As noted, John Cena suffered an eye injury as a result of a bad headbutt from Bray Wyatt at the WWE live event on Saturday night in Madison, Wisconsin.
Originally there was some concern that Cena may have suffered a concussion as well, however WWE had Cena work the live event on Sunday night as well, something that wouldn’t have happened had he suffered a legitimate concussion.
Below is a photo of Cena’s eye from Sunday’s live event:
As we noted earlier today, John Cena suffered an eye injury after taking a bad headbutt from Bray Wyatt at the WWE live event on Saturday night in Madison, Wisconsin. Cena’s eye is reportedly swollen completely shut and is said to look awful today.
There was some concern that Cena potentially suffered a concussion as well on Saturday night, however he is booked for tonight’s WWE live event in Rochester, Minnesota.
WWE did change his match to a six-man tag-team match, with Cena teaming with The Usos to take on all three members of The Wyatt Family, which will help limit the amount of physicality he will need to do, but does confirm that he didn’t suffer a concussion.
Had he suffered a concussion, there is no way WWE would have put him back in the ring 24 hours later, especially on a non-televised event.
John Cena suffered an eye injury of some sort during his match with Bray Wyatt at the WWE live event on Saturday night.
According to fan repots report from the show, the injury took place when Wyatt was delivering multiple headbutts to Cena in the corner of the ring. Whatever happened that caused the injury was serious enough that Cena’s eye was reportedly swollen shut. There has been some talk that Cena may have suffered a possible concussion as well.
As soon as the injury happened, the referee threw up the “X” symbol and trainers rushed to the ring to check on Cena. To Cena’s credit, after being checked out for a bit, he did finish the match. Here’s is a photo of Cena being attended to by the ringside medical staff:
This week’s edition of WWE Raw took place in Indianapolis, IN and was the post-Payback episode of the longest running weekly episodic television show in history. The card featured a total of nine matches, including a contest between John Cena and Kane, as well as a Money in the Bank qualifying match between Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio.
The show also featured two incidents that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the storyline for weeks to come. A lot of questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following this week’s edition of Raw.
5. Is Cesaro Going to Challenge for the Intercontinental Championship?
On this week’s Raw, Cesaro abandoned his partner Bad News Barrett, leaving him helpless against the team of RVD and Sheamus. After the match, Cesaro stood on the stage staring at Bad News Barrett, perhaps alluding to an upcoming feud between the two for the IC strap.
This feud could help both parties, as it would provide Barrett with a worthy opponent to work with, while also allowing Cesaro to challenge for the company’s second most important title. With rumors of Cesaro being the top contender to win the Money in the Bank briefcase, there are a few directions they could take with the King of Swing, and fans would likely welcome any push.
4. Will WWE Listen to the Fans and Push Dolph Ziggler?
One of the biggest injustices of the past year has been Dolph Ziggler’s demotion to the midcard. After finally cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase, Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship from Alberto Del Rio on the Raw after WrestleMania last year.
His reign would ultimately be cut short following a concussion, and after a few harsh words directed at John Cena, Ziggler’s burial was a certainty. He hasn’t been able to claw his way out of the doghouse since, despite calls from fans to give him a push.
There were chants for Ziggler during the match between Big E and Rusev at Payback, and it seemed like he might finally get back on track during a Money in the Bank qualifying match against Alberto Del Rio on this week’s Raw. The hopes of Ziggler fans around the world were quickly dashed, however, as he was forced to tap out to the Cross Armbreaker and it looks like Dolph has become a permanent fixture at the bottom of the card.
3. Who Benefited More from Their Feud: John Cena or Bray Wyatt?
During their last man standing match at Payback, John Cena literally buried Bray Wyatt after slamming him through a crate that was conveniently placed at the foot of a table.
Now that it appears their feud is over, one has to wonder which superstar benefited more from the program. It is hard to argue that any victory could put Cena over more. Wyatt used the program to get himself over with the audience, but he ultimately looked weak in each of their contests.
Wyatt lost two of the three matches, and his one victory came with the help of Harper, Rowan, and a child. Ultimately, Cena did not gain anything from the feud, and Wyatt is just as over as he was before and looked weak throughout, so I would say that neither guy really benefited.
