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.
WWE Superstar Ryback recently spoke with Jim Varsallone of The Miami Herald about a number of topics. Below are highlights from the interview.
On the Nexus’ debut in 2010: “We were pretty much told that if we don’t nail this thing, we’re probably going to be fired or definitely not going to be given the opportunity they were going to give us. So we were all on the same page that night…We all knew we had to work together that night, and we were all in position to do that, because if we were going to make this thing work, we had to work together. When you’re out there with seven other guys, working together, it kind of makes it a little bit easier. It wasn’t solely just on one of us. So that definitely helped, but to say nerves didn’t exist would be crazy. We definitely were all nervous before we went out there. That was the first night of the beginning of my WWE career, so to speak, as far as being in the big leagues. That night in Miami we were given a huge opportunity to sink or swim, and a group of us went out there, and we tore everything up.”
On working with John Cena: “Working with John has been a great experience. He’s been on top in WWE for a very long time, and he’s done extremely well for himself. He has set the bar very high. John’s been able to [be on top] for an extended period of time, which is a rarity in this business. So being in the ring with John was a great learning tool for me to see where I had to be, what areas I had to improve for me to go where I wanted to go with Ryback.”
On working with Paul Heyman: “Being with Paul Heyman, if you look back at the wrestling footage throughout the years, he’s been around for a very long time, and he’s been around a lot of the greats. So for Paul to want to align himself with me and be with me was a great compliment to me. It was a lot of fun. At that stage of my career and where I was at, I always liked being out there by myself to speak and say what I want to say and not have a mouthpiece, but it was a great learning experience for me, seeing how Paul approached promos and how he spoke to people and controlled the crowd, because he is truly very gifted in that aspect.”
On his time in WWE: “In anything in life, there’s going to be ups and downs, but my time in WWE thus far has been amazing. Each and everyday I get to show up to my job. I love it. I’m very thankful. Everyday is a different opportunity, a different challenge, and I love that.”
Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.
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.
– In addition to Dusty Rhodes, there is another special guest scheduled for tonight’s WWE RAW in Orlando, Florida. No word yet on who it is, other than someone besides Rhodes is also scheduled to appear.
– WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The entire crew, including John Cena, is scheduled for the show.
– NXT will be doing several weeks of television tapings on Wednesday, filming enough shows to carrry them through WrestleMania.
As we all know, Raw is tonight. By show of hands, how many people are planning to bail before the end of the program? If this question were posed to last week’s viewing audience, over 250,000 hands would be in the air right now. That number represents the number of viewers who tuned in for the first hour but were long gone by hour three, and that’s not even counting the 600,000 viewers from the previous week who called in sick and didn’t show up at all.
Since Raw 1000, the program has been a three-hour fixture on Monday night, even though the company has done little with the additional hour in most cases. In all, the numbers show that it’s time to turn back the clock to Raw 999 and cut back to two hours.
Emma vs. Summer Rae in a dance-off? No thanks!
There are a number of reasons this makes sense. Most importantly, this roster is as thin as a two-dollar blanket right now. Take last week’s show, for instance. The company bookended the show with the nearly identical matches – neither of which was particularly memorable. By the end of the first hour, the crowd had already seen every participant in the main event compete in a match (aside from J&J, but they interfered in the Rollins/Ryback match). And please don’t get me started on how many times we’ve seen the Usos battle Miz and Mizdow over the past few months.
It would be a massive understatement to say that the shows have lacked direction in recent months too. I went back and watched a few episodes of Raw from 2012, right before Raw was permanently extended to three hours. Mind you, this was during the dreadful John Cena/Kane “embrace the hate” program, and even those shows featured more direction than the current product.
If the past is any indication, expect to see The Authority opening tonight’s episode of Raw.
By putting less stress on the writers and limiting exposure, they were able to establish a conflict (Kane attempting to terrorize Zack Ryder/John Cena), provide a climax near the middle of the show (Cena kissing Eve while Ryder hilariously looked on), and finally a resolution in the form of a catastrophe (Kane launching Ryder off of the stage).
