According to reports, those who spoke with CM Punk at the UFC 170 show in Laa Vegas last weekend noted that Punk seemed very non-committal about his WWE status. Apparently Punk came off as someone who was treating WWE like it is simply something in his past.
At Monday’s RAW in Green Bay, Wisconsin, there was said to be no discussion among talent that anyone would be seeing Punk back at RAW in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois next Monday night.
Within WWE, there are no expectations currently of Punk appearing at RAW on Monday, and the company is said to be concerned over how the crowd will react as a result.
– The curiosity over CM Punk possibly being at Monday’s WWE RAW show in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois has caused ticket prices on the resale market to go up. Originally, the ticket prices were somewhat weak, as you couldn’t get more than face value for them, however they are now up $20 across the board. There were 387 tickets on the secondary market.
– The Starrcade ’85 event on the WWE Network is listed as TV-MA due to excessive blood in several of the matches. The following two Starrcade events are listed as TV-14.
WWE Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper has switched from campaigning for a match at WrestleMania XXX to now pitching ideas for a “Piper’s Pit” segment on the show. He tweeted the following recently, including an update on his podcast.
Just saw Hulks Interview on Raw last night! Hogan can host WMXXX, I'll just host the Piper's Pit with Hogan at WMXXX
– WWEShop.com is now selling new Daniel Bryan YES! Movement hoodies, along with the t-shirts that were released last week.
WWE.com has published a video of Hulk Hogan arriving at RAW last night, meeting with Jerry Lawler, Nikki Bella and Sheamus backstage and making his entrance into the main arena from the Gorilla position.
– WWE has officially pulled CM Punk from his scheduled appearance at the upcoming Louisville Wizard Comic Con event. This was Punk’s final scheduled appearance from with the company.
Punk was removed from the Wizard World website a few weeks ago, but Comic Con officials had not addressed whether he would still be appearing.
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
– Brodus Clay, who has been training at the WWE Performance Center for the past week, worked a match at Saturday night’s NXT live event in Jacksonville, Florida. Clay lost a singles match to Angelo Dawkins.
– UFC president Dana White once again addressed the internet rumors regarding the possibility of CM Punk fighting a mixed-martial-arts fight. White spoke with TMZ about Punk, who as previously reported sat next to him at the UFC 170 pay-per-view on Saturday night. White said, “He is a friend and a fan. We have literally never talked about wrestling or fighting or anything else work related since I’ve known him.”
– The First Second Books website has a new article up that takes an in-depth look at the new Andre The Giant graphic novel biography. The article includes photos of the cover of the book, some of the artwork inside it and more. You can check out their coverage at FirstSecondBooks.com.
– As previously reported, CM Punk was in attendance at the UFC 170 pay-per-view in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night. Punk sat cage-side with UFC president Dana White, however he was never acknowledged during the broadcast.
Also in attendance at the UFC show on Saturday was WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Austin, who was acknowledged during the broadcast, sat next to top UFC contender Urijah Faber.
As noted earlier this week, Austin scheduled an interview with UFC Hall Of Famer Stephan Bonnar while he was in town for a future edition of his “Steve Austin Show” podcast.
– At Thursday’s WWE investor conference call, Vince McMahon made his first public comments about CM Punk’s status with the company, noting that Punk is on sabbatical.
According to sources in WWE, the general feeling backstage that Vince McMahon will eventually be able to talk CM Punk into returning.
While it’s unlikely that Punk will be back on television by the March 3rd episode of WWE RAW from Chicago, it’s very possible that Punk will attend the show and meet with Vince.
– Rener Gracie posted the following photo on Instagram of himself and CM Punk hanging out after last night’s UFC 170 pay-per-view from Las Vegas:
CM Punk attended Saturday night’s UFC 170 pay-per-view from Las Vegas, Nevada and was seen cage side with UFC President Dana White. Steve Austin was also in attendance.
Posted February 23rd, 2014 in News, WWE. Tagged: CM Punk.
The following are highlights of a new Digital Spy interview with Big E.:
On his upcoming match at the Elimination Chamber PPV: “The Intercontinental Championship means a lot to me. I spent years training to get to this spot and it’s right before WrestleMania. I have every intention to walk into WrestleMania as Intercontinental Champion. I have a lot of respect for Jack Swagger and what he does and for being the former world champion, but I’ve trained too long far too hard to get to this point and just give it up.”
