It was announced on this week’s edition of WWE RAW that Randy Orton will compete in one-on-one action against Christian on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
It was mentioned in the opening segment of RAW by Stephanie McMahon that Orton would be squaring off against every Elimination Chamber entrant in singles matches over the next several weeks. Orton’s first match was against Daniel Bryan on Monday’s RAW.
The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose from TheClassical.org:
On the early days of The Shield concept, how it was pitched to him, etc: It wasn’t ever pitched to us. It was very out of nowhere. It was a secret kind of idea. I have an idea—I’ll save that for another time—[of] what the original, original idea was. It’s just been ever-evolving. One day, it was just like, ‘All right, you three are going to wear black turtlenecks and run in and beat up Ryback,’ and we’re just like, ‘Uh, okay.’ At the time, you’re like, ‘I don’t even care.’ I [had been] in developmental for over a year at that point and was just ready to pull my eyes out, so [with] any tiny, little bit of opening they’ll give me, I was like, ‘Yup, let’s do it.’ I’ll kick in that door if you crack it open, and I think we all felt that way. But doing Survivor Series and interfering in a WWE Championship match on one of the bigger pay-per-views that the company does, that’s like, ‘Holy crap.’ If you know what the deal is or not, you can’t ask for a better spotlight than [that].
We didn’t really know what the deal was, and they didn’t really know what the deal was with it. We were kind of making it up as we were going along. The name—it’s just a natural thing. A lot of times, we’re defenders. We’re defending what we perceive to be justice, or the good of the business, or somebody who paid us off. We can act as a shield, so we were The Shield.
The attire came naturally. The entrance came naturally because why would we be in the locker room with everybody when we’re acting as mercenaries? I remember being like, ‘Why would we ever come through the Gorilla position? Who would let us in the locker room after the stuff we pulled?’ so we came through the crowd. Then, that’s like a thing, too. That’s like a statement for us, separating ourselves from the locker room as far as we want to outwork everybody and outperform everybody. We’re not your typical WWE wrestlers and we’re going to make ourselves into more. It’s like a statement that we’re taking over this business and we don’t care.
On who he travels with and guys he’d like to feud with in the future: I travel with The Shield. We keep it very tight and travel together. I’ll travel with Claudio [Castagnoli] sometimes—Antonio Cesaro. I get along with pretty much everybody. I’m really easy to get along with. I can be pretty quiet and keep to myself. I’m a guy who just kind of sits in the back of a room [to] watch and learn and see what everybody’s doing. I’m a super laid-back, easy-to-get-along-with kind of guy.
As far as who I’d like to feud with in the future, there’s so many [people] it’s hard to count. I’m sure eventually, it’s going to happen one day where either any of the three of us in The Shield are going to be looking across the ring from each other. You know, when that happens, that’ll be a good day because hopefully, it’s in a position where we’re doing it in a high-profile scenario for a lot of money.
Randy [Orton] is a guy. I’m on the same side of the fence as Randy right now, but Randy’s a guy that I love watching work. He’s a guy [where] I’ll always stop and watch his matches.
[Voice rises enthusiastically] Christian is just so unbelievably good. I mean, I always knew Christian was really good. Working with Christian, he’s been here for so long and has so much experience, you realize his brain is a super-evolved version of my brain [with] the way he sees matches play out, the way he comes up with things, especially in tag matches and stuff like that. Christian’s a guy who I’ve only had a small sampling of working with. Christian’s a guy I want to spend a lot more time in the ring with.
It’s awesome working with RVD, too. I’m a big ECW fan, so I got to work with him on a loop in California, and he’s cool. He’s friggin’ RVD. He’s got all the RVD spots and he’s ageless and stuff. There’s just countless guys that you want to work with for one reason or the other. I’m looking forward to diving headfirst into all of them.
Check out the complete interview online at TheClassical.org.
– Randy Orton will put the WWE World Heavyweight championship on the line in the Elimination Chamber match at next month’s pay-per-view.
John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus all qualified for the match during the 6-man tag team elimination main event of RAW. During their match against The Shield, the lights went out and The Wyatt Family began attacking John Cena, disqualifying The Shield.
With Orton, Cena, Bryan and Sheamus confirmed for the match, two more spots remain.
