As of Saturday’s NXT live event in Orlando, WWE is still advertising a NXT Championship match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for their upcoming NXT Takeover event on May 20th.
WWE is not expected to officially announce Zayn’s status for the show until after next Wednesday’s NXT episode.
Zayn, as noted earlier this week, suffered an injury while hyping the crowd up prior to his match with John Cena at Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
Chris Jericho announced on Thursday that he will be hosting the new season of WWE Tough Enough, which premieres on the USA Network on Tuesday, June 23rd.
WWE also issued a press release giving tons more information about the new season, including details on judges, trainers and more.
– Hulk Hogan, Daniel Bryan and Paige will be judges on the series.
– Booker T, Lita and Billy Gunn will be the trainers.
– Tough Enough will be filmed out of the WWE Performance Center and Full Sail University, home of NXT.
– The official Tough Enough app will be launching on May 25th.
– There will be a lot of fan interaction, including the ability to vote via the Tough Enough app and texting to interact with various live elements
– Contestants in the series will “come face to face” with Vince McMahon, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and John Cena over the course of the series.
Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn’s match with WWE U.S. Champion John Cena was laid out this week to include Bret Hart’s involvement, as we all saw on RAW on Monday night, however things didn’t quite go as planned from there.
The plan was for Zayn to lose but in the process, get over as a big star in front of an audience in Montreal that WWE was sure he would get a huge reaction.
What’s interesting is that this was not apparently going to be Zayn’s official full-time debut on the main WWE roster, even though he was originally scheduled to wrestle on SmackDown again this week. Due to the injury he sustained at RAW, SmackDown this week had to be re-written.
While there’s still no definitive word regarding the specifics of the injury, reports from those close to the situation have described it as “serious.”
There was talk in the locker room on Tuesday night at the SmackDown television tapings that Zayn would be out of action for a few months. Others claimed WWE had not yet received a report from the doctor yet, so it could be anything.
If Zayn is going to be out of action for a few months, WWE would have to cancel his match against NXT Champion Kevin Owens at the NXT Takeover: Unstoppable special on May 20th.
With Zayn out of the picture, if that turns out to be the case, the leading candidates for his replacement in the match with Owens would likely be Finn Balor or Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze in a number one contender match, with the winner of that buot earning the shot at Owens.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– WWE is touting the fact that they have had over two billion total views on YouTube in 2015 already.
– Several pro wrestling personalities are praising the Sami Zayn vs. John Cena segment and match at last night’s RAW on social media. Below is a tweet from Jim Ross with him giving his take on the match.
Great piece of business #RawMontreal @iLikeSamiZayn & @JohnCena. Great passion throughout. Nice booking using #Montreal crowd & @BretHart
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) May 5, 2015
– Speaking of industry feedback to Zayn’s performance, Triple H compared it to the debut of the man he faced last night, John Cena. “The Game” tweeted the following:
I watched a young kid in this same situation, his name was @JohnCena #SamiZayn VsJohnCena #NXTProud #RAW pic.twitter.com/mH6UMiLd0Q
— Triple H (@TripleH) May 5, 2015
– With WWE going forward with their plans to push Lana after splitting her away from Rusev, there’s a lot of speculation that she will quit for Rusev and cost him the “I Quit” match against John Cena at this month’s WWE Payback pay-per-view.
– Diamond Dallas Page noted that former UFC fighters Phil Baroni and Kamal Shalorus are using DDP Yoga to help make the transition from MMA fighting to professional wrestling.
– Chris Jericho noted on social media that his rock band Fozzy’s single “Tonite” will be the official theme song for his “Live with Chris Jericho” podcast on the WWE Network.
As noted earlier, Sami Zayn suffered a shoulder injury last night on RAW and will be undergoing an MRI later today. The injury actually took place prior to his match with John Cena. During his entrance, Zayn was raising his arms to get the crowd excited and it looked like he tweaked it.
Zayn showed signed of injury earlier in the match but continued working through it. At one point the referee threw up the “X” symbol and a WWE trainer checked on Zayn.
He did appear on the stage for the post-RAW Pat Patterson Appreciation Night celebration, but his shoulder was bandaged up.
It’s worth noting that Zayn was out of action earlier this year with a similar shoulder injury.
Zayn is scheduled for more upcoming WWE TV tapings but that could obviously change pending the results of his MRI.
As it turns out, Sami Zayn really was injured during his “U.S. Open Challenge” match with John Cena on Monday’s RAW in Montreal.
Zayn reportedly injured his shoulder while trying to get the crowd pumped up as he was heading to the ring prior to the actual match.
He ended up working the match anyways, despite the fact that the referee threw up the “X” symbol shortly into the match and called for the trainer to check on him.
Zayn is currently scheduled for an MRI today.
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.
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.
Two surprise appearances took place on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and both of them happened durinng John Cena’s “U.S. Open Challenge.”
After issuing his regular weekly challenge, Cena waited to find out who was going to accept, only for WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart to come out to wild applause from his Canadian fans.
