– With almost all of the key wrestlers on the WWE roster figured into the main card at WrestleMania XXX, it looks as though whatever matches they plan on adding to the two hour pre-show will be comprised of NXT talent.
– Current online betting odds for WrestleMania XXX, which at this point don’t mean a whole lot past educated guessing until the “smart money” comes in during the day of the show, have Daniel Bryan as the favorite to end the show as WWE World Heavyweight Champion at -270. This means if you bet $270, you clear $100 profit, making Bryan basically a near three-to-one favorite to walk out of the show as champion. Randy Orton is +400 to end the show as champion, Batista is +250 and Triple H is +1500.
Other odds for the show include Undertaker as a 60-to-1 favorite over Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan as a 27-to-1 favorite over Triple H and Bray Wyatt at -350 (a little over three-to-one) over John Cena.
– WWE stock took a big hit today, falling $2.18 per share to $27.53. The general consensus seems to be that there was an overenthusiasm and the stock price had gone too high, resulting in a lot of people deciding that today was a good day to get out. Some are connecting the previously reported Forbes article on Vince McMahon as a possible explanation, although that’s probably not the case.
– Sherdog.com recently spoke to UFC President Dana White once again about former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. White didn’t say anything groundbreaking, pretty much telling the same story about how Lesnar feels he didn’t put forth his best performances due to dealing with diverticulitis during the majority of his run in the UFC. You can check out the interview at Sherdog.com.
– WWE has announced that The Undertaker will deliver a “final message” to Brock Lesnar on next Monday’s RAW, which airs live from Washington, D.C. and will serve as the WrestleMania XXX “go-home” edition of the show.
– As previously reported, former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman posted a tweet revealing that he has some news to announce in the Summer that WWE fans will enjoy. Coincidentally enough, WWE caught up with the former announcer for their latest “Where Are They Now?” feature. You can check that out at WWE.com.
The Monday, March 24th edition of WWE RAW averaged 4.27 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The number marks a five-percent increase as compared to last week’s show.
Monday’s RAW had the benefit of advertised appearances by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, as well as being the second-to-last RAW before WrestleMania XXX.
The hourly breakdown for Monday’s RAW is as follows:
Hour One: 4.22 million viewers
Hour Two: 4.39 million viewers
Hour Three: 4.21 million viewers
The final cable rating for the show should be out shortly, and will likely fall between a 3.0 and a 3.2.
– It was confirmed on Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown that on Monday’s edition of RAW, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar will go face-to-face.
– Speaking of SmackDown, here is the latest edition of “SmackDown Fallout,” which features 3MB discussing their participation in the upcoming Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX:
– Former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone was at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut a few weeks ago, most likely to be interviewed for future WCW projects on the WWE Network or DVD release.
Schiavone has been fielding a lot of wrestling-related questions and comments on Twitter and noted that he’s had a huge increase in people tweeting him since the launch of the WWE Network. When asked why he left WWE back in 1990 and jumped to WCW, he made this interesting comment:
@DJSeanmoney I left in 1990 because of a great offer from WCW. It was a big mistake.
Triple H has words with BOOTista and Randy Orton, in the opening Segment YES!
In-Ring Segment: Triple H, BOOtista and Randy Orton Raw started off with Triple H in the middle of the ring, blaming the WWE Universe, for the events leading to the match between Triple H & Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania. He said he had no chocie but has too end the #YesMovment. Out comes Batista, followed by Randy Orton. I really enjoyed the back and forth between all three. With Batista caling Randy Orton a “paper champion” and Orton saying if Batista was the big deal he was supposed to be they wouldn’t have gone on to cheer for Daniel Bryan.
Triple H tried to make his exit, Batista stopped him and said he has to fix things. That’s when Triple H went off on Batista, saying he hated when Part-Time movie stars come back and think they know how to run the business. Triple H also called out Orton, for being technically gifted, but still needs his hand held to win the match.
