Last night’s episode of Raw was held in the Big Easy, and it’s obvious that the company knew they were going up against the CFP Championship because they seemed to be holding something back all night. Anyway, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The best thing to come out of last night’s show was the announcement that the “Macho Man” Randy Savage will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. It’s about time one of the most talented and influential superstars of all-time takes his rightful place amongst fellow legends. Some will probably complain about the choice to have Hogan induct Savage, but as someone who loved the Mega Powers as a child, I think it’s a good choice and has the potential to be a touching and heartfelt tribute to one of the company’s most iconic figures.
I wasn’t expecting a ton out of the New Day vs. Kidd/Cesaro matchup, but it turned out to be one of the better contests of the night. Kidd and Cesaro worked well together, with the Cesaro Swing into a dropkick spot being particularly impressive. It would have been nice to see Kidd and Cesaro pick up the win, but I guess it’s a minor victory just to see them on television.
The recurring promos featuring Dean Ambrose and the doctor were certainly humorous. Ambrose seems like a natural actor and really at ease on camera, so it’s nice to see him get a chance to show off his talent. The promos were entertaining and it was an original way to have Ambrose gain entry into the Royal Rumble.
Finally, it was nice to see Daniel Bryan back in the city where he captured the title at last year’s WrestleMania. The interactions between Bryan and Stephanie were on point, especially when she tried to present Bryan with her crappy workout DVD. It was finally announced that Bryan would make his return to the ring against Kane on SmackDown this Thursday. As Kane approached the ring, Bryan dove threw the ropes and took out the Devil’s Favorite Demon before celebrating with the crowd.
Take this for whatever it’s worth, but local advertisements for the first ever WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view are listing a tag-team main event, which features Roman Reigns and John Cena vs. Big Show and Seth Rollins.
As noted in the past, Reigns is featured on the official WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view promotional poster, and considering the fact that Reigns and Show, and Cena and Rollins are all currently working in singles programs, it would make sense.
WWE Fast Lane 2015 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 22nd at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.
On Friday, John Cena got some heat on Twitter from fans after congratulating Triple H for his upcoming induction into the International Sports Hall of Fame. Cena tweeted:
Congrats to @TripleH for his induction into the 2015 Int'l Hall of Fame. Well deserved for a career of hard work and excellence.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross, along with UFC Hall Of Famer Forrest Griffin are the guests on the latest edition of Bruce Buffer’s weekly podcast. Buffer is the longtime ring announcer for the UFC, and is the adopted brother of famous boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer, who coined the phrase, “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble,” which was later a parody used by Triple H during his “D-Generation X” days.
Below is the official description for the latest “It’s Time with Bruce Buffer” podcast, which you can listen to now at PodcastOne.com.
BB #17 WWE Legend Jim Ross UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin
“Bruce Buffer returned to PodcastOne Tuesday for another edition of “IT’S TIME!!!” Joining him on this broadcast was WWE hall of famer Jim Ross and UFC hall of famer Forrest Griffin. “JR” joined the show to talk about his upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling gig, CM Punk’s decision to sign with the UFC, and other odds and ends from professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Griffin joined the show to go over year-end MMA awards with Bruce. Including fighter of the year, fight of the year, knockout of the year, and many others. Forrest also discusses his life as a retired mixed martial artist and fatherhood.”
– As noted earlier this week, it was announced that WWE COO Triple H will be inducted into the 2015 International Sports Hall Of Fame on March 7th. On Friday, John Cena tweeted out a congratulatory message to “The Game” – which is getting a lot of backlash from fans who feel WWE should maintain some level of kayfabe even on social media.
Congrats to @TripleH for his induction into the 2015 Int'l Hall of Fame. Well deserved for a career of hard work and excellence.
– Former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio called out the “racists in WWE” at this weekend’s WWL event from Puerto Rico, where Del Rio captured the WWL Heavyweight Championship. The comment came during a segment with heel authority figure Richard Negrin, whom Del Rio joined later in the show as part of the Gentleman’s Club stable.
– It’s believed that Triple H was the WWE executive who informed Kevin Nash that his legends contract was being suspended as a result of his assault arrest.
