This week’s Raw was held in Los Angeles and was the last stop on the Road to WrestleMania. Sting once again made an appearance, Lesnar and Reigns finally came face-to-face, and the company did everything in its power to hype the biggest wrestling event of the year. With WrestleMania less than a week away, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler with Dean Ambrose as the special referee? Count me in any time, any day. When you get two ring generals together, expect a technical affair and that’s exactly what fans were treated to. The two tested each other’s strength at the beginning, with Bryan coming out on top after focusing on Ziggler’s elbow. The Show Off quickly turned the tables, however, dropping a big elbow onto Bryan’s chest for a one-count as the Intercontinental Championship hanged over the ring. This resembled a puroresu match with slaps to the face, stiff moves, and fast-paced action. The show went to commercial after both men toppled into the timekeeper’s area. After the break, Ziggler had Bryan locked into a sleeper before Bryan drove him into the corner to break the hold. Bryan nearly picked up the victory with an awesome German suplex pin before heading to the top rope – a decision that quickly backfired after Dolph hit the ropes but failed to connect with a superplex. He’d quickly recover and drive Bryan’s face into the mat from the top rope for another two-count. In the end, Bryan hit his signature dropkick into the corner and went for a second before Ziggler countered with one of the stiffest superkicks you’ll ever see and followed it up with the Zig-Zag for the win in a superb match. The Lunatic Fringe didn’t let him celebrate his victory for long though, hitting Ziggler with Dirty Deeds before pulling out a ladder and attempting to retrieve the title from above the ring before all of the competitors entered the ring to brawl. This match was the highlight of the night, and the ladder match on Sunday will probably be the highlight of WrestleMania.
They really needed to ditch the boring opening segments featuring The Authority, and thankfully they did so tonight by having Sting open the show. The Franchise discussed all of the ways Triple H snaked his way to the top of the company, but conveniently left out sleeping with the boss’s daughter. He made it clear that he wasn’t “fighting for WCW,” but simply to “take Triple H down.” Stephanie McMahon confronted Sting and the two went back and forth, hurling insults at one another in an entertaining segment. After Sting blocked Steph’s attempted slap, The Game came to the ring to confront his opponent on Sunday, with Sting warding off the sledgehammer-wielding Triple H with his signature black bat. Overall, it was a great way to open the show, hype the match for Sunday, and it was nice to see them finally cut Sting loose on the mic.
Snoop D-O-Double-Gizzle doing his best Godfather impersonation before being interrupted by #Axelmania. The man himself finally made a completely unexpected appearance to confront his imitator. It was an awesome, hilarious segment. #Hulkamania
The Intercontinental Championship match was once again prominently featured, as four of the participants in Sunday’s ladder match competed in the first match of the night. Ambrose and R-Truth teamed together to face Luke Harper and Stardust with Bad News Barrett on commentary. Harper and Ambrose worked very well together to start the match, with Ambrose hitting a nice bulldog before clearing the ring with the help of his partner. After the break, Stardust worked over Ambrose and hit an Alabama Slam before once again ceding control to his partner. The commentary team was surprisingly entertaining during this one with Barrett and Booker T trading barbs. After taking a beating and kicking out of multiple near-falls, Ambrose came back with a tornado DDT and hit up R-Truth with the hot tag. The faces dominated from there and R-Truth picked up the victory via pinfall after hitting his leaping reverse STO finisher. Ambrose and Truth danced together after the contest to conclude an entertaining opening half hour of the show.
Finally, Nikki Bella offered a Divas Championship match to either Paige or AJ Lee in an attempt to create a divide between her opponents on Sunday. After much debate, Paige decided she would take the title shot. The Divas have been putting on some decent matches over the past few weeks, and they continued their streak of quality matches this week. This one featured a few believable near-falls, they were given a lot of time (by Divas standards), and the ending at least did something to create intrigue for the tag match on Sunday by having AJ cost Paige the title.
