The following are highlights of a new TSN BarDown interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart:
DB: Is there a reason that wrestlers come out for their match with their hair soaking wet?
BH: The truth is for me I always wet my hair because it was a way of waking up. You get tired, flying in and driving up and then it’s like your finally ready to go out and you gotta deliver in your big match. So, I always used to take a big cold glass of water and pour it over my head and kind of wake myself up before I went out. And then everyone after that is just trying to look like Bret Hart (laughs).
DB: Favourite heel of all time? Favourite bad guy?
BH: Favourite heel? Ya, I got lots of them that’s a good one. Steve Austin was my favourite. When he was jumping me at every turn back in the 90s, back before he became a good guy. Before our match at Wrestlemania 13, the months leading up to that he was just the baddest bad guy. He was a really good character.
DB: Favourite good guy wrestler? Or favourite babyface in wrestling terms?
BH: John Cena strikes me as one, Sting is maybe another one. They were two guys that always seemed to be faces.
DB: Speaking of John Cena, do you think he’ll rebound this Sunday at Night Of Champions and beat Brock Lesner?
BH: I think Cena is going to win. And I think Cena is going to win big!
Night of Champions is only a few days away. Even though the WWE has been serving up plates of garbage on Raw for weeks now, many still have high hopes for this pay-per-view, as every title in the company will be defended.
With that said, here are my predictions for this Sunday’s Night of Champions pay-per-view, which in case you haven’t heard, can be viewed on the WWE Network for only $9.99 (or $12.99 if you’re afraid of commitment).
Nikki Bella vs. Paige (WWE Divas Champion) vs. AJ Lee
I don’t expect it to be a terrible contest, as two of the three competitors are great workers and Nikki isn’t the worst Diva fans have ever seen. In the end, I believe Nikki will capture the title with help from her sister, reuniting the Bella Twins and putting an end to their horrible feud.
Winner: Nikki Bella by pinfall
Sheamus (United States Champion) vs. Cesaro
This should be one of the more exciting contests of the night, but I unfortunately don’t see it being given a ton of time. Although Cesaro will put up a hell of a fight, Sheamus will retain after hitting a Brogue Kick, possibly setting up a feud with Rusev for the United States Championship in the near future.
– On his latest Talk is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho confirmed that he’ll be finishing up his current WWE run this Sunday when he wrestles Randy Orton at Night of Champions.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans to vote about how they would describe John Cena in one word – inspirational, resilient, loyal, unwavering, intense, tireless, tiresome, stubborn, abrasive, naive, verbose or “other.” With over 8,000 votes, 24% have voted for inspirational & loyal. The next closest are “other” with 11% and “tiresome” with 9%.
What word would you use to describe John Cena? Hit up the comments below, this should be interesting.
– After teasing that he is starting a podcast, WWE ring announcer posted the “first episode” on Instagram:
“The time has come! This is not your traditional podcast! Each week I will be welcoming a new guest on my VIDEO podcast that calls Instagram it’s home. #gamechanger Thank you to my 1st guest: @NatalieEvaMarie ..please enjoy!”
The latest Michael Cole weekly sit-down interview has been added to the official YouTube channel of WWE.
This week, Cole sits down with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar to discuss his upcoming rematch with John Cena at Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Check out the video above to hear Lesnar explain why he is the face of WWE and why Cena stands no chance at winning his title back this Sunday night.
Make sure to visit SEScoops.com this Sunday night for the best WWE Night Of Champions play-by-play results coverage on the web!
The reason that WWE ran with the Mark Henry and Rusev segment in the main event slot of Monday’s RAW, despite being the “go-home” show for Sunday’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view, was to save the John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman segment for earlier in the show.
Apparently it was Vince McMahon’s call to do so, as the feeling was WWE needed to put their best foot forward to counter NFL’s Monday Night Football game. This was also the reason that Cena and the RAW announcers kept referring to the fight taking place at “halftime.”