– 2K Games recently confirmed that the “WWE 2K15 Moves Pack” DLC will be released on January 13th. Some of the moves included are a spinning powerbomb, spike Tombstone piledriver and backslide driver.
Marcus Stephenson of 2K Games noted on Twitter that the Moves Pack was not included in the 2K Season Pass because they wanted to keep the price down for the season pass, which was already pretty high at $24.99.
– John Cena recently granted another Make-A-Wish for WWE fan Amere at the most recent RAW tapings in Corpus Christi, Texas.
– The next two all-new episodes of Total Divas will center on Eva Marie. The synopsis for this Sunday’s show is as follows: “Eva blindsides Jonathan with news that she should have delivered before they got married. Also: Rosa’s job is threatened; and Nikki retaliates.” It is titled “Baby Not on Board 312.”
The synopsis for the all-new episode airing on Sunday, January 18 reads “Eva is faced with a life-threatening medical issue; Paige gets a bit too close to Nattie in the ring; and what starts out as a friendly competition between Nikki and John escalates into a serious fight.” It is titled “Twin Leaks.”
– Attendance at last night’s SmackDown and Main Event tapings in Laredo, Texas was said to be very poor.
– Former WWE Divas and Women’s Champion Melina, who has not granted many interviews since parting ways with WWE in 2011, spoke to Jim Ross on Tuesday for a Ross Report podcast that will be released next month on PodcastOne.com.
– The decision to add Seth Rollins into the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view main event with Brock Lesnar and John Cena was made at some point in the past two weeks.
– WWE is scheduled to hold another tryout camp three weeks from now at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The word going around is that there will be a lot of women trying out for the company during this latest camp.
On Monday’s RAW, Seth Rollins was added to the Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble.
WWE officials had been talking about adding Rollins to the match for several weeks prior to the announcement and went back and forth a few times before officially changing the match.
A storyline point that’s been discussed is for Brock Lesnar to be upset that Rollins is being added to the match, since he could lose the WWE Championship without being pinned or submitting.
Additionally, Heyman’s loyalty to Lesnar has been discussed as a major storyline as we head into WrestleMania season.
After Monday’s edition of WWE RAW went off the air, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan all looked dejected after being “fired” by The Authority. Eventually the three left with their heads hanging and headed to the back while John Cena remained in the ring looking upset.
Cena got on the microphone and said that there was no way he was going to leave “Whataburger’s Hometown” without a fight, which led to him calling out Seth Rollins.
Rollins came out, but ultimately decided to walk off. This led to Cena calling him out again and getting the fans to chant “You Sold Out” at him. Rollins returned to the ring with Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble and the dark match main event of the evening was set.
Mercury and Noble attacked Cena before the match officially got underway. Finally, things settled down and the actual match began. The match lasted approximately ten minutes, with the finish seeing Big Show come out to interfere. Rollins tried to hit Cena with his Money In The Bank briefcase, but Cena moved and Rollins hit Big Show by accident. This led to Cena hitting Rollins with the Attitude Adjustment for the pin.
Last night’s Raw was the first of 2015 and the company started the year not with a bang but with a whimper. The show was held in Corpus Christi, TX, and it’s unclear whether the audience was drugged prior to filming, because it was probably the most silent crowd I’ve ever heard at a WWE event. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
Pros
The clear highlight of the night was the Ambulance Match between Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt. As always, the two worked pretty well together and delivered a few memorable spots. The ending felt just a bit sloppy, but the rest of the match more than made up for it. In all, it was good to see Wyatt come out on top, as he needed the win more than Ambrose. This program has been one of the only good things going over the past few weeks, so it’s kind of sad to see it come to an end.
Another clear highlight was the Intercontinental Championship match. It was a good way for the Authority to exact revenge against Ziggler, and the 2-out-of-3 falls swerve was decent. It’s also nice to see that the company still has confidence in Bad News Barrett, and this hopefully means that Ziggler will move into the main event picture permanently.
It was nice to see the program actually have an intro and pryo again. This is a minor complaint, but the intro-less format felt really cheap, with it simply going to a lifeless Michael Cole saying, “Welcome to Raw” while panning over the crowd. Unfortunately, the intro and pyro will probably be gone next week due to budget cuts.