Dean Ambrose recently spoke with Mike Jones of DC 101 to promote WrestleMania 31. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The IC Title Ladder Match At WrestleMania: “When you add in the guys that are in the match, and the stage that it’s on, WrestleMania, and it’s a lot of guys with a lot of chips on their shoulder this year that have worked hard for this moment. We’re all going to do our best to shine and steal the show, and when you get into a ladder match, that’s a lot of tools to work with.”
Bringing Prestige Back To The IC Title: “To me, I think it’s very easy to remedy. If I’m the Intercontinental Champion, or Dolph Ziggler, or Daniel Bryan is the Intercontinental Champion. To me it’s like, any one of those three are the best wrestlers on the planet and can main event any show in the world with the Intercontinental Championship match.”
The Dangers Of Ladder Matches: “The adrenaline in front of 70,000 people is pretty indescribable, you pretty much do anything. I’ve done some of the worst, most abusive things to my body and taken the biggest risks you can possibly imagine for almost no money on very small stages for no other reason than just because.”
If Roman Reigns Can Handle Being In The Main Event Of WrestleMania: “There’s no way to prepare for a situation like that other than experience and the only way you get experience is by experiencing stuff. I think he’ll be fine. That’s a hell of a position to be put in, main event of WrestleMania, considering he’s only been wrestling since 2010 or 11, that’s the first time he stepped in the ring. So if you consider the learning curve that he’s had to deal with it’s amazing that’s he at this point. Only way you find out if you’re ready to do anything is just to do it!”
This week’s episode of Raw was held in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena, and it was anything but money. With less than two weeks until WrestleMania, one would think the action would be heating up, but that wasn’t really the case. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Once again, Paul Heyman was the highlight of Raw. He appeared solo to hype the main event of WrestleMania and kicked off the third hour of the show. Heyman declared that Brock Lesnar is not a “pacifist” but a “conqueror.” The best in the biz questioned what would happen after Lesnar violates the parameters of the match and said fans are “stuck with Brock Lesnar as your WWE Champion.” It was an entertaining promo, and it’s nice to see at least one person is putting in work to hype the biggest match of the year. Reigns appeared but was totally out of his league as the crowd booed him. It wasn’t even a terrible promo, honestly, but it would’ve been much more intense if he had delivered it while standing toe-to-toe with the Beast Incarnate. That confrontation is at least supposed to happen next week, or so they say.
If you were on the Internet at all during the day, you probably knew Sting was photographed in Des Moines. The final match between Orton and Rollins never took place, with The Authority surrounding the ring as Orton wielded a chair. The entire crowd was chanting, “We want Sting” from the start and it was totally obvious he was going to make the save. With that said, it was still awesome to see him appear and hit J&J with a Stinger Splash while teaming up with The Viper. I don’t know about Cole’s assertion that it was “one of the greatest moments in Raw history,” but it was a good way to end the show and actually hype a few of the matches leading into WrestleMania.
The six-man tag featured the best wrestling action of the night. Ambrose and Stardust started the match and worked well together, with Ambrose hitting a big bulldog at one point. Bryan then entered the ring and worked over Stardust by using a surfboard that he turned into a pinning combination. After the break, Ambrose was back in the ring, this time with Luke Harper. The Lunatic Fringe had the upper hand after a tornado DDT before tagging in Dolph Ziggler. The faces dominated the action early, but Barrett eventually entered the fray and turned the tables for a bit. After a second commercial break, Ambrose made a blind tag and picked up the win after the action broke down, hitting Dirty Deeds after an excellent counter of the Bull Hammer Elbow. It was a good match, and they continue to hype this ladder match, which is always a plus.
It was good to see Mark Henry back on Raw, as he declared his intention to enter the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal before clearing house. Axel was entertaining during this segment as well.