Triple H then annoucned a bombshell that if he wins the match between him and Daniel Bryan, he will enter the triple threat match at WrestleMania XXX, and win it to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
I thought this was a great segment, and I like that now Triple H has a shot to be in the Main Event at WrestleMania. That gives people some doubt that Daniel Bryan could lose his match between him and Triple H, which he wont. I like the direction this story is going in, as we are two Raw’s from Mania! YES!
Sheamus wins on St Patrick’s Day. NO!
Bad News Barrett & Hornswoggle Obligatory Hornswaggle segment for St Patrick’s day. Followed by an unfunny and predictable Bad News Barrett segment. Yawn. Someone tell me why Barrett is not wrestling, is he injured? NO!
Sheamus vs. Titus O’Neil Gimmick Match, the aforementioned Hornswaggle gets involved and becomes a chess piece. Christian on commentary was the bright spot. He attacks after the match, which also was predictable, I didn’t hate the attack though, but overall for me the segment was a NO!
The Usos vs. The Real Americans
Sold match, looks like The Real Americans are back as a cohesive unit. This win by The Real Americans I’m assuming will lead to their involvement in a 4-way tag match at WrestleMania. Perhaps on the grandest stage of them all, we will finally see Cesaro snap on Jack Swagger and swing him many many times. YES!
John Cena and Bray Wyatt, let’s hope the match lives up to the hype. YES!
John Cena & Bray Wyatt Promo Segment Obviously we won’t know until WrestleMania XXX if these two will have a good or great match. For all we know they could have an amazing match. But I have to say I really enjoy Bray Wyatt’s promo work here. John Cena is John Cena, I could do with out the comedy. His act is getting stale, and he is in need for a change, a big change. I think this this program is a good fit for both superstars, of course I would rather have seen The Shield vs The Wyatts, but since that ship has sailed, I’m enjoying what I see. YES!
Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan……Part 20. YES!
Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton have good matches with each other, I enjoyed this one as well. Batista came down to take it to Orton, followed by Daniel Bryan sending Batista out of the ring with the Knee. This was a great live illustration to show what “could” happen at WrestleMania XXX. Batista power bombing Orton Afterwords got a decent pop. I have to say, seems a fair amount of heat on BOOtista is melting away, now that Daniel Bryan has the potential to headline with him and Orton at WrestleMania XXX YES!
Paul could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves. YES!
Segment: Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is a master wordsmith. He is perfect for someone like Brock Lesnar, who’s mic skills aren’t as sharp. I love the story they are telling here, acknowledging The Undertaker is getting older and it has been getting harder the last few years for him to win decisively. YES!
Interesting observation, did you notice how CM Punk didn’t exist on the promo they showed? Would have made great sense to use him, after all, The Undertaker beat CM Punk last year at WrestleMania 29 and, Brock Lesnar went on to beat CM Punk at SummerSlam. But no, he is erased.
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW
The Undertaker made appeared on Tuesday night’s live episode of Main Event on the WWE Network and delivered a message to to Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar.
Undertaker told Heyman to deliver a message for his WrestleMania XXX opponent. “When the Undertaker gets to New Orleans, he’s going to slay the beast. Once that’s done, he’s going to throw his rotting corpse into the pits of eternal hell.
If there’s anything about that message that is not delivered to Lesnar, The Undertaker at RAW next Monday night from Brooklyn to deliver it personally.
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On WWE talent scouting and the ascension of Brock Lesnar: “Got my tickets for the NCAA Wrestling Championships today via Federal Express. Going to attend w/ WWE HOFer Jerry Brisco who is scouting the event for WWE. I’m going as a fan and to keep my Okie friend company.”
“If Jerry is lucky, he might find another Brock Lesnar, however, jocular, Hereford Bulls come along very rarely.”
“WWE is smart to invest in educated, athletic, young people with big personalities who, hopefully, grew up watching some TV Wrestling. Brock was not a pro wrestling fan when he signed with WWE but he burned through the pro wrestling drills in OVW like the beast that he is and was as natural as anyone we ever signed.”