Since bursting on the scene last fall, Bray Wyatt has been one of the most diabolical and confusing characters on the WWE roster. Fans are likely to find him delivering a soliloquy in a dark room one minute, while serenading an audience the next.
Along the way, Wyatt has taken out a number of superstars, including Kane, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena. However, it seems as if Wyatt has lost momentum in recent weeks.
Wyatt has lost momentum since his feud with John Cena.
Everything seemed to be going fine for Wyatt and his Family during his program with John Cena. Wyatt was able to defeat Cena during one of the three matches, and although he wasn’t able to win the series, he looked strong at times and amassed more followers. At the same time, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were challenging for the Tag Team Championships and it seemed like only a matter of time before they would capture gold.
However, the stable has seemed lost since the Cena program. Wyatt feuded with Chris Jericho in a program that was underwhelming and did little to advance either superstar. As for Harper and Rowan, they could never overcome the Usos and it now appears that they are out of the title picture for the time being. The current Wyatt Family situation begs the question: Is the stable quickly losing relevance?
In recent weeks, Wyatt has been fed to a number of superstars as they attempt to build up Night of Champions. Nowhere was this more evident than a few weeks ago when John Cena tore through the entire three-man stable just one week after being destroyed by Brock Lesnar.
This week on Raw was no different, as the Big Show delivered a double chokeslam to Harper and Rowan, once again sending the Wyatt Family running for the hills with their tails between their legs.
Feeding the Wyatt Family to the Big Show makes little sense. After all, it is not like the Big Show has a match at Night of Champions, so unlike the Cena situation, the company isn’t really building for the pay-per-view by burying the future of the company. Instead, it was just another pointless beating and loss for the Wyatt Family.
In a new article on the WWE website that looks at John Cena’s ten biggest rivals, the company finally acknowledged and confirmed CM Punk’s departure from the promotion. Below is an excerpt from the feature that details the portion related to Punk.
“It takes a bold, bold man to call himself The Best in the World without any hint of showmanship to it. CM Punk was nothing if not bold. The self-appointed heir apparent to Cena as the face of professional wrestling, Punk’s agitation over being passed over festered into an earth-shattering “pipe bomb” that took Cena, the McMahons, and the institution of sports-entertainment itself to task. He then promptly won Cena’s WWE Title and gallivanted off into retirement, but you probably don’t need Wikipedia to know The Straight Edge Superstar couldn’t stay away for long. He eventually came back to further challenge Cena’s dominance and beat him more often than not. These two were having classic matches for years after that initial clash. Perhaps the greatest disappointment in Punk’s untimely departure is knowing they definitely had a few more in them.”
You can check out the complete article at WWE.com.
Last week, WWE removed the remaining CM Punk merchandise from the WWEShop online store. As noted earlier, a search for “CM Punk” now brings up an error message, asking the user if they meant to search for “CM Pink.”
– Paul Heyman has issued a statement to John Cena on his Heyman Hustle website. Brock Lesnar returns to WWE RAW tonight – and Cena is looking for a fight. In typical Heyman fashion, he explains exactly why this is a disastrous idea from Cena just 6 days ahead of their rematch this Sunday at Night of Champions. Heyman explains:
“Brock Lesnar is going to kick John Cena’s ass all over Monday Night RAW, and John Cena will not have enough time to recover to be 100% for his contractually-invoked rematch at WWE Night of Champions next Sunday. “
“Martyrdom does not guarantee immortality. Bluntly, it guarantees the opposite. Martyrdom only offers death. In this case, the death of John Cena’s dream of proving himself anything but inferior to my client, the reigning defending WWE Heavyweight Champion of the World, Brock Lesnar! “
You can (and should) read the full statement at HeymanHustle.com.