After last niight’s WWE RAW show went off the air, Triple H, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins stuck around for a little while longer as officials checked on Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. HHH and Orton shook hands and embraced with Rollins a few more times, confirming their new alignment.
After that, John Cena and Bray Wyatt came out. Wyatt sang, “he’s got the whole world in his hands,” while Cena sang a remix of the song, “you’ve got no penis in your pants.”
The two eventually had a little post-show dark match, which Cena ended up winning via the Attitude Adjustment.
After his absence from the post-WWE Payback edition of RAW on Monday night, it was announced during the show that Bray Wyatt will be making his return at this week’s SmackDown.
SmackDown will be taped after the live edition of WWE Main Event, headlined by Rob Van Dam vs. Bad News Barrett for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, on Tuesday night. The show will air this Friday on the SyFy Network.
We will have complete spoiler results of the show as soon as the taping concludes on Tuesday night.
– Roman Reigns noted during the WWE Payback post-show on Sunday night that he may have suffered a torn triceps during his six-man tag-team match against Evolution, which served as the main event of the evening. A fan who saw Reigns exit the building after the show noted that he clearly seemed to be in pain.
– Bad News Barrett suffered a black eye as a result of his match with Rob Van Dam at the WWE Payback pay-per-view. Barrett suffered the black eye when taking a stiff blow from Van Dam during their WWE Intercontinental Championship match.
– Bray Wyatt suffered various cuts as a result of his “Last Man Standing” match with John Cena at Payback, a match that many in the company were raving about afterwards.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley posted the following blog on his official Facebook page regarding the WWE Payback match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt:
THE REAL WINNER
Just finished watching ?#?Payback? and I thought it was a heck of a show – great atmosphere, a slap heard round the world, and matches that more than lived up to expectations. I received well over 1,000 comments about the show, and I know many of you are dissappointed that Bray Wyatt did not emerge victorious in his match with John Cena.
Or did he?
Winning is all relative in sports-entertainment, and in this wrestling fan’s eyes, Bray did indeed emerge victorious. He may not have made it to his feet by the 10 count last night, but in his promos and in his matches, Brey Wyatt has shown me that he is more than capable of standing on his own two feet at the very forefront of the new generation of WWE Superstars.
Unfortunately, there is no mathamatical formula for making a star in pro-wrestling. But if I had to boil down all the ingredients of the star-making process into one word, that one word would be “feuds”. Fans remember feuds, and Wyatt’s character and promos put him in a great position to create memorable feuds with just about any of the top stars in the company. Besides, there just might be some gas left in the Wyatt/Cena tank.
Check out the official WWE Battleground 2014 pay-per-view poster featuring Bray Wyatt. The event takes place on Sunday, July 20th from Tampa, Florida at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
WWE SummerSlam is less than three months away and we’ve received some information regarding the top matches that have discussed for the show. The planning of these matches dates back to before Daniel Bryan’s neck surgery, however, Bryan will back in action before August so these preliminary matches could still be in the works:
– Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt for the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
– Triple H vs. Roman Reigns. This one has been rumored since around WrestleMania XXX and there’s a very strong chance it will happen. Triple H has handpicked Reigns his next big singles opponent.
– Brock Lesnar vs. Cesaro. As previously reported, Lesnar is returning this summer and WWE wants him on board for SummerSlam and Night of Champions in September, right after the 6-month mark of the WWE Network.
The following are highlights of a new Q&A update from WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Pat Patterson’s importance to WWE: “For the lack of a better term Pat has been like an assistant head coach in WWE and has a brilliant mind for ring psychology and finishes especially in big bouts. Pat understand basic fundamentals as well as anyone I’ve been around. He is missed re: the day to day.”
On Dolph Ziggler being underutilized in WWE: “Ziggler gets on a roll and his world changes quickly for the better. I don’t know why that hasn’t occurred. It’s rather obvious to me that Dolph Ziggler is one of the most under utilized WWE talents in recent years.”
On the unique booking of Bray Wyatt: “Interesting thoughts but only time will tell to see how this works out with Bray Wyatt. For the sake of all involved I hope that it is a huge hit.”