AJ Lee and Nikki Bella squared off in the opening contest while Brie and Paige looked on at ringside. They were given a good bit of time and put on an entertaining match, even if the action was a bit sloppy at times. AJ locked in an impressive guillotine choke before being driven into the turnbuckle by Nikki. She later rallied and took down Nikki with a nice lateral crossbody. Nikki finally picked up the win with the Rack Attack after knocking AJ out following a distraction. It was a decent opening match and if nothing else, it was something new.
I guess the Brock Lesnar interview could be considered a pro, if only because he appeared on television and actually spoke. Lesnar said WrestleMania is a “day that I get to show up, kick somebody’s ass, and get paid to do so.” With that said, he needed to be in attendance instead of wasting his limited appearances by having his show up and look bored out of his mind. There is zero heat between Lesnar and Reigns, as they have yet to come face-to-face and it will be one week until the biggest main event of the year on next week’s Raw. Lesnar isn’t the best speaker, but he’s not terrible by any means. Have these guys face off and speak their minds to build this match up.
This week’s episode of Raw was held in the greatest city in the world: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Brock Lesnar made his return, the Viper finally decided to strike, and Bray Wyatt received an answer regarding his challenge to the Undertaker. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Paul Heyman’s promo was the highlight of the night, and boy was it a highlight. In what was quite possibly one of the greatest promos of all-time, Heyman put just about everyone within a thousand-mile radius on blast. He criticized the Reigns video package that aired before he entered the ring, calling it, “nothing short of sheer propaganda” while calling Reigns’ father “one generation removed from cannibal.” He also addressed the Lesnar UFC controversy, saying that no one will take the title from Lesnar and that the Beast would gladly unify the WWE and UFC Championships over the summer if he chooses to do so. He later mentioned the Montreal Screwjob and said that anyone who tries to screw over Lesnar would not leave the arena alive. In all, the promo was a borderline shoot that perfectly blurred the line between fantasy and reality. He really did everything he could to put the main event at WrestleMania over, and he definitely succeeded.
Daniel Bryan vs. Bad News Barrett was a good match with both guys displaying strong fundamentals. Bryan hit the running high knee from out of nowhere for the win after failing to put away Barrett with a backslide. Bad News got the upper hand on Bryan after the match, however, hitting him with a Bull Hammer before being laid out by Dean Ambrose. It was a solid opening contest and a good way to further hype the ladder match at WrestleMania.
Connor “The Crusher” Michalek will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as the first recipient of the newly created “Warrior Award.” This company gives fans plenty of reasons to complain, but even the most cynical fan can’t help but praise them for this move.
Dean Ambrose squared off against Stardust in the second match of the night. The action was largely uneventful, with Ambrose picking up the win after a big clothesline and Dirty Deeds. This goes into the “Pros” column largely due to the post-match brawl, with all of the competitors in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match getting in on the fun. It’s nice to see the company making this into a big deal, and Barrett getting duped by a phony IC strap was also somewhat amusing.
Rusev quickly squashed Curtis Axel and then proceeded to talk some smack on the good ‘ole US of A. Cena had warned him beforehand not to do so in a nationalist rant prior to the match, but the Russian decided to press his luck. Cena absolutely destroyed Rusev, causing him to pass out twice in the STF. Lana granted Cena his rematch in an attempt to call off the dogs. Cena then stood up with an absolutely evil glare on his face, which was actually a nice change of pace. I’d like to see a darker, more ruthless side of Cena as they head into their rematch at WrestleMania.
The opening segment was pretty entertaining, all things considered. Noble sounded like a fool, leading Rollins to declare that they are “J&J Security, not J&J Public Speaking.” Orton was the star of this segment, however, as he went down the line and ripped everyone a new one. He said what we’ve all been thinking for months by calling Kane the “Devil’s Favorite Dumbass,” and continued by insulting Big Show, Rollins, and J&J. It was a solid opening to the show and the crowd seemed to be into it.