On who he’d like to work with at WrestleMania XXX: “I work with a lot of challengers. I guess if I had to pick a dream opponent – he’s not even really with the company right now – but I was such a massive Goldberg fan as a kid. It would really be a dream if he could somehow come back. To have a title match with Goldberg would be a dream fulfilled.”
On Hulk Hogan’s WWE return: “I think it’d be great for us. Hulk Hogan still has that aura, even though he’s obviously older now, and probably not quite in his prime. But I think he’d be great for us because I know people in their 40s and 50s who remember watching Hulk Hogan as a kid.
“People who may not watch wrestling now, if they heard Hulk Hogan was coming back they might tune in. That buzz that he creates, the buzz of Hulk Hogan, I think would be good for business, so I’d definitely look forward to it.”
On if he’d be surprised if CM Punk returned before WrestleMania XXX: “I think it’d be great. Obviously I’m not really aware of what’s going, but I think there’s a lot of people who desperately want him back, a lot of fans who would be excited to have him back.
“If that were to be the case, if he did return, I think there’d be a huge buzz around it. I think it would definitely be a positive thing. Like I said, I’m not sure particularly what’s going on, if there’s a chance or even a possibility or if it’s imminent. But I know if he did return there’d be a lot of buzz and a lot of happy fans as well.”
The following are highlights of a recent Phoenix New Times interview with WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston:
On the video where CM Punk calls him his “road wife”: “Yeah, we were each other’s road wives. With Punk, I consider him to be like a brother to me. He’s one of the guys who took me under his wing when I first came. So we’ve been able to maintain a good relationship. And there are very few people in the business that you can call true friends, so I consider Punk to be that and more. So yes, “road wife” is the term we used to sum that all up.”
On his take on the WWE Network: “Well, it’s definitely a huge, huge deal for us. We’ve been trying to get this network off the ground, it’s finally going to happen. There’s going to be a lot of content, I can tell you that straight up — high flyers, the Attitude Era and just the history of the business and the future. They have so many ideas and so many different concepts that I think a lot of people are going to look forward to getting to see — just a different side of WWE superstars and the WWE in general and how it’s presented. And it’s really inexpensive, like $10 a month, and you get so much material, including pay-per-views, for that amount.”
Due to TNA’s live event crowds being so small, the company reportedly has to write checks to the arena to settle out. In most cases, when wrestling shows run arenas, they simply give the building a cut of the profits generated from the shows. In TNA’s case, because they don’t generate enough income off of their shows, they end up writing a check to the building.
A good example is the TNA live event at Temple University last December. Apparently TNA had to write a $15,000 check to the building because the money they took in that night wasn’t enough to cover what they owed to the arena for renting the place.
Here are some highlights from Thursday’s WWE investor conference call:
– Vince McMahon was asked about CM Punk’s status with the company. He replied,
“CM Punk is taking a sabbatical. Let’s just put it that way.”
– Overall, Vince said that their results were right around expectation (down due to “investment in the future”).
– TV Viewership was up 17% to 14.2 million viewers a week. Total Divas has helped drive up TV revenue. Live events increased 2 percent in 2014.
– Due to expenses related to the WWE Network and a loss of revenue from PPV cannibalization, 2014 could see lower earnings than 2013. They expect a net loss of $12-15 million dollars in the first quarter of this year. They will have a better idea of this year’s outlook at the first quarter conference call in May.
– WWE has new TV deals in the UK and Thailand and the deals are 3-7 times more than they were in the past. The UK and Thailand deals are now their number one and three deals outside of the US.
– WWE has the second-highest selling line of action figure brands in the country.
– When asked why WWE is still in the movie business, Vince said that their third business model for movies is finally making them money. They are a content company and they are still optimistic about the earnings potential of WWE Studios. The WWE Studios division did much better in Q4 2013 and they plan to “stay the course” with the studio this year. They mentioned the upcoming Scooby-Doo and Flintstones animated movies.