Check out more highlights from JR’s Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
After Monday’s WWE RAW from Knoxville, Tennessee went off the air, John Cena grabbed a microphone and joked about the locals drinking moonshine all weekend to celebrate Memorial Day. Since a lot of people were clearing out, he said it must be past “last call.” He then started singing “Rocky Top” with the crowd, which brought out Bray Wyatt.
John Cena taunted him with the “no pearls in your pants” routine, which provoked Wyatt and led to a match. Cena defeated Wyatt with an Attitude Adjustment in about 6 minutes.
Both men hit their signature spots, with Cena kicked out of Sister Abigail. Towards the end, the referee got knocked out, allowing Rowan and Harper to interfere. Bray brought a steel chair into the ring but accidentally hit Rowan with it, allowing Cena to hit his finisher for the win. After the match, Cena sang Rocky Top again as he left the ringside area.
Overall, it was a lively crowd, with a good portion of the upper deck curtained off.
– In honor of Memorial Day in the United States, WWE.com is featuring “15 Patriotic Moments We Salute.”
– The Ultimate Warrior’s wife Dana has published a Memorial Day message, which you can view here.
– Jim Ross has updated the the Q&A section of JRsBarBQ.com. When asked why John Cena is feuding with Bray Wyatt instead of chasing the WWE World Heavyweight championship, JR responded:
“I’d suggest that Cena is working with Bray to help establish Bray as a star. Cena doesn’t need a title to be considered a star at this stage of the game. Bray doesn’t have to win the series of matches but the rub Cena provides will enhance Wyatt.”
Currently there are three matches officially announced for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st in Chicago, Illinois. Those matches are The Shield vs. Evolution in a No Holds Barred Elimination match, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a Last Man Standing match and Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Other matches likely for WWE Payback include The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan for the WWE Tag-Team Championships, Paige vs. Alicia Fox for the WWE Divas Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship, Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger, Rusev vs. Big E. and Summer Rae vs. Layla with Fandango as special guest referee.
As far as the No Holds Barred Elimination main event, a possible scenario being considered is one that would see Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins eliminated early, leaving Roman Reigns to make a huge comeback on all three Evolution members by himself.
The match will be Batista’s final match in WWE for several months, and based on plans for the future, could be one of Triple H’s last for a while as well.
The following are highlights of a new interview with Short Sleeve Sampson:
His favorite moment in WWE: “There are definitely several different ones. The ones that stand out the most are the parodies. I was mini-Kurt Angle and I worked with Angle and did some work with John Cena as well. Both of them are very professional and fun to work with.–Another one was my Undertaker parody and working with him and JBL. I don’t know if getting chokeslammed by The Undertaker was the best thing in the world, but hey, how many people can say they’ve been chokeslammed by The Undertaker?”
His relationship with Vince McMahon: “It was a huge honor to work for him. I have a lot of respect for Vince and what he’s done, whether or not I agree with some of his decisions. He’s the head honcho and to work for the number one company is a great experience.”
Backstage heat reports at Extreme Rules: “I had been taking pictures throughout the day and after the weeLC match, I uploaded some of those pictures to my Facebook and social media pages. I was getting a lot of comments on the pictures and after an hour or so, someone commented on that particular photo: “If I were WWE, I’d fire Short Sleeve Sampson right now.” And I thought why would someone say that? So I looked at the picture and saw that Cena and the Wyatts were in it and I was surprised. So I deleted the picture. That was all done before their match took place that night. In that hour, people probably saved the photo and uploaded it, because the next day I saw that the photo went viral.
WWE never contacted me about it. I actually talked to them and everything’s been fine. There’s no heat. Had I known what was in the background, I never would have uploaded the picture. And I put up an apology for that online. I appreciate everything WWE has done for me and the opportunities they’ve given me and I would not want to burn any bridges.”
Check out the complete interview at PWMania.com.
Wizard World issued the following today:
Superstar John Cena® Heads Five WWE® Standouts To Attend Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, Aug. 21-23
WWE® Superstars John Cena®, Batista™ and Bray Wyatt™, WWE® Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino™ and WWE® Diva Paige™ will attend Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, Aug. 21-23 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. Special VIP packages now available.