They were able to build around this central storyline by sprinkling in five matches and a few entertaining segments that highlighted other members of the roster, ultimately creating a neat two hours of wrestling (or sports entertainment, whichever term you prefer). In recent weeks, the program has been an absolute mess, with the typical structure usually as follows:
The Authority starts the program by cutting the same boring 20-minute promo they cut every week and setting up a main event involving Kane and/or Big Show. Next is a match that they say will start after the break, usually trying to invoke some sense of suspense as to which superstars will be involved, but the roster is so thin that we know it will be Seth Rollins or an over-the-hill Authority goon competing against either Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Ryback or Roman Reigns – usually ending in a non-finish. We next get a sagging middle with “comedy” matches and backstage segments that rarely go anywhere. Paul Heyman is sent out somewhere near the middle to try to save the crowd. A few more filler matches typically come next, and finally a tag match to end the show, which also usually ends in a non-finish. Eat. Sleep. Lose A Quarter Million Viewers. Repeat.
Even with the help of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, Raw lost over a quarter of a million viewers by the end of last week’s program.
The overexposure is killing everyone involved in the process, including talent, announcers, and even the fans, hence the reason they aren’t sticking around for the full three hours. I get that the company is trying to appease shareholders, and increased ad revenue is one of the easiest ways to do so, but in the end, they are doing long-term damage in exchange for short-term ad revenue.
This is also not to say that a wrestling promotion can’t put on an entertaining three-hour program. It is simply stating that this wrestling promotion has proven they are incapable of doing so. There are a lot of problems with the current product, from hotshotting anything that is remotely popular to underutilizing some of the company’s best talent to even dragging out storylines fans are disinterested in. However, the biggest problem with Raw, and perhaps the company as a whole, can be summed up in one word: overexposure.
How would you feel about Raw going back to two hours? Do you think it would improve the product? Voice your opinion in the comments section.
– Ric Flair has reached an agreement with CBS Sports to host a weekly podcast on Play.it The venture is expected to be officially announced within the next two weeks.
In addition to talking about professional wrestling, the WWE Hall of Famer will interview musicians, actors and athletes.
– Next Sunday on E!, Total Divas will air head-to-head with WWE Fast Lane. Here is the synopsis for the episode, titled “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Purses”: “Nattie renovates her mom’s house; Brie tries to help with Nicole’s out-of-control spending habits; and Eva Marie starts to fear the worse for her dad’s health, and so she comes up with a Vegas bucket list for him.”
– Five episodes of Raw from 1996 have been added to the WWE Network vault—June 24, July 1, July 8, July 15, and July 22.
– Roman Reigns is currently trending as the No. 1. topic on Yahoo.com, with John Cena trailing behind at No. 6.
– There is said to be talk going around once again lately of inducting Kevin Nash into this year’s class of the WWE Hall Of Fame.
– Booker T’s special guests on his “Heated Conversations” radio show will be Rob Van Dam and actor Omar Dorsey. You can tune into the show at SportsRadio610.com.
– John Cena is scheduled to appear on the popular NBC program, “Parks and Recreation” next Tuesday at 8pm EST.
– WWE stock ended up closing at $16.59 per share on Friday, which was up 15.53%. The high for Friday was $17.00 per share and the low for the day was $14.36.
– 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.
There has been a lot of talk how WWE portraying John Cena as an “old veteran” is a bad idea. One person within WWE said it’s “shockingly bad” for the direction of Cena’s character and they couldn’t understand what he’s is thinking by going along with it.
The idea is for Cena to be moved into a “Babe Ruth” role similar to how Bruno Sammartino was in the late 1970s, where he was really the most popular guy but the focus was put on an up and coming babyface, Bob Backlund.
Although Cena has been the face of WWE for over a decade, he’s still only 37 years old and a top merchandise seller amongst children and women.
John Cena is suffering from a legitimate eye injury. The injury is actually a combination of reality and WWE storyline.
Cena first suffered the eye injury at the WWE live events two weekends ago, as it was evident on the February 2nd RAW, but ended up getting worse as time went on.
