The following are highlights of a recent Jim Ross Q&A update:
On the reason WWE is so overprotective of John Cena: “Protecting someone in Cena’s position isn’t something that is new but one could argue in hindsight that WWE might have gone too far with it on Sunday night.”
On the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane match at Extreme Rules: “Both men really worked hard and if one likes stunts and special effects of a match they provided it.”
On the team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas: “Very good in ring team who arguably were underutilized in hindsight.”
On whether or not guys like Triple H & CM Punk were pushed by WWE because they aren’t drug addicts: “It’s a common sense and professional matter….abusing drugs simply makes no sense and the unprofessional and childish behavior of the party boy group never helped any company. HHH was a model locker room talent from day one.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The Friday, May 2nd Extreme Rules “go-home” edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.67, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 1.67 final draw marks a pretty big decrease compared to the 1.77 rating that the show drew the previous week.
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.271 million viewers, which was down from the 2.670 million viewers who tuned in the week prior.
– The kid who played “Little Johnny” during the Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena steel cage match at Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view was the son of Jameson, a former WWE character who at one point co-hosted the “Bobby Heenan Show” on the USA Network.
– Short Sleeve Sampson apparently received massive heat from WWE for posting a photo on his official Facebook account prior to last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The reason is because the photo had John Cena with Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in the background going over their match.
Short Sleeve Sampson was the midget who played “Jerry Smaller” on the mini-commentary team during the WWE Extreme Rules pre-show “WeeLC” match on Sunday night.
Other midgets involved in the match were Shovelhead Chuck, a Pennsylvania-based independent midget wrestler and Rob Araujo, a midget wrestler who regularly works for Northeast Championship Wrestling. Chuck played “Micro Cole” and Araujo played “JB-Elf.”
As previously reported, WWE has been considering a “Buried Alive” match between Daniel Bryan and Kane as the main event of the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st. As noted, they even set the stage for such a match by having Kane sit-up after the match last night at Extreme Rules.
According to one source, it looks like the Bryan-Kane match is on, as it looks like Batista will be sticking around for Payback, but will not be working with Bryan in the main event as WWE originally hoped.
The other expected main event at Payback is a rematch between The Shield and Evolution.
According to one source, the television main event for tonight’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW will be The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield, with Evolution as the guest timekeepers.
Already announced, as previously reported, is a 20-man battle royal for the WWE United States Championship.
– The Friday, May 2nd WWE Extreme Rules “go-home” edition of WWE SmackDown averaged 2.271 million viewers, which was down from the 2.670 million viewers who tuned in the previous week.
– The “John Cena sucks” singing chants broke out again at the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Sunday night. You can check out footage of the chants, as well as the fans clapping along to The Wyatt Family’s entrance below.
As previously reported, the original plan was for Batista to take some time off from WWE after tonight’s Extreme Rules show, as he was not scheduled on any upcoming WWE events past the pay-per-view. Apparently, those plans have changed.
The latest word going around backstage at Extreme Rules tonight is that Batista has agreed to stick around through the next pay-per-view, which is WWE Payback. Originally the plan was for Batista to work a program with Daniel Bryan, one that would culminate with the two competing for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Payback, however there’s talk now that the program between Evolution and The Shield — which Batista is a key part of — may continue past tonight’s show.
As previously reported, WWE is still looking to convince Batista to work a program with Daniel Bryan for the main event of the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view. If those plans fail, WWE already set the stage for their alternative option.
WWE’s “plan B” for the Payback show is to have Daniel Bryan vs. Kane in a Buried Alive match. WWE set things in motion to go that direction at Extreme Rules, as that was said to be the reason that Kane sat-up at the finish of last night’s main event. The feeling was that they needed that last scene in case they are forced to go in that direction.
Batista is scheduled for tonight’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW, which emanates from Albany, New York. According to reports, hours before The Shield vs. Evolution match last night, nothing had been settled as far as plans for Batista going forward.