The Divas make an appearance in the “Pros” column this week after a solid match between AJ Lee and Summer Rae. They were given about five minutes and the match featured some decent action, with AJ eventually picking up the win with the Black Widow. It didn’t set the world on fire, but it’s definitely an improvement over what we’re used to in the main roster Divas division. I also thought the Bella Twins’ Flintstones outfits were kind of cute.
And, in a shocking turn of events, the Divas are back for an encore. Naomi and Natalya weren’t given much time at all, but the action was solid, with the highlight being Naomi’s excellent counter of the Sharpshooter. I wish this one would have been a little longer, but it served its purpose by advancing the tag team feud and getting the Divas more exposure.
Bray Wyatt finally got his answer after weeks of provoking the Undertaker. After cutting a nice promo, the lights went out and ‘Taker’s music hit. From there, a message appeared on the big screen that said, “At WrestleMania, the man comes around.” Lightning then struck Wyatt’s chair, causing Wyatt to laugh maniacally as it burned. It was the perfect way to have the Dead Man accept Wyatt’s challenge without giving fans too much.
– Dolph Ziggler is now officially added to the WWE Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania 31. Other participants confirmed for the match include Bad News Barrett, Luke Harper, R-Truth and Dean Ambrose.
– WWE has officially announced Big Show and Kane as the newest entrants in this year’s Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31. With those two added, the following is the updated list of participants, which as noted, is expected to feature 20 competitors in total.
* The Miz
* Curtis Axel
* Ryback
* Fandango
* Adam Rose
* Zack Ryder
* Jack Swagger
* Titus O’Neil
* Darren Young
* Big Show
* Kane
– WWE announcer Renee Young recently confirmed that she is dating Dean Ambrose. When asked about the rumor during an appearance on the Gorilla Position podcast, she said:
“It’s true, yes. I can’t give away too much, because we are very private about our relationship because we respect it. We don’t need people knowing about it or caring what we’re doing – I’m not going to post pictures of us on the internet… but people berate me no matter what I post on the internet. [I hear:] ‘Tell us about Dean, we hate you!’”
Raw emanated from the Garden State this week, but it was certainly no walk in the park for Seth Rollins. Fans were treated to two title matches during the show, as well as a special appearance from Jon Stewart. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The highlight of the night was Seth Rollins’ phony “Daily Show.” He immediately insulted the crowd by calling Newark the “armpit of America” before recapping his appearance on the real deal last Thursday. Mr. Money in the Bank had J&J rolling with a few corny jokes, while pondering the whereabouts of Mr. Stewart. His question was quickly answered, as Stewart showed up to a nice pop from the crowd. Stewart ripped on Rollins hard while displaying his knowledge of legends past in an absolutely hilarious segment that ended with Stewart delivering a swift kick to Rollins’ nuts. Entertaining top-of-the-hour segment, and it should provide a bit of crossover buzz heading into WrestleMania.
Triple H was so intense during his promo this week, and as always, his delivery was solid. Hunter took a few shots at the “kids” who think they know the backstage politics of the business, while threating: “I will make sure it is as if Sting’s career never existed.” Booker T’s involvement in the segment was refreshing and something new, even if it meant seeing The Game almost hand the five-time champ his walking papers.
Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper went into the “Pros” column before it even started. When you get two guys with this kind of talent in the same ring, it’s almost impossible to disappoint. Even though they weren’t given much time at all, the two worked a stiff match that saw both superstars take their fair share of abuse. Bryan was unceremoniously dumped over the top rope to the floor at one point, but was eventually able to counter a modified crossface into the Yes! Lock for the win. Following the match, Ambrose, Harper, Barrett, Ziggler, and R-Truth, all attempted to walk away with the Intercontinental Championship while Bryan looked on. It looks like our lineup for the WrestleMania ladder match is basically set.
