– Secondary market ticket prices for Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view are said to be the lowest priced thus far for an event headlined by Brock Lesnar. The reason is likely due to the fact that the event isn’t sold out, while other events that featured Lesnar in the main event spot sold out well in advance.
– The next live, two-hour NXT special is expected to take place in December. WWE will be doing another live Thursday special with tapings on Friday. There are two different weeks in the month of December that are currently under consideration.
Night of Champions is only a few days away. Even though the WWE has been serving up plates of garbage on Raw for weeks now, many still have high hopes for this pay-per-view, as every title in the company will be defended.
With that said, here are my predictions for this Sunday’s Night of Champions pay-per-view, which in case you haven’t heard, can be viewed on the WWE Network for only $9.99 (or $12.99 if you’re afraid of commitment).
Nikki Bella vs. Paige (WWE Divas Champion) vs. AJ Lee
I don’t expect it to be a terrible contest, as two of the three competitors are great workers and Nikki isn’t the worst Diva fans have ever seen. In the end, I believe Nikki will capture the title with help from her sister, reuniting the Bella Twins and putting an end to their horrible feud.
Winner: Nikki Bella by pinfall
Sheamus (United States Champion) vs. Cesaro
This should be one of the more exciting contests of the night, but I unfortunately don’t see it being given a ton of time. Although Cesaro will put up a hell of a fight, Sheamus will retain after hitting a Brogue Kick, possibly setting up a feud with Rusev for the United States Championship in the near future.
– Jim Ross has published his latest FOX Sports editorial, which this time looks at the signing of Brock Lesnar to WWE. You can check out the featured article at FOXSports.com.
– The latest edition of Roddy Piper’s “Piper’s Pit” podcast, which features an interview with former WWE Superstar Gangrel, is now online. The official description for the show reads as follows:
PP-Ep24 – The “Gangrel”
“Former WWE star Gangrel stops by Piper’s Pit to chat with “Hot Rod,” Colt Toombs and “The Grappler,” about his 25-plus years in wrestling. The Vampire Warrior reveals all as he talks about his epic feud with Ric Flair, finding out that he didn’t really get to beat up people in pro wrestling and starting his very own wrestling school.”
The latest Michael Cole weekly sit-down interview has been added to the official YouTube channel of WWE.
This week, Cole sits down with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar to discuss his upcoming rematch with John Cena at Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Check out the video above to hear Lesnar explain why he is the face of WWE and why Cena stands no chance at winning his title back this Sunday night.
Make sure to visit SEScoops.com this Sunday night for the best WWE Night Of Champions play-by-play results coverage on the web!
– For whatever this is worth, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is not being advertised for next Monday’s post-Night Of Champions edition of WWE RAW in Memphis, Tennessee.
– The WWE Network will be adding Saturday Morning Slam archived episodes at some point after October and archives of Rock ‘N’ Wrestling before the end of the year. There are 36 episodes of Saturday Morning Slam and approximately 25 episodes of Rock ‘N’ Wrestling.
The reason that WWE ran with the Mark Henry and Rusev segment in the main event slot of Monday’s RAW, despite being the “go-home” show for Sunday’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view, was to save the John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman segment for earlier in the show.
Apparently it was Vince McMahon’s call to do so, as the feeling was WWE needed to put their best foot forward to counter NFL’s Monday Night Football game. This was also the reason that Cena and the RAW announcers kept referring to the fight taking place at “halftime.”
Since bursting on the scene last fall, Bray Wyatt has been one of the most diabolical and confusing characters on the WWE roster. Fans are likely to find him delivering a soliloquy in a dark room one minute, while serenading an audience the next.
Along the way, Wyatt has taken out a number of superstars, including Kane, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena. However, it seems as if Wyatt has lost momentum in recent weeks.
Wyatt has lost momentum since his feud with John Cena.
Everything seemed to be going fine for Wyatt and his Family during his program with John Cena. Wyatt was able to defeat Cena during one of the three matches, and although he wasn’t able to win the series, he looked strong at times and amassed more followers. At the same time, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were challenging for the Tag Team Championships and it seemed like only a matter of time before they would capture gold.