– WWE Superstar Bad News Barrett is back on tour with WWE, traveling to India for this week’s International tour. He posted the following on Instagram on Sunday:
“About to take off on tour… @WWEIndia, see you in Bangalore in about 24hrs! Can’t wait. #BNB”
WWE announced a Divas tag-team match for Monday’s RAW, which is the “go-home” show for next Sunday’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Brie Bella and AJ Lee will team up to take on the duo of Paige and Nikki Bella at the show, which emanates from the Cajundone in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Also scheduled for Monday’s RAW, as noted earlier today, is the return of several top NXT talents. Currently booked for RAW (and SmackDown) next week are Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze.
Finally, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is also scheduled to return at next week’s RAW. As seen on this past Monday night’s show in Baltimore, John Cena promised that he’s either kicking Lesnar’s ass, or Paul Heyman’s, if Lesnar doesn’t show up.
The following are highlights of a new Muscle & Fitness interview with The Rock:
On if he’d like to return to the ring: “Yeah, I’d love to. We just have to figure out what it could be and what the most ideal matchup would be, and who it would be with. Because I always feel like if I go back to the WWE, then it has to be bigger and greater than what I’ve done in the past, and I don’t know what could be bigger in terms of marquee value—in terms of value across the board—and to me it has to surpass what we’ve done.”
On having tension with John Cena: “It got really uncomfortable for a lot of people. And it gets uncomfortable for the fans–that they sense something. But then when it gets uncomfortable for the wrestlers and to the executives and the company, then it’s something special. I’d say ‘John, here’s what I’m going to say tonight: Go f— yourself.’ He’d say, ‘Well, here’s going to be my response: F— you too.’ I mean, it was like that. And it was palpable for the fans, and it was palpable backstage. And I would never be like that under any other circumstance. I’m collaborative with everyone I work with. And I take a lot of pride in that, and you know something? So is John.”
On nearly coming to blows with Cena backstage: “He’s a great guy. He’s one of the best guys out there, but here’s what we realized: If we wanted to build the two biggest matchups back-to-back and create something special in Miami and in New York, we’re going to do it this way. And we might fail miserably at it. People might think it’s not real or you run into the challenge of the potential for people to go, ‘It’s so real that it’s not real.’ But in this case it worked out very well and through all that edge and attitude and bite that we had and nearly coming to blows backstage and one night in the ring—literally we were nose-to-nose, it was any second. And through that in a crazy, weird completely unexplained way, we became great buds.”
For the past few weeks, Vince McMahon has reportedly been all over the WWE creative team to book John Cena stronger to prove to his fans that he’s “still in the fight” after being dominated in what amounted to a squash match at the hands of Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam.
When Cena returned to RAW the following week and dominated The Wyatt Family, we noted that it was Vince who was responsible for the way Cena was booked that night. Apparently many backstage felt that this was the wrong thing to do, especially against Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family, however Vince reportedly insisted that it be booked that way and was unwilling to change his mind.
As seen here last week, the complete script for the September 1st edition of WWE RAW leaked onto the internet and those who watched the show realized how much WWE sticks to the script on their weekly flagship program.
The two key things that weren’t in the script that were clear when watching the show was the back-and-forth between Chris Jericho and Triple H in the opening segment, as well as the fact that John Cena put Seth Rollins through a table with an Attitude Adjustment later in the show.
The former was just off-the-cuff remarks between two veteran performers, while the latter is said to be a perfect example of how something significant can be changed very late in the writing process.
With new matches being officially announced on Monday’s “season premiere” of RAW in Baltimore, below is the latest official lineup for the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, September 21, 2014.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
– Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. The Miz
WWE United States Championship
– Sheamus (c) vs. Cesaro
WWE Tag-Team Championship
– The Usos (c) vs. Goldust & Stardust
WWE Divas Championship
– Paige (c) vs. AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
– Rusev vs. Mark Henry
Make sure to join us here on 9/21 for WWE Night Of Champions live results coverage.
It was announced on Monday’s “season premiere” of WWE RAW that on next week’s show, which is the WWE Night Of Champions “go-home” edition of RAW, Brock Lesnar will return live.
