The WWE’s brightest stars will attempt to cash in at this Sunday’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Two ladder matches will main event the program, with one being held to declare a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. In addition, former champion Daniel Bryan will address the WWE Universe during the pre-show.
Here are my predictions for this Sunday’s event.
Summer Rae vs. Layla (Fandango Guest Referee)
I was never the biggest Fandango supporter, but I definitely thought he would be doing something bigger than referring a divas match a year ago. He has regressed over the past year and lost a lot of momentum. This will likely be the bathroom break match of the night, and Fandango will play a major role in the outcome, of course. Summer Rae will win this one by either rejoining Fandango or using him to influence the outcome of the contest before abandoning him.
Winner: Summer Rae by pinfall
Rusev vs. Big E
These guys performed well together at last month’s Payback, even though they were given less than four minutes total. They will hopefully get a little more time during this one, allowing both superstars to showcase their strengths.
I think Rusev will ultimately win this one, but Big E will also look strong during the match. Big E cut a passionate promo on last week’s Raw, so it appears the WWE wants to showcase him a bit more. Both guys will look good, but Rusev will force Big E to tap out in the end.
Winner: Rusev by submission
Stardust and Goldust vs. Ryback and Curtis Axel
The Rhodes Brothers storyline has been moving slowly over the past few months. It first looked as if the two brothers were going to feud with one another, with Cody searching for an adequate replacement because he felt Goldust deserved better.
He eventually rebranded himself as Stardust and the two have been on a winning streak ever since. They will continue to look strong on Sunday, picking up the win after Cody hits his Diamond Dust finisher on Curtis Axel.
WWE is indeed apparently going ahead with a love triangle story line between Fandango, Layla and Summer Rae.
According to one source, WWE is looking at a possible Layla vs. Summer Rae match at the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st, with Fandango serving as the special guest referee for the bout.
Apparently the idea behind that match would be to see who Fandango sides with, and further the aforementioned love triangle story.
The two have already been sniping at each other on Twitter:
What's the problem, @realsummerwwe? I can't help it that I got the job, fell in love, and am dancing with @WWEFandango? #blessed#Raw
WWE kicks off their European tour today with their first stop in Glasgow, Scotland. With Daniel Bryan off of the tour due to injury, here is the updated list of talent that is scheduled for this part of the tour: Kane, The Shield, Big E, Rob Van Dam, Bad News Barrett, Big Show, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Paige, Layla, Fandango, Cameron, Naomi, Jack Swagger, Zeb Colter, Sin Cara, Rusev, Lana and more.
Originally, Bryan vs. Kane in a “Last Man Standing” match was being advertised, but with Bryan’s injury, that is obviously off the table. As of right now, no new opponent or match for Kane has been announced.
Also advertised for this leg of the tour is a six-man tag-team match featuring The Shield vs. Randy Orton, Ryback and Curtis Axel.
WWE has signed three new Divas to developmental cnotracts. The three new ladies went through orientation and met with WWE Divas Champion Paige at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida on Friday. You can check out photos and information on the three newest Divas below.
– Savelina “Lina” Fanene has a background in sports. She is either related, or close to the family of The Rock.
She’s also said to be good friends with current WWE Diva Layla. She’s has been posting on Instagram about training to be a diva and just a few days ago mentioned that she moved to Orlando, Florida. She later posted a picture of the WWE Performance Center, saying she was blessed to be training there.
– Dasha Kuret has a past as a beauty queen, fitness model and gymnist.
She was also Miss UCF in 2009.
She tweeted on Friday that she was taking her first headshots for WWE and used the hashtags #newjob and #WWENXT.
– Dani Jackson is an independent wrestler and has been recently working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
The following matches are confirmed for tonight’s edition of WWE NXT, which was taped on April 24th at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
– JBL announces a tournament to determine a new NXT Women’s Champion
– Tyson Kidd vs. Bo Dallas
– Bailey vs. Sasha Banks [NXT Women’s Title Tournament Match]
– Adam Rose vs. Danny Burch
– Natalya vs. Layla [NXT Women’s Title Tournament Match]
– Adrian Neville (c) vs. Brodus Clay [NXT Championship — No-DQ Match]
For those interested, you can check out complete NXT spoilers for tonight by clicking here.
The following are results for the WWE NXT episodes that will air on May 1st, May 8th, May 15th and May 22nd. All four episodes were taped on Thursday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
Dark Match
– Alexander Rusev def. an unknown wrestler in a dark match to open up the tapings.
Spoiler Results for May 1, 2014
– Tyson Kidd def. Bo Dallas in the first television match of the evening.