On the continued success of his Ross Report podcast: “Got a call today from Podcast One telling me that the current Ross Report with Trish Stratus is killing it. Last I looked on the iTunes Sports Podcast Top Ten, it was #1 in USA, #3 in UK, #5 in Australia, and #1 in Canada. Downloading is free at iTunes and http://www.podcastone.com.”
“Next week Mick Foley is my guest in one of the funniest shows of which I’ve been a part so be sure and check us out.”
On the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX: “Speaking of WM, I’m not answering any questions regarding who is going to win the Andre the Giant 30 Man Battle Royal because I’m not even sure who’s in it. The irony of this attraction is that many participants wouldn’t have been on the card if not for this match but they will be some of the same individuals who complain about their pay offs.”
The following is a list of the current merchandise sellers at the arenas in WWE.
1. John Cena
2. Daniel Bryan
3. CM Punk (down on the list because he’s been off TV and hasn’t been at the arenas)
4. Batista
5. Sheamus
6. Hulk Hogan
7. Randy Orton
8. Brock Lesnar
On the official WWE website, the list of top merchandise sellers is as follows:
1. John Cena
2. CM Punk
3. Daniel Bryan
4. Hulk Hogan
5. The Shield
6. Steve Austin
7. Brock Lesnar
8. Undertaker
9. Randy Orton
Notably absent from the list are Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio, both of whom have been among the top merchandise movers, especially Mysterio, who has been in the top tier list for several years.
Hulk Hogan’s WrestleMania XXX Announcement, John Cena & The Wyatt Family Hulk Hogan starts the show announcing an Andre The Giant memorial 30 man Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. Battle Royals have happened before at WrestleMania, with Andre The Giant winning the first ever Battle Royal at WrestleMania II. At Wrestlemania IV Bret Hart and Bad News Brown, both heels at the time agreed to share the trophy, well for a few moments. And who could forget the 19 man Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven. I don’t think anyone was expecting this, and at first I thought, the idea seemed silly, but this will get alot of talent on the card, and could be interesting to watch.
John Cena came out to have a Raw moment with The Hulkster. Dislike Cena all you want, he has been the top guy in WWE for the last 10 years. Buff Bagwell, made a ridiculous comment, that John Cena isn’t a Stone Cold Steve Austin, or a Rock, and that HE could have been John Cena, if he was pushed like Cena has been. That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Cena is a true star, and any way you slice it this was a Raw moment, to see Cena posing down with the Babe Ruth of professional wrestling.
Bray Wyatt doing his thing as John Cena and the legendary Hulk Hogan YES!
I enjoyed the Wyatt involvement, the challenge was issued by Cena, for a match at WrestleMania, Wyatt would later accept. Prior to the Royal Rumble, when the heavy rumor was John Cena vs Bray Wyatt, I was scratching my head. After months of excellent build up of Bray and the Wyatt Family, I can honestly tell you, I’m excited to see this match, and love the Wyatt Family. YES!
John Cena vs. Erick Rowan Short match, between Cena and Rowan, with Rowan having the upper hand for a good portion of the match, Cena wins with a surprise pin. I’m not sure why he was so shocked. Hulk Hogan in Cena’s corner, makes me wonder if this will foreshadow some physical Hogan involvement in the match at WrestleMania XXX. YES!
The Authority Address Daniel Bryan I’m a huge Vince McMahon fan, I loved watching Vince McMahon verbally and sometimes even physically battle Stone Cold Steve Austin, back in the Attitude Era. Perhaps because I’m so over the last 7 months of beating Daniel Bryan to the ground, I just can’t stand Stephanie McMahon and Triple H as The Authority. When I say that, I don’t mean, “I can’t wait to see Daniel Bryan get his hands on Triple H.” I just can’t stand the way either of them are, at all. Stephanie does all the talking in this segment, demanding Daniel Bryan apologize or face severe consequences. NO!
Cessaro griping a bit too tight for Jack Swagger YES!