Also announced on RAW in an excellent promo segment in the ring between John Cena and Paul Heyman, it was revealed by Cena that if Lesnar didn’t show up to RAW next week, that Cena would beat up Heyman. So, you can likely expect some sort of confrontation between Lesnar and Cena on the final RAW leading into their rematch at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view,.
Finally, it was announced on RAW that on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, an “International Arm-Wrestling Contest” will take place between Rusev and Mark Henry.
As everyone knows by now, the Beast and the (former) Champ will once again square off in less than two weeks at Night of Champions. This contest will be John Cena’s championship rematch and figures to be the last time the two competitors will square off.
Since losing his title last month at SummerSlam, John Cena has been running through the roster, destroying everyone in his path while being booked as a threat to Lesnar. Along the way, he wiped out the entire Wyatt Family, took out Seth Rollins, and has vowed to kick Lesnar’s ass during their next meeting.
John Cena will hope to exact a bit of revenge in two weeks at Night of Champions.
It seems apparent that Cena will not be reunited with his precious championship belt. Instead, he is being booked very strong in an attempt to make things believable, but he could be hurting other members of the roster during the build (Bray Wyatt, in particular). It makes little sense to have Cena run through one of your top guys (especially one who was building momentum) like he’s a nobody when there are plenty of other guys that could have done the job.
Nonetheless, the build in this case is not as important as the aftermath. The consensus seems to be that Cena will not regain his title in a few weeks at Night of Champions. This leaves fans with one question: Who is next for Brock Lesnar?
The Beast Incarnate has expanded his deal to allow for the company to book its champion for more dates, but it remains to be seen who his next opponent will be. It’s likely that Lesnar will hold the title until WrestleMania to generate interest before passing it on to the next generation, leaving many pay-per-views between now and March.
– Below is the official trailer for WWE’s new “John Cena: Greatest Rivalries” DVD and Blu-ray, which is scheduled to be released in October.
http://youtu.be/Z0ccMM-QoZQ
– Below is the official synopsis for next week’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which airs Sunday night on E!:
“Brie regrets quarreling with her husband when he delivers devastating news; Nikki’s secret has John fearing the end of their relationship; and Trinity is blindsided when Ariane puts the future of the Funkadactyls at risk.”
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On WWE Night Of Champions: “WWE’s Night of Champions PPV in a few weeks headlined by Lesnar vs Cena in the rubber match for the WWE title is by far the strongest match on the card which provides Sheamus vs. Cesaro US Title bout and/or Ziggler vs. Miz IC Title bout a dark horse chance to over achieve what is expected of them and turn heads. Their only enemy is to be saddled with not enough time to tell a viable story.”
On Jerry Springer and Michael Sam: “So, Michael Sam is out and Jerry Springer is in next week on RAW. Nice payday and exposure for the 70 year old talk show host who actually tapes his TV show in Stamford, Ct. Unfortunately some fans will ‘damn’ this segment before it even airs which isn’t fair but it’s reality.”
On pro wrestling announcing: “As I said on a recent Ross Report Podcast, I’m of the mindset that WWE would serve its self well if they had separate announce teams for RAW and Smackdown. I’ve expressed this sentiment for months. I’m reluctant to talk announcing because it’s often times thought that I’m angling for work which is laughably ridiculous. It’s just my opinion that WWE shows need different sound tracks to give each program some exclusive identity. I’d have @MichaelCole anchor the flagship RAW broadcast with @JCLayfield and @JerryLawler and utilize @WWETomPhillips to anchor Smackdown perhaps with @ReneeYoungWWE before another network nabs her. Adding a third member of the Smackdown crew would be fine too as it’s good to experiment to see where the chemistry exists.”
“Again, I honestly say that @MichaelCole is much better suited to navigate today’s sports entertainment presentation than I ever was. I was a wrestling play by play guy of which there’s little demand for these days on the biggest stages. Times change and it’s challenging for some WWE broadcasts to sound more like an infomercial than an entertaining, ‘sporting’ event with so many agendas and masters to serve.”