Hart tried to introduce who he callled a great wrestler, when instead Heath Slater came out. Hart nailed Slater with the microphone and made the introduction to the person he was trying to in the first place — former NXT Champion Sami Zayn.
Zayn came out to wild applause from the Montreal fans to his regular upbeat NXT theme song to answer Cena’s “U.S. Open Challenge.”
Zayn gave a game effort in the match, but ultimately lost after Cena hit him with a Springboard Stunner and an Attitude Adjustment back-to-back for a clean pinfall victory.
After the match, Cena made facial expressions like he was shocked how good Zayn was. He raises Zayn’s hand and leaves the ring to him. He claps and walks backwards as Zayn plays to the crowd, who go nuts for him.
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 uploaded a clip of Stephanie McMahon’s appearance on “Live with Chris Jericho” from this past Thursday night. In the following clip, Stephanie talks to Jericho about her relationship with her husband Triple H.
– Vince McMahon tweeted out a congratulatory message on Twitter to a WWE employee named Gale. Gale has worked for the company for 30 years.
Congratulations to Gale on 30 years of service at @WWE. pic.twitter.com/52VNQSWdzH
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) May 1, 2015
– After having his first shot at the WWE United States Champion ruined by Rusev last week, Heath Slater is claiming he is going to challenge John Cena over and over again. Slater tweeted the following this weekend.
I will go after @JohnCena United States Championship every chance I get… I may get knocked down but I will always get back up…
— HEATHXXII (@HEATHXXII) May 2, 2015
Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart were in Australia yesterday to promote WWE’s upcoming tour of the country in August. Hogan has been named the General Manager for the tour. Here are some highlights of the press conference:
– He also teased getting in the ring again to take on Rusev.
– Hogan said Vince McMahon told him he’d let him get back in the ring if he can pass a physical. Hogan said he told Vince there’s no way they can do WrestleMania 32 in Dallas without Hulk Hogan. Hulk told Vince he plans on wrestling. Vince shook his hand and told him “I’m looking forward to it.”
– Hogan answered a fan question about John Cena turning heel. Hogan said that it may not be the best business decision and Cena is in a different situation now than what Hogan was in when he turned heel in 1996.
– Hogan put over Vince McMahon for having “the vision” and put over Kevin Owens as “the real deal.”
– 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.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– WWE announced during the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Sunday that at the upcoming Payback pay-per-view on May 17th there will be an “I Quit” match between WWE United States Champion John Cena and Rusev. Lana noted that this will be the final chapter in the Cena-Rusev feud.
– WWE announced an attendance of 14,197 for last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which took place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
– Kofi Kingston posted the following photo of The New Day celebrating with their new WWE Tag-Team Championships backstage at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view last night.
Hate to say I told you so, but… now you feel the Power of Positivity! #POP #HoldItDown pic.twitter.com/NK59DC5dfG
— Kofi Kingston (@TrueKofi) April 27, 2015
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.
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.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated the blog section of his official website, sharing his predictions for tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view and talking about some other subjects. Below are some highlights:
On Friday’s “Cheap Pops” taping: “Had a great week down in Orlando observing the NXT TV tapings and doing some RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross Show business before Mick Foley’s ‘Cheap Pops’ WWE Network TV special was taped that will air this Wednesday night. My 30 minute set will not be a part of Mick’s special which will be a great, one hour TV special that I encourage everyone to check out.”
On the WWE Extreme Rules main event: “WWE Title Bout to be held inside a Steel Cage with Randy Orton’s RKO ‘Banned’…Rollins has to retain and one can expect a “cast of thousands” so to speak to be involved but hopefully the integrity of the cage will not be overly compromised in the process. Seth Rollins is still evolving as the WWE Champion and he’s a great choice for that role as, like many of his successful predecessors, Seth is a “beatable” champion but not tonight. Rollins and Orton should have a great match before all the shenanigans commence one would hope.”
On the Russian chain match: “US Title Bout is a ‘Russian Chain Match’ which will, I think, be the first for both men which is always an iffy proposition. Having a run through in a live event would’ve been ideal but be that as it may I am not a fan of beating the villain in allegedly his type of match but I also find it challenging to see WWE beat John Cena who is doing a grat job of making the US Title mean something since he won it. Unique booking to say the least which isn’t a bad thing but I’d have Cena lose the Title, chase Rusev and thus continue to add equity and attention to the championship. That’s what I’d do but that’s not likely to happen as I could see a Cena-Rusev blowoff match for the Title at Summer Slam if Rusev wins tonight.”
On Daniel Bryan’s status for tonight: “IC Title bout between Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett isn’t likely to happen due to DB’s health status that well could be related to concussion type symptoms but that’s merely my speculation. Nothing is more important than a wrestler’s health so this bout not occurring doesn’t bother me.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com.
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.
Winner: Match will not take place
WWE United States Champion John Cena will debut a new gray “throwback” t-shirt this Sunday at Extreme Rules.
The is already available for sale at WWEShop.com.