Big E. vs. Jack Swagger / Real Americans Break-Up Tease # 395 This match was basically a filler to highlight the inevitable break up of Cesaro and Swagger. It’s a shame that Big E has been pushed to the back in all this, I had high hopes that the Intercontinental Title would finally get more prestige. That being said I am enjoying the break up of The Real Americans, because Cesaro is going to be a break out star. YES!
In-Ring Segment: The Undertaker & Paul Heyman This segment was pure brilliance, Paul Heyman with two amazing weeks in a row of fantastic promos. Playing the Chicago crowd expertly. Tying CM Punk’s departure into not being able to defeat The Undertaker, was a genius concept. I like how the story is now centered around Paul Heyman trying to get his revenge on The Undertaker. This could also set the stage for another CM Punk Undertaker encounter if he ever comes back and returns his ball. I’m cautiously optimistic for the Brock vs Taker match at WrestleMania XXX. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW
Brock Lesnar’s current slogan is “Eat, Sleep, Conquer, Repeat.” However, based upon the amount of time we have seen him in recent weeks, it could easily be changed to “Eat, Skip Out on Appearances, Collect a Paycheck, Repeat.”
Since his return to television this year, Lesnar has competed in one throwaway match with the Big Show that lasted about two minutes and appeared on television a handful of times.
Should Lesnar do more of the talking, or are fans satisfied with Heyman serving as his mouthpiece?
Thus far, the most memorable moment of his return was when he squawked like a bird after roughing up Mark Henry. During his most recent run, he has spoken once that I can remember and has not appeared for more than a few minutes at a time while idly standing next to Heyman as he cuts a promo.
I am not faulting Lesnar. He signed the deal and that is all he committed to. However, I am questioning the WWE in regard to whether Lesnar is worth the investment. His last contract was for one year and was supposedly worth around $5 million. He recently signed another deal that will keep him with the company through WrestleMania 31 that is undoubtedly worth just as much, if not more.
His feuds with CM Punk and Triple H last year were somewhat entertaining, but his recent run has been less than satisfying. His “feud” with the Undertaker should be a case study in how a part-timer can ruin the build-up for a marquee match-up.
The only face-to-face confrontation so far between Lesnar and Taker was the contract signing, where both men remained silent, and the only action was Taker chokeslamming Lesnar through a table.
SQUAWWWWWWWK!
Lesnar did not appear on this week’s RAW, leading to a brief confrontation between Heyman and Taker, and Lesnar is also not scheduled to appear at next week’s event either. This leaves two weeks to somehow build the match into something people are willing to pay to see.
In my opinion, Lesnar is not providing a solid return on investment. All three pay-per-views Lesnar competed in last year (WrestleMania, Extreme Rules, and SummerSlam) featured considerably fewer buys than the previous year’s version (it is worth noting that Lesnar and Triple H headlined Extreme Rules).
After returning in 2012, fans were excited to see Lesnar once again and every event he competed in was a huge success. However, the novelty has worn off and he does not seem to be the attraction he used to be. I think this can primarily be blamed on his part-time schedule though.
Fans would be excited to see Lesnar compete, as he is a great competitor when he decides to actually wrestle a match, but his part-time schedule makes it all-but-impossible for the WWE to insert him into a decent feud, let alone the title picture.
Ultimately, I believe the WWE will soon realize that spending millions of dollars to have Brock Lesnar appear for a handful of minutes throughout the year while taking up main event slots at various pay-per-views is not only a poor investment, it’s not best for business.
How do you feel about Brock’s 2014 return? Is his part-time schedule preventing you from becoming interested in his WMXXX match-up? Is he still an attraction worth paying to see? Let us know in the comments section.
– In addition to the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal being announced for WrestleMania XXX, the long-rumored match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt was announced as well. Cena officially challenged Wyatt in the opening segment of Monday’s RAW.