It was a pleasant surprise to see Seth Rollins open the show, as he hyped his confrontation with Jon Stewart later in the night. He of course talked a little smack, saying: “Unlike the Daily Show where they give away their tickets for free, every single person in a seat tonight paid to see Seth Rollins.” The only downside to this segment was the involvement of Roman Reigns. He arrived, said a few words that weren’t exactly memorable, performed his two signature moves, and basically stood in the ring hoping to be cheered (he failed miserably, in case you’re wondering). It’s sad that even when the the company is using New Jersey’s own Jon Stewart to get Rollins heat, the crowd still universally boos the thought of Reigns becoming champion. Overall, it seemed like another lame attempt to get Reigns over, but Rollins was money.
The Miz “Niagara” commercial was on point. I loved Mizdow’s involvement in the backstage segment and commercial.
There weren’t many spots during the Ambrose/Barrett match, but it was pleasant. Most of the exciting action took place outside of the ring, with Ambrose diving through the middle ropes to take out Barrett and later delivering a big elbow from the ring apron. He eventually picked up the win after hitting Dirty Deeds following a distraction. It’s nice to see the company getting multiple midcarders involved in this Intercontinental Championship ladder match (including Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, probably Daniel Bryan as well). With that said, it is absolutely cringeworthy hearing JBL and Cole interact with R-Truth on commentary.
Alundra Blayze was announced as the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame. That’s cool, I guess.
Finally, John Cena cut his usual “inspirational” promo this week. It’s obvious Cena doesn’t possess the necessary credentials to warrant inclusion into the prestigious Andre the Giant Battle Royal, and Stephanie of course quickly shot down his hopes. The two engaged in their typical banter to start the nine o’clock hour. Stephanie declaring, “For once, I actually like this chant” when referring to the Yes! chant was humorous.
Axel was easily the MVP of this segment though, and the crowd was eating it up big time. The two followed up the segment with a quick match, with Cena quickly forcing Axel to tap out to the STF. Rusev once again denied Cena his rematch following the match, keeping us all on edge as to whether this will match occur at WrestleMania.
– The following matches were taped on Tuesday night in Atlanta, Georgia for tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown on the SyFy Network:
– Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz
– Naomi vs. Natalya
– Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan in a non-title match
– Curtis Axel vs. Fandango
– Goldust vs. Adam Rose
– Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Erick Rowan vs. Seth Rollins, Big Show, and Kane
– The following press release was sent out today regarding Jim Ross’ one-man show during WrestleMania weekend …
PinUp Productions is proud to present RINGSIDE: An Afternoon with Jim Ross Saturday March 28th at the Rockbar Theater at 360 Saratoga Avenue San Jose, CA 95129. Tickets are currently on sale on TicketWeb and at the Rockbar Theater Box Office.
There will be a pre-show meet and greet for VIP ticket holders. The meet & greet runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Doors open for General Admission ticket holders at 12 p.m. with the show beginning at 1 p.m.
Known to sports entertainment fans around the world as the Voice of Professional Wrestling, “Good Ol’ J.R.” has nearly done it all.
From sports entertainment executive to New York Times Bestselling Author, to enduring the struggle of Bell’s palsy and even playing the role of entrepreneur with his own barbeque sauce brand, Jim Ross has certainly worn many hats. But, come March 28th, he will puts on his most famous hat: a 200X Resistol when he takes the stage for a matinee performance to share his life story.
As one of the most influential sports executives of the past 40 years, J.R. has been welcomed into the homes of millions of viewers each and every week. His cool yet dry Southern charm became the soundtrack for wrestling’s most memorable clashes in the sport’s rich history. J.R.’s tales of the road and personal anecdotes featuring some of wrestling’s most legendary stars will have you howling with laughter.
After a successful performances around the world including the United Kingdom, Manhattan and most recently in Philadelphia, J.R. will bring his one-man show to San Jose for a special matinee performance: sharing his stories with wrestling fans in the intimate setting of the Rockbar Theater on March 28th, 2015.
The event will also feature a no holds barred question and answer session with J.R. where the fans become the stars!
