– It was announced on RAW that at this Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view, AJ Lee will defend her Divas Championship against Paige.
– The WWE Battleground Kickoff Show match will be Cameron vs. Naomi.
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.
The following are highlights of a new Wrestling 101 interview with Brodus Clay:
Working with Cameron and Naomi: “That was a lot of fun, it was definitely a challenge, I was scared to death initially of doing it because I had trained to be an aggressive monster heel but they threw a curve ball at me and I had to deliver. I went to see the Dusty Rhodes and we sat down and spoke about the character and we danced to Moves Like Jagger and we figured it out after that.”
WWE NXT: “Adrian Neville was an aggressive opponent and I really enjoyed getting to work with him. Adrian was a great competitor and I enjoyed throwing him around but he stood up to me and I enjoyed that. That new Performance Centre down there is amazing, the guys coming in there today, they have all of the tools to succeed, they have everything – perhaps even too much. I kind of like being in the down and dirty dungeon and scratching my way to the top but that is an awesome place.”
“Sami Zayn, he is just incredible, Cory Graves before his injury I thought he was amazing. The Divas division down there in NXT is probably the best in the world, there is a lot of talented people down there who will be worth looking out for but those are the two that really stood out from the crowd for me.”
Highlights from his time with WWE: “Easy, wrestling Edge was one of them, my matches with Heath Slater are some of my all time favourites, tagging with Santino Marella. I’m just really grateful I got to work with many great guys like Jack Swagger, Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler was one of my favourite guys to work with – Dolph suplexed me, but it was just a great bunch of guys to work with.”
His future in wrestling: “TNA and Japan are definitely things that are on my list, there are also many great indy organisations out there. Rumour has it Jeff Jarrett also has something going on with his new promotion Global Force Wrestling, so there are a few different options but I’m open to offers and my door is always open, I’m definitely not done and I’m going to keep on working hard. With regards to returning back to WWE, I don’t control those things but I’m going to treat it like I did last time I was released by WWE and keep on working hard and moving forward, I will put it behind me and move onto other things. You can never say never in wrestling, but at the moment my mind is set on doing my own thing.”
How Vince McMahon was as a boss: “He is the boss, he was a gentleman, he tells you exactly what he thinks, if he likes it, he tells you you’ve done a good job, if he doesn’t like something he lets you know about that as well. I got on really well with the agents there as well, Mike Rotunda, Dave Finlay, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, Jamie Noble, and Road Dogg, it was just really good getting to work with all of those guys as well, I always respected the chain of command.”
Check out the complete interview at Wrestling101.com.
The WWE’s brightest stars will attempt to cash in at this Sunday’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Two ladder matches will main event the program, with one being held to declare a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. In addition, former champion Daniel Bryan will address the WWE Universe during the pre-show.
Here are my predictions for this Sunday’s event.
Summer Rae vs. Layla (Fandango Guest Referee)
I was never the biggest Fandango supporter, but I definitely thought he would be doing something bigger than referring a divas match a year ago. He has regressed over the past year and lost a lot of momentum. This will likely be the bathroom break match of the night, and Fandango will play a major role in the outcome, of course. Summer Rae will win this one by either rejoining Fandango or using him to influence the outcome of the contest before abandoning him.
Winner: Summer Rae by pinfall
Rusev vs. Big E
These guys performed well together at last month’s Payback, even though they were given less than four minutes total. They will hopefully get a little more time during this one, allowing both superstars to showcase their strengths.
I think Rusev will ultimately win this one, but Big E will also look strong during the match. Big E cut a passionate promo on last week’s Raw, so it appears the WWE wants to showcase him a bit more. Both guys will look good, but Rusev will force Big E to tap out in the end.
Winner: Rusev by submission
Stardust and Goldust vs. Ryback and Curtis Axel
The Rhodes Brothers storyline has been moving slowly over the past few months. It first looked as if the two brothers were going to feud with one another, with Cody searching for an adequate replacement because he felt Goldust deserved better.
He eventually rebranded himself as Stardust and the two have been on a winning streak ever since. They will continue to look strong on Sunday, picking up the win after Cody hits his Diamond Dust finisher on Curtis Axel.
Winner: Stardust and Goldust by pinfall
There has been talk of splitting up The Funkadactyls and having Naomi and Cameron go their separate way as part of a key story line for the next season of Total Divas.
WWE planting the seeds and started heading in that creative direction this week on television with some subtle, and some not-so-subtle booking.