– WWE Superstar Christian will be returning to action on Friday’s SmackDown. He tweeted during RAW:
Seems a lot of superstars are making their returns on #Raw lately.. I'm throwing a curve.. See you Friday night #Smackdown #OneMoreMatch
— Christian (@Christian4Peeps) January 28, 2014
– Christian returned Monday night during the Slammy Awards pre-show to present the “THIS IS AWESOME!” Moment of the Year. He also appeared on Raw during the Championship Ascension segment with 19 other former WWE and World Champions. Speaking to Renee Young on the WWE App, the former World Heavyweight Champion addressed his injury and shared some big personal news.
He stated, “It’s been kind of a rough go since I was taken out of action a few months back by The Shield, which I haven’t forgotten yet. I had a pretty bad concussion. I had some recurring concussion symptoms and things like that. A lot of stuff going on in my life. Actually, I don’t talk about my personal life all that too much, I’ll do it this one time only, some breaking news here on the App. It’s a blessing in disguise that I got to be home because I welcomed my first child. Had a baby girl, so I was pretty happy about that. And that’s the last time you’ll ever hear me talk about my personal life.”
To view the segment, click here. He has been out of action since suffering a concussion during a match with Randy Orton on the August 26 edition of Raw.
– There was a production error during Raw as last year’s graphic for the 2012 Slammy Awards was shown.
– Zeb Colter came up empty at the 2013 Slammy Awards as he lost the award for Insult of the Year to Stephanie McMahon. Addressing the snub on Twitter, the 64-year-old remarked, “Regardless of what anyone of you say, I got ROBBED!!! NEXT YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT.”
As noted previously, WWE Hall Of Famers Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, along with Christian and former WWE Diva Eve Torres are all scheduled to return during the Slammy Awards on next week’s live edition of WWE RAW. The following is the awards that they will be presenting:
– Shawn Michaels will present the “Superstar of the Year” award.
– Bret Hart will present the “Match of the Year” award.
– Christian will present the “This Is Awesome Moment of the Year” award.
– Eve Torres will present the “Total Diva of the Year” award.
As noted previously, the Slammy Awards will be hosted by WWE Hall Of Famers Jerry “The King” Lawler and Booker T.
WWE Hall Of Famers Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels are both scheduled to appear on WWE RAW next Monday night as guest presenters during the Slammy Awards. Hart will present the award for “Match of the Year,” while HBK will present the award for “Superstar of the Year.”
Also scheduled to appear during the Slammy Awards on RAW next week is current WWE Superstar Christian and former WWE Diva Eve Torres.
As noted previously, the Slammy Awards next week will be hosted by WWE Hall Of Famers Jerry “The King” Lawler and Booker T.
Infrequently seen WWE Superstar Christian celebrates a milestone birthday Saturday as he turns 40-years-old. The six-time world champion was sidelined in August due to a concussion, which according to this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he has yet to fully recover from. However, he is expected to return to action in early December.
Christian is the sixth wrestler to join “The 40 Club” since the beginning of 2012, boosting the WWE main roster total to twelve. The complete list is as follows:
* Big Show – 41
* Christian – 40
* Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – 41
* Goldust – 44
* Kane – 46
* Mark Henry – 42
* R-Truth – 41
* Tensai – 41
* The Great Khali – 41
* Triple H – 44
* Undertaker – 48
* William Regal – 45
It should be noted that there is no active WWE wrestler in his fifties.
– The reason WWE Superstar Christian has yet to return to action is because he has yet to be cleared by doctors from the concussion he suffered a couple of months ago. The current expectation is that Christian will be back on WWE television by early December.
– As noted previously, WWE’s Linda McMahon was sitting ringside at this past Monday night’s edition of RAW in Uniondale. McMahon wrote on Twitter about her experience, tweeting the following:
Had so much fun sitting ringside tonight for #WWE #RAW at Nassau Coliseum!
— Linda McMahon (@Linda_McMahon) November 26, 2013
[Partial Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter]
As noted recently, WWE pulled Christian off his scheduled appearances at some upcoming live events. Christian did, however, appear at the WWE NXT television tapings on Thursday night in Orlando, Florida.
Christian came to the ring for an unadvertised “Peep Show,” with special guest Alberto Del Rio. The fans in attendance began chanting for a “Five Second Pose” from Christian, who noted that it wouldn’t feel right to do it alone, so he had the crowd join him.