Listen to the Ross Report with Jim Ross on PodcastOne to learn more about this event.
“Like” RINGSIDE with Jim Ross on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/JimRossLIVE
Follow Jim Ross on Twitter: @JRsBBQ
Visit Jim Ross online at: http://jrsbarbq.com
WWE is gearing up for their annual post-WrestleMania European tour, with the following matches being advertised:
The “A-Crew” will be headlined by John Cena vs. Rusev for the United States Championship, Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship and Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins.
For other touring roster will feature Roman Reigns vs. Big Show in the main event, Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper and Tag Team Champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. The Usos.
While this doesn’t reveal anything big about what could transpire at WrestleMania, it does give an idea of which feuds will be continuing.
WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose recently spoke with The Asbury Park Press to promote the March 2nd edition of RAW in the area. Below are highlights from the interview.
On his first WrestleMania experience last year: “It’s always trippy for me to be in front of that many people because it’s just kind of hard to understand. Like, wrestling in front of 20 people or 100 people can be a little weird, but wrestling in front of a sold out ‘Monday Night Raw,’ 13,000 people, it’s kind of above your scope of understanding people. It’s just kind of this big, giant mass of noise. So actually, in a lot of ways, it’s easier. But it’s cool to feel the electricity going on in the towns right around this time, getting ready to go out in front of 80,000 people at WrestleMania, and that’s what you look forward to every year.”
“Coming out at the 50-yard line at MetLife Stadium and feeling the rumble of 80,000 people for the first time at WrestleMania 29 was something that I’ll never forget, and that was right there (in East Rutherford), so it’s a good place to be to get in the right mental state for WrestleMania.”
On not being a traditional heel or babyface: “I’m just trying to go out there and just do what I do authentically and just be me, and do things the way I want to do them and look at the world the way I want to look at it. If people like it, cool, I appreciate that, and if you don’t, I don’t care.”
“I’m maybe the only guy who might have that attitude. But I’m the only guy who can get away with stuff that would be despicable, deplorable stuff if done by anybody else, but done by me it’s a little bit different. I’m not squeaky clean and I’m not a cookie-cutter pretty boy or anything, so I don’t want to try to portray that and I’m not going to do things that way. If you like me, cool. If you don’t, then I really could care less.”
– While he did mention the name Rusev on Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart did not reference his current angle with Seth Rollins.
– The dark match main event after Monday’s RAW saw Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and John Cena beat Big Show, Kane, Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins. The finish saw Reigns hit a spear on Big Show, with Cena following up with an Attitude Adjustment for the 1-2-3.
Raw was held in Nashville this week as the build to WrestleMania continues. The event featured a Tag Team Championship match, a few promos, and a bunch of other stuff that wasn’t really music to most fans’ ears. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
As soon as they announced the Usos were planning to invoke their rematch clause, it was obvious fans were going to be in for another treat. As one would expect, the action was fast paced and frequently spilled over to ringside. Kidd’s heel work has been top notch over the past few weeks, frequently using his wife as a human shield in order to gain an upper hand.
The Tag Champs work so well together too, using combination moves such as a catapult into a big uppercut, and a Cesaro swing into a dropkick. Although the match didn’t end clean, it featured some solid action and was probably the highlight of the night. Kidd and Cesaro are the best team in the WWE by far right now. They should get these guys some merch and push them to the moon.
I loved the backstage segment between the Miz and Damien Mizdow. It was awesome (no pun intended) to hear the Miz talk up the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and act like a win would elevate his career to new heights. (That worked out real well for Cesaro last year.)
Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler was a decent opening match. There were honestly only a handful of wrestling moves utilized throughout the match, with most of the action consisting of punches, rest holds, and brawling action outside of the ring. With that said, there were a few impressive sequences. Ziggler countered Wasteland twice, once into a DDT and another into a sunset flip. The sequence where Barrett ended up hitting Winds of Change was also nice.