As previously reported, the original plan was for a Batista vs. Daniel Bryan main event at the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view, however Batista turned that idea down. Apparently Vince McMahon and other WWE officials were less than pleased with Batista changing their plans for the show, however McMahon is still looking to talk Batista into doing the program with Bryan before taking his hiatus.
– WWE will return to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey for a non-televised live event on Friday, September 26th. The pre-sale code for tickets to the event is IZODWWE.
– The infamous Dolphins1925 missed one match in his predictions for Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Much like the online betting websites, Dolphins picked Evolution to defeat The Shield.
– Kane visited the Maynard Elementary school earlier this month in Tennesee, speaking to kids and teaching them math. The local news station out of Knoxville has an article up with footage of Kane’s visit, which you can check out at WATE.com.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on last night’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Overall Grade:“I’d give the overall grade of Extreme Rules a B+. I enjoyed it by and large and anyone who complains about the efforts of the talents is misguided IMO. Of course, creative can always be second guessed and is on every pro wrestling, TV event by every company. ”
Cesaro’s Potential: “Enjoyed Cesaro-Swagger-RVD elimination three way which was MUCH better than the usual Triple Threat Match. The right guy won as Cesaro is going to be a top level player and with @HeymanHustle will elevate Cesaro to star status.”
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt: “Thought the cage match was a little too long. Also, didn’t like all the outside interference inside the cage. WWE worked very hard to protect Cena’s image when it’s strong enough to sustain a loss to a new star (Bray Wyatt). Admire how hard the talents worked but the finish was a head scratcher although I’m curious as to where this is going because as of right now I have no idea.”
On paper, last night’s card seemed like nothing to write home about. After all, Daniel Bryan was defending his title against a superstar who peaked a decade ago, Bray Wyatt and John Cena were meeting in a rematch from WrestleMania, and other than Evolution vs. the Shield, the rest of the matches seemed like they could turn out to be throwaway contests. The event was basically the furthest thing from a throwaway, however, as it was a well-executed pay-per-view that was filled with worthwhile matches.
The Hounds of Justice stole the show during the match of the night.
Evolution vs. the Shield was the clear highlight of the night, as expected. Each superstar involved in the match put on an excellent show, but the star of the match was without a doubt Seth Rollins. While Triple H, Randy Orton, and Dean Ambrose were battling in the crowd, Rollins dove from the top of the entranceway to take out his Evolution foes, allowing for Roman Reigns to handle Batista in the ring and secure a Shield victory. The match was perfectly executed and is an immediate match of the year contender.
The main event between Daniel Bryan and Kane greatly exceeded expectations. This one seemed like it could be forgettable, as the outcome was never really in doubt and Kane is not exactly a main event superstar anymore. However, both superstars performed well together and the backstage spots were something that resembled contests from the Attitude Era.
In the end, the match even involved a flaming table, although the crew botched this spot a bit by running in with the extinguishers before Kane was even on fire, but hey, what can you do? Overall, it was a great culmination to the night and certainly much better than I was anticipating.
Here are some live notes from Sunday night’s WWE Extreme Rules PPV from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey:
– The crowd was very rowdy in person. The biggest pops of the evening went to:
1) Paul Heyman & Cesaro, both of whom got a mix of cheers and boos. Cesaro is really getting over with good booking and Paul Heyman representing him.
2) Daniel Bryan, who still has very strong support from the WWE Universe
3) The child that ‘Followed the Buzzards’ at the end of John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
4) The Shield
The superstars that drew the most negative heat:
1) John Cena, by a long shot. The crowd seemed to have fewer young fans than usual, which was definitely a factor.
2) Kane, especially the spot where he failed to throw the steel chair into the ring.
3) Batista, who got a lot of ‘Boo-tista’ heat.