Adding Seth Rollins to the main event at the Royal Rumble was brilliant. With Rollins essentially having two chances to win the title in a few weeks, it provides many booking possibilities. My interest level in the main event went from nonexistent to moderately intrigued in a matter of seconds.
Booker T on commentary was a nice change of pace. Hopefully King is well soon, but they really need to shake up the commentary team. I wouldn’t mind seeing Booker become a regular at the table again.
The Kane/Rollins vs. Ryback match was somewhat entertaining but nothing to write home about. The double Curb Stomp was at least a decent finish.
Finally, it was nice to see the company giving guys more time to cut backstage promos. Rusev, Reigns, Ambrose, Wyatt, and possibly a few superstars whom I’m forgetting all received promo time last night. Good to see the company letting the talent speak instead of filling that time with ads or plugs for the Network.
On Monday’s WWE RAW, the first edition of the show of 2015, a “John Cena Appreciation” night, with a sarcastic tone, was promoted throughout the evening by The Authority — Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
As the show went on, it became clear that anyone who was part of Team Cena at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, where The Authority ended up getting fired, was going to be punished and beaten down.
Finally, when the “John Cena Appreciation” main event segment came, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon revealed that Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan, the other members of Team Cena, were all fired.
During this week’s edition of WWE RAW in Corpus Christi, Texas, the first episode of the show in 2015, The Authority made their return and immediately made an impact.
During the beginning of this week’s RAW, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon announce that at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, there will be a change to the main event. The new main event will now be a triple-threat match, with Brock Lesnar defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena and Seth Rollins.
WWE Royal Rumble 2015 takes place on January 25th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
When I was a youngster, I remember how I used to have to beg my parents to let me order a WWE pay-per-view every once in a while. The thing is, I didn’t mind doing it because I knew that if I ordered the show, whatever feuds were going on at the time would culminate in the matches on the pay-per-view.
These days? Not so much.
I can’t imagine being a kid now-a-days that has to bug your parents to let you buy a WWE pay-per-view, so that you can see your favorite wrestlers finally blow off their program in a match inside the squared circle, only to come out of the show and realize that the next pay-per-view features the same matches.
Basically, your begging and nagging ways sound something like this. “Mom, dad, PLEASE let me buy SummerSlam! It’s the second biggest WWE show of the year and I just HAVE to see John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar!!”
Let’s say you convinced them. Your begging and nagging worked. They let you buy SummerSlam.
Good stuff right? Wrong.
You come out of SummerSlam and head into the following week of WWE television, only to find out that you didn’t see the culmination of the Cena-Lesnar feud at all.
Not even close.
As it turns out, SummerSlam was only the beginning. You find out that a rematch is going to take place between the two at the next WWE pay-per-view, Night Of Champions.
Now what do you do?!
“Mom, dad PLEASE let me buy Night Of Champions! I just HAVE to see John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar!!”
Their response will probably sound something like this. “But Timmy, you said that last time!”
Poor fella.
Now let’s say you figured out a way to order Night Of Champions. You went to a friend’s house, you found an illegal stream online, you robbed a 7/11. You figured it out somehow, someway. Brock Lesnar disappears afterwards, only to re-appear and begin the build-up to what? You guessed it!
Cena vs. Lesnar III at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January.
Do you even bother bugging your folks to let you buy it? Do you even bother going to a friend’s house? Do you even bother risking finding an illegal stream on the internet? Do you even bother risking your butt robbing that 7/11?
At what point do you say enough is enough?
Maybe we’ll find out when the numbers come in for the Rumble, who knows. Be sure to save a couple of bucks, because hell, we might have Cena-Lesnar IV at WWE Fast Lane in February!
Unfortunately, while this isn’t anything new, it seems to be happening more and more lately. The pattern seems to be that wrestler A and wrestler B begin an issue, it boils for four weeks or so and a match takes place at a pay-per-view. Then you turn around and the very next pay-per-view look nearly identical to the previous one.
As I see it, the ONLY silver lining to all of this is this: at least these days when you throw your money down the toilet, you’re only throwing away $9.99 a month!
ZING!
What do you guys think? Let us know by posting your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also add me on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.
– NXT star C.J. Parker deleted every tweet on his official Twitter page and noted that he’s going silent on Twitter until he becomes the NXT Champion.