The Show Off picked up the win after hitting the Zig Zag, allowing for Ambrose to show up and taunt Barrett with his Intercontinental Championship before staring Ziggler down. What are the chances that Barrett never touches his beloved title again? I’d usually say it’s about as likely as the Cubs winning the World Series this season, but they actually decided to crack open the checkbook over the winter so that might not be the best analogy.
#Axelmania. Enough said.
The Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns promo was one of the more interesting moments all night. It was nice to see Daniel Bryan once again acting as the voice of the fans, saying, “The biggest Roman Reigns doubter is right here in Daniel Bryan,” while also echoing fan sentiments regarding Reigns only being in the main event because of his size and look. At the same time, he also put Reigns over for winning the match, ending the segment with a handshake.
Heyman’s interaction with Reigns was also intriguing, as he said he would put his money on Reigns over anyone, including guys like Hogan, Austin, and the Rock – anyone except Brock Lesnar, of course. Reigns was confident and composed during the back and forth with Heyman as he continues to improve on the mic. It’s easy to picture these two guys hooking up in the near future.
The Bray Wyatt promo was more of the same, but still entertaining nonetheless. I can’t wait for the Undertaker to show up respond to Wyatt’s challenge.
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.
– Dean Ambrose left the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee on Sunday night with the WWE Intercontinental Title, however he failed to become champion. Ambrose was disqualified in his match with the current Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett, however after the match, Ambrose attacked Barrett and stole his title. This likely sets the stage for an Ambrose vs. Barrett match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31.
– Rusev defeated John Cena to retain the WWE United States Championship at Sunday night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view. The finish came when a series of circumstances led to Cena passing out in The Accolade.
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.
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.
– Former hardcore wrestler Drake Younger, who now works at a referee in NXT, is featured in a new article on the official WWE website. The article features comments from Dean Ambrose and William Regal. In the story, Younger, real name Drake Wuertz, comments on working as a referee after so many years as an in-ring performer.
“It’s cool to be out there as the third person in the ring. What is gratifying to me is when you come back after a match and a talent is like, ‘You really helped me a lot, you made a difference. I couldn’t have done it without you.’ That’s more gratifying than anything I’ve done as a wrestler. I couldn’t ask for a better job.”
– Dolph Ziggler, John Cena and other WWE performers visited the sports and entertainment venue “Yas Marina Circuit” in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Below are some photos and clips of Ziggler and Cena driving fast cars while at the venue.
– WWE’s new “The Destruction of The Shield” Blu-ray that is scheduled to be released soon will feature two deleted scenes that were originally reported as DVD extras — a look at the Dean Ambrose vs. William Regal feud, and a look at Roman Reigns in FCW as Leakee.
– WWE announcer Scott Stanford has been nominated for a New York Emmy Award in the “Daily or Weekly Sports Program” category for his work with New York City’s PIX11 Sports Desk program. Stanford was also nominated in the news anchors category. The awards will be announced on May 2nd.
– Vince McMahon recently tweeted out the following trailer for the movie “Trainwreck,” which features John Cena.
– After Stardust walked out on Goldust during a match on SmackDown last night, WWE.com is teasing if brothers will be splitting up:
“Whether Gold & Stardust’s recent troubles can be chalked up to a sibling drama, competitive tag team partners frustrated with losing or something deeper, only time will tell if a breakup is written in the stars for the talented tag team partners. Don’t miss Raw this Monday night at 8/7c to see what’s next for Gold & Stardust.”
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett tweeted the following about his new TMZ-inspired “BNZ” segment:
#BNZ. First for gossip, WWE breaking news, and Superstar scandals. Stay tuned.
– Courtesy of WrestlingDVDNews.com, Seth Rollins talks about his FCW feud with former Shield member Dean Ambrose from WWE’s upcoming “Destruction of The Shield” DVD and Blu-ray that comes out on February 17th:
– WWE noted on RAW that the new Immortals mobile video game was the #1 iPad game during its opening weekend. They announced last week that the game had 2.7 million downloads through that first weekend.
