– Despite the nasty bump Cesaro took while diving to the outside during his Best of 7 match with Sheamus, neither man was actually injured during the match. Here’s a look at how close Cesaro came to a very serious injury – and the Swiss Superman’s reaction.

Tope Suicida to the floor takes out @WWESheamus, but @WWECesaro crashes head-first to the mat!! #WWEClash #BestOf7 pic.twitter.com/XE4FE4P7c1

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 26, 2016

https://twitter.com/WWECesaro/status/780290571759919104

– D-Von Dudley confirmed on Twitter that he’s working a new job with WWE. The former tag team champion began working as a backstage agent at last night’s WWE Clash of Champions PPV.

– Here’s the first promo for the 10/30 WWE Hell In a Cell PPV from Boston, which is exclusive to the RAW brand:

– It appears The Dudley Boyz won’t be doing much work together on the indy scene. There’s talk of Devon Dudley coming to work for WWE as an agent, which indicates a singles run for Bubba Ray Dudley on the indys. The two would still run their Team 3D wrestling school together in Kissimmee, Florida.

– Despite Summer Rae indicating on Twitter that she is not suffering from an injury, The Wrestling Observer reports that she is suffering from neck, elbow and back injuries. There’s no word yet on when she will be back but she hasn’t wrestled since August.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The farewell segment on last night’s RAW in Brooklyn with The Dudleyz was not a storyline as the two are legitimately gone from the company.

In recent weeks there were reports going around that Bubba Ray and D-Von had signed new deals with WWE, but word now is that they had just agreed on terms and the deals were never officially executed. Some time in the past seven days, the two sides amicably agreed to part ways.

The segment on RAW involving The Club was not the start of a program between the two teams. It was the Dudley Boyz “doing the honors” on their way out and putting over the tag title contenders.

After Bubba and D-Von returned backstage, they were met with a standing ovation from the entire RAW roster, officials and the McMahons.

The Dudley Boyz will continue running their Team 3D wrestling academy in the Orlando area and could work indy dates for promotions like Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore.

There’s been no confirmation yet on if The Dudley Boyz’ farewell on RAW was part of a storyline or not. Bubba Ray Dudley made this tweet after RAW, sticking to the idea that they are done:

Our work here is done. THANK YOU to @WWE @WWEUniverse and "the boys". Was our pleasure to see all of you again. See ya down the road. #RAW 🤓

— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) August 23, 2016

There’s been a lot of speculation that the farewell on RAW was to set up a new storyline and the interference by The Shining Stars, then Gallows & Anderson, added to that speculation. We also know that Bubba and D-Von both signed one-year contract extensions recently.

On a related note, The Dudleyz were praised by the Barclays Center crowd as they made their way to the back last night. WWE posted this off-air video with what took place during the commercial break:

See what happened as The #DudleyBoys left the #RAW ring, perhaps for the last time. @BubbaRayDudley @TestifyDVon https://t.co/LCcdtJZvjO

— WWE (@WWE) August 23, 2016

– On Monday’s post-SummerSlam edition of RAW, WWE announced that The Dudley Boyz, who returned during the show, will be competing in their first official match as a tag-team in WWE on this Thursday night’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which will be taped on Tuesday night. Make sure to visit SEScoops.com on Tuesday evening for live WWE SmackDown spoiler play-by-play coverage.

– Speaking of The Dudley Boyz, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley are the featured guests on the first installment of this week’s RAW Fallout series, which focuses on backstage footage shot during RAW. You can check out The Dudley Boyz on RAW Fallout below.

• VIDEO: HILARIOUS SNL-Type Sketch Of Brock Lesnar Surprising People As Security!

Bubba Ray Dudley was interviewed by the official WWE website about his surprise appearance in Sunday’s 30-man Royal Rumble match in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

When asked how the appearance came bout, Dudley said, “WWE called me about a month ago and said, ‘Would you like an opportunity in the Royal Rumble?'” And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I showed up here today and they said, ‘We want you to be a surprise.’ I thought that was great, and I hid all day.”

Dudley also spoke about the chances of returning full-time either as a singles competitor or as one-half of the Dudley Boys tag-team alongside his longtime partner, D-Von Dudley.

“If the WWE Universe and the WWE higher-ups want to see us here, then yes, hopefully there is a future,” said Dudley. “I really say it’s up to the fans. By the reaction tonight, I’d say the fans would love to see us back. And hopefully we can do it.”

Check out the complete interview at WWE.com.

• Details On A Major Botched Spot During Sunday’s Royal Rumble Match!

Following his surprise return to WWE at Sunday’s night’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Bubba Ray Dudley spoke to WWE.com about the experience.

Bubba said he and his brother Devon have appeared in several Royal Rumbles, but this was the first time he went in there alone. He said it felt amazing to be back home for the first time in nearly 10 years. He clarified that back home doesn’t just mean wrestling in Philadelphia or the North East United States, but working for WWE. The former TNA Champion said flat out, “This is where I belong.”

At this time, his return at the Rumble was a one-time deal and he is not under contract with the promotion.

For those wondering, his ‘brother’ Devon was not backstage at the event, which is why R-Truth filled in for him with the Dudley Boyz double team moves.

• VIDEO: Girlfriend Catches Cops On Tape Attacking And Tasering UFC Fighter!

It happened again.

All the signs were there, yet somehow WWE didn’t see it coming.

At the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night, the rabid, passionate fans in Philadelphia completely turned on what is generally a very popular, fun, 30-man annual match.

Things started off just fine. The momentum was great coming out of what was an excellent triple-threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Seth Rollins. Everything was in place. One left turn when WWE should have gone right, however, and everything could potentially fall apart.

WWE went left.