– As noted earlier today, Roman Reigns recently announced that he will be part of the new WWE Immortals mobile game. Reigns joins Brock Lesnar, John Cena and The Rock, all of whom have been previously announced for the show. Since then, The Bella Twins have confirmed their involvement in the game as well, as they tweeted the following photo:
– WWE Superstar Roman Reigns confirmed today that he will be part of the new WWE Immortals mobile fighting video game. Already announced for the game are John Cena, Brock Lesnar and The Rock.
– Below is a behind-the-scenes video of WWE Diva and Total Divas star Eva Marie’s recent Muscle & Fitness shoot.
Bad News Barrett noted prior to the main event at the WWE live event on Sunday night in Hidalgo, Texas that Seth Rollins was unable to make it and would not be performing on the show. Barrett would go on to lose to John Cena in a replacement main event “Street Fight” on the show.
Rollins later apologized to the fans in Hidalgo for his absence, noting that travel issues prevented him from appearing as advertised.
Apologies to the fans in Hidalgo, TX tonight. Travel circumstances outside my control caused me to miss the show. Really bums me out.
The following are highlights of a new WNS Podcast interview with Roman Reigns:
ON RETURNING TO IN-RING ACTION: “Man, I’m happy to do a lot of things. Having that hernia surgery and the first couple of weeks of recovery was something I had never experienced before. I’ve had some injuries in my day and I’ve been able to work through the rehab process but I mean the requirements for hernia surgery is sit on the couch and do nothing. Which you know, it sounds like what’s he complaining about? But for the first couple of weeks it was pretty cool. I’m not going to lie I did some pretty good couch work. Til about two and a half, three weeks oh man. You start getting so antsy you just want to get out. I want to get in the gym and I want to work ad sweat and I just couldn’t do anything like that. It’s nice to be able to move around. run, jump, wrestle, everything man. I’m very fortunate.”
ON WETHER OR NOT 2015 WILL BE HIS YEAR: “I think so. I think everyone’s thinking that. I think everybody goes into these type of matches thinking they’re going to be the guy. It can happen. Whether it’s 30, 40, 100 people in this match. Everybody should be going in with that mindset. “I’m the guy. I can change my whole career. I can change my whole life if I just dominate tonight and that’s what I’m going to do. Fortunately for me I have some experience with this match. I have a record of eliminations and I’m taking last year making it all the way to the end and coming up short as a mistake I can learn from. As a good experience. Hopefully, I can capitalize on it this year and correct that wrong and go onto the big one.”
ON BEING COMPARED TO JOHN CENA: “When I first started wrestling, I got a lot of comparisons to a lot of different people. Razor Ramon, The Rock. I had a bunch of different qualities and characteristics of former guys. I’m not trying to be the next anybody. I’m trying to be the very first Roman Reigns that’s all I can do. I’m not out to be somebody that I’m not. I know who I am and I know where I come from and I know where I want to go. It’s very flattering to be compared to someone who’s worked so hard and been so successful. I don’t want what he has, I want what I’m going to get.”
ON THE TRANSITION FROM BEING PART OF THE SHIELD TO SINGLES COMPETITION: “I was fine with it. People don’t realize that I was wrestling singles towards the end of The Shield’s run. I main evented a whole year of fighting Randy Orton while I was still in The Shield. I had multiple matches without the boys. It’s just one of those things, I’m a sports entertainer. I’m a wrestler. I’m a worker. I can wrestle in a team situation. Before I got in The Shield I was wrestling singles so you gie me a squared circle, ropes and someone to beat up and I can do it.”
ON ANY COUNTRY HE’S NOT YET GOT TO PERFORM IN BUT WOULD LIKE TO: “There’s quite a few places I’d like to go. I’ve been so lucky to go to so many different cool places all over the world. Places I never would have thought of going or even knew about. But I think the one continent that I haven’t been to would be South America. So, I would love to get down there and just do antour and go country to country and tear it up for the South American WWE Universe.”