– Episode #2 of WWE’s “30 Years of WrestleMania” podcast is now online, with Renee Young interviewing WWE Hall of Famer Edge. Listen now at PodcastOne.com.
– WWE NXT Women’s Champion Paige and #1 contender Emma traded shots on Twitter during Emma’s appearance with Santino Marella Monday night:
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On tonight’s RAW: “WWE really needs to hit a home run on RAW this week to build some much needed momentum for the Elimination Chamber. During a three hour RAW broadcast there is SO much info disseminated that it’s challenging for any viewer of the three hour broadcast to leave the show at signoff and remember every thing that has been thrown at them. 15 commercial breaks doesn’t help matters but that’s simply the way it is and is not WWE’s fault.”
On CM Punk: “Many have asked but I’m unaware of any new, @CMPunk news. I’m still hopeful that a mutually agreed upon resolution can be worked out sooner than later. I’d love to see Punk steal the show at WM30 and then chill for as long as it takes to get him back on WWE TV in a win-win scenario. If Punk wanted to take off until WM31, simply plan for it. The guy is too talented, has had a tremendous amount of TV time, etc invested in him and the roster is too thin to not see Punk back at some point.”
“I know if I ever do a show in Chicago I’d LOVE for CM Punk to be my special guest/MC and grill me with questions. Maybe we could take in a Cubs game and eat at Lisa Varon’s Squared Circle eatery while in the Windy City.”
“As I’ve said Punk is a favorite of mine and I’d have loved to see him back in the day as one of Cowboy Bill Watts bookers.”
On the WWE Network: “Although I am no longer affiliated with WWE, I can’t logically understand why any wrestling fan, unless they simply can’t afford the approximate 35 cents a day, wouldn’t want to try the WWE Network for 6 months at a cost of $9.99 per month. I’m ordering it w/o question. I don’t have copies of all the WCW PPV’s that I did that I’d like to go back and listen to again.”
On Gerald Brisco scouting for talent: “Gerald Brisco is in Columbus, Ohio scouting for WWE at a major amateur wrestling event. Gerald and I are attending the NCAA Division 1 Nationals in OKC in March….GB as a WWE scout and me as a fan. BTW it was in Columbus, Ohio that I was ‘grilled as in BBQ’ed’ by Kane AND had a cinder block busted over my head in another losing effort to Eric Bischoff which left me defeated and bloody. In other words, a normal in ring outing for Ol J.R. :)”
On E:60 at the WWE Performance Center: “The ESPN E60 piece that is going to air soon re: the WWE Performance Center should really be good. ESPN had virtual, unlimited access on multiple days of shooting at NXT. ESPN has hours of footage to utilize.”
Former WWE Superstar CM Punk was spotted at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport last week [literally] picking up his girlfriend, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee.
The following are highlights from a recent Jim Ross website Q&A update:
On rumors that Hulk Hogan failed to pass a WWE medical: “I’m not a big, rumor guy. Surprised that you are. I’ve endorsed Hogan to be a part of WM30 for months and never once have I said that he needed to wrestle to be an asset to the event. Hogan has horrific back problems so why put him in any risk unnecessarily? That wold make no sense.”
On why we don’t see Undertaker much outside of WWE: “He likes his privacy and is serious about protecting the overall mystique of his TV persona.”
On who should induct Ultimate Warrior and rumors of him wrestling Ryback at WrestleMania XXX: “I have no idea who will induct Warrior at the WWE HOF and haven’t thought that much about it. I also have no idea why so many think that Warrior is wrestling Ryback at WM30? Has that match been officially announced or is it more speculation?”
On the idea that Bad News Barrett’s bad news at RAW in Chicago should be that CM Punk isn’t there: “That’s been suggested by others. It might work. Or Punk might be back.”
Check out more from JR’s website Q&A update at JRsBarBQ.com.
WWE Superstar John Cena recently spoke to Zap2It to promote his new BodyChange fitness program. The following are highlights from the interview.
On Daniel Bryan’s popularity: “Predicting the next WWE Superstar is like predicting the crooked stock market at the turn of the 19th century. You just can’t. That’s what’s beautiful about the WWE audience, that’s why I love it so much. It changes everyday, every arena, every city. I don’t know who will be next but I will keep trying to put people front and center so the WWE Universe gets a good look at people.”