Here’s the description:
“Fans love him or hate him. There’s no middle ground, and that’s the power of John Cena. Whatever you think of The Champ, there’s no denying his actions impact everything and everyone around him. Sure, he has his detractors, and they’re vocal, but Cena is still easily the most admired competitor in WWE, as evidenced by his nine million–plus Facebook followers. Cenation is strong. And its message is spreading. Whether competing in the squared circle, performing in front of the camera or donating time to charitable organizations like Make-A-Wish, The Champ is there.”
WWE United States Champion John Cena recently spoke with Rob Leigh from talkSPORT.com about his title defense against Rusev this Sunday at Extreme Rules, his US Championship Open Challenges and advice for Roman Reigns on dealing with negative crowd reactions. (more…)
– John Cena is celebrating his 38th birthday today. He as born April 23rd, 1977. (more…)
WWE announced on Tuesday that the WWE 2K15 video game will be released on Windows PC this spring. 2K Sports claims they have taken great measures to ensure the PC version of the game includes everything that makes the console version great, including the “2K Showcase” and “My Career” modes.
Those who buy the PC version of the game on the first day it’s released will receive instant access to two versions of Sting and two versions of Hulk Hogan. DLC content for the game will be released for free later in the spring. DLC includes the NXT and WCW packs, in addition to the 2K Showcase modes, such as One More Match, Hall of Pain and Path of the Warrior.
WWE U.S. Champion and star of the cover of the game — John Cena — commented on the DLC content being available for free.
“One of the great bonuses of getting the game on PC is that you get nearly all of the downloadable content that was released after WWE 2K15 launched in October free, as part of the package,” said Cena. “That’s an incredible amount of content: 36 extra characters, 4 new managers, 26 matches, 46 entire single player stories and cut scenes in 2K Showcase, and a whole lot more. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that that’s a pretty awesome deal.”
The leader of the “Ce-Nation” also commented on the game finally coming to the PC.
“I grew up playing games on my PC. Texas Instruments, Commodore 64,” said Cena. “I was a huge PC gamer growing up, so this is big. Not only for our fans, but for me personally as well. Fans may not know this, but I was such a huge PC gamer that I bought a living room entertainment system just to play PC games back in the day. So don’t be surprised if you flash forward 50 years and yours truly is sitting in his living room playing computer games!”
For more details, visit WWE.com.
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.
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.
WWE Divas and Total Divas stars The Bella Twins recently spoke with Bang! Showbiz about a number of different topics. Below are some highlights from the interview:
On a Total Divas spin-off:
“Brie and I definitely want to do a spin-off; a show which will focus on our family and also includes our men. I think it would be amazing. We have this group of girlfriends which we’ve kind of introduced to the world, but not really. Not only are they beautiful but they have personalities that you wouldn’t believe, they kind of remind me of Cameron Diaz’s character in the film ‘There’s Something About Mary’.”
On working with their significant others on television:
Brie: “Something Daniel and I have always said is that if something organically happens that would be great (to be on ‘RAW’ together). As of right now there’s nothing in the works, but you can never say never, because in the future, you never know. I know the fans love it when we’re together I think it could be good television.”
Nikki: “I think, as of now, they’re trying to keep John and I as far apart as possible, and have us both focus on our championships. That then makes ‘Total Divas’ something special to tune into because it’s the only show where you can see John and I together.”
Check out the complete interview at TheTango.net.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan made headlines this week when he was pulled from the WWE European tour earlier than planned due to concerns over his health. Rumors had been swirling for weeks regarding his physical issues, with many claiming that he had been telling friends that he was hurting more than normal.
Prior to WrestleMania 31 a few weeks ago, Bryan appeared on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast and spoke about his neck and elbow issues from last year, and how they were affecting him.
“We didn’t know how my neck was going to do when I came back,” Bryan told Jericho on his podcast at the time. “It’s the same with any injury, I think. If you have knee surgery, you don’t know how your knee is going to do until you actually start putting pressure on it and you can do as much rehab or whatever you want, and now it’s this thing of it being like getting pretty worn down, and I’ve never felt this way before.”
Many questioned Bryan’s decision not to undergo additional surgery to try and better correct the physical issues he had been dealing with, including John Cena, who publicly disagreed with the way Bryan was handling the situation, which he alluded to during an episode of last seasons “Total Divas” reality show.
Bryan would later theorize that it could just be age and years of a very physically demanding style finally catching up with him.
“But I’m also getting older. So I don’t know if it’s just (that), but sometimes when you’ve been off for nine or 10 months, then coming back takes maybe some getting used to, and I don’t know if I’m still in that adjustment process,” said Bryan.
Bryan is scheduled to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, April 26, 2015, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
– WWE has announced The Miz and Damien Sandow will square off on Monday’s RAW from Albany, New York. The winner of the match gets to keep “the Miz brand.”
– Fandango officially broke up with Rosa Mendes on last night’s SmackDown and defeated Adam Rose.
– Neville’s theme song “Break Orbit” by the band CFO$ is now available on iTunes.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans which current champion is representing their title the best. With over 2,000 votes cast, John Cena is in the lead with 54% of the vote. Daniel Bryan is next with 24%, Seth Rollins has 13%, Nikki Bella has 5% and Kidd and Cesaro have 4%.