However, the stable has seemed lost since the Cena program. Wyatt feuded with Chris Jericho in a program that was underwhelming and did little to advance either superstar. As for Harper and Rowan, they could never overcome the Usos and it now appears that they are out of the title picture for the time being. The current Wyatt Family situation begs the question: Is the stable quickly losing relevance?
In recent weeks, Wyatt has been fed to a number of superstars as they attempt to build up Night of Champions. Nowhere was this more evident than a few weeks ago when John Cena tore through the entire three-man stable just one week after being destroyed by Brock Lesnar.
This week on Raw was no different, as the Big Show delivered a double chokeslam to Harper and Rowan, once again sending the Wyatt Family running for the hills with their tails between their legs.
Feeding the Wyatt Family to the Big Show makes little sense. After all, it is not like the Big Show has a match at Night of Champions, so unlike the Cena situation, the company isn’t really building for the pay-per-view by burying the future of the company. Instead, it was just another pointless beating and loss for the Wyatt Family.
– Paul Heyman has issued a statement to John Cena on his Heyman Hustle website. Brock Lesnar returns to WWE RAW tonight – and Cena is looking for a fight. In typical Heyman fashion, he explains exactly why this is a disastrous idea from Cena just 6 days ahead of their rematch this Sunday at Night of Champions. Heyman explains:
“Brock Lesnar is going to kick John Cena’s ass all over Monday Night RAW, and John Cena will not have enough time to recover to be 100% for his contractually-invoked rematch at WWE Night of Champions next Sunday. “
“Martyrdom does not guarantee immortality. Bluntly, it guarantees the opposite. Martyrdom only offers death. In this case, the death of John Cena’s dream of proving himself anything but inferior to my client, the reigning defending WWE Heavyweight Champion of the World, Brock Lesnar! “
You can (and should) read the full statement at HeymanHustle.com.
– WWE Superstar Bad News Barrett is back on tour with WWE, traveling to India for this week’s International tour. He posted the following on Instagram on Sunday:
“About to take off on tour… @WWEIndia, see you in Bangalore in about 24hrs! Can’t wait. #BNB”
We are one week away from the WWE’s next pay-per-view, Night of Champions. The card is essentially set and will feature a total of eight matches, with a rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar headlining the event.
With every title on the line, the card should provide fans with an exciting event that features a few surprises. Here are five potential Night of Champions shockers.
Brock Lesnar is known for being dominant so it comes as no surprise that WWE lacks the level of talent to threaten the Beast’s reign. CM Punk held the WWE title for a record 434 days, but never came across as dominant. Lesnar has done something that Punk and many others haven’t been able to in end the Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. Perhaps Lesnar will crush Punk’s title record as well.
It is great to see Lesnar as champion, despite the fact that he will hold the gold for an extended period of time. WWE fans have, at times, criticized the company for having weak champions like The Miz, Great Khali and Jack Swagger. That will never be the case with Lesnar. He is a monster champion and whoever does defeat him, when the time comes, will instantly look like a million bucks.
However, the current roster doesn’t have much in terms of credible contenders. This isn’t a way of already looking for someone to take the title from Lesnar. This is a complaint that there aren’t enough credible challengers to face Lesnar in the next few months. John Cena is the top babyface of the company, but someone who Lesnar recently dominated to win the title.
Who will be next?
Veteran stars like the Big Show, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton aren’t going to have a chance against Lesnar. Show and Jericho haven’t been world champion in years. Orton’s most recent title run was his most boring one. Former world champions Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler are current midcard champions. WWE doesn’t have any other possible veteran challengers for Lesnar.
Daniel Bryan is still out with injury and it’s unclear when he will return. Even when he does, Bryan is not someone who comes across as a threat to Lesnar’s reign. His WrestleMania win kicked off a title reign that fans highly anticipated. However, with his marriage, honeymoon, passing of his father and injury, the title reign lost any steam it had. Bryan’s size doesn’t help threaten Lesnar either.
You may be thinking that Roman Reigns or another young star should be the next challenger to Lesnar’s WWE title. This is not a good idea. Even though Reigns was involved in a fatal four way match for the world title just a few months ago, he was never going to win it. The next generation of top stars like Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and even Bray Wyatt are still climbing the ladder. It’s very possible that all four stars will one day be WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but not anytime before WrestleMania.
