WWE officials announced that Daniel Bryan will not be appearing on the weekend non-televised live events in Toronto, Rockford and Peoria. His status for next week’s RAW, which takes place in St. Louis, is to be determined.
As previously reported, Bryan himself insisted that he work last night’s RAW, despite receiving the news that his father unexpectedly passed away, as a way to set up his program with Kane before heading home to be with his family.
It was announced by Stephanie McMahon on Monday night’s edition of WWE RAW that Daniel Bryan would be defending his newly won WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
The match was announced by Stephanie as a “wedding gift” to Bryan, who just recently married his longtime girlfriend, Brie Bella.
After the announcement, Kane, who is once again wearing his mask, attacked Bryan, hitting him with three Tombstones. One of the Tombstone piledrivers was on the ringside steps, while the other was on top of the RAW announce table.
WWE Extreme Rules takes place live on May 4th at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
STAMFORD, Conn., April 21, 2014 – WWE Network will premiere the Best of Hall of Fame, a series of four special presentations showcasing some of the most memorable inductions in WWE Hall of Fame history. The one-hour specials begin tomorrow night at 10 pm ET and will be hosted by WWE’s Josh Mathews.
Episodes (10 pm ET, Tuesday through Friday) include:
Tuesday, April 22 – Hulk Hogan inducted by Sylvester Stallone, Trish Stratus inducted by Stephanie McMahon and Bobby Heenan inducted by Jack Lanza
Wednesday, April 23 – Pete Rose inducted by Kane and Ric Flair inducted by Triple H
Thursday, April 24 – Gene Okerlund inducted by Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels inducted by Triple H
Friday, April 25 – Jerry Lawler inducted by William Shatner and Bruno Sammartino inducted by Arnold Schwarzenegger
WWE RAW returns live tonight from the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The show is scheduled to feature the return of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, along with his new bride Brie Bella.
Bryan and the return of “masked Kane” are expected to begin their feud heading into the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 4th.
Also on tonight’s show is the semifinals of the WWE Intercontinental Championship contender tournament. The second round matches on tonight’s show will feature Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam and Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett.
On their official website, WWE is focusing on the following five points for tonight’s show:
What havoc will Kane unleash on the returning Daniel Bryan?
Will The Shield confront the reunited Evolution group?
Who will advance in the WWE Intercontinental Championship contender tournament?
Will Tamina Snuka continue to dominate and what challenges face WWE Divas Champion Paige?
Will Bray Wyatt be able to gain a psychological advantage over John Cena?
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com tonight for live WWE RAW results coverage.
As previously reported, AJ Lee asked WWE for time off. As a result, the plans for the WWE Divas Championship match at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which originally featured Paige vs. AJ Lee, now appear to be Paige defending against Tamina Snuka.
Another match scheduled for the show is Big E. defending his WWE Intercontinental Championship against the winner of the ongoing contender tournament. The original plan was for Cesaro to win the tournament, and that may still be the case.
Other matches scheduled for the show include Evolution vs. The Shield, which was talked about as the official main event going into WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan vs. the masked Kane for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a steel cage match and Alexander Rusev in a squash match.
WWE Extreme Rules takes place on May 4th at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Big Red Monster is back, and it appears he is on a collision course with Daniel Bryan. After reclaiming his mask last week on Raw, Kane vowed to take care of the WWE Champion and send him to the depths of hell.
In true WWE storytelling fashion, they had a Kane video package queued up and ready to go about five minutes later, leading me to believe that he will be featured prominently in the storyline in the coming weeks.
With Evolution set to take on the Shield at Extreme Rules and seemingly no other contenders in line, it appears that Daniel Bryan’s first pay-per-view title defense will be against his former tag team partner.
Kane has temporarily retired his suit in favor of his signature mask in an attempt to exact revenge.
The thought of Kane headlining a pay-per-view in 2014 and competing for the WWE Championship could leave some fans scratching their heads, but I believe it could work well if planned appropriately. With other storylines, particularly the Shield/Evolution program, eating up a good portion of the main event roster, creative was left with few options for Bryan’s matchup at Extreme Rules.