Before Christian actually interviewed Del Rio for the segment, he mentioned that he had visited the doctor earlier that day and was not medically cleared to compete in the ring.
We should have a report from the WWE NXT television tapings up on the website shortly.
Related News: Undertaker’s Rumored Opponent For WrestleMania XXX
-John Cena appeared on Dan LeBatard’s ESPN 2 show today. When asked what was the most shame he ever had in wrestling, Cena referenced losing to The Rock at WrestleMania in Miami. Cena said, “There is a huge back story to the match. Things didn’t go the way he wanted. Maybe in 20 years me and The Rock will get around a table and talk about it.”
-WWE has officially pulled Christian from their weekend live events in Providence, Rhode Island and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Christian was scheduled to work against Alberto Del Rio on both shows, but has been pulled and will be replaced by The Great Khali. Additionally, Christian has been pulled from the upcoming WWE tour of Mexico.
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– Fans interested in attending the December 26th WWE Live Event from Madison Square Garden can currently buy tickets on pre-sale using the code WWESOCIAL.
– Christian is scheduled to return to the ring this week. He and Alberto Del Rio will be at Thursday night’s WWE NXT tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. He’ll return to the road for WWE this weekend for the live events from Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.
He’ll also be wrestling Del Rio at next week’s tour of Mexico, when WWE hits Querétaro, Mexico City and Monterrey.
– Speaking of next week’s live events tour of Mexico, the shows will also mark the long awaited in-ring return of Rey Mysterio.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section of his JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Will Shawn Michaels Wrestle Again?
“It’s the annual ‘HBK to return for one more match’ rumor that generally pops up concerning WrestleMania. I don’t feel that there is any thing to it. Shawn has been adamant that he’s done as a wrestler and I believe him. He’s got nothing left to prove and is staying busy with his Outdoor Network show among other projects.”
Should WWE Have Held A Dark Match Main Event After Battleground?:
“I’m not a big fan of having dark matches after a PPV. Sorry that you did not enjoy your experience. I did not like the ending either.”
Would He Do A 1-Shot Appearance For TNA?
“Not likely. I’m moving on from TV wrestling. I hope TNA does well nonetheless.”
Is Christian A Hall of Famer?
“If I had a vote, he would get mine. Other than that I don’t know. Hope so. Great talent in and out of the ring.”
As always, you can check out JR’s amazing line of BBQ products at WWEShop.com.
The REAL Story Behind JOHN CENA’s Shocking Return & AJ Lee’s Being Sent Home From RAW
-Former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho appeared on the Opie & Anthony radio show on Friday morning. Jericho talked about the usual topics, including his recent program in WWE with Fandango, his band Fozzy, etc. The show will be replayed at 3pm and 8pm on SIRIUS/XM satelitte radio.
-Triple H and Bruno Sammartino will be going to Madison Square Garden in New York today for a show about the history of MSG. Triple H commented about the appearance on his official Twitter account, writing:
“NYC this am with @SammartinoBruno ,going to @TheGarden for a show on the history of the worlds most famous arena.”
-WWE Superstars Edge and Christian reunited on the latest edition of the JBL & Cole show. You can check that out below:
-WWE Superstar Santino Marella’s return on Monday’s live edition of RAW from Toronto, Ontario, Canada was apparently planned well in advance. The idea from WWE was to have Santino return in Toronto to guarantee the babyface character a massive pop from his hometown audience.
-The angle on Monday’s RAW where Christian was beaten up by The Shield and dragged out on stage in front of his former tag-team partner and real-life friend, Edge, was a decision made to garner more heat on Triple H and his “new regime,” as well as to explain Christian’s absence from in-ring competition, as he is currently sidelined with a legitimate concussion.
24WRESTLING.COM – WWE SMACKDOWN SPOILERS
[Credit: PWInsider.com]
Here are some off-air live notes from Monday’s WWE RAW, as reported by the WWE website:
– Santino Marella spoke to WWE.com following his surprise return on RAW from Toronto, where he defeated Antonio Cesaro. During the match, Santino used a Judo throw on Cesaro, which he credited to Yuki Ishikawa – the co-founder of his new BattleArts academy.