On the CM Punk situation: “Don’t even know. There’s one dude who knows all the answers to that and that’s him.”
Apparently there remains some mixed feelings within WWE right now regarding the CM Punk situation. Almost no one in the company agrees with Punk’s decision to walk out 30 minutes before a live television taping.
Many have sympathy for some of the concerns Punk had, but some argue that he was legitimately the number two guy in the company for a while. Additionally, it’s acknowledged that Punk was very popular with the fans, but the belief by some is that he was not a major ticket seller for live events, and rarely had a big impact on the company’s pay-per-view business. At the same time, it is understood that Punk was the number two merchandise seller for the company.
WWE has begun looking ahead to the March 3rd RAW show in Chicago, Illinois, the hometown of CM Punk. There is said to be a considerable amount of concern within the company as to how the crowd will react at that show. With both Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker returning to RAW the week prior in Green Bay, there is some talk of bringing those two into the Chicago RAW as well, as a way to combat the Punk chants.
Despite the concern, there is said to be less than originally feared after Monday’s show in Los Angeles. Since the chants haven’t been too passionate or long-lasting, especially at the L.A. show, WWE feels that it may not be a situation that gets out of control like the recent Daniel Bryan hijacking fiasco.
Regarding the L.A. RAW, WWE feared fans would hijack the Randy Orton vs. John Cena main event, so they had Daniel Bryan go out twice. The idea was to bring Bryan out early, and again before the main event, as to let the fans get the chanting out of their system before the main event began.
As previously reported, WWE has launched their first PodcastOne.com podcast with host Renee Young interviewing Shawn Michaels about WrestleMania. Company officials are apparently looking at expanding into more podcasts following the success of Steve Austin and Chris Jericho’s podcasts.
Additionally, following the success of Mick Foley’s live comedy touring act, WWE is looking at possibly doing some touring talk shows in comedy clubs.
The following are highlights of a new Busted Open Radio interview with Jim Ross:
On MVP in TNA and if he’ll have an impact on the company: “You know, well I’d like to think so. I like the guy. I think he’s has around a million with life experiences cause his path to get into the business is certainly…unique. To say the least. I always thought he was a real sharp guy. He had a great head for the business. So if he’s given the opportunity to take over a leadership role or if he has the mindset to become a leader in that locker room; then he should be able to help him. He’s a good man. I’m glad that he’s back in the loop and I think that he has a lot to offer. He’s just a really cool guy. And I’m happy for him.”
On backstage politics in wrestling bleeding into storylines: “Well it’s a unique phase without question. I’m not–I don’t know if I like it or I don’t like it. I like it if it leads to outstanding in-ring content. Just the face to face–or talk or whatever; I’m not so sure how much I like it. And not speaking of anything specifically. I’m an old school guy, for better or for worse. I still believe that personal issues that make common sense are very marketable. I still believe that there is and are a good versus evil. I know there’s lines of grey and that line allegedly between good and evil becoming more and more thin; and all that good stuff. But I mean I have people; there’s people in my life that I encounter that I like a whole lot less than others. So they’d be on my heel list. So I still think we are creatures of habit and our human instincts are gonna be what they are. We’re gonna like some people and we’re not going to like some people. But I think that wrestling should have villains and heroes for various reasons. And I’m not a big based guy. I think you gotta be either black or white. I’m not big on earth tones. I think you gotta have a divinity. And a lot of the guys, unfortunately because they just don’t have the experience, nor have they had, they don’t have–some of them don’t have the instincts. A lot of guys actually don’t know how to be a heel or a villain. And hopefully that is something that will continue to be reinforced and taught as time goes on.”
On the CM Punk situation: “Well, I had that happen. Stone Cold did that and went home. And he regrets it to this very day. Because he just–you never get into a situation where–there’s a couple of basics things here. One is that you don’t want to get into a situation where it becomes easy for you as a professional or in private life to start breaking commitments. And a contract is a commitment. I think that the other thing is that you never get–you never save enough money nor can you live a starkness existence. The way you got all the money you’re ever gonna need and you live good money laying behind. I personally don’t believe in that. And I think a lot of the wrestlers over the years would say the same thing. So I’m not a fan of anybody in any walk of life exiting before it’s time. But I also don’t know all the information. This may have been a situation where Punk needed to take his leave and recharge his batteries a long time ago. I don’t know. I haven’t been there. And I have observed his privacy by not reaching out to him in several weeks.”