Whether or not Reigns or another young star is even ready by April remains to be seen. WWE has pushed too many stars too soon. With so many great new stars coming up the ranks, WWE needs to be careful not too push them right away like they did with Alberto Del Rio and Ryback.
There is no obvious answer for who should challenge Lesnar at Hell in a Cell, Survivor Series, TLC or Royal Rumble. WWE may have to “settle” for Cena to continue to challenge Lesnar, but that will not interest fans. There are only so many times WWE can book the same main event, especially when the result is always the same.
Who do you think should challenge Lesnar in the next few months? Does WWE lack credible challengers to Lesnar’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Seth Guttenplan is a math and computer technology teacher for special education students in New Jersey. In his free time, Seth writes about wrestling. Follow Seth on twitter @sethgutt
WWE announced a Divas tag-team match for Monday’s RAW, which is the “go-home” show for next Sunday’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Brie Bella and AJ Lee will team up to take on the duo of Paige and Nikki Bella at the show, which emanates from the Cajundone in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Also scheduled for Monday’s RAW, as noted earlier today, is the return of several top NXT talents. Currently booked for RAW (and SmackDown) next week are Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze.
Finally, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is also scheduled to return at next week’s RAW. As seen on this past Monday night’s show in Baltimore, John Cena promised that he’s either kicking Lesnar’s ass, or Paul Heyman’s, if Lesnar doesn’t show up.
The following are highlights of a new CBS Cleveland interview with Dolph Ziggler:
Will Dolph Ziggler be billed from Cleveland now that The Miz is billed from Hollywood: “That is in the works. I don’t know that it’s going to happen but I have pushed for it before and now it kind of makes sense and there’s a chance for it. As of now it’s Hollywood, Florida so we’ll see”
His thoughts on the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar not being on Raw every week: “Eight years ago, it would have made me really mad with Rock coming back and guys who come back just for WrestleMania. It’s a two part story. It makes me so mad that we can’t do a show without those guys. But here’s the business side: we need those guys to get eyes on a show that normally wouldn’t get them so you can see these up and coming guys so one day down the line in twenty years when I’m doing something else and they say “Hey we need you to get on this card so we can highlight these twenty other guys who are up and coming”. It’s a circle of life and a circle of business. If they weren’t making money, they wouldn’t keep doing it.”
Who is next for Lesnar? “The way he beat up Cena is something I’ve never seen before in our business so it makes you want to see who the hell is going to beat this guy. Who can?”
His thoughts on Sting coming to WWE: “Just watching that commercial for 2K15 the first time it debuted, we were all like “Oh, is this the thing?!”. We were backstage and we crowded around the monitor to see a one second thing where they showed his mask and everyone flipped out because it’s that big of a deal. There are so few special things left that haven’t happened in this business so having Sting coming back no matter what he does, or if he comes back, just to have him show up one night would just blow the roof off for us backstage and for the fans of course.”
Does he believe CM Punk when he says he will “never ever” be back in a wrestling ring? “I’ve always been told to never say never in this business or “this guy will never work here” but yet here they are. So you never know. So far of all the nevers I’ve ever heard none of them have ever stuck but you never know.”
For the past few weeks, Vince McMahon has reportedly been all over the WWE creative team to book John Cena stronger to prove to his fans that he’s “still in the fight” after being dominated in what amounted to a squash match at the hands of Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam.
When Cena returned to RAW the following week and dominated The Wyatt Family, we noted that it was Vince who was responsible for the way Cena was booked that night. Apparently many backstage felt that this was the wrong thing to do, especially against Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family, however Vince reportedly insisted that it be booked that way and was unwilling to change his mind.
With new matches being officially announced on Monday’s “season premiere” of RAW in Baltimore, below is the latest official lineup for the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, September 21, 2014.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
– Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. The Miz
WWE United States Championship
– Sheamus (c) vs. Cesaro
WWE Tag-Team Championship
– The Usos (c) vs. Goldust & Stardust
WWE Divas Championship
– Paige (c) vs. AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
– Rusev vs. Mark Henry
Make sure to join us here on 9/21 for WWE Night Of Champions live results coverage.
It was announced on Monday’s “season premiere” of WWE RAW that on next week’s show, which is the WWE Night Of Champions “go-home” edition of RAW, Brock Lesnar will return live.