As a result of the injury, Cena did not wrestle at this past weekend’s live events or at Monday’s RAW.
The injury is said to be a corneal abrasion. They shot an angle on RAW where Rusev went after Cena’s bad eye, but in the end, they ultimately said Cena would be ready for the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view.
Those in the company are under the impression that Cena is cleared to compete as early as the WWE tour of Abu Dhabi.
When I was a kid, I had a trampoline. My friends and I were all huge pro wrestling fans and long before the explosion of “backyard trampoline wrestling federations,” we would watch the matches together, go out on the trampoline and try and reenact what we saw on television.
Of course if you’re this enthused about professional wrestling as a youngster, you’re going to take your trampoline matches seriously and treat them as if they were part of a legitimate organization — for kids. Were we looking to become millionaires or television stars? Of course not. Did we fantasize and treat it like we were right in the middle of a WWE ring on a WWE Superstars or Saturday Night’s Main Event broadcast?
We sure did.
So the next logical step, seeing is how we were taking this so seriously was to purchase replica WWE Championship belts so that when we won “the big matches,” we could crown ourselves the champion.
What was the first replica belt we bought? Well, obviously it was the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, right?
Wrong.
This was during the early-1990s and mid-1990s, when if you were a kid, the best wrestlers and your favorite wrestlers were generally the guys who held the WWE Intercontinental Championship. We thought the belt itself looked cooler than the “Eagle” championship that the main champions wore and we — even as kids — recognized that guys like Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect and Shawn Michaels were much better wrestlers than Diesel or Yokozuna.
Fast-forward to today.
I can’t recall a time when the secondary titles in WWE have meant less. If you’re an Intercontinental Champion or United States Champion in WWE these days, you basically aren’t a champion at all. I can’t even count how many times a pay-per-view would come and go without an I-C or U.S. title match even taking place on the card. If they were on the card, they certainly didn’t come off as anything important or relevant.
With Brock Lesnar as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and with the main title in WWE being unified, meaning there’s only one “main” champion these days, and due to the fact that Lesnar has such a limited schedule in WWE, why doesn’t WWE take this opportunity to try and make their secondary titles mean more?
WWE Superstars need to cut promos and make the I-C and U.S. titles seem like a goal that is really worth achieving. They need to act like those titles are the be-all, end-all, if for no other reason than the fact that they are the only consistently active titles in the company right now.
There has been a lot of talk about unifying the I-C and U.S. titles and while I have always been in favor of that idea, I’m not so sure if that should be happening anytime soon. While unifying the I-C and U.S. titles would, in theory, make the one secondary title seem stronger, it would also take away even more from WWE live events having title matches.
Right now, the I-C and U.S. titles are the only men’s singles championships that are on the line at non-televised events. For that matter, they’re the only titles that are defended on television. Hell, they’re the only two men’s singles titles that are defended on pay-per-views more often than not.
WWE needs to raise the value of their secondary championships and make those I-C and U.S. titles mean as much as humanly possible. The good part is, when Lesnar does eventually drop the title and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship becomes active again, the I-C and U.S. titles, if they play their cards right, will at that point mean more and all of a sudden you have three titles of value, something WWE hasn’t had in years.
Basically, it won’t seem odd for a big-name Superstar to explain how important it is to win the I-C title at that point, whereas if Roman Reigns or John Cena said in a promo today, “I won’t sleep until I get the WWE United States Championship around my waist!” you would probably look at them like they have four heads. Although with Cena’s current program against U.S. Champion Rusev, we might actually hear a version of that, if WWE decides to make the title an important part of their feud, which of course is doubtful.
Regardless, WWE needs to work on getting these secondary championships to regain the luster that they had when I was a little kid jumping on a trampoline and pretending like my dreams just came true because I won a match and got to hold the — PRESTIGIOUS — WWE Intercontinental Championship high over my head.
What are your thoughts on WWE’s secondary singles titles? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also follow me on social media for continued news and views at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.
– WWE announced after the SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night that they will be returning to the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, June 13th for a non-televised live event. Tickets go on sale for the event on April 18th.
