– Last night at Fastlane, Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan in the main event to retain his No. 1 contender status for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship heading into WrestleMania 31. With the main event now out of the picture for Bryan, what will he be doing at the show.
According to PWInsider.com, the names being talked about most for his opponents are Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus.
– According to the WWE Network schedule, Alex Riley is slated to host tonight’s Raw Pre-show with Corey Graves and Scott Stanford. David Otunga had been serving as an analyst in place of Riley in recent weeks.
– Click here to check out WWE.com’s Five-Point Preview for tonight’s RAW.
– Lilian Garcia was trending on Twitter last night due to a few botches she made during Fastlane. When Tyson Kidd and Cesaro defeated The Usos to capture the WWE Tag Team championships, she announced, “Here are your winners and still new WWE Tag Team Champions…” Later, she introduced WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella as the “WWE Women’s Champion.”
– Jim Ross and Chris Jericho tweeted the following about the Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns Fastlane main event:
WWE Fastlane was held in Memphis last night at the FedEx Forum. It was a fitting venue, seeing as they pretty much mailed it in for most of the night. After a night of action, we now have a pretty clear idea of what WrestleMania will look like in five weeks. Here are the pros and cons from last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.
Pros
After a night of non-finishes and botched endings, the main event between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns was an absolute treat. These two guys started off a bit slow, but once they got going, they really gelled well. Bryan’s wrestling style went so well with the brawling style of Reigns, and it was nice to see both guys getting support from the crowd.
A few of the highlights included Reigns countering Bryan’s dive to the floor into an overhead belly to belly suplex, Bryan countering the spear into a beautiful small package, and also Reigns turning a potential hurricanrana into a brutal powerbomb from the top rope. These two also employed some solid in-ring psychology due to Reigns selling Bryan’s kick to the liver as he tried to hit a Superman punch. Overall, it was an exciting match, both guys looked great, it ended clean, and it’s always nice to see a main event end in a handshake.
The tag team match was a close second for match of the night. These two teams have so much chemistry and it’s really a pleasure to watch them do their thing. Cesaro’s half crab Cesaro swing was cool, as was the combination of Cesaro’s suplex from the apron into a springboard from Kidd.
The Usos looked good as well, teaming up for a double team Samoan drop that I don’t recall seeing them bust out before. In the end, new champions were crowned after Kidd picked up the victory with a swinging fisherman suplex. After their victory, it was nice to find out that they are “still the new WWE Tag Team Champions” (perhaps suggesting the outcome was changed last minute, as the odds shifted after the “smart money” was in).
The Bray Wyatt segment was enjoyable. He had the crowd going nuts in anticipation of the Phenom, only to shatter their dreams by popping out of the coffin. Wyatt called himself “the new face of fear,” and said: “At WrestleMania, I will claim the soul of the Undertaker.” This feud should be entertaining, but it would have been nice to see Wyatt play up the fact that fans weren’t getting ‘Taker, as the company needs more dislikable heels right now.
I’m not totally sure how I feel about the Sting and Triple H segment, so I’ll go ahead and put it in the pros section. Triple H of course continued to bury a long dead company, stating: “My legacy is putting your legacy out of business.” He also threatened Sting with the Benoit treatment, saying he would wipe him from the history books if he didn’t cooperate. It was cool to see Sting use his signature black bat though, and Hunter was very intense throughout the segment. Overall, it could have been better, but it was a decent setup for their match at WrestleMania.
Finally, the Rusev and John Cena match was far from perfect, but it worked out well. There was some hard-hitting action throughout, including a big spinning side slam from Rusev. The action was slow-paced and methodical, but it was entertaining for the most part. It of course ended in another non-clean finish, but it worked well in this case. I have to say, seeing Cena stagger out of the arena was pretty satisfying, even though it means he will definitely get redemption at WrestleMania.
Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan at the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view on Sunday night at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.
With the victory, Reigns becomes the number one contender and as far as things stand right now, will be the one to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view, which takes place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
WWE Fastlane went off the air with Daniel Bryan shaking Reigns hand and saying, “You better kick his ass at WrestleMania.”
Make sure to join us here for WrestleMania 31 live results coverage on Sunday, March 29th.
The Road to WrestleMania will become a lot clearer after Sunday’s pay-per-view. Fastlane is available for free to all new WWE Network customers, and even those who previously cancelled their account and re-subscribed, so there’s really no reason to miss out on the action. Here is how I expect the event to play out.