ON THE MOST BIZARRE THING THAT’S HAPPENED WHEN HE’S WALKED OUT THROUGH THE CROWD: “There’s been a couple of situations. There’s one time a few months ago this little girl came out and wave slapped me. Just a big bear hug on me and I didn’t even notice. She was on me before I even knew so when I looked down this 7-8 year old little girl who was as cute as can be. Not too long ago, I think last week i saw those little short films they do on the internet some girl just feeling my arm up and holding my hand. There’s so many people and I’m trying to take in the crowd and see what I’m working with with the people that sometimes I don’t even notice things like that. We have an awesome job, they’re so fiesty and emotional and outspoken. But they’ve been awesome with me. They haven’t done anything too crazy to where we put the entrance in jeopardy.”
ON POSSIBLY BEING A COMIC BOOK FAN AND SOME OF HIS FAVOURITES: “As a younger kid, I’ve read comic books. I was really into the Spiderman vs Venom and the Superman comics and things like that. But I’m not one of those grown men comic book guys like a few people I know. I got a kid, I don’t do little kid stuff. I like to think I emulate a comic book character with the things that I do. My look, my gear, the moveset that I have. Try to emulate that of a Superman-Spiderman mix or something like that.”
ON FACING RUSEV IN BEAUMONT, TEXAS: “I think it’s a great opportunity. What better place to win the U.S Title then right there in Beaumont, Texas. I think he’s been on a bit of a hot streak. I don’t even think anyone’s beaten him thus far.”
ON THE EMOTIONS GOING THROUGH HIS DAY OF WRESTLEMANIA: “It’s unlike anything else in the world. Our first one one was in New York/New Jersey and last year down in N.O. and it was awesome and just the whole tour, the whole week we get to do a lot of different things at Axxess and do a lot of meet and greet and signings with the fans. So, to have. To be able to interact and hang out and have a lottle time not only with the fans but your family it’s almost like a bit of a vacation up until it’s time tomkind of get your game face on and remember why you’re there. To perform on the grandest stage of them all. For us it was cool because you can feel all those people and you know they’re out there. Fortunately for us, going through the crowd we legitimately got to walk through them.”
ON HIS FAVOURITE MATCH AND FANTASY OPPONENT HE’D LIKE TO FACE: “Yea, i’d have to say my favourite match wzas the first Wyatt match we had on pay per view. I still haven’t watched ot back. I want to leave it to what I remember. The vibe and the emotion we had out there. The reponse. The manipulation of the crowd just going in and out of stuff. All the different chants and things like that. It was an unbelievable match. Also, I gotta say for me personally. I really dig my match I had with Randy Orton at Summerslam. I thought we did some pretty cool stuff especially down towards the end of the match. Incredible exchanges, signature moves and stuff like that. He had an RKO caught me out of the Superman Punch no one’s ever done that and that just speaks to the type of competitor that guy is and not only that I had enough in me to beat a guy like that.”
ON FEELING PRESSURE BEING THE AMBASSADORS FOR NXT ALONG WITH DEAN AMBROSE AND SETH ROLLINS: “I don’t know if it was extra pressure. There’s always pressure. Pressure almost becomes like another emotion. Most people are happy, sad, angry just all the different emotions you can feel and pressure is just one of them. That time I’m alive. If i’m not nervous or feeling butterflies then like what am I doing. For me, it was a cool responsibility to be given, to take on. I think that’s just part of the process. Being the first few to come out of NXT, we felt it but everyone behind us all the way from The Wyatts to Rusev and the list is just going to continue to go on. You’ve got great talent down there that are going to come up and make a big name for themselves. The Ascension, sami Zayn, Adrian Neville. There’s even newer guys,international stars from the independant scene so it’s a good time to be a wrestling fan.”
ON HIS REACTION TO BEING NAMED SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR: “To be honest I was shocked. I didn’t even look at it like I was going to win. I was in The Shield for a little bit of the year. When I came out of there, I came out with a rocket on me and I was able to do some cool stuff with the Rumble and Survivor Series. What you saw on live TV, was what I was going through at the time.”
The following are highlights of a new U.K. Mirror interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On working Global Force Wrestling’s English-language presentation of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 9 this weekend: “Jeff Jarrett made the inroads, he and my business manager worked out the deal, it was a win-win for both of us, so I said ‘I’m in.’ I’m excited about it. I’ve been in this business for 40 years, so when you get a chance to do something new after being around that long, it’s pretty motivating. I look at this as a new adventure, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
On if he will call another event after this weekend: “I don’t know if I’ll do any more, I don’t know that I want to do any more. If there’s anything after that it’ll be a bonus. But I’m going to do this show, I’m preparing to do this show, like it’s my last major pay-per-view lead play-by-play.”