– A new WWE Intercontinental Champion was crowned at the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. After advancing through to the finals of the recent I-C title tournament, Bad News Barrett defeated Big E. to become the new champion on Sunday night. This is Barrett’s fourth reign as I-C champ.
– WWE announced an attendance of 15,907 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday night for their annual Extreme Rules pay-per-view event.
The pre-show is now officially underway, featuring our panel consisting of Josh Mathews, Alex Riley, Booker T and Sheamus. The guys run down the key matches on tonight’s show, all-the-while we hear a very loud and passionate “Yes!” chant in the background from the New Jersey fans. Video packages are shown, the guys run down matches, we check in with Renee Young in the “social media lounge,” etc. The usual pre-show stuff. The first match, which will be the “WeeLC” match between El Torito and Hornswoggle, is coming up in just a minute or so. Now we hear a pretty loud “CM Punk” chant from the fans in the IZOD Center. Sounds like we’ve got ourselves a hot crowd so far.
WeeLC Match – El Torito vs. Hornswoggle
The pre-show panel shoots off to the announce table where Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and JBL welcome us to the show. Seated in front of them, which Cole introduces, are a bunch of midgets doing special commentary. The ring announcer is a midget. The announcers (the normal crew) are already making a ton of puns and bad jokes. “I hope this is a short match,” etc. El Torito is introduced first and he comes out with his Los Matadores partners. The regular commentary team is interacting with the midget commentary team, and even the midget commentary team are making bad jokes. “I think that comment went over my head, King!” says one of the “little people” announcers. Now Hornswoggle is introduced and he comes out with his 3MB partners. It’s time for the very legendary, first-ever “WeeLC” match, ladies and gentlemen!
The bell rings, and our special midget referee makes this one official. Torito gets the early advantage. The regular and midget commentary team are talking back-and-forth, communicating with each other and also taking turns at calling the midget-action in the ring. They are making so many bad little-people style jokes already that it’s impossible to keep count. We already have our first mini-foreign object, as a small chair is brought into the ring.
Jinder Mahal is mixed into the action now, taking gores in the nuts, etc. The announcers make jokes about Mahal’s height, saying he’s almost short enough to be a part of this match. A mini ladder is brought into the ring. The midget throws it out of the ring. He gets another ladder, which is still small, but a tad-bit larger than the previous Hornswoggle goes to the top of the ladder and poses, giving off the impression that “I’m gonna do it fans! I’m gonna risk my life and jump off of this — two foot tall — ladder!” In all honesty, this is actually very entertaining. It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect, by the way. We head to a mid-match commercial.
When we return from commercial, 3MB and Los Matadores are shown fighting in the aisle. We see some highlights of some “mini-high spots” that took place during the commercial. The announcers continue firing off bad midget-jokes as the action between the key principles continues inside the ring. Hornswoggle hits RVD’s “Rolling Thunder” move for a near fall. Hornswoggle clears off the midget announce table, which is obviously a smaller version of a regular announce table. The announcers are putting this over like the most dangerous thing ever. Horny jumps off the apron and splashes onto Torito through the table.
Following the mini-table spot, the New Jersey fans break out in a “this is awesome” chant. The action returns to the ring, where 3MB and Horny are standing around as Torito is laid out. Horny blasts him with the mini-chair. Horny goes to hit Torito, who is being held by Heath Slater on the apron, with a mini-chair, but Torito moves. This leads to Horny accidentally hitting Slater, knocking him off the apron and crashing through a couple of real-sized tables on the floor. Seconds later, another big table spot happens with Los Matadores and Torito crashing through regular sized tables on the opposite side of the floor outside the ring. About a minute later, Torito puts Horny through a table in the ring. 1-2-3. El Torito wins the first-ever “WeeLC” match. Really fun stuff.
According to one source, the original plan was for Evolution to defeat The Shield at tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Those plans reportedly changed when news came down that Batista was going to be taking time off after tonight’s show.