Randy Orton still holds a rematch clause but is fighting with Evolution, not to mention that Orton/Bryan headlined three pay-per-views last year and most fans would like something fresh. I think Brock Lesnar is being built up to eventually challenge Bryan for the title, but it would be too soon and neither superstar could afford a loss immediately following WrestleMania. Lesnar needs to continue winning to validate his win against the Undertaker and Bryan cannot lose the title just one month after finally winning it. A no contest would also leave the crowd unsatisfied with the outcome.
Therefore, I think Bryan and Lesnar will both be built up over the coming months to set up a blockbuster showdown at SummerSlam. Bryan’s first victim will almost assuredly be Kane. It is no secret that Kane is past his prime, but he can still put on a decent match if paired with the right opponent.
At the very least, the two have been involved with one another in the storyline over the past several months and creative can rely on that to tell a decent story. It certainly works a little better than randomly choosing someone like Sheamus or Alberto Del Rio to challenge for the title.
In a ‘dark’ segment that took place immediately after Main Event went off the air on the WWE Network, Kane come out – wearing his mask. He beat down Big Show, delivering a chokeslam in the ring and then destroying him outside with the steel ring steps.
As previously reported, it was announced on WWE RAW this week that John Cena will be squaring off against Bray Wyatt in a steel cage match at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
Also announced for the show, which takes place on May 4th from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is a WWE Intercontinental Championship match between current title-holder Big E., and the winner of the ongoing number one contender tournament. The semi-finals of the tournament takes place next Monday night and features Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro, as well as Bad News Barrett vs. Sheamus. The Superstar who advances to the finals will challenge Big E. for the title on May 4th.
Additionally, rumored for Extreme Rules is a faction vs. faction match between The Shield and the reunited Evolution group. As previously reported, it is unclear yet as to whether or not Daniel Bryan and Kane will be added to the match.
The following news and notes were revealed during this week’s edition of WWE RAW, which took place on Monday night in Birmingham, Alabama.
– Next week on RAW, the rest of the WWE Intercontinental Championship number one contender tournament will take place. Advancing in first round matches on Monday night were Rob Van Dam, Cesaro, Sheamus and Bad News Barrett. Squaring off next week in the semi-finals will be RVD vs. Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett.
– Taking place on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which airs live on the WWE Network on Tuesday night, will be Big Show vs. Jack Swagger.
– Announced for the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which takes place on May 4th at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a steel cage match.
– Confirmed as the main event of this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which will be taped on Tuesday night and airs Friday night on SyFy, is “The Animal” Batista vs. Sheamus.
– Finally, it was announced that on next week’s edition of WWE RAW, the returning Daniel Bryan will square off against Kane, who is returning as a masked Superstar.
Near the end of last year, it appeared the WWE would once again focus on promoting its tag team division. After the championships were practically ignored and bounced around between random teams that were comprised of young talent for over a year, Team Hell No helped legitimize the titles once again.
Kane and Bryan held the titles for nearly a year before eventually dropping the straps to Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. The division picked up even more after the Shield got their hands on the titles and was straight up stacked for months. At one point the company was even relying a lot on six-man tag matches just to get as many guys as possible on the broadcast.
Team Hell No helped spark fan interest after a dull period in the tag division.
Near the end of last year, the Rhodes Brothers, the Shield (Rollins and Reigns), the Wyatt Family (Harper and Rowan), the Real Americans, the Usos, the Prime Time Players, and the New Age Outlaws were all in contention for the Tag Team titles at some point.
Since then, nearly every one of those teams has fallen off the face of the Earth, save the Usos who are now the champions. The Rhodes Brothers are barely competing together, the Shield is beyond competing for the championships at this point, the Wyatt Family has been involved in other affairs, both the Real Americans and Prime Time Players have split, and it appears the New Age Outlaws do not want to exercise that rematch clause after all.
The dissolution and promotion of various teams has resulted in the tag team division entering into a transitional state where the company needs to develop new teams or promote others from NXT. Think about the current teams on the roster. We have the Usos who are obviously champions, but who are their challengers? The only other teams even on the roster are Los Matadores, Ryback and Axel, and 3MB, unless I am forgetting someone.