On his WWE departure: “I had 21 years there – it wasn’t like I had a brief little run and everything was over. I had a great run in WWE, I went into the Hall of Fame, there were a lot more good days than bad ones. Was it the ideal way to exit? Probably not. I assumed a level of responsibility in that SummerSlam symposium, I was driving the train and the train got off the tracks, so the decision was made that it wasn’t a good thing and I moved on.”
On Vince McMahon saying he would be open to working with Ross again on Steve Austin’s podcast: “There’s an old expression in wrestling that says ‘never say never’, when you are in my stage of my life, where I’ve been so blessed with this career, I’m not going to tell you that I’d never go [back] but it’d strictly depend on my role and how much time away from home it would demand. I leave the door open. Would I say definitively no, I would never work for WWE again? Absolutely not. It would necessitate me to give it some thought and it would depend on what the job description was and what they wanted me to do. I’m 62, I’ll be 63 in January, I have to be conscious of jobs.”
On whether or not TNA tried to hire him: “No. They know I don’t have any desire to get back in the weekly grind of that. Dixie and no-one else has asked about me coming back full-time and that’s why this opportunity [with GFW] was so fit really – it was a one-time deal, a one-off. I like knowing I don’t have any pressure on me beyond that, I can focus on this one big event, really try to nail it without any pressure that I’ve got to do something tomorrow, or next week, or next month.”
On agreeing with Vince that no WWE Superstar has grabbed the brass ring since John Cena: “Since we signed John Cena, no-one has outworked John Cena. John Cena’s work ethic is beyond reproach. It’s been phenomenal to see what he does and he’s made himself a brand. John was willing to do things that had not been done, he was willing to take a chance – his wrestling attire was non-traditional, he was a Caucasian rapper and that was unique for wrestling, that was bold. Vince made a good point, Cena did all he could to become the guy. Has anyone else since John Cena worked in every phase of their game to get really good? I think the argument could be made that some have worked as hard as Cena in some areas, but not across the board as he has.”
“Sometimes if you look at your talent as athletes, not entertainers, they need to be challenged occasionally – we need you to play better, I need you to lose 20 pounds, I need you to work on your tan, as silly as that sounds. From an athletic point of view, every coach has those heart-to-hearts with their team at some point in time. If you’re going to go down the athletic road, every now and then they need a pep talk, and every now and then they need to ask themselves, ‘What have I done to make myself better than I was last week? What am I doing to make myself a more valuable player?’ I think Vince is sending a subtle message there, or not-so-subtle, that Cena was the last guy that went the complete distance to grab the brass ring. And then when he grabbed the brass ring he didn’t quit growing, he kept trying to get better. He’s their guy right now, lord knows what they would be without John Cena.”
The Bella Twins spoke to the folks at E! Online to promote this Sunday’s return of WWE Total Divas on the E! network. Below are some excerpts from the interview.
Brie Bella on having baby fever and a big tease for this season: “You actually have to tune-in this season. Because there is a huge decision I have to make and it’s kind of crazy what the cameras caught so I’m really excited because it’s a really big moment in my life.”
Nikki Bella on her family interfering in her relationship with John Cena last season: “The family drama was tough because you know, also being in entertainment, she (Brie) is the only one who truly has my back and is someone that I trust. And my family too. My mom’s my best friend, my brother, and so when I watched all that and saw what they did, one, I felt terrible for John. Like, how do you put him in that position? And two, I was beyond shocked that they would do that to me. And it was very difficult; it’s like one of those things that you could forgive but you can’t forget. And it’s still kind of difficult when I think about it, I kinda get a little pissed.”
Where I’m from, local residents occasionally use the phrase “lazy man’s load.” If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it involves straining oneself by carrying multiple bags of groceries from the car in order to save a trip. Based on last night’s episode of Raw, I’m starting to wonder if WWE creative lives in my neighborhood.