– Another match that was further set up for WrestleMania XXX is the match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. Undertaker appeared on the show, but was quickly interupted by Paul Heyman. Heyman told Undertaker not to accept the match with Lesnar at WrestleMania, or his streak would come to an end. Undertaker told Heyman that if Lesnar accepts, at WrestleMania he will “Rest In Peace.”
As previously reported, the current plan in WWE is to promote John Cena and Daniel Bryan as the number one and number two babyfaces in the company coming out of WrestleMania XXX. Apparently another guy that is in store for a big push is Cesaro, who is a guy that the company has been planning on getting behind lately.
Other names that are set to receive a push after WrestleMania this year are Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar, Batista and Randy Orton.
The following are highlights of a new ESPN Front Row interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Brad Nessler: “I think “Ness” is the best all-around play-by-play guy in the business. For a guy who [last season] was doing college football and then an NFL game [for NFL Network] and then another college game like he does shows his work ethic and his talent. And he’s just as well-versed in college basketball.”
On Jonathan Coachman and Todd Grisham: ““Coach” is as multitalented a person as I’ve ever worked with. Grisham? A tall, disillusioned Alabama fan! [Ross supports Oklahoma and revels in the Sooners’ 2014 AllState Sugar Bowl win over the Tide.] I’m proud of both of those guys. [Going to ESPN] was a wonderful career move for them. They’re better fits in ESPN’s world than they were in the WWE’s world.”
On working with E:60 for a future piece on WWE: “I’m expecting a masterpiece. [E:60 producers] were allowed crazy access. . . [Producer] Ben Houser became a student of the business. I was very impressed with Ben. He asked great questions.”
On what Kendrick Perkins and Ronda Rousey have in common: “Sometimes the Thunder is too nice. Would Perkins make a great WWE villain? Absolutely. Perk has the best facial expression and demeanor. The only person in sports right now that has a better facial expression than Kendrick Perkins is Ronda Rousey. When Ronda Rousey walks into the ring to fight, she has the greatest facial expression in sports. I think our girls [WWE female performers] would probably be scared to death [if Rousey joined the circuit].”
On helping The Rock and Brock Lesnar transition into pro wrestlers: ““The Rock” was a unique case because The Rock’s grandfather and father were both pro wrestlers. He had a familiarity with the business in general… He was a third-generation guy and was also had a college degree at Miami who was also broke. You had a bright, broke guy who was also very motivated. I signed The Rock and really felt like he was going to be exceptional from Day 1. The best example would be Brock Lesnar. He came out of the University of Minnesota as a national champion All-American wrestler. He came from a farm in South Dakota. He didn’t go to the ‘U’. He didn’t grow up in the sizzle world of pro wrestling. He was a dairy farmer’s son. So getting him to develop his personality and release his natural charisma was something that took a little bit effort on his part. . . The biggest thing you work on is their personality, their TV presence. He finally got it.”
On what he feels is an indeal scenario for Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania: “I would make sure Daniel Bryan left WrestleMania with his “moment.” Every star in WWE wants to have a WrestleMania moment – meaning some bucket list dream as a professional to go to WrestleMania and steal the show. In a perfect world, just for me , Daniel Bryan would leave WWE [as] World Champion. . . Right now, Randy Orton is the champion. As the deck is currently dealt, it would be Daniel Bryan somehow against Randy Orton.”
“Or, maybe, if you really wanted to have some fun with it, you’d make it a Triple Threat Match. You have two villains – Batista [versus] Randy Orton versus Daniel Bryan. Three guys against each other. First man to score a pinfall or submission wins. The two big villains and the smaller overachieving hero. In my storytelling world, we’d have a happy ending.”
They’ll never be another person as great as Paul Heyman. Brilliant performance. YES!