– WWE Network will soon be adding a two-hour version of WWE’s “John Cena: Greatest Rivalries” DVD, which was released this past October, in the “Beyond the Ring” category.
– Part-time WWE performer The Rock recently did some sparring with NFL and UFC insider Jay Glazer for a future episode of his new HBO series, “Ballers.” Rock posted the following photo of the two on the set of “Ballers” on Tuesday.
WWE.com has released a diagnoses on John Cena’s eye injury from Dr. Chris Amann. Cena’s eye has been bruised for weeks and the injury was worked into his storyline with Rusev last night on RAW.
Dr. Amann told WWE.com:
“John Cena had been [competing during] last weekend’s Live Events when he sustained a corneal abrasion during his Live Event matches. This evening during the attack by Rusev, John Cena’s injuries were exacerbated. As mentioned [on commentary], those injuries were a scratched cornea and a ruptured blood vessel. We’re going to do periodic eye exams to make sure the scratch on his cornea is healing and he will be ready for WWE Fastlane.”
The Road to WrestleMania took a brief detour last night, stopping at THE Ohio State University for Raw. Sting finally answered Triple H’s challenge, and the show was bookended by a pair of nearly identical matches. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The highlight of the night was easily Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt. These guys have competed over the past two weeks, and have exhibited amazing chemistry on both occasions. There were a number of impressive spots in this one, including Wyatt delivering a brutal blow to Ziggler’s midsection and a devastating clothesline outside the ring that eventually set up Sister Abilgail for the win. Wyatt later cut another promo, presumably directed toward the Dead Man.
Triple H calling out Sting was a close second. The video package, which featured Sting’s makeup being transposed onto Triple H’s face, was both eerie and entertaining. The only downside to this was the absolutely dreadful Sting doppelganger they sent into the ring. With that said, I absolutely can’t wait to see what these guys have planned for Fastlane.
The Usos squared off with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Kidd and Cesaro put in some decent heel work by crashing the dinner party on SmackDown, and it’s certainly nice to see them getting some television time.
Rusev continues to improve on a weekly basis, in my opinion. I loved his promo, where he made claims such as, “You don’t want me. I am a hero.” His brawl with Cena was also entertaining and helped further their feud heading into Fastlane.
The opening promo was also entertaining, but nothing to really write home about. Reigns seems to be more confident on the mic each week, despite a minor flub. It was also nice to see Bryan on the mic, taking a humorous shot at Triple H for his involvement in the Katie Vick storyline.
It’s nice to see Axel getting more time on the mic. His promo was humorous, even if he was quickly dispelled after being hit with Dirty Deeds. Barrett’s new BNZ segment could also be entertaining, but I’m not totally sure how much shelf life it has.
Finally, the main event helped further the tension between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. The match was nothing incredible, by any means, but there were a few memorable moments, including Dolph Ziggler getting involved at the end. Roman’s spear to Bryan was also the perfect way to end the show. It seems like the next step in Roman’s evolution will be to turn him heel and possibly pair him with Heyman following WrestleMania.
– WWE confirmed Rikishi as the next official inductee into the 2015 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame. Rikishi’s video package played after The Usos’ match on Monday’s RAW. Once the video was done airing, The Usos, who were still in the ring, applauded their father along with the fans in Columbus.
– It was also confirmed on Monday’s RAW that the match between John Cena and Rusev at the upcoming WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view will in fact be for Rusev’s WWE United States Championship.
WWE Hall Of Famer Bret Hart recently spoke with The Sport Vision about a number of topics, including his respect for John Cena, his wish that Hulk Hogan had the “courage” to work with him, the reason he would like to strangle Eric Bischoff and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
His time in WCW and Eric Bischoff: “I could only be frustrated right from the day I started in WCW, and realized that it was a company run by a bunch of idiots that didn’t have a clue what they were doing. And they dropped the ball with me just about from the time I got there. And then after they dropped the ball with me, they kicked it around, kicked it backwards and out of the stands for most of the time I was there. I look back today, I’d like to strangle Eric Bischoff with my own pair of hands, and just thank him for doing such a lousy job with my career, and lying about everything he ever said to me.”