Goldust vs. Stardust
Man, they really should have saved this one for WrestleMania, but I guess there is only room on the card for one tag team breakup storyline, and it looks like that’s going to be Miz and Mizdow. Expect these guys to put on one hell of a match, as they have been lobbying for it for what seems like years. After a solid ten-minute contest with a number of near-falls, Stardust will pick up the win with Cross Rhodes.
Result: Stardust via pinfall
Rusev (United States Champion) vs. John Cena
These guys have done a pretty good of building up this match over the past few weeks, and it genuinely seems like Cena is interested in winning the United States Championship, which is always a plus. It’s almost guaranteed that this feud is going to continue into WrestleMania, so I expect Rusev to pick up the win, but certainly not clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHA5g_T227k
Lana will become involved at some point, possibly distracting Cena long enough for Rusev to pounce and pick up the win via the deadliest finisher in all of wrestling (the distraction roll-up), or by using the title as a weapon to knock out Cena while the Ravishing Russian distracts the referee. This will set up a rematch at WrestleMania where Cena will most likely go over.
Result: Rusev via pinfall
Nikki Bella (Divas Champion) vs. Paige
Paige is the most popular diva in the entire company by far right now. They are going to want her to capture the title at WrestleMania. Nikki wins with help from her sister before dropping the title to Paige next month.
Below are the latest online betting odds for Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view. Keep in mind that the numbers, which are from the 5Dimes website, don’t mean much until about 90 minutes or so before the beginning of the show, where at that point they have approximately a 95-percent accuracy rate.
Earlier this week, Samoa Joe took to Twitter to deliver a shocking announcement. After nearly ten years as one of the pillars of TNA, Joe announced he would be parting ways with the company, effective immediately. Much like an RKO, the announcement came from out of nowhere.
Since the announcement, there has been speculation that Joe could try his luck with the WWE, as former superstars such as Steve Austin and Mick Foley have publicly stated they believe the company should sign him. However, what role would Samoa Joe play if he and the WWE reach an agreement? Here are five worthwhile feuds for Samoa Joe if the two sides can reach an agreement.
5. Finn Balor
If Samoa Joe does sign with the WWE, he will have to do his best Drake impersonation and start from the bottom, with NXT being the starting point. Finn Balor is currently the number one contender for the NXT Championship, and should be in NXT for at least the rest of the year. With Joe’s agile, submission-based style, and Balor’s high-flying, strong style, the two could mesh well together and provide a nice juxtaposition of styles in an entertaining program.
The latest weekly sit-down interview between Michael Cole and Triple H is now available.
On this week’s interview, the focus was this Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view event. Cole asked HHH about some of the top matches. Regarding the Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns main event, “The Game” pointed out that the leader of the “Yes! Movement” might be the best wrestler in WWE right now, however he questioned if that will be enough to overcome Reigns’ brute strength and power.
Regarding Sting, HHH said he first wanted to apologize to Ric Flair for pushing him down on Monday’s RAW. He blamed it on passion and Sting and said what Sting is trying to do will only get done over Triple H’s “dead body.”
You can check out the complete Cole and HHH interview above.
Daniel Bryan recently appeared on Turnbuckle Weekly with Chuck Carroll, which you can listen to at Washington.CBSLocal.com. Here are some highlights:
– Bryan revealed that he was not officially cleared to return to the ring until the day before his first match back. He wasn’t cleared at the time he announced he would be in the Royal Rumble. On that Monday, Bryan said he was only about 90 percent sure medical clearance was imminent.
– Bryan said that he had been in touch with WWE in the three or four weeks before the announcement and let them know that the treatment was finally working and he was preparing to return.
– When asked about the negative reaction Roman Reigns got at the Royal Rumble, Bryan said it had less to do with overzealous Philadelphia fans and more to do with the hardcore WWE wrestling fan base that traveled from all over to attend the show.
As the entire northeast freezes under a mountain of snow, the WWE decided to dip down to Orlando in an attempt to heat things up heading into Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view. The show featured eight matches, as well as appearances from Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler was pure gold. Before the match, the two engaged in a hilarious back and forth, with Rollins laying down some burnsauce by telling Ziggler: “I know you fancy yourself a comedian but the only thing funny about you is that joke you call a career.” It was also hilarious to hear Ziggler question whether J&J getting him the wrong chocolates ruined his Valentine’s Day. Something tells me his Valentine’s Day was ruined for other reasons… As for the match, it was fast paced, full of spots, and exactly what you’d expect from two of the best workers in the business. Other than the J&J interference and non-finish, this was pretty much perfect on every level. I suspect a match between these two will be added to Fastlane after Smackdown. Here’s to hoping they give these guys 15 minutes and let them tear the house down. Highlight of the night by far.