“We used to text every now and then just to shoot the breeze and see how he’s doing. And mostly just friendly stuff. It wasn’t too deep. So I haven’t talked to him. But I know what it’s like to see burn out and hit the wall. And it’s a tough business. The one night stands, the taxing on your body, the mental strain of–especially when you’re a perfectionist like he is. Where you really analyze creative. And creative has a hard time keeping guys like Punk happy because he’s so demanding and he’s got such a great head for creative in a large sense. Austin did too. Austin could tell you what he didn’t like. He wasn’t great at telling you what the solution is but he had such amazing instincts that he could tell you what was going to work or what wasn’t going to work. But he didn’t know exactly why. It was a feel thing, which is a great gift quite frankly. So I wish the guy had not hit the wall. But I can understand it. I can understand hitting the wall. I just felt like the timing of it was–is there ever a good time for these type of circumstances? Probably not but I’m not a big fan of leaving your post so to speak. Especially when his contract was up–I guess it’s gonna be up in July.”
“So he was coming down the home stretch anyway. So if it were me, being the overt capitalist that I am, I wanna stick around and make the money. Now the other thing that we don’t know and I certainly don’t know; I don’t know about you guys but we don’t know physically how he is. He obviously mentally is burnt out. He’s done. But I don’t know physically how bad he’s hurting. And if he’s hurting badly enough that he’s not safe in the ring or he’s jeopardizing his health; then most definitely he should not be in the ring. But we don’t know all that data so all I know is he’s one of my favorite guys in the business, outside of the ring or inside of the ring. I wish things had worked out differently but look. He spent his whole life to get here and to get in that main event level area and make big money. He did that. He has a lot to be proud of and he’s had a lot of accomplishments. Live the dream. I don’t think the dream is over. I just think that he needs to step away for a while. And I don’t know what a while is. He might not be back for a year. He might not be back for six months. I would give him as long as he needed. Because there’s no sense in coming back when you’re half-ass ready. Come back when you’re ready to roll. But I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him. But we may have seen the last of him this year.”
On fans hijacking shows: Well, I think overall it’s good. I think there’s the defiant, vocal group that likes to express themselves. I have no issue with the fans chanting things that make sense. Indiscriminate or ill-timed chants, just off the wall BS, just to draw attention to yourself; I’m not a big fan of that. But you know you pay your money, you come in–the tickets aren’t exactly cheap. So you come in, you pay your money, you sit down and then you can–it’s like you go to a football game or–hey I’ve had, I’ve been pissed off at Oklahoma football fans for booing the team. At home. I don’t like it. But you know they paid their money and they came so they express themselves.”
“I do think that there are some of these chants that are individually, ego-centrically based. I don’t think it’s a matter of just executing one’s freedom of speech. I think it’s to draw attention to themselves. And then some of these people sitting around and chanting; I don’t think they even know why they’re chanting. It’s kind of just the fun, cool thing to do. So I don’t think that the relationship is horrific or anything but I do the fans in our society are more outspoken. And more defiant. I have season tickets to the OU women’s basketball games with Jack Nicholson type seats. You know front row. I’m near the pep squad and the cheerleaders and all that. And what some of the pep team; the men and women, they’re called rough necks. What they chant to the opposing women’s basketball teams sometimes can be uncomfortable. It’s like you’ve got to be kidding me. They’re girls. I’m a grandfather. I’ve got two granddaughters.”
“So I think it’s partially a societal thing. I don’t think it’s a wrestling deal. But I do think that wrestling fans have a little bit more knowledge. They’re a little braver. They’re a little bit more defiant. But that kind of goes along with society so I don’t look at it as a huge deal. The bottom line is always this: If you give the fans what you perceive that they want; more often than not most of them will be happy. But we live in a society guys where today, you’re never going to make all the fans happy. Back in the day, you didn’t know if you were making them happy or not cause it was all based on ticket sales for live events. Now there’s a million ways to measure it and who’s trending and all this other stuff. It’s just a whole different ball game. So I don’t look at it as a wrestling issue as much as society has a say. And it’s just the way it is. So it’s not an issue to me. I don’t like the hijacking–cool term of, we‘re ‘hijacking’ a show. We’re taking it over. And by god you’re gonna book what we want or you’re gonna hear from us. Really? Well ok. Where does it stop? Where does it go? We could talk about that a lot. It’s interesting.”