It’s being said that with Brodus Clay no longer around and Xavier Woods no longer being pushed in any real way, that splitting up the duo is the direction they are headed, with plans having Naomi become the one that turns heel.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The following are highlights of a new Wrestling 365 interview with former WWE Superstar Brodus Clay:
On the Funkasaurus character: “Initially, I had spent the last 7-8 months to the better part of a year training with the idea that I was going to be ‘the juggernaut’, destroy all that stuff and those vignettes were a lot of hard work and then seeing me in the back, cracking jokes and just being myself or whatever, the boss [Vince] said, are you sure this is the right way we want to go. He said what if we do this instead, and I was kind of surprised and kind of nervous and didn’t even know if I could pull that off as the dancing stuff really isn’t who I am at all, but cracking jokes with a smile, I do that all day and joke around with the boys all the time.
“I’m always running my mouth and stuff, talking trash, things like that, but I never really thought of myself as a dancer. First thing I done was ask to go see ‘The American Dream’ (Dusty Rhodes) and figure things out and so I went down to him and I just happened to bump into Naomi and I said to her, I need your help, because I knew her background with Orlando Magic and then we pitched the idea to have the two girls and we picked Cameron as a second and we came up with something and played with it. The cool thing about it was that nobody knew about it, everybody was expecting this one thing and with these days of the internet, no one knew.
“A lot of people were rolling their eyes saying that it’s not going to work, but I was given a challenge and I thought I done pretty well with the challenge put in front of me, it was completely out of the box than what I had originally prepared myself for, but it worked out okay and now that I look back at it, I’m proud of it. I can always be ruthless and aggressive in the ring, but I don’t think I’ll ever have the opportunity to be ‘The Funkasaurus’ again. I’m thankful for that time, because for me, it was a chance to be a character and have fun and honestly, the reactions that I got from the kids just made me want to do more and more of it. I enjoyed seeing the smiles and the dances and the videos they would send me on Twitter. That was really cool.”
On his working relationship with Cameron and Naomi of The Funkadactyls: “Naomi and I, we trained together at Florida Championship Wrestling, so we were always cool and I’m really good friends with her husband. I went to her, because I always thought that she was so talented and being a Funkadactyl was almost a step back for her, but it was the way to go and she had helped me with the dancing and stuff, she always brings her A-game to work and she’s just really cool to be around. Cameron was, I know we had our ups and downs, but she was only new in the business.
“She had been signed around three months, so she kind of got thrown into the fire and when you get thrown in the fire, you make mistakes here and there, but overall, they’re both talented and good people and I enjoyed my time with them. They worked hard and I thought that was really apt of them. We all had our ups and downs, some of the things were blown out of proportions for TV ratings for the likes of Total Divas. The whole boyfriend thing, it was more like a joke to me. We never really had a big problem, if we had disagreements, we talked it out.”
Check out the complete interview at Spreaker.com.
WWE kicks off their European tour today with their first stop in Glasgow, Scotland. With Daniel Bryan off of the tour due to injury, here is the updated list of talent that is scheduled for this part of the tour: Kane, The Shield, Big E, Rob Van Dam, Bad News Barrett, Big Show, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Paige, Layla, Fandango, Cameron, Naomi, Jack Swagger, Zeb Colter, Sin Cara, Rusev, Lana and more.
Originally, Bryan vs. Kane in a “Last Man Standing” match was being advertised, but with Bryan’s injury, that is obviously off the table. As of right now, no new opponent or match for Kane has been announced.
Also advertised for this leg of the tour is a six-man tag-team match featuring The Shield vs. Randy Orton, Ryback and Curtis Axel.
– Cameron’s new single “Bye Bye” is now available on iTunes. You can check it out at iTunes.Apple.com. Her remix, “Chingle, Chingle,” is also available on iTunes. You can also check that out at iTunes.Apple.com.
– The following is a new video promo from John Cena promoting WWE and the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s involvement in National Women’s Health Week.
– As previously reported, WWE Diva Cameron will be releasing her “Bye Bye” single today. The Total Divas star is also working on a remix of the song called, “Chingle, Chingle.”
– Wrestling legend Sting is featured on the latest WWE “30 Second Fury” video, which looks at his Scorpion Death Drop finishing move. You can check that video out below.
– Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella recently launched an official Facebook page to keep up with their travels. You can check it out at Facebook.com/BryanBrianna.
– Both of The Funkadactyls — Cameron and Naomi, will be releasing their singles on iTunes later this month. WWE decided to put up a new poll to ask fans which single they will buy first, Naomi’s “Dance All Night” or Cameron’s “Bye Bye.” At last check, with around 2,000 votes cast, Naomi was leading with 75 percent of the vote.