Paul Heyman Opens RAW, Brock Lesnar Attacks Mark Henry Raw kicked off with a bang, CM Punk’s music hit and, naturally the crowd went wild. I’m sure most older WWE fans know this drill all too well. WWE loves pushing buttons (now called trolling). I fully expected to hear CM Punk’s entrance music hit at some point during the broadcast, it was inevitable. However after about 30 seconds, it became clear there was no CM Punk, it was Paul Heyman. Paul comes into the ring, goading the crowd to cant their heads off for the voice of the voiceless. Paul then sat Indian style in the center of the ring, and began to talk about CM Punk, and ultimately said that the fans were to blame for his absence. Paul tied it into CM Punk losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29, and moved towards Brock Lesnar taking on The Deadman in New Orleans. Brock then comes out, followed by Mark Henry who eventually gets an awesome F5 into the announce table. I loved this segment, this was exactly how you capture lighting in a bottle. Paul Heyman was simply brilliant. If I have one criticism on this segment, I would have placed it towards the middle of the program. I think the crowd should have been given a bit of time to try to “HijackRaw” with their CM Punk chants, and then WWE would strike back with their response. YES!
WWE Tag-Team Championships The New Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Usos With a crazy night came this tag team match. I was pretty surprised that The USO’s won the contest and became The WWE Tag Team Champions. For some reason I thought we would have to wait till WrestleMania XXX to see The USO’s win the tag team championship, there is still 4 weeks before WrestleMania so as they say anything can happen. I’m happy for The USO’s they deserve the championship. YES!
The Real Americans Hugging it out… For now.
Big E. vs. Cesaro & Big E. vs. Jack Swagger I’ve been seeing Jack Swagger interrupt many Cesaro matches. Earlier in the night Swagger again caused the DQ by attacking Big E during the match. Later Big E pulls double duty taking on Swagger Cesaro returns the favor. Obviously these two are destined for a breakup, but when? And how does Big E’ Factor into this match. I wouldn’t mind seeing the three of them go at it in a triple Threat Match at WrestleMania, where we can see Cesaro finally turn on Jack Swagger. YES!
The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family What an incredible match these 6 young up and coming SuperStars had at The Elimination Chamber PPV, This match was great too, with Seth Rollins proving he is not the weakest link in The Shield. Flying across the ring! I like Rollins walking out of the match to further the breakup of The Shield. I think The Shield vs The Wyatts much like The Rock vs Triple H will go down in history as two matches that should have taken place on the grandest stage of them all, WrestleMania. Still an awesome showing and a great way to keep the momentum for Bray Wyatt who got the pinfall. YES!
Renee Young Interviews Batista BOOtista turning full heel on Smackdown! this past Friday night, now on Raw calls the Daniel Bryan #YesMovement the the dumbest thing he’s ever seen in his life. I like heel BOOtista. Well maybe I don’t. I didn’t like WWE trying to keep Batista a face when the crowd would have none of it. There’s your real change! We actually turned him heel. There was no other choice anyway, I don’t want to get my hopes up for the SEVENTH month in a row, but this seems to be heading towards what most of us are hoping to see at WrestleMania XXX.
Santino Marella & Emma vs. Fandango & Summer Rae I’m still not sold on Emma. It must be because of Santino. Or that music just doesn’t feel big enough. Again I get it she was very over in NXT, but that arena holds 500-800 people. (I’ve been to a NXT Taping at Full Sail) Sometimes things don’t play as well on the big stage. I hear that music, and I hear a pin drop. Then again, this might be another Fandango in the making the night after WrestleMania XXX. NO!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78HUkVvnLXg
To much talk, Daniel Bryan should have kneed them both. NO!
Daniel Bryan, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon & Kane Promo So here’s the problem I have with Triple H vs Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX. I don’t want to see it. I want to see Daniel Bryan vs Batista vs Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I don’t want to see Daniel Bryan face Triple H even for a chance to be in that match. Why? Because I’ve invested wasted seven long months waiting to see the payoff from a story that began at SummerSlam. I attended SummerSlam, Hell-In-A-Cell, Survivor Series, and The Royal Rumble. I don’t want to see Daniel Bryan beat up Triple H the character. Although I might not mind Brian Danielson decking Paul Levesque, for this frustrating half year plus. I’m just not into seeing this match, I’m turned off. 2-4 months ago, I would have been into the idea of this match, and invested in it. Now all I want is for him to win to get put in the championship match at the end of WrestleMania XXX. It’s a shame too, because Triple H vs Daniel Bryan should be a featured marquee match, on it’s own. I just don’t see myself enjoying the match as much as I would if I didn’t have this bad taste in my mouth from the last seven months.