Wizard World today announced WWE Superstars John Cena, Batista and Bray Wyatt, WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, and WWE Diva Paige are scheduled to greet fans, sign autographs and pose for photo ops at its biggest and longest running event, Wizard World Chicago Comic Con on August 21-22-23 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
Cena will appear on Thursday, Aug. 21, from 3:30-7:30 p.m.; Bray Wyatt and Paige will attend on Friday, Aug. 22, from 3:30-6:30 p.m.; Sammartino is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 23 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and Batista is slated for Saturday from 2-5:15 p.m. followed by a Guardians of the Galaxy panel at 5:15 p.m. Tickets for all events are extremely limited.
“Coming back to Chicago is a great thrill for me,” says Cena. “The fans here have always been good to me, and I really enjoy all my Wizard World appearances.”
“It is so great to meet not only the WWE Universe, but also fans of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy,” says Batista (Dave Bautista). “I’m really excited to be joining my co-stars Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker at Wizard World for our Guardians of the Galaxy panel just weeks after the US debut.”
“I had so many great matches in Chicago during my Hall of Fame career, it’s such a thrill to be going back,” says Sammartino. “It’s great to relive these wonderful memories with the WWE Universe here in Chicago.”
In addition to the five WWE stars, top celebrities scheduled to attend Wizard World Chicago Comic Con include David Boreanaz (“Bones,” “Angel”), Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”), Karen Gillan (“Doctor Who,” Guardians of the Galaxy), Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Winter Soldier), Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead,” Boondock Saints) and many more.
It is the 10th of 16 events in the 2014 series produced by Wizard World, Inc. (OTCBB: WIZD) and will also feature a top-drawer collection of well-known comics artists and writers and a variety of activities, exhibitors and special attractions. Wizard World Chicago Comic Con show hours are Thursday, August 21, 3-8 p.m.; Friday, August 22, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday, August 23, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday, August 24, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Following Monday’s taped edition of WWE RAW in London, England, here is your updated lineup for the WWE Payback pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, June 1st. It should be noted that not all of these matches have been officially announced yet, although are all planned for the PPV.
No Holds Barred Elimination Match
– The Shield vs. Evolution
Last Man Standing Match
– Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Bad News Barrett (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
WWE United States Championship
– Sheamus (c) vs. Cesaro
– Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger
It seemed as if the tag team division had been revitalized last year. However, almost as soon as fans started to become excited about the division again, half of the teams were broken up and it has been largely ignored.
The Usos are the current champions, and I think their pay-per-view exposure shows how confident the WWE is that the Uso brothers will draw. After all, they defended their tag titles on the pre-show at WrestleMania and did not appear in any capacity at Extreme Rules.
With that said, it would not take much effort to get the division back to where it was at the end of last year. Here are five current or potential tag teams that could help make the division relevant again (or at the very least, get it onto the pay-per-view card).
5. Rybaxel – At first, this team seemed like it would go nowhere. They had both just basically flopped while under the tutelage of Paul Heyman, so why would anyone believe that they would fare well without him? Surprisingly, both have improved since leaving Heyman, especially Ryback. He is hilarious on the microphone and can actually be pretty entertaining when he’s allowed to speak. I think the WWE still has plans to push both guys in the future, and a run with the Tag Team Championships could help elevate both superstars.
4. Damien Sandow and Dolph Ziggler – These guys have adopted similar personality traits in recent weeks, most notably because both guys seem disgruntled, annoyed, and displeased that their talents are not being properly utilized. Sandow and Ziggler would make a great team if paired together, as both are impressive in the ring and on the mic. There were rumors a while back of a possible stable of disgruntled superstars being formed, including Ziggler and the Miz, but a team of Sandow and Ziggler would work even better and could make the tag title picture exciting again.
3. Jack Swagger and Cody Rhodes – It is no secret that Zeb Colter has been trying to recruit a new member to the Real Americans since Cesaro betrayed him a few weeks back. With Cody being the son of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, it would make sense for him to become a Real American. Cody and Goldust are definitely going to part ways soon, with Cody likely being the one to turn heel, so it would provide the perfect opportunity for Cody to align with Swagger and Colter afterward.