Hulk Hogan: “There’s a lot of wrestlers I worked with in those days that still stop me and tell me that the greatest match they ever had was with me… I take pride in that… I wish guys like Hulk Hogan might’ve had the courage to get in the ring with me, because I maybe could’ve given him his best match that he ever had, also. I just think that as wrestling moves into the future, everyday it goes further and further from my day, I look at the wrestlers today and I realize that they’re carrying the torch of my style. It’s not about strongman spots and Hulk Hogan, and putting one hand behind your ear and working the crowd, and stuff like that. It’s about guys that are out there suplexing each other, and doing a lot of complex wrestling moves, and a lot of action. That’s the kind of wrestling that I brought to the game.”
Daniel Bryan and CM Punk: “The moves that wrestlers are doing today, the innovating that some of these guys are doing, it all is a throwback to Bret Hart. I think Daniel Bryan reminds me a lot of my brother, Owen. I thought Punk had a lot of Bret Hart-isms in his matches, and little things he did that reminded me of stuff I did.”
John Cena: “I have nothing but respect for John Cena and his work rate. He’s one of the hardest working wrestlers there ever was. He’s been a great champion, an inspiring role model. It’s not easy being John Cena and carrying all the weight of the company on your back all the time. What he’s done with Make-A-Wish kids, and kids in general, kids in general around the world. People don’t understand sometimes what it’s like to be John Cena, to understand how much pressure is on him everyday to do the right things and to always be the class champion that he’s been. He’s a tireless champion that gives 100 percent every night… He could do a little bit better with some of his technical moves sometimes, but I think in the long and short of it, I think John Cena’s established himself to be maybe one of the greatest wrestlers that ever lived. I think he’s an amazing wrestler.”
On his proudest moment: “When I stood up for myself in Montreal, and knocked out Vince McMahon for cheating me in that match. I think it’s still defines me as a wrestler, and as an artist, and a talent, and somebody that was betrayed. I’ve always been really proud of how I reacted, and how I carried myself that day. And in the end, I think I proved I was right.”
Check out the complete interview at TheSportVision.co.
The International Business Times has published an interview with The Bella Twins, which was conducted during Super Bowl 49 weekend in Phoenix, Arizona.
Last summer, Nikki and Brie were embroiled in a heated feud that culminated at SummerSlam with Nikki turning on her sister and siding with Stephanie McMahon and Brie becoming Nikki’s assistant after they wrestled at Hell in a Cell in October. The feud ended abruptly, with the sisters reuniting on television shortly afterwards as if nothing ever happened.
Here’s what they said about it:
Nikki: “I really enjoyed where the story started. There was nothing better than having that turning moment on Brie at SummerSlam against Stephanie McMahon. Brie and her had such a great buildup, they had such a great story and I loved the start of our story. I feel like we didn’t get a chance to end our story. Unfortunately, we didn’t end it, and I wanted to go so much longer with it and I felt like we could do so much more. I truly enjoyed my pay-per-view match against Brie. We have a bond that you just can’t create. We’re born with it and we had this magic in the ring. We had great chemistry, and I wish we could’ve done a lot more. I was really enjoying our feud and the people were. It was hard for some people to watch because it’s like “Nikki’s so mean.” It was just fun and I think why it was hard for people too is because it’s (like) real life. People get interested in moments with their siblings. I wish we went longer, and I wish we could’ve finished the story. I think Brie needed to do something to me because I was just so mean to her.”
Brie: “It was a lot of fun to be working with my sister and to go from Stephanie McMahon to my own sister was great. And the nice thing is we all have a really good friendship with Stephanie. I have one with my sister, and I think you go out and there and you make magic. And after we’d be done in the ring we’d go backstage and whether you’re crying or hugging, you just let it all out and we’re like “OK I didn’t mean that.” So that’s the great thing about having your sister in the story with you.”
There were many other topics discussed, including how Total Divas has affected their careers and how Daniel Bryan and John Cena have helped them improve in the ring.