– The three women who were involved in Triple H’s elaborate entrance for his match against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX last Sunday were Alexis, Charlotte and Sasha Banks, all of whom currently work as NXT Divas.
– As it appeared when watching the show live on Sunday, The Shield vs. New Age Outlaws and Kane match was rushed. Both the ring entrances and the match itself were cut to make time for the rest of the show.
While nothing has been officially announced at this point, the plan for the main event angle heading into the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which takes place on May 4th at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is The Shield vs. Evolution. The angle was shot for this rumored match during the post-WrestleMania edition of WWE RAW this past Monday night in New Orleans.
The actual match itself is unknown at this point, although it is expected that Ric Flair will not be involved in the Evolution side of things.
The only question coming out of the angle shot at RAW, is whether or not Kane or Triple H will be the third person on the Evolution side, or if both are part of the equation and Daniel Bryan will be added to The Shield team to make it an eight-man tag-team match. Based on the RAW angle, one would assume it is the latter.
Also rumored for Extreme Rules is a rematch between John Cena and Bray Wyatt.
According to the official WWE website, Billy Gunn was injured during his match with Road Dogg and Kane against The Shield at WrestleMania XXX on Sunday night in New Orleans.
The official WWE website reported the following:
“At the very end of the match, Billy sustained a powerbomb maneuver,” reported WWE’s Dr. Chris Amann. “After that maneuver, he started to develop hemoptysis, which is the medical term for coughing up blood.
“We brought him back and evaluated him immediately, checked his oxygen, his blood pressure … everything was stable,” Amann continued. “We got some X-rays of his chest, which did not show any evidence of a collapsed lung, so our diagnosis right now is that he most likely ruptured a small blood vessel that caused bleeding to the airways and, subsequently, coughing up blood.”
As for Gunn’s condition at this time, Dr. Amann said, “We’re going to monitor him closely for the rest of the night, and we’ll have any additional updates as they’re available.”
The following is a non-spoiler match listing for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown. For complete spoiler results, click ahead to page two.
– Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre & Jinder Mahal
– Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Ryback & Curtis Axel
– Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara
– Goldust vs. Fandango
– Batista vs. Sheamus
– The Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee & Tamina Snuka
– Jack Swagger vs. Jimmy Uso
– The Miz vs. Mark Henry
– Bray Wyatt vs. Big Show
For complete spoiler results for this week’s WWE SmackDown, click ahead to page two …
Following their debut at the 2012 Survivor Series, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, collectively known as the Shield, quickly became one of the most dominant and influential stables in recent memory.
The group primarily acted as heels throughout their successful run, although they were frequently cheered as well. In particular, Roman Reigns would frequently receive huge pops from the crowd, as seen during his breakthrough performances at the 2013 Survivor Series and 2014 Royal Rumble.
After attacking Director of Operations Kane, the group officially turned babyface and the crowd has been eating it up in recent weeks, with their celebration following their beat down of Ryback and Curtis Axel on this past week’s RAW serving as evidence of the group’s popularity.
After a tumultuous few weeks, the Shield appears to be reunited, but for how long can the Hounds of Justice keep their respective egos in check?
The group now seems to be reunited and stronger than ever after there was serious tension between the Hounds of Justice. So why did the WWE decide to turn the Shield face after it seemed they would dissolve just a few weeks prior?
The Wyatt Effect
One of the primary reasons the Shield were forced to turn face was the emergence of the Wyatt Family. There is only so much room on the roster for stables, and the Wyatt Family are without a doubt the predominant heel group on the roster today.
With the Wyatt Family serving as the main heel stable on the roster and essentially adopting the same M.O. as the Shield (appearing out of nowhere to savagely destroy unsuspecting foes), it only makes sense that creative would not want two stables acting in a similar manner, even if their gimmicks are stark contrasts of one another.