As most know by now, the Authority is back in power in the WWE. We all knew they would be back in some shape or form, but most (myself included) did not expect them to be back so soon. So, was bringing the Authority back best for business?
The company appears to be laying the groundwork for a Triple H/Sting match at WrestleMania.
It is hard to deny that Raw has been directionless over the past few weeks. One week we had Daniel Bryan making matches, next fans were subjected to a stupid podium that decided to show up for a week or two, and finally we had Hogan dressed as Santa Claus calling the shots. In short, the shows were all over the place, and for the most part, just plain bad.
That isn’t a knock on the superstars, as they did everything they could to make the shows entertaining. Instead, it’s a knock on creative because they are unable to adapt from their comfort zone. For the past year, nearly every major storyline has focused on the Authority, and it seemed that creative was lost without their tried-and-true conflict creative device.
With that said, I suppose it is necessary to bring the Authority back into power to set up a potential match between Sting and Triple H at WrestleMania. It definitely appears that Sting’s first match in the WWE will be against the Game, so it makes more sense to have Sting deal the final blow to the Authority than to have Triple H request a match to exact revenge even though he’s no longer in power.
It was believed going into Monday’s RAW show in Washington, D.C., the final episode of the program for 2014, that Randy Orton would be making his return. Obviously that did not happen, however he did make an appearance in the building after the cameras went off.
Once RAW went off the air officially, Orton came out for a dark match main event, defeating Seth Rollins with a RKO. Orton then celebrated with John Cena at the top of the stage.
It was revealed on the final RAW of 2014 that The Authority is back in control of power in WWE.
This happened when Seth Rollins, with help from Big Show, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble, held Edge hostage, threatening to Curb Stomp him onto the Money In The Bank briefcase and paralyze him, unless John Cena agree to bring back The Authority.
Eventually, Cena gave in. Rollins tried to attack Edge anyways, but Cena stopped him, only to eat a Knockout Punch from Big Show and a Curb Stomp from Rollins. As Rollins, Show, Mercury and Noble go to leave, out came The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, drinking champagne and celebrating their return to power as the announcers questioned how The Authority being back in power will affect 2015.
David Arquette is a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Being a World Champion normally means you’re a big star. Vince Russo was a former World Champion. The Great Khali is a former World Heavyweight Champion. Just so we understand each other, these guys, in my opinion, are not among the biggest stars in the history of pro wrestling.
Do we understand the formula?
Today, we are going to look at five legends of the ring who were without a doubt top stars in their prime. At one point or another, each person on this list could be considered “the guy” in the business. All were top stars who reached Championship-level success at one time or another, however they all shared one key factor in common — they pretty much sucked in the ring.
A lot of people have different ideas of what a “good worker” really is. Generally speaking, if you’re in the business, a good worker is someone who can take the live crowd on an emotional journey. Most of the people on this list were able to do that, however if you’re a die-hard fan of the sport, you have a different opinion of what a “good worker” is. To those people, a good worker is someone who took the time to perfect the craft, the art and skill of what goes on inside the squared circle. Guys who have matches that are considered “match of the year” candidates. Guys who could have what die-hard fans call “five-star matches.”
That is who we are looking at today. Guys who by die-hard fan standards would be considered god-awful workers. Guys who couldn’t have a classic, five-star match to save their life, even if they’re able — usually due to star power and enthusiasm — to pop a crowd during a match.
With all of thr explanation out of the way, let’s take a look at who made the list of the top five biggest stars who weren’t good workers.
#5. Hulk Hogan
The guy knows how to have a classic match. His WrestleMania VI clash with Ultimate Warrior, who we’ll be talking about later, surprised many. Still, if you examine the match with your “worker” glasses on you’ll notice that it wasn’t exactly a catch-as-catch-can classic by any means.
It was a great match though in the sense that the crowd was totally invested. A lot of that had to do with the promotional build-up to the match and the characters involved. The same can be said for Hogan vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8.
A Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat classic it was not.
But the response from the fans was about as passionate as things get. Hogan can have great matches when everything falls into place, but you can’t put just anybody in the ring with him and expect a great match. As far as his star-power is concerned, Hogan is one of — if not the biggest — stars in the history of the sport.
Hulk Hogan comes in at number five.