– After getting beat down by The Shield on RAW, Christian was checked out by a trainer backstage. Christian’s neck and shoulder were in pain.
– After Goldust was defeated by WWE Champion Randy Orton, he was escorted to the back by WWE referees and was cheered by the live crowd.
The following is a new article from WWE.com:
Christian suffers concussion, headed to Performance Center for further evaluation
WWE Superstar Christian suffered a concussion during a match with WWE Champion Randy Orton on the Aug. 26 edition of Raw, according to WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann.
“We’ve pulled him out of all activity,” said Amann. “His ImPACT scores are normal, but he’s still having some symptoms of fogginess and cloudiness.”
He continued, “We are waiting for symptoms to get better until we perform an in-ring exertional challenge later this week at the Performance Center in Orlando. At that point, if he’s able to get in the ring and exert himself, and work without symptoms, we’ll go ahead and clear him [to compete].”
Stay with WWE.com for more on the condition of the former World Heavyweight Champion.
– JTG returns to action this week on WWE Superstars—his first televised match since the April 5 show—as he takes on Kofi Kingston. Also featured is a match between Christian and Big E Langston. Highlights from both matches are available below.
– The official WWE website has posted photos of Randy Orton’s WWE Championship, including customized Viper plates.
– The official WWE website has issued a poll asking fans whether they miss Cody Rhodes’ mustache—66% say no.
Former WWE head writer Alex Greenfield recently spoke to John Pollock of The Fight Network this week to discuss a number of WWE related topics. Below are highlights from their discussion:
On Vince McMahon wanting to censor Christian’s face on TV with a blue dot: “Right before I started, there was a big show, I think it might have been in Toronto. Christian was just so completely over, and everybody thought he was going to get a push at, I think it was the World Heavyweight Championship at that point. We were on the plane one time shortly after I started, and Vince was just like “God damn, I just don’t like his face. His face really bothers me.” I was like, “He’s ugly, Vince?” “No, it’s not that he’s ugly, it’s just, I don’t know, it’s ratty! You know what we should do? That Kennedy gimmick.” And we’re all like, “What?” Some see-on of the Kennedy fortune I guess got arrested for rape in the 1990s at some point. When the woman who was accusing him was on the stand, all of the networks put a blue dot over her face. Vince was like, “God damn, you know what we should do? We should put a blue dot over his face whenever he comes out.” It was the flight to Sheffield, England, also the flight where the Spirit Squad idea was invented. This was a whole flight of bad ideas.”
On a backstage segment Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels had in 2005: “I always found Shawn to be an entitled prick. He tried this s*** with Angle one night; Angle wasn’t having it, and threw him around like a rag-doll. I remember I was supposed to do some sort of stand-up interview, a backstage deal with Angle afterward, and Shawn comes up like a house of fire, like “You were taking liberties!” And it’s because Shawn was booked to lose a match and started his overselling nonsense, because that’s the kind of thing he always did because he’s a guy who hated losing. I don’t argue with anyone that, when he’s working with friends in exactly the way he wants, yes, he’s one of the best performers of all time. That doesn’t mean you’re one of the best performers of all time, though, if you can’t do it with people who aren’t your friends.”
Check out the complete interview online at TheFightNetwork.com.
WWE Hall of FamerJim Ross has updated the Q&A section of JRsBarBQ.com once again. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Was the fan attacking Randy Orton in South Africa a “work” ?
“It was an overzealous fan who was sent to jail as best that I know.”
Will Kurt Angle ever return to WWE?
“Kurt Angle returning to WWE is largely up to Kurt Angle. I have no idea what his future plans are but his in ring days lessen each day. He’s a warriot but everyone has an expiration date when it comes to in ring work.”
Will Christian will get another run as World Champion:
“Christian is a valued resource within WWE. He’s been doing very well on TV as of late. His future is excellent but to get into specifics that I don’t know would not be honest or fair.”
– WWE has announced four additional matches for tomorrow night’s Raw broadcast through the Raw Five-Point Preview on the company website.
It was announced on last week’s show that WWE Champion John Cena will take on Ryback in a Tables Match, with former WWE Tag Team Champion partners Daniel Bryan and Kane meeting in a singles match. Also announced for the program are Rob Van Dam vs. Fandango, Divas Champion AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn in a non-title match, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian in a non-title match, and Mark Henry and The Usos vs. The Shield.