– UFC veterans Urijah Faber, Kenny Florian and Brian Stann recently weighed in on the possibility of former WWE Superstar CM Punk fighting in the UFC. You can check out their comments on the subject at MMAJunkie.com.
– A fan recently asked former WCW star Bill Goldberg if he would ever consider coming out of retirement to wrestle again. Goldberg responded with the following:
Betty White Guest Star Betty White came out with The Big Show to kick of this weeks WWE Monday Night Raw live from Los Angelas. She said a few words and that she’s there to “Kick some Ass!” The Authority come out to start an in-ring segment. Later we see Betty White in a few segments with the New Age Outlaws. They attempt to give Betty White some spiked tea, however Betty turns the tables on Billy Gun and he ends up with the drink. How can I say something bad about Betty White? She’s a legend. It was exactly what you would have expected. The kick some ass line was charming. It was fine. YES!
Even Daniel Bryan couldn’t save this boring segment. NO!
The Authority – Randy Orton – Daniel Bryan Another in-ring segment with The Authority followed by Randy Orton. Orton now wants to be on Kelly and Michael and truly be The Face of the WWE. Daniel Bryan comes out and reminds Randy Orton that he beat him clean last week. Bryan wasn’t happy he was laid out by Kane and Orton after the match, and wanted Kane on Raw. The Authority said that Kane was suspended, and that wouldn’t be possible. I can’t take these segments with Randy Orton and The Authority. Even my beloved Daniel Bryan couldn’t save it in my eyes. Perhaps Bryan goes over at the Elimination Chamber and becomes WWE World Heavyweight Champion. All I know is they need to stop these segments this way, I mean at least mix it up, have Bryan in a fiery rage from his “NO NO NO” days call out The Authority. All these segments are the same, and boring. NO!
Rey Mysterio, Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. The Wyatt Family Amazing match from the Former Tag Team Champions, and Rey and the Wyatts. Bodies flying all over made for a great visual, and the quick hook of the Sister Abigail onto Rey Mysterio was awesome. Bray cuts a promo on The Shield for their upcoming match at The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View. Probably the match I’m looking forward to the most. Check out the match below YES!
Santino Marella (with Emma) vs. Fandango (with Summer Rae) Another bizarre use of Emma here, backing a losing Santino. Emma did her dance during their entrance to Santino’s Music. I mean I understand Santino is wrestling, but isn’t her dancing gimmick attached to her music from NXT? The debut and usage of Emma is quite confusing to me. NO!
Sheamus and Cesaro getting it on in a great tag match on Raw YES!
Sheamus & Christian vs. The Real Americans Antonio Cesaro is now just called “Cesaro”. Like Prince, or Madonna or Sting, if that means they are going to push him more you can call him Mud for all I care. Cesaro was great in this match, as was Sheamus and a very beat up Christian. Our friend The Solomonster has said on his podcast that his European Uppercut should be his finisher and I agree, after he hit the move in this match, it almost seemed the crowd expected the three count. As did I, it’s a great move. Good Match! YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk recently shared his thoughts on CM Punk’s WWE departure in a new interview with Fighting Spirit Magazine. The following is an excerpt:
“It’s a smart move on [Punk’s] part. If you look at what Vince has done, if someone has drawn him some money they will be on the card at WrestleMania, no matter what has happened between them. CM Punk will be back, because if he isn’t, Vince leaves money on the table.”
“If being in the last match at WrestleMania is his wish, then he’s going to try and make it come true, the only way possible. He’s put the ball back in Vince’s court, and that’s difficult because Vince has the only court. This is what made it so good about having several places to go [in years past].”
“Do you think CM Punk worries about the dollars? For all the great ones, it’s not about that. They might tell you that they’re in it for the money, but they’re not – they’re in it for the performance, and so is CM Punk.”