– Following Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a “Last Man Standing” match has been confirmed for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, June 1st.
– Speaking of SmackDown, here is this week’s edition of “SmackDown Fallout,” which features Batista.
– Finally, in one last SmackDown-related note, here is the video package that aired on Friday’s show to update fans on the condition of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan.
– The WWE European tour continues this weekend with live events in Cardiff, Wales and Birmingham, England on Sunday. Despite clunking heads with Randy Orton in Glasgow on Wednesday, Roman Reigns is still scheduled to battle the Evolution member in the main event of the Cardiff show. The Birmingham show is advertising a John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt main event.
– Hulk Hogan is scheduled to make an appearance at this coming Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, which will be taped during the day at the O2 Arena in London, England.
The Yes! Movement received the worst possible news this week on Raw, as their unlikely hero announced that he will require neck surgery this Thursday and will be out of action for an indefinite amount of time.
Early reports indicate that Bryan has a broken neck and will be out for at least one to two months, with his possible returning coming at SummerSlam. This is terrible news for Bryan, who after a long journey finally captured the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
It appears that he also will not be appearing on television in any capacity for at least a few weeks, as the attack later in the show by Kane was likely a way to write Bryan off of television while he recovers from surgery at home. This leads one to wonder about the future of the WWE Championship, and also if Bryan can maintain momentum while missing at least a month of time.
After finally overcoming the Authority at WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan will miss significant time due to injury.
As of now, it is being reported that Bryan will not be stripped of the title. This could of course change at any moment, especially if the product becomes stale during his absence. If Bryan ends up missing the maximum amount of time, that seems like a very long time to go with essentially no champion.
In my opinion, if it is determined that Bryan will miss any more than one month, the Authority should strip him of the title. This could serve a few purposes. First, it would keep momentum strong by having the Authority still trying to hold Bryan down, especially with Stephanie McMahon being the storyline reason Bryan was injured in the first place after unleashing the demon Kane.
Second, it could allow for someone else to receive a push in Bryan’s absence. Imagine if a tournament were held for the WWE Championship similar to the one just held for an Intercontinental Title match. It could allow for a fresh face to hold the championship for a while and create interesting television over the next few weeks by having qualifying matches on Raw, with the championship match being held at Money in the Bank.
Bray Wyatt often talks about his “Sister Abigail” – check out his real sister, Mika. In her Twitter bio, she describes herself as a broadcaster, fitness fanatic, and world traveler. In the event that WWE ever does decide to introduce an Abigail character, she’d make a great pick.
– Below is the latest “Action Figure Showdown” video from the official WWE YouTube channel. The latest installment features Bray Wyatt and John Cena.
– R&B star Ray J is scheduled to make an appearance on this week’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which airs on E! this Sunday night. You can check out a video preview for this Sunday’s show below.
– The official website of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins recently posted a video of WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan supporting the team.
– Former WWE personality Armando Estrada posted the following tweet on his official Twitter account recently, revealing what Bray Wyatt (the former Husky Harris) told Vince McMahon when he was taken off of television a few years ago:
I was backstage when Orton punt kicked Husky Harris off tv 3 yrs ago. Afterwards, Harris waited 4 Vince & told him “I’ll be back” #braywyatt
— Armando Estrada (@RealArmandoHaHa) April 29, 2014
As previously reported, there were a number of late changes made to the script for this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Originally, one of the main events was going to be Daniel Bryan vs. Batista, and as late as Sunday night, that was still the plan.
There was said to be a number of different ideas for angles that the company wanted to do with The Wyatt Family and The Shield on RAW, but ultimately they went with the version we saw on Monday night.
Additionally, one of the original ideas was to go with a Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns singles match for the main event of the show, however they decided instead to go with a six-man tag-team match between both factions.
There was also a plan to have Evolution as guest timekeepers, but as noted, they felt that the finish, with Evolution interfering and attacking The Shield, would be too obvious if Evolution was sitting at ringside during the match.
(Credit: PWInsider.com & F4WOnline.com)