– Sasha Banks (with Charlotte) def. Bayley in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Adam Rose def. Danny Burch. After the match, Camacho appeared during Rose’s big after-match party.
– Natalya def. Layla in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Mojo Rawley def. Oliver Grey. After the match, Aiden English came out and cut a promo on Rawley.
– Adrian Neville def. Brodus Clay in a no-disqualification match to retain the NXT Championship in a what that served as the main event for this episode.
Spoiler Results for May 8, 2014
– This show kicks off with Triple H in the ring for a promo. He talks about how NXT is the future and is taking over wrestling. He pushes the NXT Takeover special, which will take place live on the WWE Network on May 29th. Additionally, he announces a battle royal to determine the new number one contender to the NXT Championship.
– Charlotte def. Emma in a second round match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Kalisto & El Locale (Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask) def. The Legionnaires (Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louise).
– Camacho def. Captain Comic from Adam Rose’s party group. After the match, Camacho came out and had a confrontation with Rose.
– Alexa Bliss def. Alicia Fox in another match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Next up was the battle royal announced by Triple H earlier in the show to crown the new number one contender to the NXT Championship. The participants were Xavier Woods, Brodus Clay, Baron Corbin, Curt Hawkins, Aiden English, Jason Jordan, Danny Burch, Oliver Grey, Marcus Louise, Sylvester Lefort, Big Cass, Camacho, Mason Ryan, Kalisto, El Local, Mojo Rawley, Sami Zayn, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Breeze, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd. In the end, Breeze, Zayn and Kidd were the final three and all were eliminated at the same time. This leads to Triple H coming back out and announcing that the three will compete in a triple-threat match to determine the official number one contender to the title.
– The Ascension def. Buddy Murphy and an unknown wrestler in the main event of this episode.
For results of the May 15, 2014 edition of WWE NXT TV, as well as the May 22, 2014 edition of the show, click ahead to page two …
The following is a non-spoiler match listing for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which was taped on April 22nd in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and will air this Friday, April 25th on the SyFy Network.
– “The Great Debate” between Paul Heyman and Cesaro.
– Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger
– Natalya vs. Tamina Snuka
– Curtis Axel vs. Jey Uso
– Luke Harper & Erick Rowan vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
– Fandango & Layla vs. Santino Marella & Emma
– The Shield vs. 11 WWE Superstars
For a complete WWE SmackDown spoiler report for this week, click ahead to page two …
– As previously reported, WWE is breaking up the story line duo of Fandango and Summer Rae. Apparently Summer is in line for a big push now that she has taken off on the Total Divas reality show. Fandango will be paired with Layla, who actually has legitimate dancing credentials, moving forward. The following is one of many in-character comments from Summer on Twitter.
I can't sleep. Can't eat. Can't stop crying. So your just gonna ignore me @WWEFandango?
– For whatever this is worth, if CM Punk is returning to WWE at WrestleMania XXX tonight, nobody in the company is aware of it. As previously reported, Punk was in attendance at the Chicago Blackhawks NHL game, although that doesn’t confirm anything one way or the other, as he is still fully capable of flying into New Orleans in time to be at the show if he is scheduled.
– Former WWE Diva duo Layla and Michelle McCool, aka LayCool, reunited backstage at the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony on Saturday night. You can check out a photo of the two together below.
The following are results of this week’s WWE Main Event, which took place at the TD Garden in Boston and aired live on the WWE Network.
– The show opens with WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E. making his way to the ring. Big E. joins the announce table, where it is explained that Christian, who earned the right to challenge him for his title tonight, will not be competing due to a “slight concussion” that he suffered on Monday’s RAW.
– Dolph Ziggler def. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio in a triple-threat match to become the new number one contender to the Intercontinental Championship. Ziggler will get to challenge Big E. for the title later tonight.
– Layla, Alicia Fox, Aksana, Tamina Snuka and Summer Rae def. Eva Marie, Natalya, Emma, Cameron and Naomi in a ten-Diva tag-team match.
– A Bad News Barrett segment takes place with Barrett talking about John Cena being freaked out by Bray Wyatt the same way the fans get freaked out when they look in the mirror. He suggests everyone should wear a sheep mask because of their bad looks.
– Big E. def. Dolph Ziggler to retain his WWE Intercontinental Championship in the main event of the evening.
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.
– It was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW that at WrestleMania XXX, AJ Lee will defend her WWE Divas Championship in a “Vickie Guerrero Diva Invitational” match. The match will feature AJ Lee against Naomi, Cameron, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Eva Marie, Emma, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes, Layla and Tamina Snuka.
– It was also confirmed on RAW this week that Scott Hall (aka Razor Ramon) will be inducted into the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame.
