s video of the incident:
With The Authority “on vacation” this week, Chris Jericho sat down with Michael Cole for his weekly one-on-one interview at WWE.com.
Jericho talks about his decision to return to WWE and hyped his feud with Bray Wyatt heading into their upcoming match at this month’s Battleground, as well as his match against Randy Orton, which takes place on Friday’s SmackDown.
He also promoted Fozzy’s new album and his “Talk is Jericho” podcast.
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has posted a new blog on Facebook talking about the ongoing Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt feud:
THE JERICHO FACTOR
Every once once in a while, I look at someone in WWE and think “oh, I could do something with this guy.” As many of you know, per doctor’s orders, I’ll never be in a situation to do anything physically in the ring again. But Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family are definately people who give me that “oh I could do something with this” feeling.
Chris Jericho has that same mindset – but unlike me, he can actually act on those impulses; he can actually do something with those guys who have that certain “something”. that make you sit up and say “wow”. Iwas really fascinated last night at his ability to tell a story with just the most subtle of facial expressions. Hopefully, we’ll all be saying “wow” when we see these two monsters of the microphone trade verbal barbs on future episodes of WWE Monday Night Raw and #Smackdown.
Tonight’s episode of Raw took place in Montreal, Canada and featured a total of eleven matches, including a first ever one-on-one meeting between the WWE World Heavyweight champion John Cena and Money in the Bank briefcase holder Seth Rollins.
Canadian icon and WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart graced the WWE Universe with his presence and cut a promo. Of course, he brought up the Montreal Screw Job, but it was a nice moment. Also, WWE continued to promote current on-going storylines leading up to Battleground.
Last week’s episode of Raw was one of the best and most exciting in recent history. Did this edition live up to last week’s high standards? Without further ado, here are highlights, lowlights and my random thoughts on the 7/7/2014 edition of Monday Night Raw:
BEST MATCH: The opening bout between the Usos and the Wyatt Family was the best match of the night. There were two other matches that could have stolen the show, but they failed to do so for a couple of reasons. First, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose gave it their best effort, but it was clear to see that the two didn’t have very much chemistry, at least when it comes to singles action. Also, the Dean Ambrose botch wasn’t a crowd-pleasing moment.
Chris Jericho vs. the Miz could have been special, but the match didn’t last as long as I hoped. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins had the most promise, but they weren’t given enough time to do anything memorable and the obvious interference by Kane and Randy Orton ruined the match for me.
What was your favorite match of the night?
WORST MATCH: AJ Lee/Paige vs. Naomi/Cameron was the worst match of the night. Aside from the main event and the tag team match between the Usos and the Wyatt Family, there weren’t any real standout matches. However, this bout stood out for all the wrong reasons and it was a poor showing amongst the four Divas involved. Bo Dallas vs. El Torito was a close second for the worst match of the night award because at least the crowd was somewhat into it.
The worst segment of the night was the Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox disaster, but I don’t think there was an opening bell and nobody was declared the winner. Therefore, Idon’t consider this to be a match; otherwise, it would have won the award.
UPSET OF THE NIGHT: Kofi Kingston defeating Cesaro was the upset of the night. I know that Kofi defeated Cesaro last week on Raw, but I didn’t expect him to do it again and I don’t think the fans/crowd did either. I see Cesaro winning the Intercontinental Title at Battleground and Kingston falling into obscurity once again, but at least Kofi is living in the moment now.
To quote the great Mike Adamle, Kofi be Jamaican me crazy.
MOST SHOCKING MOMENT: I expected Randy Orton to defeat Dean Ambrose in their match tonight, but I was anticipating Seth Rollins to screw Ambrose over, resulting in Ambrose losing cleanly. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Ambrose has been really hot as of late and Rollins costing him the match would have protected Ambrose a bit more. Also, it would have spiced things up and furthered the Ambrose/Rollins feud.