I hate when people compare Daniel Bryan to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Daniel Bryan is mega over right now, but back in the Attitude era Austin, the whole business was over way more. These hijack shows though are starting to offer up more of that attitude era feel, I will say though. The thing is with Stone Cold Steve Austin, he gave his blood his sweat and tears to be WWE Champion. He stopped at nothing and got physical along the way. I was not a fan of Daniel Bryan just standing there, taking abuse from Triple H and Stephanie. I wanted him to beat the crap out of both of them. If I were Daniel Bryan, I’d offer up the stipulation that we all expect to eventually happen. If he can Beat Triple H at WrestleMania, he gets inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match. But I still don’t want to see the match at WrestleMania, too turned off from the last few months. NO!
I’m enjoying this story more and more each week. YES!
John Cena Addresses The Wyatt Family I liked what John Cena had to say to the crowd, the CM Punk chants were beginning to get on my nerves by this point. I’m enjoying Bray Wyatt and what he has to offer, he could be a top Hollywood horror actor. It wouldn’t surprise me if after Mania he stars in a film. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW
– As previously reported, despite being advertised, The Undertaker did not appear at Monday’s RAW, nor was he backstage at the show. According to one source, the decision for Undertaker not to appear on RAW must have been a last-minute change, as there was a version of the script for the show at one point that had a segment featuring a staredown between he and Brock Lesnar.
– Former WWE Diva Lisa Marie Varon (aka Victoria) posted the re-tweeted the following photo of herself backstage at Monday’s WWE RAW at the All State Arena in Chicago, Illinois:
WWE legend The Undertaker has reportedly been added to Monday’s WWE RAW, which emanates from All State Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
Also scheduled for Monday’s RAW is a main event featuring The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield, Brock Lesnar’s reaction to last week’s attack by The Undertaker, celebrity guest host Aaron Paul and more.
As previously reported, CM Punk has also been rumored to make his return on the show. That, however, is not confirmed at this point.
– A fan recently asked WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross on Twitter what he felt the chances are that CM Punk will appear at Monday’s RAW in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. JR responded with the following tweet:
“@EdBetzel: @JRsBBQ if you had to put a % behind it what would you say the odds we see @CMPunk tomorrow on Raw?” 55/45 he’ll be there.
– The official events page on WWE.com for this Monday’s RAW in Chicago, Illinois features both The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar pictured under the “Included Superstars” section.
As previously reported, Lesnar has been announced for Monday’s RAW in a segment where he will respond to the actions of Undertaker from last Monday’s RAW in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
– NXT Tag-Team Champions The Ascension recently received new entrance music. The name of the new theme song is “Rebellion.” You can check it out on iTunes at Apple.com.
– Both The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar have been added to the officially scheduled lineup for the March 24th edition of WWE RAW, which emanates from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. That will be the second-to-last episode of RAW leading into the big WrestleMania XXX event on April 6th.
– The following is a photo of former TNA Knockout So Cal Val at the NXT Arrival live WWE Network special on Thursday night in Winter Park, Florida.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about Monday’s RAW:
Fans Rejecting Batista: “Getting way too much negative feedback here about how Batista is positioned as if it is Dave’s fault. It’s really no one’s ‘fault’ as sometimes talents are simply miscast … I have always thought that Batista, because of the Daniel Bryan phenomenon, was a better fit to be a villian but that’s easy to say now. I expect that to occur later this week on Smackdown.”