Also announced on RAW in an excellent promo segment in the ring between John Cena and Paul Heyman, it was revealed by Cena that if Lesnar didn’t show up to RAW next week, that Cena would beat up Heyman. So, you can likely expect some sort of confrontation between Lesnar and Cena on the final RAW leading into their rematch at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view,.
Finally, it was announced on RAW that on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, an “International Arm-Wrestling Contest” will take place between Rusev and Mark Henry.
As everyone knows by now, the Beast and the (former) Champ will once again square off in less than two weeks at Night of Champions. This contest will be John Cena’s championship rematch and figures to be the last time the two competitors will square off.
Since losing his title last month at SummerSlam, John Cena has been running through the roster, destroying everyone in his path while being booked as a threat to Lesnar. Along the way, he wiped out the entire Wyatt Family, took out Seth Rollins, and has vowed to kick Lesnar’s ass during their next meeting.
John Cena will hope to exact a bit of revenge in two weeks at Night of Champions.
It seems apparent that Cena will not be reunited with his precious championship belt. Instead, he is being booked very strong in an attempt to make things believable, but he could be hurting other members of the roster during the build (Bray Wyatt, in particular). It makes little sense to have Cena run through one of your top guys (especially one who was building momentum) like he’s a nobody when there are plenty of other guys that could have done the job.
Nonetheless, the build in this case is not as important as the aftermath. The consensus seems to be that Cena will not regain his title in a few weeks at Night of Champions. This leaves fans with one question: Who is next for Brock Lesnar?
The Beast Incarnate has expanded his deal to allow for the company to book its champion for more dates, but it remains to be seen who his next opponent will be. It’s likely that Lesnar will hold the title until WrestleMania to generate interest before passing it on to the next generation, leaving many pay-per-views between now and March.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar has sold his rural estate located near Minneapolis for $750,000, according to a new Los Angeles Times report.
The home, built in 1996, occupies 43 wooded acres in Maple Plain, Minnesota with a main residence, a heated pole barn, a storage barn and a pond. Lined in hardwood, the 3,247 square feet of living space contains an updated kitchen, a pair of offices, four bedrooms and 3.5 baths.
Lesnar reportedly paid $783,500 for the property in April of 2003 and was originally looking to sell it for $849,000.
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On WWE Night Of Champions: “WWE’s Night of Champions PPV in a few weeks headlined by Lesnar vs Cena in the rubber match for the WWE title is by far the strongest match on the card which provides Sheamus vs. Cesaro US Title bout and/or Ziggler vs. Miz IC Title bout a dark horse chance to over achieve what is expected of them and turn heads. Their only enemy is to be saddled with not enough time to tell a viable story.”
On Jerry Springer and Michael Sam: “So, Michael Sam is out and Jerry Springer is in next week on RAW. Nice payday and exposure for the 70 year old talk show host who actually tapes his TV show in Stamford, Ct. Unfortunately some fans will ‘damn’ this segment before it even airs which isn’t fair but it’s reality.”
On pro wrestling announcing: “As I said on a recent Ross Report Podcast, I’m of the mindset that WWE would serve its self well if they had separate announce teams for RAW and Smackdown. I’ve expressed this sentiment for months. I’m reluctant to talk announcing because it’s often times thought that I’m angling for work which is laughably ridiculous. It’s just my opinion that WWE shows need different sound tracks to give each program some exclusive identity. I’d have @MichaelCole anchor the flagship RAW broadcast with @JCLayfield and @JerryLawler and utilize @WWETomPhillips to anchor Smackdown perhaps with @ReneeYoungWWE before another network nabs her. Adding a third member of the Smackdown crew would be fine too as it’s good to experiment to see where the chemistry exists.”
“Again, I honestly say that @MichaelCole is much better suited to navigate today’s sports entertainment presentation than I ever was. I was a wrestling play by play guy of which there’s little demand for these days on the biggest stages. Times change and it’s challenging for some WWE broadcasts to sound more like an infomercial than an entertaining, ‘sporting’ event with so many agendas and masters to serve.”