The match began like every other year. Out first comes The Miz, followed by R-Truth.

Whatever.

But then the countdown clock hit, the fans counted from ten to one and we had our first surprise of the night. Bubba Ray Dudley, the former “Bully Ray” in TNA Wrestling, was our first unexpected entrant of the match.

The fans were hot in Philly for their former ECW original. Dudley borrowed R-Truth for a few minutes, turning him into his own personal D-Von Dudley replacement, and the fun began.

“Wazzupp?!”

“Truth! …Get the tables!”

“3-D!”

The match was going along smoothly.

Dudley was eliminated a few minutes after popping up in WWE for the first time in ten years.

That was their first big mistake.

Seven entrants later — enter the leader of the “Yes! Movement.” Straight out of the gate it was clear — Philadelphia came to see Daniel Bryan win the match that he wasn’t even entered in last year.

It was going to be an ugly night.

Daniel Bryan was only in the match for a few minutes before being eliminated by Bray Wyatt. He was the eleventh Royal Rumble entrant to be eliminated this year. From there, the rest of the show completely fell apart.

WWE clearly had a game plan. Get Bryan’s elimination out of the way early, give the fans time to get the “boo’ing” out of their system, and then hopefully we’ll go along with our business.

Well, that didn’t exactly happen, did it?

What in the world did WWE expect to happen? Did they learn nothing from 2014?

Apparently not.

I’m assuming WWE was under the impression that once Bryan was out of the way, they would get behind Roman Reigns, and if they didn’t, when The Rock came out to endorse him and help him win, surely at that point the sheer excitement of seeing a big movie star for a few minutes would make them forget that they’re favorite wrestler had been screwed for the second year in a row.

Right?

Wrong!

Of course that wasn’t going to work. There were many other options WWE could have tried that would have saved the show from completely falling apart. For those who missed it, from the point Bryan was eliminated, throughout the rest of the entire match, except a couple of pops here and there, the rabid Philly fans boo’d the living crap out of everything that was happening.

Bryan was only cleared to return to the ring a few weeks ago. Knowing the Royal Rumble was coming up, if you’re not planning on having him win the match, why even have him return? Why not wait until after the Royal Rumble to bring him back?

Well, they had already brought him back, so that’s out. Knowing he’s back, however, why not save him for the final two? If you’re hell bent on having Reigns win the match, at least you have the fans turn on him at the very end of the match. They boo the finish. It sucks, but it’s better than 20-30 minutes of guttural boo’ing and madness.

Going forward, Roman Reigns is expected to be “the guy.” The next John Cena, if you will. If this is his launching off point, they better have their writers quickly figure out a way to turn him heel and capitalize on momentum that is already in place, because if they think that was a one time thing, they’ve got a rude awakening coming in their future.

Fans don’t forget. Reigns’ push had already peaked and started going down several weeks ago. His promo work isn’t there yet. His matches, while good, are not so good that fans will overlook the rest of the missing pieces of the puzzle. He’s simply not going to work as the top babyface superstar in the company. It’s not going to happen. Not yet, at least.

Regardless, another Royal Rumble is in the books. Another year of fans completely turning on WWE and crapping on their choice for a top guy, or a top match for WrestleMania, and they let it be known. Now, all that’s left is to wait and see if WWE smartens up and finds a way to give them what they want.

WrestleMania 31 — Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan.

Personally speaking, I don’t like the sound of that. Another triple-threat main event for the title? I’m not into it. But it’s pretty clear that the fans are choosing Daniel Bryan as their guy. Why WWE is so dead set on fighting it is completely beyond me.

But hey, I guess there’s always next year!

What are your thoughts on this year’s Royal Rumble and the fan reaction to the match? Let us know by posting your feedback below. You can also add me on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or follow me on Twitter @MBoone420.

Veteran pro wrestling journalist recently caught up with D-Von Dudley for an exclusive WWE.com interview. Below is an excerpt from the interview.

APTER: Paul Heyman was, of course, the extreme ringleader. He riled the troops up and got everyone in an extreme mood, didn’t he?

DUDLEY: He sure did. I met Paul after I had a tryout for ECW. He was at the Pelham, N.Y., production studio they used for editing and doing the commentary. I got in there, Paul was sitting down, and we wound up talking and hitting it off great. I will admit right now that I am a Paul Heyman guy! When a lot of us wrestlers back in those days were looking for work and were not looked at by WWE or WCW, Paul was the one who gave us a shot. He believed in us. He saw things in us that we didn’t know we had and it brought out the best in us. Paul knew how to get certain things out of us to make us better. I used to call him Dr. Frankenstein because he created so much talent that came out of ECW that no one else would have been able to create.

APTER: What do you think of the current Paul Heyman?

DUDLEY: It’s the real Paul Heyman! He does things that make you hate him, but a minute later you want to marry him and love him. [laughs]

APTER: Who do you consider extreme on the current WWE roster?

DUDLEY: Daniel Bryan, for one. Most people wouldn’t put him in that category because he is such a technician in the ring, but I can see him getting down and dirty. Sheamus could be in that category as well. Put Randy Orton there, too. We beat the hell out of each other many times. I know a lot of people cheer him and a lot boo him, but I would put John Cena on that list as well. I had many brawls with him when I was in WWE and he was working himself up in the ranks.

APTER: So much of your career was as a tag team competitor with your partner, Bubba Ray. What is your current view of the WWE tag team scene?

DUDLEY: I think it’s great that WWE is strengthening the tag team division. If given the opportunity to go back to WWE, I would love to have a partner to take on The Usos, Cody Rhodes & Goldust, Ryback & Curtis Axel, The Shield, The Wyatts.

Check out the complete interview at WWE.com.