WWE confirmed a few new matches for WrestleMania XXX on this week’s edition of RAW, which took place on Monday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
As previously reported, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee will be defending her title on the show in a “Vickie Guerrero Diva Invitational” against Naomi, Cameron, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Eva Marie, Emma, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes, Layla and Tamina Snuka.
Also confirmed on Monday’s RAW was the fact that Ryback and Curtis Axel will be part of the WWE Tag-Team Championship match at WrestleMania XXX against the current champions, The Usos.
Finally, WWE announced The Shield vs. Kane and The New Age Outlaws in a six-man tag-team contest for the show.
The WWE Tag-Team Championship match at WrestleMania XXX on April 6th will now feature current champions The Usos defending in a three-way match against both The Real Americans, as well as the team of Curtis Axel and Ryback.
Originally, Axel and Ryback were going to be part of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The change was made, however, at the last minute to move them over to the tag-title match instead.
Another match that is reported to be added soon, but has yet to be officially announced, is a match featuring The New Age Outlaws and Kane against all three members of The Shield.
Apparently The New Age Outlaws wanted to work a program with The Shield before they split up. It’s also being reported that they will likely serve as the new henchmen for The Authority.
There is expected to be eight matches on a four hour WrestleMania show, which would leave plenty of time for the top matches to run long, giving the guys an ample opportunity to have a number of great pay-per-view style matches.
Additionally, there is expected to be at least one match on the pre-show, which as announced on Wednesday, will be a two hour hype show. While nothing is official, the match will likely feature some of the odd men out of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal match, or an NXT match of some kind.
– Independent pro wrestler Steven Walters, who frequently works for Anarchy Wrestling out of Cornelia, Georgia, has signed a developmental deal with WWE. He is expected to start with the company in Orlando in mid-April.
– Chris Harrington recently compiled a list of the 20 wrestlers who have appeared in the most WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view matches in history. That list looks as follows:
1. The Undertaker 161
2. HHH 158
3. Big Show 156
4. Kane 155
5. Chris Jericho 149
6. Rey Mysterio 129
7. John Cena 124
8. Edge 123
9. Booker T 119
10. Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels 114
12. Chris Benoit 113
13. Ric Flair 105
14. Christian and Steve Austin 90
16. Dustin Rhodes aka Goldust 90
17. Sting 83 and Lex Luger 83
19. Hulk Hogan and C.M. Punk 82
WWE Superstar Kane has started a new insurance company with his wife in Knoxville, Tennessee called “The Jacobs Agency.” The company offers auto, home, motorcycle, RV, boat, life and commercial insurance, along with retirement planning.
Kane has reportedly been telling friends that he has been planning to retire from pro wrestling for a while now, but that he has trouble walking away from the money. Apparently his plan is to continue to wrestle as long as he can still make the big money.
The feeling locally in the political world is that Kane has expressed interest in running for public office as a Libertarian party candidate at some point.
– The official WWE website has a new featured article up looking at the top 30 “big men” in pro wrestling history. The top five includes Vader, Kane, Big Show, Andre The Giant and The Undertaker (in that order). You can check out the complete list at WWE.com.
– The latest edition of The JBL & Cole Show features a behind-the-scenes issue brought to the public eye, as the show features a funny version of “wrestler’s court,” with Superstars and Divas being issued subpoenas. You can watch the newest JBL & Cole Show below:
– The WWE stock closed at $27.10 per share on Wednesday, making it the highest total since shortly after the company initially went public. Additionally, WWE broke a major barrier today, as the company’s market capitalization hit a reported $2.03 billion.
– According to the North American Wrestling Rankings website, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan received his 100th televised win in WWE when he defeated Kane on the live edition of WWE Main Event on the WWE Network on Tuesday night. They wrote:
“When Daniel Bryan defeated Kane on the 3/4/14 episode of Main Event it was his 100th televised win! That makes him only the 13th wrestler to reach this milestone [since the NAWR began keeping records] behind only C.M. Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Kane, Jeff Hardy, Kofi Kingston, Big Show, Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, and Dolph Ziggler. Others knocking on the door to the century mark are Christian with 93 wins and Rey Mysterio with 92 wins as of 3/4/14.”