Tomorrow night’s episode was filmed last Tuesday in Laredo, Texas, at the Laredo Energy Arena.
– The series premiere of Total Divas takes place tonight on E! at 10:00 p.m. Previewing the episode, the official website of WWE states, “Watch The Bellas, The Funkadactyls and Natalya prepare for WrestleMania, as two new Diva hopefuls, Eva Marie and JoJo, arrive, ready to make a name for themselves in WWE.”
Vince McMahon promoted the show on his Twitter account. He wrote, “Total Divas get personal this Sunday night #TotalDivas.”
Meanwhile, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus asked her Twitter followers today whether they are looking forward to the show. She added, “Wishing all the girls good luck + my gal @NatbyNature – represent girls!” Natalya responded, “Thanks!!! Super excited…I’m so grateful to be a part of something that taught me SO much about myself.”
– Lilian Garcia, who rarely appears at house shows in the United States, appeared as the ring announcer at Friday’s and Saturday’s events in Georgia.
– CM Punk conducted a Q&A session on Twitter on Saturday night where he endorsed a TNA wrestler.
An Austin Aries fan asked, “Thoughts on “A Double”, Austin Aries? Or you’re not allowed to talk about the other company?” Punk responded, “I think he’s great!”
Punk also fielded a question on the passing of Matt Osborne, who portrayed Doink the Clown. He wrote, “sucks of course.”
– Throughout 2013 for WWE Magazine, the WWE Divas are paying tribute to the wrestlers of yesteryear by channeling their trademark wardrobe in photo shoots. In the latest installment, Natalya honors former Hart family nemesis Shawn Michaels by donning an outfit akin to the initial “Heartbreak Kid” look. To view the photos, click here.
– The return of Christian on Raw is highlighted in the latest WWE Raw Slam of the Week.
[wweshop]- With the late Paul Bearer considered to be a lock for next year’s WWE Hall of Fame class, there is already speculation that The Undertaker will be inducted along with him. Going back several years, the plan has always been for them to be inducted together. According to f4wonline.com, Jake “The Snake” Roberts is also a potential inductee for next year.
– The latest on Christian’s return is that he’ll be back soon after Extreme Rules. He’s been medically cleared to wrestle for months now, but his return has been delayed due to the creative team not having anything for him.
* PAUL HEYMAN Scouting A Third Person To Manage?! Who Could It Be [>]
(Partial source: F4Wonline.com)
– As seen on Monday’s RAW, Fandango’s original brunette dancer was back and there was no sign or mention of NXT Diva Summer Rae. The plan for now is to use both women as Fandango’s dancing partners. WWE likes the original brunette dancer because she is a trained dancer, but the drawback is that she’s a college student and is currently unable to attend all WWE live events.
– Christian has been medically cleared to wrestle, however WWE is still working on a storyline to bring him back with.
– Independent wrestlers who are currently in the process of undergoing WWE medial exams prior to being signed include Mike Bennett, Samurai del Sol, Shaun Ricker and Sami Callihan.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Christian is ready to return to action and WWE reportedly plans to bring him back to television after WretleMania as a babyface.
– Brock Lesnar is not doing any media appearances to promote WrestleMania 29 this year. Lesnar is not a fan of interviews and did very little promotional work to hype his UFC fights back when he was an MMA fighter.
– Detailing Dynamics recently customized a McLaren MP412C for WrestleMania. Here is a photo:
– Christian has been medically cleared to return to action, according to f4wonline.com. He’s been rumored to be returning for several months now and could be back on WWE television this week.
– NXT star Conor O’Brian has been teasing on Twitter that he might be adding new wrestlers to his Ascension movement. One fan suggested he add NXT stars Corey Graves and Paige and he replied, “Two incredible choices.”
– Evan Bourne tweeted the following about his ongoing recovery:
Another great (hard) week of therapy and training. My foots feeling good after some basic in-ring work. Gonna step it up next week!
— Matt Sydal (@MattSydal) February 16, 2013
Powerful yoga session today. It almost feels like I'm cheating when I take my @onnit shroomtech pre-training! http://t.co/hJyjhtAu
— Matt Sydal (@MattSydal) February 16, 2013