As previously reported, Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella were officially married on April 11th in Sedona, Arizona. The wedding ceremony was filmed for what is believed to be the final episode of the season of Total Divas that will be airing in the late spring.
Nikki Bella was the maid of honor at the wedding. Other WWE personalities that attended included Cesaro, as well as the regular cast of Total Divas, which includes John Cena, Tyson Kidd, Jimmy Uso, Naomi, Cameron, Natalya and Eva Marie.
Bryan and Bella were given the week off by WWE for their honeymoon, but are both scheduled to return on April 21st at the WWE RAW show in Baltimore.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE Diva Cameron was the victim of the dreaded “wardrobe malfunction” during the Vickie Guerrero Diva Invitational match at WrestleMania XXX on Sunday night. The Funkadactyl lost her top during an exchange in the ring with Emma, and then proceeded to bail out of the ring, where she remained until the conclusion of the match.
You can check out a photo of Cameron’s wardrobe malfunction below:
Cameron's Wardrobe Malfunction at #WrestleMania30
#WWE #WrestleMania @MBoone420 @RyanClarkWZR #WM30 #TotalDivas #Raw pic.twitter.com/QMSwMVw1G5
— Jorge Romero (@Jromer0) April 7, 2014
WWE Diva Cameron noted on Twitter that she worked with the NBA’s Washington Wizards cheerleaders on Monday to learn a new dance routine and posted this photo with the girls:
The following are results of this week’s WWE Main Event, which took place at the TD Garden in Boston and aired live on the WWE Network.
– The show opens with WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E. making his way to the ring. Big E. joins the announce table, where it is explained that Christian, who earned the right to challenge him for his title tonight, will not be competing due to a “slight concussion” that he suffered on Monday’s RAW.
– Dolph Ziggler def. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio in a triple-threat match to become the new number one contender to the Intercontinental Championship. Ziggler will get to challenge Big E. for the title later tonight.
– Layla, Alicia Fox, Aksana, Tamina Snuka and Summer Rae def. Eva Marie, Natalya, Emma, Cameron and Naomi in a ten-Diva tag-team match.
– A Bad News Barrett segment takes place with Barrett talking about John Cena being freaked out by Bray Wyatt the same way the fans get freaked out when they look in the mirror. He suggests everyone should wear a sheep mask because of their bad looks.
– Big E. def. Dolph Ziggler to retain his WWE Intercontinental Championship in the main event of the evening.
WWE confirmed a few new matches for WrestleMania XXX on this week’s edition of RAW, which took place on Monday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
As previously reported, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee will be defending her title on the show in a “Vickie Guerrero Diva Invitational” against Naomi, Cameron, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Eva Marie, Emma, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes, Layla and Tamina Snuka.
Also confirmed on Monday’s RAW was the fact that Ryback and Curtis Axel will be part of the WWE Tag-Team Championship match at WrestleMania XXX against the current champions, The Usos.
Finally, WWE announced The Shield vs. Kane and The New Age Outlaws in a six-man tag-team contest for the show.
– It was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW that at WrestleMania XXX, AJ Lee will defend her WWE Divas Championship in a “Vickie Guerrero Diva Invitational” match. The match will feature AJ Lee against Naomi, Cameron, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Eva Marie, Emma, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes, Layla and Tamina Snuka.
– It was also confirmed on RAW this week that Scott Hall (aka Razor Ramon) will be inducted into the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame.
VERY DETAILED Breakdown Of EXACTLY How Much Money HHH & The McMahon’s Earn >>
– The official WWE website recently issued a poll asking fans who they feel is the most talented Diva among the cast of Total Divas. At last check, with 13,000 votes cast, Natalya was leading the pack with 46 percent of the vote. Following Natalya, in order, was Nikki Bella with 20 percent, Naomi with 12 percent, Brie Bella with 11 percent, Summer Rae with 6 percent, Eva Marie with 4 percent and Cameron with just 1 percent of the vote.
– You can check out a video of John Cena’s recent Muscle & Fitness shoot with Cesaro, which took place recently at the WWE Performance Center above, or by going to MuscleAndFitness.com.
– Apparently prior to appearing on his show this past week, WWE Diva and Total Divas star Cameron had no idea who late-night talk show host Arsenio Hall was.
– It is being said that prior to reports surfacing online, many within WWE had no idea that Main Event would be airing live on the WWE Network each week. Apparently a lack of communication within the company led to many finding out about the news by reading it online.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
– WWE Diva Cameron will be releasing her first single “Bye Bye” this Friday, March 7th. There will be a release party in Beverly Hills this Friday at the Sofitel Hotel and E! cameras will be on hand filming for Total Divas. To RSVP for the event, e-mail herold.dreams@gmail.com.