“I sincerely wish all the talents broadcasting wrestling in today’s world the best because those days were the best of my life within the wrestling biz but, again, I will reiterate that I have no desire to re-engage. Just too many new, irons in the fire. Nonetheless, someone will turn what I’ve said here into some sort of covert message or accuse me of not being truthful but don’t waste too much of your time on that concept and finish your homework or jump back on the internet.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
WWE has reportedly come to terms with Brock Lesnar on an agreement that will allow the company to book him as frequently as they want – for a price.
Previously, Lesnar was committed to work a select number of appearances and WWE would have to map out the storylines and dates to work around Lesnar’s schedule. WWE is now able to book Lesnar for RAW shows and pay-per-views whenever they want to use him, on a a pro-rate basis, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Lesnar will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena on September 21st at Night of Champions.
As things stand right now, the only matches officially set for the September 21st WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view in Nashville, Tennessee are Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship and Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
According to reports, two additional matches that are all but confirmed are The Usos vs. Goldust and Stardust for the WWE Tag-Team Championships and Mark Henry vs. Rusev.
The plan right now for the WWE Divas Championship match on the card appears to be a four-way with Paige defending against AJ Lee, Nikki Bella and Brie Bella, as all four were linked together on all of WWE’s television shows this week.
Another match likely for the show, although it may not be a pay-per-view match, is Bo Dallas vs. Jack Swagger.
The key Superstars left without matches that are expected on the show are Chris Jericho (in his final match of his current run with WWE), Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.
It appears WWE is going with a Reigns vs. Rollins match, so they may go with Jericho vs. Orton since the Jericho vs. Wyatt and Reigns vs. Orton matches are set for next week’s RAW to combat the season premiere of Monday Night Football. However, they could either way, with one final Jericho vs. Wyatt “blow-off” match, as well as another Reigns vs. Orton bout.
As noted in the past, the WWE Studios film “Lockdown,” which Dean Ambrose is off filming, is set to wrap up on the Saturday before Night Of Champions, so he could end up on the show if WWE chooses to go that route.
According to those within WWE, there are two main options as to how the company will book the finish of the main event at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
While at this point this is only speculation, one idea is for Brock Lesnar to defeat John Cena when someone screws Cena over, leaving Cena to then work with that person coming out of the show while Lesnar works with other Superstars until facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31.
The other idea is for Cena to defeat Lesnar, while Seth Rollins loses to Roman Reigns, if they go that route with those two, and then have Rollins cash in his “Money In The Bank” briefcase on Cena.
– In light of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar’s current reign of dominance over WWE, the company website has published a feature looking at the 10 Best Manager-Client Partnerships.
– Speaking of Paul Heyman, his HeymanHustle.com website has published exclusive photos of former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis and her soon-to-be-husband Mike Bennett at a recent indy show.
– Michael Cole revealed in his latest sit-down interview with Triple H that Stephanie McMahon will have an announcement on The Bella Twins this Friday on SmackDown.
The latest Michael Cole weekly sit-down interview, which once again features WWE COO Triple H, is now online.
During their discussion this week, “The Game” talks to WWE’s lead announcer about next week’s “season premiere” of WWE RAW, the ongoing drama between The Bella Twins, John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar II at the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view and more.
You can watch the complete Michael Cole and HHH interview above.
The following are highlights of a new website Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On who the best WrestleMania opponent, besides Undertaker, would be for Sting: “[Randy] Orton would work but so would HHH. I think HHH vs. Sting would be interesting and feel that they’d have good chemistry.”
On how he thinks Brock Lesnar could be the face of WWE while working a part-time schedule: “It was mere speculation as it will go one way or another as to who the fans embrace or not. Lesnar’s not working a full time schedule in any role at any time in his future career so it would have to be done creatively but it could be done. The top dog or WWE Champ doesn’t need to be on TV every week whatsoever.”
On whether or not AJ Styles should change his character if he were to sign with WWE: “I don’t think, unfortunately, that it is any thing that we need to discuss because WWE is highly unlikely to ever sign the talented AJ who seems content on what he’s doing now a days. Great talent without question.”
On how TNA and ROH can compete with WWE: “TNA and ROH only need to focus on their brand and eliminate WWE from their mind, by and large. If they commit to their brand, develop new talents, have strong TV outlets, and use logical booking philosophies, they can be more profitable. No one is ever going to threaten WWE’s spot at the top.”
You can check out more of Jim Ross’ online Q&A at his website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