However, with the latest reports indicating that “The Animal” may be sticking around through WWE’s upcoming Payback pay-per-view, it’s possible that the original plan of an Evolution victory could be back in effect.
As of last word, the plan was to keep the Evolution vs. Shield program going after tonight’s show, which would mean it’s likely that the heels are going over.
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On Daniel Bryan vs. Kane: “Daniel Bryan defeats Kane, overcomes the odds from a battered body and a much bigger, stronger opponent and then begins to get prepared for an eventual challenge to the WWE World Title from Brock Lesnar. Still of the mindset that the Bryan vs. Kane match exceeds expectations.”
On Evolution vs. The Shield: “Thinking that The Shield overcomes Evolution in what should be a really strong 6 Man Tag. I expect this match to be very well produced and executed. Anxious to see it and hopefully the younger trio prevails to continue their ascension to the top of the roster.”
On Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena: “Predicting that Bray Wyatt wins the cage match versus John Cena and I hope that it isn’t via escaping the cage as that was designed years ago in another era to help ‘save’ the hero’s image. Those days are long gone and Wyatt beating Cena by pinfall inside the cage helps build of the Wyatt persona and doesn’t aversely harm Cena but instead facilitates the rivalry of which Cena will eventually prevail.”
On Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger vs. RVD: “Can’t see why Cesaro shouldn’t to win the three man elimination match that actually should be really good featuring RVD and Jack Swagger as well. I’m a fan of all three men’s work and have high expectations for this match.”
On Bad News Barrett vs. Big E.: “If Bad News Barrett doesn’t win the IC Title Sunday Night against Big E then WWE is missing a great opportunity to elevate a much needed antagonist and to continue to rehabilitate the image of the IC Title that used to mean so much in WWE. A loss to Barrett doesn’t do significant damage to Big E who has cooled off since winning the IC Title and ‘E’ can easily become relevant by being on the chase in an attempt to regain it.”
On Paige vs. Tamina Snuka: “Paige should retain the Divas Title in her first major title defense against Tamina Snuka. Was asked on the Q&A’s elsewhere here if Paige was called up too early and my answer was an emphatic no. Paige is young and being on the road is a challenge to all especially younger talents but as far as in ring action is concerned, the Brit has been ready a while. I see Tamina imposing her will and Paige battling from underneath to prevail. Keep it simple, logical and easy to execute. Plus, give these women time to tell a story. ”
On Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth & Xavier Woods: “Rusev is pitted against both R Truth and Xavier Woods as I assume that Truth & Woods will act as a tag team. Nonetheless Rusev should win but winning quickly is an important consideration. If WWE continues to play to Rusev strengths and the announce team continues to point out all the positives of the Bulgarian Brute, the rookie has a shot at getting over as in a year from now. I do like the package of Rusev and Lana as she has a distinctive look and accent that makes her different. Being different in today’s world of pro wrestling, just like yesteryear, is imperative.”
On El Torito vs. Hornswoggle: “The obvious thing to do in the Hornswoggle vs. Torito match is to make the audience happy in this comedy outing and see the diminutive and talented masked grappler prevail but I’d go the other way and spotlight Horney as a way to promote his upcoming movie and to further the issue with Torito.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– The guest for this coming Wednesday’s edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast will be WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels.
– The latest edition of WWE’s “30 Second Fury” YouTube series features 30 moments from past WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-views. You can check that out below.
It has been announced that the triple-threat match between Rob Van Dam, Jack Swagger and Cesaro, which is scheduled for this Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, has received an added stipulation.
Instead of being a straight triple-threat match, the bout between Van Dam, Swagger and Cesaro will be a two-fall elimination match. This means that all three competitors will start off in the match and when the first pin fall takes place, that person will be eliminated, leaving the other two to battle it out in a regular one fall contest.
WWE Extreme Rules takes place on Sunday night, May 4th, from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Make sure to join us here at the website for live play-by-play results coverage of the pay-per-view event.