– John Cena tweeted the following on Wednesday updating fans about the condition of his knee injury:
That banged up wheel is starting to come around. Gonna test it out tomorrow with a bit of squatting rehab. We will see how it goes.
— John Cena (@JohnCena) March 6, 2014
What a morning!! Felt great today. Thank you Rob MacIntyre for helping almost get back 2 normal! @HardNocksSouth
— John Cena (@JohnCena) March 6, 2014
– WWE announcer Michael Cole incorrectly stated that WWE Diva Naomi needs surgery on her eye during the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on Sunday night. Cole took to Twitter after the event to correct his mistake. He tweeted the following on Sunday night:
My apologies to @naomiwwe she DOES NOT need surgery. My bad. She will out of action a few weeks however. I misspoke
— Michael Cole (@MichaelCole) February 24, 2014
– Speaking of Naomi, she posted a tweet after her Funkadactyl teammate Cameron failed to win the WWE Divas Championship from AJ Lee on Sunday night. She spoke about her intentions on returning from her eye injury and defeating Lee to become the new Divas Champion. The tweet reads as follows (including a photo of her wearing an eye patch):
Broken bones heal…I will be back, you will face me, and I WILL WIN THE DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP @WWEAJLee pic.twitter.com/kd4t0fskJC
— Trinity Fatu (@NaomiWWE) February 24, 2014
– There is talk of a WWE Divas Championship match possibly being added to the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view tonight. One possible match is AJ Lee defending the title against Cameron. Another is AJ Lee vs. Natalya. A WWE Divas match isn’t confirmed at this point, but is rumored to be a possibility.
– Titus O’Neil’s new WWE entrance music is a song called “Let Me Show You How,” which is performed by CFO$. You can check the song out at iTunes.Apple.com.
(Partial Credit: F4WOnline.com)
– WWE Diva Cameron of The Funkadactyls was spotted in Los Angeles hanging out with hip-hop star Ray J this weekend. The two were reportedly followed by cameras while leaving a store in L.A. on Saturday.
– As previously reported, former WWE Superstar and UFC Hall Of Famer Ken Shamrock has taken a gig as the bodyguard of hip-hop star 50 Cent. In addition to the previously reported TMZ article, the official website for the Fuse TV channel also covered the story. You can check out their coverage online at Fuse.tv.
– As announced Friday evening, WWE will hold a live event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, February 16, 2014, and according to www.unlvtickets.com, “The Animal” is scheduled to appear at the event. Sources within the sports-entertainment organization confirmed to PWInsider.com that this is not an advertising error as he is indeed coming back. Advertising was released prematurely, spoiling WWE’s planned surprise (which one source speculated as taking place at the Royal Rumble next month).
This is not the only event he is scheduled for as an executive for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns revealed on Twitter last night that Batista will appear at a live event scheduled for Saturday, February 15, 2014 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The message was quickly deleted.
– WWEShop.com has released a new T-Shirt on Cameron featuring her catchphrase on Total Divas, “Girl Bye.”
– WWE developmental talent Alexa Bliss (Lexi Kaufman) scored her first victory in singles competition at Friday’s NXT live event in Orlando, Florida. The former bodybuilder and fitness model defeated Sasha Banks.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Gerald Brisco was scouting talent at a wrestling show that featured several mixed-martial-arts fighters in Madison Square Garden this past weekend.
– As seen on WWE Total Divas on Sunday night, WWE Diva Cameron is working on her music career. Cameron revealed the artwork for her first single “Bye Bye,” which is scheduled to be released on iTunes. Cameron tweeted the following:
So you got to hear a sneak peek of my song called “bye bye”. Stay tune for my single/album coming soon #ByeBye pic.twitter.com/nBc10zJECL
— Ariane Andrew (@WWECameron) December 2, 2013
– As recently announced, Raw and SmackDown tapings are slated to take place at The O2 Arena in London, England next May. Advertising for the event in an area publication, however, features two errors, as John Cena is being promoted as Ryback while CM Punk is labeled as Alberto Del Rio.
– The official WWE website has issued a poll asking fans who is the most talented “Total Diva.” With over 2,000 votes cast thus far, Natalya is winning the poll at 41%. She is currently trailed by Brie Bella (17%), Nikki Bella (16%), Naomi (9%), JoJo (7%), Eva Marie (6%) and Cameron (4%).
– Former WWE Diva Trinity turns 42-years-old on Sunday. Now a stuntwoman and roller derby player, she came out of retirement for one night only in the spring for TNA Wrestling.