I enjoyed the Dusty Rhodes backstage segments. The match between the New Day and Gold and Stardust was also nice, as it served as a nice juxtaposition between the brawling opening contest between Ambrose and Harper. Following the match, Stardust attacked his brother and called Dusty a “polka-dotted freak of a father.” I’ll admit, they’ve dragged this out forever and I wasn’t too excited at first, but I’m now getting into it.
Roman Reigns was the man last night. He sounded like a completely different person during his backstage interview before his match with Kane. His calm, confident, and collected demeanor is a stark contrast from the nervous guy we saw out there a few weeks ago talking about beanstalks while stumbing over every other word. His match with Kane was actually decent too, with Reigns winning via countout after hitting a big Spear. Daniel Bryan was on commentary during the match, with he and Reigns playing off of one another very well. It was also humorous to hear Michael Cole state: “Daniel Bryan is trying to steal Roman Reigns’ thunder. Roman Reigns just beat Kane, guys!” That means about as much as beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015.
For a comedy segment, the Paige bit was actually hilarious. The outfit was funny, it actually served some sort of purpose in furthering her feud with Nikki Bella, the fans seemed to be enjoying it, and the match with Summer Rae was good for the time they were given.
The Dean Ambrose “weekend update” promo, where the Lunatic Fringe was parked at a desk looking like a shady used car dealer, was also entertaining. His match with Luke Harper featuring some nice, brawling action and was a good opening contest. JBL’s “we’ve got an air psycho” line had me cracking up, and his plot to force Barrett to sign the contract for Sunday was perfect. Nobody in the midcard deserves the IC Title more than Ambrose, and it looks like he’s going to find a way to capture the gold on Sunday.
Bray Wyatt’s promos are starting to become a bit repetitive, but I still enjoyed his work this week. He once again attacked the Undertaker, stating: “You’re an empty shell, and any fear that I once of you has turned into nothing more than putrid, hateful pity.” I can’t wait to see this program.
Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan will battle WWE Fast Lane on February 22nd to determine which man will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.
The match was set up on RAW after Triple H’s major announcement regarding the controversy surrounding Reigns’ Royal Rumble win. There is a strong argument to be made why both of them are deserving of the title shot. Reigns won the Rumble, albeit with help from The Rock. Daniel Bryan was stripped of the gold last year after he was forced to undergo neck surgery.
No matter who you think deserves the WrestleMania title shot – which of them do you think will actually get it? Vote here:
As we all know, Raw is tonight. By show of hands, how many people are planning to bail before the end of the program? If this question were posed to last week’s viewing audience, over 250,000 hands would be in the air right now. That number represents the number of viewers who tuned in for the first hour but were long gone by hour three, and that’s not even counting the 600,000 viewers from the previous week who called in sick and didn’t show up at all.
Since Raw 1000, the program has been a three-hour fixture on Monday night, even though the company has done little with the additional hour in most cases. In all, the numbers show that it’s time to turn back the clock to Raw 999 and cut back to two hours.
Emma vs. Summer Rae in a dance-off? No thanks!
There are a number of reasons this makes sense. Most importantly, this roster is as thin as a two-dollar blanket right now. Take last week’s show, for instance. The company bookended the show with the nearly identical matches – neither of which was particularly memorable. By the end of the first hour, the crowd had already seen every participant in the main event compete in a match (aside from J&J, but they interfered in the Rollins/Ryback match). And please don’t get me started on how many times we’ve seen the Usos battle Miz and Mizdow over the past few months.
It would be a massive understatement to say that the shows have lacked direction in recent months too. I went back and watched a few episodes of Raw from 2012, right before Raw was permanently extended to three hours. Mind you, this was during the dreadful John Cena/Kane “embrace the hate” program, and even those shows featured more direction than the current product.
If the past is any indication, expect to see The Authority opening tonight’s episode of Raw.
By putting less stress on the writers and limiting exposure, they were able to establish a conflict (Kane attempting to terrorize Zack Ryder/John Cena), provide a climax near the middle of the show (Cena kissing Eve while Ryder hilariously looked on), and finally a resolution in the form of a catastrophe (Kane launching Ryder off of the stage).