– WWE Hall of Famers Trish Stratus and Lita are continuing their “Team Bestie Tour” with a live appearance on May 23rd during the Women In Pro Wrestling Fan Expo at the Coastline Convention Center in Wilmington, NC. For tickets, visit TrishStratus.com.
– WWE fans who took advantage of the free WWE Network month in November but did not renew are able to get this month for free. Also, users previously canceled their subscriptions are also allowed to sign up for the free month.
– WrestlingDVDNews.com has released the following clip of Dean Ambrose talking about his experience working with The Undertaker from WWE’s upcoming “Destruction of The Shield” DVD and Blu-ray that comes out on February 17th:
After being postponed last week due to snow, the good ole live, in-ring version of Raw was back last night, emanating from the Mile High City. The company was back in full force, with Triple H making a “major announcement” and a big main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The clear highlight of the night was the main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Anytime you get two guys with this type of talent in the same ring, you know you’re in for a treat. They certainly didn’t disappoint either, pulling off a number of impressive spots and exhibiting impeccable chemistry. The spot of the match was probably Rollins countering Bryan’s Running Knee finisher into a Powerbomb. In the end, Bryan picked up the win and will face Roman Reigns at Fast Lane for a chance to go to WrestleMania (more on this later).
The second best part of the night was probably the segment involving Curtis Axel and Dean Ambrose. It’s sad when the first thing Axel has to say when coming out is, “Don’t change the channel.” It’s like he’s a mind reader or something. Anyway, it was hilarious to see Ambrose quickly toss Axel over the top rope before telling him he’s now eliminated. Even more exciting was that Ambrose called out Bad News Barrett. This is a program that really needs to happen, as Ambrose is the type of guy who could bring some prestige back to the Intercontinental Title after the company has played hot potato with it over the past few years.
Bray Wyatt had a big night. His match with Dolph Ziggler was incredible, and it was nice to see two guys who don’t work together much get a chance to shine. Wyatt hit a devastating Sister Abigail that Ziggler sold better than anyone to end the match. Later in the night, he cut a promo saying things like, “I am the new face of fear” and, “We cannot wait to see you again.” It looks like they are going with the rumored Wyatt/Taker program for WrestleMania and I, for one, cannot wait. If only they had gone this route last year instead of wasting the streak on a part-timer…
Rusev’s beating of Rowan and post-match promo was money. I absolutely love this guy and he played off of the Russian flag miscue perfectly. Please push this guy to the top and don’t feed him to Cena.
Jimmy Uso and Cesaro looked great together. The highlights were a Cesaro Swing into a Half Crab and a brutal uppercut to end the contest. It was nice to see Cesaro pick up a victory, but the only downside was that they are already teasing tension between Cesaro and Kidd. I’d like to see these guys stick together for a while and get a run with the titles.
Finally, the Miz/Mizdow promo was absolutely hilarious. It was nice to see the Miz berate his now former stunt double and put the wheels in motion for a breakup. Here’s to hoping for a payoff at WrestleMania.
– On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Denver, Colorado it was announced that on this week’s WWE SmackDown show, which returns to its’ normal Friday time slot on the SyFy Network, The Miz will host a special edition of “MizTV” with his guests being Roman Reigns, and the man he will face at the Fast Lane pay-per-view, Daniel Bryan.
– On part one of this week’s three-part RAW Fallout, Curtis Axel continues to campaign for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Brock Lesnar. You can check out the video below.
– On part two of this week’s RAW Fallout, Bad News Barrett responds to Dean Ambrose’s challenge for a shot at the WWE Intercontinental Championship. You can check that one out below.
– Finally, in the third and final installment of this week’s RAW Fallout, an embarrassed Paige warns The Bella Twins that their “war” is not over yet. Check that one out below.