#4. Andre the Giant
Andre The Giant is one of the biggest and most recognizable stars in professional wrestling history. In his prime as a young wrestler he would come off of the top-rope, he could throw a pretty impressive dropkick and was a lot more agile than he became later in his career.
Most will remember the run Andre The Giant had in WWE in the 1980s, but prior to that he was actually a pretty solid in-ring worker. His most famous years, however, saw a number of rest-holds killing the majority of the time in his matches. It was almost a sure thing that there would be a few bear-hugs, nerve-grip holds and the ever-popular butt-smash in the corner spot.
So again, Andre wasn’t the best in-ring technician, but he was a huge star — literally — and could elicit a great reaction from the crowd from bell-to-bell when matched with the right guy.
Regardless, Andre comes in at number four.
#3. Kevin Nash
Outside of a few matches with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, better known to WWE-exclusive fans as “Diesel,” rarely had a match above a two-star rating. He was one of the first workers to be labeled as a guy with “five moves of doom,” long before that torch was passed to John Cena.
However, Nash was a big ingredient in the pro wrestling explosion of the late 1990s. His move to WCW, which led to the formation of the nWo, was arguably the jumping-off point of the Monday Night Wars, which ultimately led to WWE’s “Attitude Era.” WWE was forced to switch gears and change the way they do business, and Nash, along with Scott Hall, were two key players at the root of all of these changes.
Despite his importance level in the business, his work level earns him the bronze medal as one of the biggest stars who wasn’t a “good worker.”
The following are highlights of the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On the Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper match at RAW: “Ziggler vs. Harper…both men sold well, which is missing in many talent’s game within the business these days, and told a great story of competition and made me feel better about the IC Title status and how it an be heated up. I knew Harper had ‘it’ when I watched him down in NXT and Ziggler has been ready for ‘prime time’ for a good while now. I like how WWE has begun to utilize Dolph.”
On the Seth Rollins vs. John Cena match at RAW: “Rollins vs. Cena….nice chemsty..competitive…and we got a clean winner and a disgruntled loser who will want redemption. Leaving fans feeling empty with a impotent count out or disqualification can do more harm than good in any promotion.”
On The Ascension vignettes: “Interesting Ascension vignettes…almost Road Warrior-esque which will be interesting to see how the audience accepts. WWE needs a hot, fan favorite tag team for Ascension to come in and ravage to get the fan’s attention.”
On Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt at RAW: “Loved the effort of Ambrose vs. Rollins and I’m a fan of each talent but I felt like they depended too much on weaponry in their match. Less is more especially after we’ve seen the recent TLC PPV plus other cage matches recently. These two beat the hell out of each other….again.”
On The New Day faction: “Really curious as to how “New Day” is going to be accepted by the fans once they are launched officially IE in earnest. Today’s fans don’t seem to be too willing to provide second chances. I’d surmise that dressing in Carolina Blue and espousing such positivity that today’s wrestling fan may be a little hard on the talented trio who I happen to like personally and professionally. These three need to be special and draw positive attention to themselves by what they do in the ring and how they present themselves. If it’s the same old stuff, it won’t work. This sis where talents need to brainstorm and strategize on what they can do differently while they are being repackaged.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
2014 is coming to a close. Aside from two episodes of Raw that most likely be forgettable, fans have seen everything the WWE has to offer this year. Here is a look back at all 16 pay-per-views (including NXT), with each event ranked and summarized.
16. Battleground
This event took place during July, and boy was it a hot mess. The opening contest between the Usos and Wyatt Family was money, but it was downhill from there, as fans were subjected to one dud contest after another.
The biggest mistakes involved advertising a Rollins/Ambrose match that didn’t take place, and using the same predictable ending sequence during the main event. Overall, this was completely forgettable and easily the worst pay-per-view of the year.
Worst Match: Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
Best Match: The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family
15. TLC
The final pay-per-view of the year was certainly not the best the company has to offer. Overall, this event suffered from a thin roster and overcomplicated booking. Like many pay-per-view events, it started off strong before derailing.
Ziggler and Harper stole the show during the opening contest. However, lame gimmicks (Stairs/Chairs Matches) and cheesy endings (Wyatt/Ambrose, Cena/Rollins) really held this event back and prevented it from being a success.