– Although it was reported on Tuesday via Reddit user “MetsFan4Ever” that WWE officials were considering changing NXT star Kalisto’s gimmick to that of a gay hair stylist, WWE sources reached out today and claimed that is not the case, and that Kalisto will not be changing characters at all.
MetsFan4Ever has since posted an update – stating that his initial report was that the idea was being considered – not that it was definitely happening. It remains to be seen if WWE does pull the trigger on this unique character change, but it was discussed.
– In what could be taken as a sign of a possible Fast Lane spoiler, as of this week the people in charge of handling the actual promotional materials for WrestleMania 31 were still under the impression that Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns will be the main event of the show. In the promotional materials, the workers were told to feature Reigns the most prominently, followed by Lesnar and John Cena.
It’s worth noting that WWE has not included Sting in any of the promotional materials for WrestleMania as of yet, and since he’s all but confirmed for the event, his involvement will likely be a major selling point for the show, so new materials will likely be released in the near future to include him.
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently spoke to Digital Spy and talked about his appeal to the fans compared to John Cena and Roman Reigns.
“Part of the secret is people love saying ‘Yes!’,” said Bryan. “Even if people don’t like me, they have fun throwing their fingers in the air saying ‘Yes!’ So that is part of the secret, but another thing about John Cena and Roman Reigns – not that they’ve had an easy road to the top in WWE, John Cena was nearly fired before he became WWE Champion for the first time – but they probably had a much easier path than I did.”
Bryan continued, explaining that Cena and Reigns are more of a “prototypical WWE Superstar” than he is.
“They are more of the prototypical WWE Superstars than I am,” said Bryan. “So when I came in I don’t think any of the top WWE people looked at me as, ‘Oh this is somebody who we look at as being a future main eventer for WrestleMania’ or even a future WWE Champion, or even a future Intercontinental Champion!”
He concluded by sharing his belief that the WWE fans see how hard he works and know that he’s not automatically considered a top guy, whereas Cena and Reigns are immediately viewed as such.
“They looked at me like ‘Oh, this guy is good at what he does, he’s a good little wrestler, he can go out there and he can perform – he might get a little bit popular, but he’s never going to be The Guy’. Whereas somebody like Roman Reigns or John Cena – people look at them and they think, ‘Oh, this guy could be The Guy, let’s see what happens’, and that was never me.”
– WWE NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte made a special appearance on the WWE App with Tom Phillips during last night’s RAW. Charlotte talked about defending her title in the Fatal 4 Way at NXT Takeover: Rival next week. She said that she’s already beaten all three challengers, so the odds are in her favor. This is her opportunity to show she’s the best wrestler in the world today, male or female.
– WWE announced the following details for the new WWE 2K15 DLC that’s been released today:
2K Announces WWE 2K15 Downloadable Content for 2K Showcase Available Today
New York – February 3, 2015 – 2K today announced the availability of the newest downloadable content for WWE® 2K15, the latest release in the flagship WWE video game franchise. The new content marks the first addition to the game’s story-driven 2K Showcase mode – One More Match – and highlights the rivalry between WWE Superstars Christian® and Randy Orton® in 2011. One More Match enables players to experience Christian’s triumph and heartbreak throughout the year, including winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship® at Extreme Rules®, losing it one night later to Orton and turning his back on his best friend, Edge®. Christian’s quest to regain the title is highlighted across a series of notable moments, including matches against Orton on SmackDown®, as well as at Over the Limit®, Capitol Punishment®, Money In the Bank® and SummerSlam®. The downloadable content offering* is accessible via Xbox Live online entertainment network from Microsoft for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system and Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, as well as PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, and includes the following items:
2K Showcase: One More Match
* Story focused on the rivalry between WWE Superstars Randy Orton and Christian in 2011;
* Playable WWE Superstars (2011 versions): Christian, Randy Orton, Edge®, Mark Henry® and Sheamus®;
* Playable arenas from 2011: SmackDown®, Extreme Rules®, Over the Limit® and Capitol Punishment®;
* 2K Showcase: One More Match is available for a suggested price of $9.99, as well as through the Season Pass program.