They were able to build around this central storyline by sprinkling in five matches and a few entertaining segments that highlighted other members of the roster, ultimately creating a neat two hours of wrestling (or sports entertainment, whichever term you prefer). In recent weeks, the program has been an absolute mess, with the typical structure usually as follows:
The Authority starts the program by cutting the same boring 20-minute promo they cut every week and setting up a main event involving Kane and/or Big Show. Next is a match that they say will start after the break, usually trying to invoke some sense of suspense as to which superstars will be involved, but the roster is so thin that we know it will be Seth Rollins or an over-the-hill Authority goon competing against either Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Ryback or Roman Reigns – usually ending in a non-finish. We next get a sagging middle with “comedy” matches and backstage segments that rarely go anywhere. Paul Heyman is sent out somewhere near the middle to try to save the crowd. A few more filler matches typically come next, and finally a tag match to end the show, which also usually ends in a non-finish. Eat. Sleep. Lose A Quarter Million Viewers. Repeat.
Even with the help of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, Raw lost over a quarter of a million viewers by the end of last week’s program.
The overexposure is killing everyone involved in the process, including talent, announcers, and even the fans, hence the reason they aren’t sticking around for the full three hours. I get that the company is trying to appease shareholders, and increased ad revenue is one of the easiest ways to do so, but in the end, they are doing long-term damage in exchange for short-term ad revenue.
This is also not to say that a wrestling promotion can’t put on an entertaining three-hour program. It is simply stating that this wrestling promotion has proven they are incapable of doing so. There are a lot of problems with the current product, from hotshotting anything that is remotely popular to underutilizing some of the company’s best talent to even dragging out storylines fans are disinterested in. However, the biggest problem with Raw, and perhaps the company as a whole, can be summed up in one word: overexposure.
How would you feel about Raw going back to two hours? Do you think it would improve the product? Voice your opinion in the comments section.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans who impressed them more in last night’s Tag Team Turmoil match on SmackDown, Roman Reigns or Daniel Bryan. With nearly 9,000 votes cast, Bryan is leading with 62% of the vote.
– WWE.com has another poll asking fans if the referee was right to stop the Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn NXT Title match at Takeover on Wednesday. With over 8,000 votes, 57% have voted, “Yes – the official’s duty is to protect a Superstar’s well-being.” 43% voted, “No – a match should end by pinfall or submission.”
– Alex Riley returned to the ring at last night’s WWE NXT TV tapings and began a feud with a top NXT star. Riley received a huge reaction from fans and was reportedly in tears after one match due to the response. He tweeted the following about the experience:
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn recently spoke with Brian Fritz of BetweentheRopes.com to promote his new book and commented on the possibility of wrestling one more match.
Michaels said he does think about wrestling again, but if he did get back in the ring, it would have to be a unique match that hasn’t been done before. He’s heard people talk about a potential “Teacher vs. Student” match with Daniel Bryan, but that doesn’t really get him excited.
“It certainly is a good idea but it’s one of those ones, I guess from my standpoint, a good idea is one that would really intrigue me. That’s not one of those of those ones where you go ‘Wow, what are the chances of someone coming up with that?’ That’s teacher – student, that’s been done, and again I’m not knocking it, I’m just saying that is not some kind of new, innovative idea. It’s just two other guys doing a very rehashed idea, but we think they can do it well so it will be fun for us to watch. Certainly at its core it’s not a new and fresh idea,” Michaels said.
When asked what kind of match would interest him enough to come out of retirement, he responded:
“Well, I don’t even want to go down that road because then, of course, people will run with it… Most people wouldn’t find it interesting anyway. My tastes I guess are not like theirs. When you’ve done a lot of stuff it’s sometimes those out of the box, strange ones that really pique your interest. For me, I give it about two minutes thought and then I move on because I’m very happy with what I’m doing and where my life’s at right now.”
– Triple H will be hosting a Q&A on Twitter at 3pm EST. today to promote tonight’s NXT TakeOver: Rival event. You can send HHH your questions by using the hashtag, “#NXTTakeOver.”
– The new WWE DVD and Blu-ray on Daniel Bryan, which is expected for a June release, will no longer be a simple match-compilation feature. The project will now include an extended version of the “Journey to WrestleMania XXX: Daniel Bryan” documentary that aired on the WWE Network last April. The new synopsis for “Daniel Bryan — Just Say Yes! Yes! Yes!” reads as follows:
“Relive Daniel Bryan’s historic Journey to WrestleMania as he prepares for the biggest night of his career. Now with an extended cut, follow the leader of the Yes Movement into New Orleans for the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania 30. Witness the rise of one of the most popular WWE Superstars of all time from his humble beginnings into WWE Champion. Also includes an all-new interview with Daniel Bryan discussing some of the most important matches of his career as well as some exclusive matches in their entirety.”
– Below is a video preview for this coming Sunday’s edition of WWE Total Divas on E!:
The Road to WrestleMania took a brief detour last night, stopping at THE Ohio State University for Raw. Sting finally answered Triple H’s challenge, and the show was bookended by a pair of nearly identical matches. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The highlight of the night was easily Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt. These guys have competed over the past two weeks, and have exhibited amazing chemistry on both occasions. There were a number of impressive spots in this one, including Wyatt delivering a brutal blow to Ziggler’s midsection and a devastating clothesline outside the ring that eventually set up Sister Abilgail for the win. Wyatt later cut another promo, presumably directed toward the Dead Man.
Triple H calling out Sting was a close second. The video package, which featured Sting’s makeup being transposed onto Triple H’s face, was both eerie and entertaining. The only downside to this was the absolutely dreadful Sting doppelganger they sent into the ring. With that said, I absolutely can’t wait to see what these guys have planned for Fastlane.
The Usos squared off with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Kidd and Cesaro put in some decent heel work by crashing the dinner party on SmackDown, and it’s certainly nice to see them getting some television time.
Rusev continues to improve on a weekly basis, in my opinion. I loved his promo, where he made claims such as, “You don’t want me. I am a hero.” His brawl with Cena was also entertaining and helped further their feud heading into Fastlane.
The opening promo was also entertaining, but nothing to really write home about. Reigns seems to be more confident on the mic each week, despite a minor flub. It was also nice to see Bryan on the mic, taking a humorous shot at Triple H for his involvement in the Katie Vick storyline.
It’s nice to see Axel getting more time on the mic. His promo was humorous, even if he was quickly dispelled after being hit with Dirty Deeds. Barrett’s new BNZ segment could also be entertaining, but I’m not totally sure how much shelf life it has.
Finally, the main event helped further the tension between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. The match was nothing incredible, by any means, but there were a few memorable moments, including Dolph Ziggler getting involved at the end. Roman’s spear to Bryan was also the perfect way to end the show. It seems like the next step in Roman’s evolution will be to turn him heel and possibly pair him with Heyman following WrestleMania.
– On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, it was announced that on this week’s WWE SmackDown show, Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan will go “face-to-face” in the ring, likely for a big promo segment to promote their upcoming showdown at WWE Fast Lane, where the winner of their match goes on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
– Below is the “Black History Month” video for the legendary WWE Hall Of Famer Junkyard Dog, which aired on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
WWE Hall Of Famer Bret Hart recently spoke with The Sport Vision about a number of topics, including his respect for John Cena, his wish that Hulk Hogan had the “courage” to work with him, the reason he would like to strangle Eric Bischoff and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
His time in WCW and Eric Bischoff: “I could only be frustrated right from the day I started in WCW, and realized that it was a company run by a bunch of idiots that didn’t have a clue what they were doing. And they dropped the ball with me just about from the time I got there. And then after they dropped the ball with me, they kicked it around, kicked it backwards and out of the stands for most of the time I was there. I look back today, I’d like to strangle Eric Bischoff with my own pair of hands, and just thank him for doing such a lousy job with my career, and lying about everything he ever said to me.”
Hulk Hogan: “There’s a lot of wrestlers I worked with in those days that still stop me and tell me that the greatest match they ever had was with me… I take pride in that… I wish guys like Hulk Hogan might’ve had the courage to get in the ring with me, because I maybe could’ve given him his best match that he ever had, also. I just think that as wrestling moves into the future, everyday it goes further and further from my day, I look at the wrestlers today and I realize that they’re carrying the torch of my style. It’s not about strongman spots and Hulk Hogan, and putting one hand behind your ear and working the crowd, and stuff like that. It’s about guys that are out there suplexing each other, and doing a lot of complex wrestling moves, and a lot of action. That’s the kind of wrestling that I brought to the game.”
Daniel Bryan and CM Punk: “The moves that wrestlers are doing today, the innovating that some of these guys are doing, it all is a throwback to Bret Hart. I think Daniel Bryan reminds me a lot of my brother, Owen. I thought Punk had a lot of Bret Hart-isms in his matches, and little things he did that reminded me of stuff I did.”
John Cena: “I have nothing but respect for John Cena and his work rate. He’s one of the hardest working wrestlers there ever was. He’s been a great champion, an inspiring role model. It’s not easy being John Cena and carrying all the weight of the company on your back all the time. What he’s done with Make-A-Wish kids, and kids in general, kids in general around the world. People don’t understand sometimes what it’s like to be John Cena, to understand how much pressure is on him everyday to do the right things and to always be the class champion that he’s been. He’s a tireless champion that gives 100 percent every night… He could do a little bit better with some of his technical moves sometimes, but I think in the long and short of it, I think John Cena’s established himself to be maybe one of the greatest wrestlers that ever lived. I think he’s an amazing wrestler.”
On his proudest moment: “When I stood up for myself in Montreal, and knocked out Vince McMahon for cheating me in that match. I think it’s still defines me as a wrestler, and as an artist, and a talent, and somebody that was betrayed. I’ve always been really proud of how I reacted, and how I carried myself that day. And in the end, I think I proved I was right.”
Check out the complete interview at TheSportVision.co.
It appears that WWE has once again changed plans for the WrestleMania 31 main event, according to a Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
For the better part of 2014, it was expected that Roman Reigns would be challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 31. It appeared that plans were still on course after Reigns won the Royal Rumble. That was until fans outright rejected WWE’s storyline plans for Reigns in a sign of fan defiance we hadn’t seen since, well, the previous year’s Rumble.
Daniel Bryan was originally booked to wrestle Sheamus at WrestleMania. Then, Bryan and Dolph Ziggler began talking about a potential WrestleMania match on social media. Now, it looks like fans have pushed Daniel Bryan right back into the WrestleMania main event mix.
According to Dave Meltzer, Vince McMahon recently changed his mind about the WrestleMania main event, with Daniel Bryan being added as the third person in 3-way match. The feeling after the Royal Rumble was that Vince McMahon would not want to do another triple threat match to headline their biggest show of the year, since they went that route last year. However, Vince McMahon heard the fan backlash to Roman Reigns loud and clear, held a meeting with top WWE officials and decided on Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan.
Of course, plans could change again, but as of now, that’s what they’re going with.
It’s also worth noting that WWE.com ran a poll over the weekend asking who was more deserving of the WrestleMania main event – Daniel Bryan or Roman Reigns – with Bryan earning over 87% of the vote.
The International Business Times has published an interview with The Bella Twins, which was conducted during Super Bowl 49 weekend in Phoenix, Arizona.
Last summer, Nikki and Brie were embroiled in a heated feud that culminated at SummerSlam with Nikki turning on her sister and siding with Stephanie McMahon and Brie becoming Nikki’s assistant after they wrestled at Hell in a Cell in October. The feud ended abruptly, with the sisters reuniting on television shortly afterwards as if nothing ever happened.
Here’s what they said about it:
Nikki: “I really enjoyed where the story started. There was nothing better than having that turning moment on Brie at SummerSlam against Stephanie McMahon. Brie and her had such a great buildup, they had such a great story and I loved the start of our story. I feel like we didn’t get a chance to end our story. Unfortunately, we didn’t end it, and I wanted to go so much longer with it and I felt like we could do so much more. I truly enjoyed my pay-per-view match against Brie. We have a bond that you just can’t create. We’re born with it and we had this magic in the ring. We had great chemistry, and I wish we could’ve done a lot more. I was really enjoying our feud and the people were. It was hard for some people to watch because it’s like “Nikki’s so mean.” It was just fun and I think why it was hard for people too is because it’s (like) real life. People get interested in moments with their siblings. I wish we went longer, and I wish we could’ve finished the story. I think Brie needed to do something to me because I was just so mean to her.”
Brie: “It was a lot of fun to be working with my sister and to go from Stephanie McMahon to my own sister was great. And the nice thing is we all have a really good friendship with Stephanie. I have one with my sister, and I think you go out and there and you make magic. And after we’d be done in the ring we’d go backstage and whether you’re crying or hugging, you just let it all out and we’re like “OK I didn’t mean that.” So that’s the great thing about having your sister in the story with you.”
There were many other topics discussed, including how Total Divas has affected their careers and how Daniel Bryan and John Cena have helped them improve in the ring.
– A special edition of WWE NXT will premiere this Tuesday night at 9pm on the WWE Network. Corey Graves will host the show and look at the events leading up to NXT Takeover: Rival.
– The NXT Takeover: Rival Kickoff Pre-show is now confirmed for 7:30pm EST on the WWE Network on Wednesday night. It will feature Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Jason Albert and Corey Graves.
– On Friday, Daniel Bryan visited the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis to host a trivia question game show that involved all 12 floors of the hospital. Bryan commented to FOXSports.com:
“My story has probably been a lot easier than what these kids have to deal with. And that’s on a very legitimate level. They have to fight for a lot of things. They do have to fight an uphill battle. They just need to strength to keep going. I’m just probably the luckiest man on Earth.”
We’re all familiar with the WWE. It’s the most profitable and prevalent wrestling organization in the world, and the primary focus of our coverage here at SEScoops. However, what about the rest of the wrestling world?
I decided to compile a list of 25 non-WWE wrestling matches that every fan should see. In order to qualify, each match had to meet three conditions:
An organization other than the WWE put on the match.
The full-length match is available on YouTube.
The match is something every wrestling fan should see.
The matches are listed at random and not ranked. The intention here isn’t to inspire debate regarding where a match should be placed on the list, but simply to provide fans with the opportunity to catch up on some classic matches they may have missed over the past few years. Already seen every match on the list? Relive your favorite moments again. Never seen a single one of the matches? You’ve got hours of material at your disposal, so sit back and enjoy.
25. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xy7KkH7NdY
24. Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (Ring of Honor Weekend of Thunder 2004)
23. Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) vs. Davey Richards (NJPW Circuit 2010 New Japan Alive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXyAM9-9gHc
22. Ricochet vs. Kyle O’Reilly (IPW 10th Annual Super Junior Heavyweight Tournament)
21. The American Wolves vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Indypendence Day 2008)
Reddit user MetsFan4Ever, a verified WWE insider with a strong track record of breaking news, has posted an update regarding the main event of WWE Fast Lane and more specifically, the rise of Roman Reigns. Here are the main points:
– MetsFan says that it’s “100% confirmed” that Roman Reigns will be defeating Daniel Bryan at WWE Fast Lane. WWE addressed the Rumble controversy and put this obstacle in Reigns’ way as a way to “silence the marks” for a few weeks while they get Reigns over. Regardless of the mixed reactions he’s been getting, ‘Roman is the man and will be headlining WrestleMania and defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.”
– Daniel Bryan is considered one of the most physical in-ring workers in WWE, which is why he’s been paired with Roman Reigns. WWE wants Reigns to work with Bryan to get him comfortable working stiff matches ahead of his date with the Beast Incarnate.
– The general feeling amongst WWE management is that fans are going to purchase WrestleMania no matter what and the WrestleMania brand is what sells, not specific matches. MetsFan was told in jest that WWE could put Brock Lesnar vs. Doink the Clown and fans would buy it.
There’s a possibility that plans for a Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler match at WrestleMania 31 may be off.
Some are speculating that once Bryan vs. Roman Reigns was made for the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view in a number one contender’s match that the company had already started heading in a different direction leading into WrestleMania.
While it’s unlikely, there is a possibility that Bryan ends up working against Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, however most assume that the main event will remain Reigns vs. Lesnar for the title.
Regarding the Bryan-Ziggler match, there is said to be a reason why WWE has Ziggler teaming up with Ryback for a tag-team match on tonight’s SmackDown show. Apparently there is talk of keeping Ziggler and Ryback as a duo and having them work a tag-team match at WrestleMania 31, which would obviously scrap the possibility of a Bryan-Ziggler singles match.
As seen on Monday’s RAW, Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns is now set as the main event for the February 22nd WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view, with the winner going on to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
Prior to the Royal Rumble backlash, the original plans for Fast Lane was to have Reigns defeat a top heel, possibly Big Show, in the main event on the show, while Bryan was likely to lose to Bray Wyatt in order to keep Wyatt strong for The Undertaker.
Regarding booking for Bryan, WWE originally wanted to put him in a match with Sheamus at WrestleMania 31, however Bryan himself requested that he work with Dolph Ziggler instead. It’s worth noting that it’s considered possible that Bryan still ends up working with Sheamus, although it is considered unlikely at this point.