Daniel Bryan’s Role At WrestleMania: “Daniel Bryan wants HHH at WM30 but will that keep or make Bryan’s fans happy? Likely not. WWE has a golden opportunity to provide Bryan and his fans a ‘magical moment’ in the Mercedes Benz Super Dome come WM30. Time will tell if that happens. It seems too obvious that it should happen for it to not occur.”
Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar “The rumblings of Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at WM30 was made official on RAW or that’s what I got out of it. I think that these two will exceed most fan’s expectations at WM30. Not sure I can tell you why but it’s merely a gut feeling that I have. I think that they keep it basic, physical and at an old school pace which isn’t plodding but one that fans can process and ‘feel’ what they are seeing.”
There’s much more to this blog, including JR’s thoughts on The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family, Hulk Hogan’s return, the WWE Network and next week’s RAW from Chicago.
Hulk Hogan Opens Up RAW The big announcement earlier this week was of course the return of the Hulk Hogan, and how he will be The Host of WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. What can be said about Hulk Hogan? He’s the Babe Ruth of wrestling, and icon and legend. He deserved to be in WWE in come capacity, and why on earth he was in TNA for as long as he was, I’ll never know. Wade Barrett took a verbal shot at hogan at The Elimination Chamber Pay Per Vew, and was no were to be seen on this show, so I can only wonder, if he will fill the role of Hogan’s Punching bag at WrestleMania XXX, time will tell. YES!
Alberto Del Rio vs. BOOtista / Randy Orton Interrupts. WWE is now starting to acknowledge that BOOtista is getting booed out of the building. Well it’s about time! How long can you go jamming someone down the audience’s throats that is clearly not connecting positively with the fans? Let me make myself clear, I don’t hate Batista, I hate the idea that WWE felt they needed Batista to fill some gap at WrestleMania XXX, and injected him into the Main Event, in spite of an organic rise of Daniel Bryan. Clearly a large portion, and not a vocal minority is in agreement with this sentiment. Batista is already starting to
BOOTista is going to WrestleMania XXX #DealWithIT NO!
lean towards heel tendencies, making a crying face, after his entrance, and his #DealWithIt catch phrase, is quite antagonizing. So Big Dave loses to Del Rio after Randy Orton distracts him. Orton acknowledges the recent crowd reception Batista is receiving. Batista responds while sweaty and slobbering all over, that the fans have a choice, and he’s okay with their choice. I’m just turned off to this story. I’d be happier if Batista went full on Heel and Batista Bombed the crap out of Daniel Bryan, get him in this story, because this is boring me, and even if they inject Daniel Bryan into the Main event, I’m not sure I can take 5 weeks of build up to Orton vs Batista. NO!
WWE Intercontinental Championship Big E. (c) vs. Cesaro The match was good, Ceasaro is definitely getting a face turn soon, and rightly so, there is a big drop off on faces, and I would argue to you he already is a face, based on the crowd reaction he’s getting, and his Ceasaro Swing. Looks like Jack Swaggar is going to be Cesaro’s opponent, eventually. YES!
John Cena Injured during his interaction with The Wyatts NO!
John Cena Addresses The Wyatt Family Thirty days after John Cena was screwed out of the WWE Championship at The Royal Rumble, and one night after he was screwed again from The Wyatts, John Cena finally decides to address the situation. He must have had that on his iPhone to-do list and kept forgetting to take care of this task. You know if the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is the most prized possession in sports entertainment, and they were combined because of your challenge to Randy Orton in December, you’d figure John Cena would have had have a bit more fire, than to wait 30 days. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena, has the potential to be a good story, and maybe even a good match, although Erick Rowan, may have changed the whole situation, because Cena appeared to be legitimately injured. Time will tell. I wouldn’t be terribly upset with a plan B of The Shield vs The Wyatts at WrestleMania. YES!
Sheamus with a Brogue Kick to Christian NO!
Christian vs. Sheamus Match was okay, nothing special in my opinion, but I must admit, it was just a match, and I was quite bored from it. Heavy rumor is Heel Sheamus vs Cesaro WrestleMania, I think that would be a good match. NO!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating