– WWE.com has a poll asking fans which former Shield member has the most talent. With over 8,000 votes in, Seth Rollins is leading the pack with 43%, followed by Dean Ambrose (32%) and Roman Reigns (25%).
– Cesaro posted a photo on Twitter of himself as an “extra” on WWE television in a backstage segment with Shane McMahon and DX from 2006. TNA star Ethan Carter III noted that there was another ‘pretty handsome dude’ in the shot, leading to this interesting exchange:
@WWECesaro pretty handsome dude flanking your left
Dean Ambrose was Michael Cole’s guest for this week’s WWE.com sitdown interview.
– Cole asked if Ambrose ever thought the day would come where he’d be challenging for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Ambrose says anyone who gets in the business and wants to achieve anything has their sights set on the WWE Championship. He didn’t expect he’d be getting the title opportunity so soon, but here he is. Ambrose says he just tries to win as much as possible, stay alive and healthy. Good things come your way when you put out positive energy.
– Cole says fans have been rallying behind Ambrose and ‘social media’ believes he’s the favorite to win the Fatal 4 Way match this Sunday. He asks Ambrose if that puts pressure on him. Ambrose laughed at the idea and says he doesn’t like social media. He says he doesn’t want anyone to be knowing what he’s doing at all time. He doesn’t feel the need to tweet anyone anything and doesn’t really think about fans picking him as hte favorite.
– Cole brought up the fact that all 3 former members of the Shield will be fighting for the WWE Championship (along with Randy Orton) this Sunday and asks if Ambrose ever wondered what would have happened if the group never broke up. Ambrose says the plan all along was to plant new seeds with them and create a new, fresh WWE with the group on top. In hindsight, him, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns fighting over the WWE Championship is what they wanted since day one.
– Ambrose says it would be great to win the WWE Championship because it would piss of The Authority. He added that if he wins, The Authority will try to make his life hell and laughed at the idea of being the next face of WWE.
– “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose Chris Jericho’s guest on this week’s Talk is Jericho podcast, which you can listen to over at PodcastOne.com.
– Former WWE writer Court Bauer of MLW Radio is Steve Austin’s guest on this week’s Steve Austin Show: Unleashed at PodcastOne.com.
– Former WWE, WCW and TNA writer Vince Russo is back with his latest blog. In his latest online piece, Russo takes aim at Sami Zayn, ranting and raving about why he feels Zayn will not “equal ratings.”
“RAW is a television show and Sami Zayn is NOT a television star—nor—will he be anytime soon. Sami is an exceptional wrestler on a wrestling show, and the only people who care about him are those die hard wrestling fans who are looking for 5-star matches that the massive don’t give a !@#$% about.
That’s why as champion Seth Rollins isn’t drawing no matter how hard they push him. Seth Rollins is a great wrestler, who only appeals to those purists who watch RAW for quality matches. The casual masses don’t care about that. What they care about are characters and storylines that ENTERTAIN them like the other TELEVISION shows they watch.
RAW wasn’t a GREAT show because Sami Zayn was on it—and the numbers clearly back that up.”
Russo admits Zayn is one of the best wrestlers on WWE’s roster, but “wrestling doesn’t draw.”
It appears that the late decision to add Dean Ambrose to the WWE Payback pay-per-view main event, making it a match with all three members of The Shield involved, was done by design.
Cable TV ads that aired after this week’s RAW, where the angle was shot, still listed a regular triple-threat match between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton, meaning the Ambrose decision was definitely a late decision.
What’s interesting about the change from a historical standpoint is the fact that WWE had been planning to hold off on having all three former Shield members in a high-profile title match at WrestleMania 32.
On a related note, there is speculation that in the fatal four-way match at Payback, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns may end up turning on Orton. The company is lacking in credible heels but they do have new up-and-coming babyface talents that they could be pushing.
If Ambrose and Reigns turn on Orton, that would leave Rollins. Whether or not that means Ambrose-Reigns-Rollins would become a trio again, referred to as The Shield again, or otherwise, remains to be seen.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins was Michael Cole’s guest for this week’s WWE.com sit-down interview.
– Rollins say it’s no secret that the odds are stacked against at Payback, but he’s used to that by now. Rollins ran down his WWE career achievements and said he almost forced Ambrose and Orton into retirement already. He called his WWE Championship win was the greatest moment in WrestleMania history and he likes when the odds are stacked against him.
– Cole asked Rollins about his ongoing issues with Kane. Rollins doesn’t have a personal issue with Kane. His actions may be misguided, but that’s driven by jealousy. Rollins says he can do things in the ring that Kane only dreams of. He’s the hottest thing in WWE and Kane is in the home stretch of his career.
– Cole asks if there will be chaos in the Fatal 4 Way contract signing on SmackDown. Rollins says this is a completely different setting from what happened don RAW and he doesn’t conduct himself in a volatile nature in that type of setting. Rollins says it doesn’t matter what happens on Thursday or leading up to Payback because he will leave with the WWE World Heavyweight Title and The Authority will come out on top.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official website blog on Tuesday afternoon, posting a number of thoughts on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Below are some highlights.
On Dean Ambrose: “I like the fact that Dean Ambrose returns to more relevancy as he’s now in the main event of Payback along with Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns in a WWE Title bout that will feature the three former members of The Shield which speaks well to the productivity of WWE NXT. I’d love to see this be an elimination rules four way but it’s likely to be a traditional Fatal Four Way where the first man to score a pin or submission is declared the winner which means that the WWE Title holder has no championship advantage and cannot retain the title via disqualification or count out. These bouts can be feast or famine but have the potential to provide adequate drama in the expected Payback show closer.”
On The New Day: “Hopeful that New Day really studies some of the great wresting villain groups IE the Freebirds and others to ?begin to acquire the traits that will propel them to the next level. Opportunity is here for these three and with out of ring preparation and study they can become much more valuable to WWE as they are already easy to dislike which bodes well for antagonists. I’m much more encouraged by their current positioning than them being fan favorites but they n eed to learn a variety of villain nuances.”
On Lana’s rumored push: “Curious to see how this Lana/Rusev business plays out. Lana has ‘it’ and may end up being a bigger star than Rusev as stranger things have happened….see Sable and Marc Mero. I still like Rusev’s upside no matter his present creative role.”
On Bret Hart and Sami Zayn: “Thought the utilization of Bret Hart in Montreal was spot on as he gave Sami Zayn a magnificent “rub.” Zayn and John Cena had an excellent presentation that the fans genuinely cared about and it seemingly suspended the audience’s disbelief and the fans emotionally invested in their home towner who made his RAW debut. It played well on TV. Good booking.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Raw crossed the border into Canada this week as Payback rapidly approaches. Ambrose found a way to sneak into the main event, Ryback and Bray Wyatt continued their feud, and John Cena issued his most epic open challenge to date. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Randy Orton opened the show by discussing the upcoming Payback pay-per-view. He was only a sentence or two into his soliloquy before being interrupted by Roman Reigns. The two went back and forth for a few, with Reigns saying that Orton “won’t be standing” in two weeks. Orton then read his resume, eventually asking Reigns how many times he’s been a World Heavyweight Champion. Oddly enough, the New Day then interrupted the two, as they vowed to spread the “power of positivity” due to all of the negativity in the ring. Overall, there was some humorous dialogue during the segment, it was nice to see the company booking the tag team champs with the main eventers, and it set up a handicap tag match to start the show.
The opening contest was a three-on-two handicap match between the New Day and Orton and Reigns. During the opening moments, the action was pretty slow, with the faces working over Xavier Woods before Big E came in and hit Orton with a big belly-to-belly suplex. New Day controlled the pace after that, as they isolated Orton and made quick tags. After the break, Reigns took Orton’s place in the New Day’s corner as Xavier Woods attempted to wear him down with a side headlock. Reigns finally hit up Orton with the hot tag and he hit an amazing powerslam on Kofi Kingston after he attempted to utilize a springboard. From there, New Day was getting squashed with Superman punches, DDTs, and RKOs. Reigns and Orton couldn’t keep it together though, as Reigns accidentally hit Orton with a spear and cost his team the match. This match was solid because it made the tag team champions look strong as a cohesive unit, it furthered the tension between Orton and Reigns, and was a fundamentally sound way to start the show. It also set up the main event after Kane made an appearance and announced that Orton and Reigns would compete one-on-one to close the show.
Former members of the greatest stable in recent history collided when Seth Rollins faced off with Dean Ambrose. Kane made the match and announced that if Ambrose were to be victorious, he would be added to the main event at Payback. Ambrose took control early by hitting a massive clothesline at ringside. From there, he worked the champ over while the crowd totally ate it up. Rollins eventually regained control, dominating and dictating the tempo during the middle of the match. Ambrose came back after avoiding a springboard and hitting a tornado DDT. The Lunatic Fringe hit Rollins with a series of clotheslines before executing a bulldog and going into Air Lunatic mode by diving to the floor through the middle ropes. Both guys were able to taste victory with near falls before Rollins destroyed Ambrose with a brutal powerbomb into the barricade. In the end, Ambrose was seconds away from hitting Dirty Deeds before J&J interfered, but it wouldn’t matter as Ambrose would dispose of the goons, roll up Rollins for the win, and secure his spot in the main event at Payback. Awesome match and angle by having all three members of the Shield battle for the title.
King Barrett had a coronation ceremony of sorts after cutting a promo and declaring, “All Hail King Barrett.” No matter how many times they reboot this guy, he makes every gimmick work. He teamed with Sheamus in a tag team match against Neville and Dolph Ziggler. Barrett and Ziggler started the match, with the King pummeling the Show Off with clubbing blows and kicks to the midsection. The action would go to commercial rather quickly after Ziggler took control and sent Barrett sailing to the floor. Sheamus took control during the break and had Ziggler in a headlock after the action returned from break. Ziggler tried to mount a rally but got hit with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Neville and Barrett would both be the recipient of tags, with Neville flying all over the place and dominating Barrett for the most part during a fast-paced frenzy. He wanted the Red Arrow, but Sheamus would distract Neville and allow Barrett to hit the Bull Hammer for the victory.
John Cena cut a passionate promo discussing how he will never give up before issuing another open challenge. None other than Bret “Hitman” Hart answered the call. Hart sadly wasn’t there to fight, but instead to introduce a “great wrestler.” Before he could introduce anyone great, Heath Slater interrupted the legend and got laid out for his troubles. The Hitman then introduced Sami Zayn, much to the surprise of the Montreal crowd and everyone watching at home.
The action was already underway after returning from break, with Cena reeling at ringside. The doctor checked on Zayn after taking a belly-to-back suplex – a move that was obviously done to make Zayn look strong in defeat. Cena and Zayn traded punches before Cena hit three of the Five Moves of Doom before Zayn countered the Five Knuckle Shuffle into a pinning combination. Cena once again was forced to retreat, allowing Zayn to launch himself over the top rope and take out the champ on the floor. Zayn’s inexperience would show as Cena caught him slipping and locked in the STF, even though the upstart challenger would reach the ropes and lock in the Koji Clutch from out of nowhere shortly thereafter. After Cena failed to hit the AA, it became apparent that they were setting up his signature DDT through the middle ropes on the floor, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. After a bit of hesitation, Cena connected with an AA, but Zayn would kick out at two as the crowd cheered. Zayn would eventually succumb to Cena, however, after the champ hit his springboard stunner and another AA. This featured so many memorable spots, the in-ring psychology was great, and it put Zayn over as a worthy competitor even in defeat as he prepares to become a permanent main roster fixture in the near future. Match of the Night, and probably one of the best matches of the year as well.
Ryback’s program with Bray Wyatt continued as he joined Renee Young for an interview. The crowd was dead at first and mostly chanted “Goldberg.” He at least made a good point with the Goldberg chants when he said, “If you ignore it, you just keep doing it.” The Big Guy talked about the adversities he’s faced in his career while talking some smack on Wyatt, eventually winning the crowd back as they joined him in a “Feed Me More” chant. The New Face of Fear then appeared on the big screen and cut a promo saying that Ryback will soon fade away. The segment wasn’t anything special, but both guys cut articulate promos and it advanced their feud, so it’s hard to consider it anything but a positive.
The main event competitors weren’t even making their way to the ring until 11 o’clock, so it was obvious this was going to be very short. Rollins and associates would quickly make their way to ringside and announce their various roles in the match. Orton went for an RKO within seconds but Reigns would avoid the attack. The action was brawling in nature, with few wrestling moves being utilized throughout the match. Rollins guested on commentary during the match and was pretty humorous. When Rollins joined the Authority last summer, he lacked confidence on the mic and some questioned whether he could be a solo star. He’s certainly proven all of the haters wrong over the past year. This would of course end in disqualification after Kane interfered and attacked Roman Reigns before the entire Authority went after Orton. Reigns would dive over the top rope and take them out before being sent into the ring post by Rollins. They isolated Orton and had the upper hand on both Orton and Reigns before Ambrose arrived to make the save. Rollins would take a spear, Reigns would fall victim to an RKO, and Ambrose would be the last man standing after taking out Orton with Dirty Deeds. The wrestling match itself wasn’t that great, but it was a solid way to end the show, put over the fatal four way main event, and perhaps most importantly, get Dean Ambrose back into the main event picture.
On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, a big segment was announced for this week’s SmackDown.
On this week’s SmackDown, which airs on Thursday night but will be taped tomorrow night, a contract signing will be held for the WWE Payback pay-per-view main event.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose will all be on hand to take part in the official in-ring contract signing for their fatal four-way title match at this month’s pay-per-view.
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com on Tuesday night for live WWE SmackDown spoiler play-by-play results coverage!
The main event for this month’s WWE Payback pay-per-view was changed on Monday’s edition of RAW.
At Monday’s RAW, which took place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a match was made between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, with a special stipulation. The stipulation, set by “WWE Director of Operations” Kane, called for Ambrose to be added to the WWE Payback title match main event, making it a fatal four-way match.
As the show went on, Ambrose would go on to defeat Rollins in the match, which also featured J&J Security banned from ringside per pre-match stipulations. With the victory, Ambrose is officially added to the main event of Payback.
With that said, the new main event for WWE Payback will be Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose in a fatal four-way match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE RAW takes place tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with more build-up to this month’s WWE Payback pay-per-view.
The WWE Superstars advertised for tonight’s show include John Cena, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Kane, Sheamus, Rusev, Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins. Daniel Bryan is not advertised to appear.
While no official matches have been announced for tonight’s show, it is confirmed that John Cena will be holding another “U.S. Open Challenge.”
WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight’s show:
– Who is the greater threat to Seth Rollins’ championship?
– Will Dean Ambrose get retribution against The Authority?
– Might we see a new United States Champion?
– Will Ryback feast on Bray Wyatt?
– What will be Barrett’s first act as King of the Ring?
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com tonight, beginning at 8pm EST. for the best live WWE RAW results coverage on the web!
– WWE United States Champion John Cena and “The Viper” Randy Orton are both off of this weekend’s WWE live events. With Cena and Orton off the shows, one tour will be headlined by Ryback, Dean Ambrose and Rusev while the other will be headlined by Roman Reigns vs. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. WWE Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan, who has been pulled from all live events, was originally scheduled to headline one tour with Ryback.
– It was originally announced by WWE that 14,197 fans were in attendance for their Extreme Rules pay-per-view this past Sunday night. The actual attendance was 11,000, however it was still a sold out show. Monday’s RAW in Green Bay, Wisconsin had 5,800 fans in attendance.
– Dean Ambrose’s win over Luke Harper in the Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules was Ambrose’s first PPV win since The Shield broke up last year. This was Ambrose’s first singles victory on PPV since defending the United States Title against Dolph Ziggler at Night of Champions 2013.
– Last night’s ring announcing duties at Extreme Rules were handled by Eden and JoJo, since Lilian Garcia is still out recovering form surgery. This was JoJo’s pay-per-view debut. Lilian spent the night live-tweeting the show from home.
– The Rock was in attendance for last night’s Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers NBA playoff game from Boston’s TD Garden. Here he is with a Bronze Star Marine who the Celtics honored as their “Hero Among Us” for the night:
Extreme Rules has come and gone, and fans were treated to a cage match, a sprawling Chicago street fight, and even some good old fashioned arse kissing. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from Extreme Rules 2015.
Pros
If we are being completely honest, there wasn’t a lot to choose from tonight in terms of positives. If forced to choose a Match of the Night, it would have to be Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper in a Chicago Street Fight. The action was stiff and sprawling, with Ambrose beating Harper senseless with a kendo stick to start the match before Harper turned the tables and suplexed the Lunatic Fringe through a chair. After receiving a snake eyes into a chair propped up in the corner, Ambrose regained momentum after hitting an awesome clothesline from the apron. The backstage segments were refreshing, and it was nice to see this one continue later in the night. After two matches, the competitors returned in their car and interrupted the New Day’s victory celebration, with the action once again returning to the ring. From there, Harper buried Ambrose under a pile of chairs, but it would ultimately backfire, as Ambrose would suplex Harper onto the chairs and hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Overall, these two had great chemistry, Ambrose provided some humor, and it was a creative way to start the show.
The tag team match was definitely a treat tonight. As always, Kidd and Cesaro went together like peanut butter and jelly, teaming up for multiple combination moves throughout the match. Cesaro was the clear star of this one, displaying his strength by catching Big E in midcard and slamming him to the canvas. Just as it looked as if the champs would retain their titles, Xavier Woods distracted the referee and allowed for Kofi Kingston to grab the roll-up victory. Putting the titles on the New Day isn’t going to have anyone jumping for joy, but it will be nice to see Kidd and Cesaro chase the titles as babyfaces. Fans should be looking forward to these two competing again in the future, as they told a great story, pulled off a number of impressive spots, and the end sequence was believable.
It was announced that the King of the Ring would return on Tuesday night as a WWE Network exclusive. That’s sounds like something that is best for business.
Finally, the main event was sort of barely snuck its way into the pros column. These two ring technicians displayed solid fundamentals to start the match while Seth tried to sneak his way out of the cage. Rollins eventually took control after hitting the sling blade as both guys attempted to utilize the cage as a weapon early on. One positive in this match was that they were given sufficient time before the inevitable outside interference occurred, and seeing Orton hit a Pedigree was a nice change of pace. In the end, Kane of course interfered and helped Rollins retain the title after Seth hit Orton with an RKO. The commentators stupidly discussed whether Rollins was permitted to use the banned move after the match, as if it even mattered because the only two options were a win for Rollins or a disqualification victory for Orton – either instance resulting in Rollins keeping his title. Overall, this was your typical BS cage match, but it was one of the few highlights during an otherwise uneventful night, so here we are.
The WWE Universe will get its annual dose of extreme this Sunday at Extreme Rules. Every major title is scheduled to be defended, and nearly every match on the card features some sort of stipulation. Here are my predictions for this Sunday’s pay-per-view.
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (Tag Team Champions) vs. The New Day (Pre-Show Match)
The New Day sucks, plain and simple. They belong on the pre-show, and there’s absolutely no way they capture the titles on Sunday. Kidd and Cesaro continue their run as champions after picking up the victory. I do not think they will do so via pinfall or submission, however. I believe the New Day will be on the verge of defeat, leading to Xavier Woods interfering in the match and the New Day viciously attacking the champs. This would further solidify them as heels, while also starting a face turn for the champions by building fan sympathy.
Winners: Kidd & Cesaro by disqualification
Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper (Chicago Street Fight)
This has the potential to be one of the better matches of the night. Expect the action to sprawl all over the area in something resembling a hardcore match from the Attitude Era, with multiple weapons being utilized along the way. In the end, Ambrose will find a way to win after incapacitating his opponent with Dirty Deeds, hopefully leading to a push where he goes after the Intercontinental Championship now that it appears Daniel Bryan will be on the shelf for a while.
Winner: Dean Ambrose by pinfall
Daniel Bryan (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Bad News Barrett
Bryan is injured and will not be competing on Sunday. That’s basically a guarantee. WWE is essentially engaging in false advertising by not announcing that this match will no longer take place. Expect some sort of backstage segment during the show where Bryan is attacked to write him out of the storyline.
Tonight’s Raw was held in Albany, New York and was the final episode before this Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The Viper was on the prowl all night, Rusev struck one more time, and The Miz and Mizdow battled over the rights to “The Miz brand.” Here are the pros and cons from tonight’s go-home edition of Raw.
Pros
Randy Orton kicked off the show with a solid promo. He talked about how he was going to drag Seth Rollins around by his “stupid blonde streak” and how he doesn’t “need the RKO” on Sunday. Rollins countered by saying, “I play this game of human chess better than anybody.” In the end, Orton said he would get the RKO out of his system by hitting Rollins, along with anyone else who got in his way, with the move. Overall, it was a good way to start the show and set up a final confrontation between the two at the end of the night.
Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose was the first match of the night, and it wasn’t a terrible way to kick off the in-ring action. It was nice to see the WWE remove the muzzle from Harper and let him say a few words, as this guy actually does have some skill on the mic. The action was strictly brawling in nature, with the action spilling into the crowd (something that doesn’t happen enough, in my opinion). It ended in a double count-out, and set up a street fight between the two on Sunday that shouldn’t disappoint.
Bray Wyatt cut a nice promo tonight. Much like previous weeks, he referred to himself as the “New Face of Fear” while vaguely threatening some unknown superstar. We all know there are going to be some shenanigans during the main event on Sunday, so it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Wyatt ruin another main event (much like he did at Hell in a Cell between Ambrose/Rollins) and cost Orton the match on Sunday, thus setting up a program between the two.
The Lucha Dragons and New Day worked really well together tonight. The match was basically a spot fest, but that was largely due to the Dragons putting on a great show. Some memorable spots included an amazing counter of a tornado DDT into a northern lights suplex by Kalisto, and also a double moonsault to take out the New Day at ringside. In the end, Xavier Woods cost the Lucha Dragons the match and earned the New Day their rightful spot on the kickoff show this Sunday. It is worth noting that the New Day were one of Orton’s numerous victims tonight.
Sheamus was supposed to square off with Zach Ryder tonight, but that never really happened after the Celtic Warrior brutalized and berated the Long Island Iced-Z. Sheamus plays the douchey heel so well, and even has the look after his recent makeover. Ziggler eventually interrupted the beating by coming to the ring to hit a Zig-Zag on his Extreme Rules opponent.
The backstage vignettes usually blow, but they were surprisingly good tonight. From Orton RKOing Heath Slater through a table to Rusev attacking Cena to Miz holding up his flop of a DVD, there was some good stuff tonight.
Even though Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler was obviously a vehicle to set up a confrontation between Rollins and Orton to end the show, they still put on a good show and it was nice to see a non-tag team main event for once. They held back a bit, but there were some good spots, including a big DDT from Ziggler, as well as a counter of the powerbomb into a sunset flip. Sheamus distracted Ziggler and cost him the match, but Rollins wouldn’t get to celebrate for long, as the show ended with The Viper striking and hitting a huge RKO. Also, it sadly looks like the reports were true and the Curb Stomp is gone for good. R.I.P. :(
Finally, John Cena cut an intense promo before issuing yet another open challenge. Kane was irked from earlier in the night and decided he would answer the call. These guys have worked together on numerous occasions before, so it’s not surprising that they had decent chemistry. There weren’t many wrestling moves utilized, but the brawling action was entertaining, with Cena eventually picking up the win after countering the tombstone piledriver into an AA.
The WWE took Raw across the pond this week, with Randy Orton and Seth Rollins once again locking horns as they head into their main event contest at Extreme Rules, Roman Reigns finally discussing his loss at WrestleMania, and John Cena continuing his weekly open challenges. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode.
Pros
The crowd really gave it to John Cena to open the show, but he eventually got them on his side by utilizing cheap pops (i.e., saying London should get WrestleMania). The Champ once again issued an open challenge, with England’s own Bad News Barrett answering the call this time around. This was a hard-hitting match with both guys utilizing brute force over traditional wrestling moves for the most part. They made Barrett look strong in front of his home-country crowd, as he dominated the action early on and dropped a big elbow from the apron to the floor. Cena turned things around by utilizing a few moves fans don’t see from him often, such as a crossbody from the top rope and even a simple dropkick. Both guys were booked real strong, with Barrett kicking out of an AA and Cena kicking out after being hit by a huge Bull Hammer. Barrett wanted a second Bull Hammer, but Cena countered with a sloppy springboard stunner and an AA for the win.
Great way to start the show, especially after Lana made her return to television to distract Cena while Rusev pounced before announcing that their match at Extreme Rules will be a “Russian Chain Match” (not exactly sure how Russia and chains go together, but okay).
Dolph Ziggler vs. Neville was Match of the Night. Ziggler issued an open challenge before being answered by the upstart former NXT Champion. Neville was flying around the ring early before hitting a standing moonsault on Ziggler before the Show Off hit a DDT that Neville sold like no other. Neville has the type of moveset that could make him a star (especially when he’s busting out moves like a 540 splash after scaling the barricade. Even though Ziggler won with the Zig Zag, Neville looked strong in defeat. I like they way they’ve book Neville so far, and he’s certainly a welcome addition to the main roster. Sheamus attacked both guys after the match as he continues to solidify himself as a heel.
Fans were treated to a match-up between two of the best workers in the company when Randy Orton squared off with Cesaro. The two locked up early before Tyson Kidd interfered and caused Cesaro to lose by disqualification. Kane made an appearance and announced that the match would continue, restarting the contest as a handicap match. The Tag Champs worked over The Viper before the break, and were still in control when it returned. Orton took a lot of damage, including a neckbreaker from Kidd, a European uppercut from Cesaro, and a few kicks to the face. He’d eventually pick up the win, however, after hitting Kidd with an RKO.
The Team Hell No reunion backstage was entertaining and humorous.
Seth Rollins tried to get Kane to lay down for him before he refused and snapped. He chokeslammed Rollins straight to Hell before allowing Rollins to pick up the victory, setting up a confrontation to determine the stipulations for the Extreme Rules main event at the end of the show.
Roman Reigns finally addressed the fans after his loss at WrestleMania. He was brutally honest went he said, “I went to Suplex City.” It wasn’t his best promo (not that there’s an extensive archive of those or anything), but it definitely wasn’t his worst either. He called Big Show Seth’s “giant bitch” before being confronted and called a “bum” (what a devastating burn). This was one of those classic unintentionally humorous WWE segments, with both guys delivering cheesy promos that were littered with corny insults. Big Show attacked Reigns as he was leaving the ring and chokeslammed him onto the roof of the car that was parked at the top of the ramp, likely setting up a match between the two at Extreme Rules.
Finally, the closing segment involving Seth Rollins and Randy Orton was entertaining. Each superstar was permitted to choose a stipulation for the main event at Extreme Rules. Orton was well spoken during his portion of the segment, and Rollins played the slimy, cowardly heel to perfection as always. In the end, Rollins chose to bar the RKO from the main event, while Orton decided to make it a steel cage match to keep The Authority from helping Seth Rollins (because that has worked flawlessly in the past). The show ended with Orton hitting an RKO on one half of J&J while the WWE Champion retreated.
WWE put on a six-man tag-team match as the non-televised post-show dark match after taping RAW at the O2 Arena in London, England on Monday afternoon.
The match saw WWE Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan team up with Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler to take on the trio of Big Show, Sheamus and Luke Harper. The fans at the O2 Arena were said to be as loud and enthusiastic for this match as much as any other on the card.
The finish of the match saw the babyface team pick up the win after Bryan forced Harper to tap out to the “Yes! Lock.”
In a related note, with Lilian Garcia on the sidelines recovering from surgery, NXT Diva Eden handled the ring announcing for RAW this week. Garcia noted on Twitter that she will be live-tweeting with fans when the show airs in its’ regular time slot tonight.
For complete RAW spoilers for tonight, click here.
WWE will be taping tonight’s edition of RAW this afternoon at the O2 Arena in London, England. SEScoops.com will have live spoiler results coverage of the entire taping starting at approximately 2:30pm EST.
Official for tonight’s show is a number one contender Divas battle royal, with the winner earning a shot at WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella at this month’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
Also confirmed for RAW this week is another “U.S. Open Challenge” from WWE United States Champion John Cena, and the possible revelation of who Bray Wyatt has been talking about in his recent promos.
WWE Superstars and Divas advertised to appear at RAW this week include Randy Orton, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Rusev, Kane, Ryback, Paige and The Bella Twins.
WWE is focusing on the following points for this week’s RAW:
– How will The Viper get even with Seth Rollins?
– Could John Cena lose the U.S. Title in the U.K.?
– Which Diva will get the ultimate chance against Nikki Bella?
– Will Sheamus be cut down to size?
– Has The Miz’s spotlight been stolen?
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com at approximately 2:30pm EST. for live spoiler results coverage of WWE RAW!
– WWE talents who were booked to travel to Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday were Seth Rollins, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Ryback, Kane, Joey Mercury, Jamie Noble, Kalisto, Sin Cara, The Ascension, Luke Harper, Goldust, The Bella Twins, Paige, Eden, and Naomi.
– Below is a clip from Chris Jericho’s live podcast interview with John Cena on the WWE Network from Monday night. In the clip, Cena talks to Jericho about his days in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Tonight’s episode of Raw was held in Austin, Texas, and featured the fallout from last week’s epic post-WrestleMania show. Fans saw a new number one contender crowned, John Cena issue another open challenge, and Sheamus solidify himself as a heel. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s Raw.
Pros
The Authority opening segment is something we’ve all seen a million times before, but it actually worked out well this time around. Rollins gloated about his win at WrestleMania, while Big Show put over the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Randy Orton quickly interrupted the segment, declaring his RKO at WrestleMania to be the “most spectacular RKO of my career.” Damn straight, it was. This also set up the first meaningful main event on Raw in what feels like ages, as it was announced that Orton, Ryback, and Reigns would compete in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender at Extreme Rules. (Although wasn’t it already announced that Orton and Rollins would compete in the main event this past week?)
Seth Rollins was scheduled to face an unnamed opponent. As soon as Neville’s music hit, this was pretty much guaranteed to be match of the night. This was fought at a frantic pace for the most part, with both superstars gaining the upper hand at times. Neville utilized a number of aerial maneuvers during the match, including an awesome dive to the floor that saw him land on his feet. Rollins was equally impressive and showed why he’s the champ, as he worked over the NXT newcomer while hitting all of his signature moves. It was funny to hear JBL slip up and say Adrian Neville before quickly correctly himself. (Sorry JBL, they don’t do first names in the WWE anymore.) This had a few amazing sequences near the end including a rollup from Neville and Rollins countering into a powerbomb into the corner in a match that made both guys look good.
There was nobody in the company in more need of a face/heel change than Sheamus. He was as stale as a year-old loaf of bread as a face and cheesy af. His promo tonight was good and he was definitely over with the crowd. He was talking smack and listing off his measurements (he almost made it to his shoe size) before being interrupted by the World’s Strongest Man. The contest itself was pretty entertaining – with Henry tossing Sheamus around to the delight of his hometown crowd during the opening moments of the match. Sheamus countered the World’s Strongest Slam into a stiff Brogue Kick to end an entertaining segment.
The Prime Time Players were humorous during their Ascension parody promo.
This week’s main event was a triple threat match featuring Orton, Reigns, and Ryback. All three superstars were victorious earlier in the night and the winner of the main event would have a chance to challenge Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules. Orton was the star of the show early, hitting powerslams on both Ryback and Reigns. Ryback then took over for a little while and nailed Reigns with a Meat Hook before countering an RKO into a spinebuster. His momentum was brought to a screeching halt after taking a spear from Reigns, however. The Authority approached the ring and Reigns leapt over the top rope to take everyone out. Big Show would make him pay for his actions by hitting him with the knockout punch. The Authority then focused their efforts on taking out the Viper, and Ryback would get rid of J&J before taking an RKO from outta nowhere and losing the match. Orton wouldn’t have any time to celebrate though, as Rollins quickly delivered a Curb Stomp and stood over Orton to end the show. Even if the outcome was never really in doubt, it was nice to see a main event that had some kind of implications on the storyline, and it did something to further the feud between Orton and Rollins, so this has to be considered a positive.
Finally, say what you will about John Cena, but I think putting the United States Championship around his waist was a great idea. We got a quality match with Dean Ambrose last week, and this week was no different with Stardust rolling out to answer the open challenge. These two went together like beer and peanuts and put on an entertaining match. Cena dominated the match for the most part, but Stardust had his moments, such as when he countered an Alabama Slam into a sunset flip early in the contest. Cena showed his strength on multiple occasions by countering Cross Rhodes into a big power slam. In the end, Cena retained by hitting the springboard stunner he’s been using lately and following it up with an AA. Overall, it was a good match and it’s nice to seeing the title being defended on a weekly basis.