“I sincerely wish all the talents broadcasting wrestling in today’s world the best because those days were the best of my life within the wrestling biz but, again, I will reiterate that I have no desire to re-engage. Just too many new, irons in the fire. Nonetheless, someone will turn what I’ve said here into some sort of covert message or accuse me of not being truthful but don’t waste too much of your time on that concept and finish your homework or jump back on the internet.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
WWE has reportedly come to terms with Brock Lesnar on an agreement that will allow the company to book him as frequently as they want – for a price.
Previously, Lesnar was committed to work a select number of appearances and WWE would have to map out the storylines and dates to work around Lesnar’s schedule. WWE is now able to book Lesnar for RAW shows and pay-per-views whenever they want to use him, on a a pro-rate basis, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Lesnar will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena on September 21st at Night of Champions.
As things stand right now, the only matches officially set for the September 21st WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view in Nashville, Tennessee are Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship and Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
According to reports, two additional matches that are all but confirmed are The Usos vs. Goldust and Stardust for the WWE Tag-Team Championships and Mark Henry vs. Rusev.
The plan right now for the WWE Divas Championship match on the card appears to be a four-way with Paige defending against AJ Lee, Nikki Bella and Brie Bella, as all four were linked together on all of WWE’s television shows this week.
Another match likely for the show, although it may not be a pay-per-view match, is Bo Dallas vs. Jack Swagger.
The key Superstars left without matches that are expected on the show are Chris Jericho (in his final match of his current run with WWE), Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.
It appears WWE is going with a Reigns vs. Rollins match, so they may go with Jericho vs. Orton since the Jericho vs. Wyatt and Reigns vs. Orton matches are set for next week’s RAW to combat the season premiere of Monday Night Football. However, they could either way, with one final Jericho vs. Wyatt “blow-off” match, as well as another Reigns vs. Orton bout.
As noted in the past, the WWE Studios film “Lockdown,” which Dean Ambrose is off filming, is set to wrap up on the Saturday before Night Of Champions, so he could end up on the show if WWE chooses to go that route.
According to those within WWE, there are two main options as to how the company will book the finish of the main event at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
While at this point this is only speculation, one idea is for Brock Lesnar to defeat John Cena when someone screws Cena over, leaving Cena to then work with that person coming out of the show while Lesnar works with other Superstars until facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31.
The other idea is for Cena to defeat Lesnar, while Seth Rollins loses to Roman Reigns, if they go that route with those two, and then have Rollins cash in his “Money In The Bank” briefcase on Cena.
The latest Michael Cole weekly sit-down interview, which once again features WWE COO Triple H, is now online.
During their discussion this week, “The Game” talks to WWE’s lead announcer about next week’s “season premiere” of WWE RAW, the ongoing drama between The Bella Twins, John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar II at the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view and more.
You can watch the complete Michael Cole and HHH interview above.
– The film “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which features Batista in a prominent role, has officially passed the $550 million global mark, as it has now earned a total of $554,304,119. The movie is scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray this November.
– Rosa Mendes’ role on the upcoming third season of Total Divas, which premieres on E! this Sunday, will be that of a “former” WWE Diva who was pulled off the roster and is now returning. The official synopsis for the first episode of season three of Total Divas reads as follows:
“Season 3 begins with Nikki planning her future without her current boyfriend John Cena; at the same time, life turns topsy-turvy for Eva when she’s forced to choose between family and her husband; and tensions are high when a former diva returns to the roster, revealing a dark secret.”
– There was no dark match after the cameras stopped rolling at Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Des Moines, Iowa. After the show was over, John Cena, Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns hung around in the ring and by the ringside area for a while taking pictures with fans and signing autographs.
– For trivia and statistic buffs out there, if Seth Rollins were to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion upon cashing in his “Money In The Bank” briefcase, he would be the first person in history from the state of Iowa to become WWE Champion.