The following matches were taped for tonight’s post-WrestleMania 31 edition of WWE SmackDown this past Tuesday in Fresno, California.
– Randy Orton vs. Big Show
– Natalya vs. Naomi
– Roman Reigns interview with Byron Saxton
– The Miz vs. R-Truth
– Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper
– Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
For complete spoilers for tonight’s WWE SmackDown, click here.
Dean Ambrose spoke with TheNational.ae this weekend to promote tonight’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view. Below are highlights from the interview.
On his first WrestleMania as a singles star: “I am looking forward to walking out by myself and not having to worry about anyone else and not being part of a team. This is the first time that the kid who started this and wanted to be a wrestler will be out there by himself at WrestleMania so it is a good feeling.”
On hopes of becoming WWE Intercontinental Champion: “To be in an Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania that is the stuff dreams are made of. And for it to be a ladder match, on this big a stage, with so much adrenaline going on, for me it could not be a better situation.”
On being a popular act overseas: “You get a big reaction from a crowd like that in Abu Dhabi and I wonder how do these people in Abu Dhabi know who I am? It is hard for me to understand I am on television and people around the world watch me every week in a country I have never even been too. I assume when I go to a new country no-one will know who I am because I have never been to that country before so it is cool, like a surreal experience and it is very rewarded and appreciated.”
WrestleMania is right around the corner. Although the build has been a little subpar, it’s still WrestleMania so it should be entertaining. Here’s how yours truly expects it all to play out.
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (Tag Team Champions) vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos
Kidd and Cesaro really deserve better than the pre-show treatment, but hey, what can you do? This is clearly between the Usos and the champs, as the other two teams are simply jobbers eating up space. Expect a few entertaining spots between the two, with Naomi and Natalya ultimately playing a role in the outcome. In the end, the champs will retain after Cesaro pins one of the Usos.
Winners: Kidd & Cesaro by pinfall
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Remember a few weeks back when Stephanie McMahon was on Raw promoting this battle royal as the most important thing since Hogan/Andre at WrestleMania III? So much for that, as it’s now on the pre-show. Hideo Itami has been added to the match after winning a tournament at Axxess over the weekend. I think they will use this as an attempt to put over NXT and increase viewership by having Itami pick up the win after hitting the GTS. Expect Mizdow to eliminate Miz during this one as well to set up a match between the two next month at Extreme Rules.
Winner: Hideo Itami
Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
This could easily be one of the most entertaining matches of the night, as Orton and Rollins are two of the best workers in the business. It will be filled with multiple near-falls, and J&J will undoubtedly try to help Rollins pick up the win. It’s hard to say what the hell they’re doing with this one, especially considering they blew the payoff for Orton weeks ago. I still think Orton wins and it will be a rough night for Mr. Money in the Bank (more on that later).
– Renee Young confirmed on Twitter that she will be working the WrestleMania 31 Kickoff Pre-show this year. She’s also expected to work the Hall of Fame Red Carpet special on Saturday night.
– We are sad to report that longtime WWE graphic designer Patrick McDarby passed away on March 14th at the age of 57. He had been battling cancer. McDarby designed more than 200 logos throughout his career, including the new WWE logo. Our condolences to his family and friends.
– WWE has published this video of Dean Ambrose’s journey to WrestleMania
Even more details are coming out about Brock Lesnar’s new contract with WWE. After making his big announcement earlier this week on Sports Center that he has decided to remain with WWE, Lesnar told the Associated Press that he re-signed for 3 years. According to WWE insider MetsFan4Ever, Lesnar’s deal is for $3 million a year and he’ll continue to work a limited schedule.
WWE writers have been working nonstop with Vince McMahon, Triple H and their inner circle to come up with multiple scenarios for the main event of WrestleMania. According to MetsFan, Vince McMahon is said to be on board with the idea of Lesnar retaining the title, although Lesnar winning is not a sure thing by any means. What’s interesting is that there is finally an understanding amongst WWE’s top brass that Reigns did not get over as they hoped he would.
Internally, there have been some comparisons to Lex Luger, who was pushed to the moon back in 1993 with the Lex Express before WWE ultimately went with Bret Hart. While WWE could still have Reigns win the title on Sunday, WWE is not oblivious to the fact that he’s not getting over like somebody in his position should be. While Luger was relegated to mid-card status after WrestleMania X before jumping ship to WCW, WWE has a lot invested in Reigns and we could see a big shakeup in his character in the coming months. He’s still got a very bright future ahead of him, but management is now more open to Lesnar going over.
MetsFan also says that Dean Ambrose is slated to get a strong push leading into SummerSlam.