– After returning to action at Friday night’s WWE live event, WWE Diva Layla also wrestled in a tag team match on Saturday night. Layla had been out of action for 6 months. While it’s still unknown why she took time off, F4wonline.com reports that it was not a health-related issue. Layla was reportedly dealing with a personal issue and many people in WWE were unsure if she’d ever return.
– Here is the After Total Divas video following Sunday night’s Season 2 premiere:
Renee Young and Alicia Fox recap the first episode of Season Two of Total Divas.
WWE Diva Layla made her return to in-ring action at the WWE live event on Friday night in Waco, Texas. Layla teamed with Alicia Fox in Divas tag-team action against the duo of Natalya and Eva Marie.
Layla’s return marks her first match since WWE RAW on September 23, 2013. The Diva was given time off from the company to deal with “personal issues.” At one point, according to reports, it was believed that she may never return to the ring again.
With her return, this opens the door for two potential WWE Diva returns at next Monday’s RAW, with both Layla and Naomi available to come back.
– According to reports, Shane McMahon currently owns 1,541,224 shares of WWE stock, which is worth over $35 million. After selling a lot of stock over the past year, Stephanie McMahon reportedly owns 661,678 shares of WWE stock, which is worth more than $14 million.
– Both Layla and Richie Steamboat are still under WWE contracts. It had been reported that Steamboat was cut, but he’s apparently still out with a bad back injury, one that some feel could be career-ending.
It’s been speculated that Layla is out due to medical issues, however some are under the impression that she’s dealing with some personal issues.
– Layla wrote the following on Instagram, denying rumors that she won’t be returning to the ring:
“I will be back soon … Don’t listen to the rumors!!!”
– Brie Bella recently spoke with Bang Showbiz to promote the upcoming season of Total Divas and talked about Daniel Bryan filming for the show:
”When we started ‘Total Divas’ it was really hard at first, because you notice the cameras. But after around two weeks we just totally didn’t them. My sister is very loud and funny, and as you can see I’m much quieter than her and so is Daniel. He would just be at our house, staring at the crew and would say, ‘We don’t live an exciting life, is this fun for you guys? Because we don’t know if this is fun.’ They were like, ‘This is great, pretend we’re not here, don’t talk to us.’ Now we’re so used to it, we’ll say things and then we’ll look at each other and be like, ‘Gosh, did they catch that?’ ”
– WWE Diva Layla has been off television dealing with an unknown medical issue. No word yet on when she’ll be returning.
– Some fans may have noticed that WWE took a shot at Jim Ross last night when RAW took place from Oklahoma City. They talked about famous announcers that hailed from Oklahoma, mentioning Reesor Bowden and Boyd Pierce – but not Jim Ross.
We tweeted about the situation – and got a response from the man himself – stating that it was a rib –
“@sescoops: #RAW, #WWE mentioned great announcers from Oklahoma Reesor Bowden and Boyd Pierce – but not @JRsBBQ.
– After attending last night’s WWE RAW from Nashville, MLB star Josh Reddick noted on Twitter that he” also be at tonight’s SmackDown tapings from Atlanta:
Had Had a blast at #RAWCountry#RAW night in Nashville. Headed to Atlanta for smackdown!!
Check back later tonight for our Live Spoilers of the tapings.
– WWE Diva Layla was conspicuously absent from WWE’s recent European tour and is not part of the 14-Diva Survivor Series match this Sunday. Her last televised match was a 10-diva tag match on the September 23rd edition of RAW. She’s had trouble with her knee in recent months, but no confirmation yet if she’s out of action with an injury.
– According to several fans who sent in live reports from last night’s RAW from Nashville, Rey Mysterio was limping around the ring and up the ramp after his surprise appearance at the end of the show.
Comment Below and tell us how you think Rey looked last night.
– It was announced last week that Curtis Axel would defend the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Big E Langston tonight in the WWE Hell in a Cell Kickoff, which streams live at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The match, however, has been officially nixed due to Axel suffering an injury.
The official Twitter account of WWE announced at 2:03 p.m.: “BREAKING: Due to injury, @RealCurtisAxel will not compete tonight at #HellInACell. Stay tuned to WWE.com for updates.”
– Speaking to WWE Magazine, Layla reveals that she has no plans on resuming her dancing career—prior to joining WWE in 2006, she was a dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines, the Miami Heat franchise of the National Basketball Association, and also danced for Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards.
“I would always be willing to do something for charity for WWE, but I’ve moved on from that part of my life. I was happy when I heard the Miami Heat had won the championship this year, but I also felt smug since I had already got my championship ring with them. First time’s a charm!”
The former WWE Divas Champion also reveals that she would like to peek inside the male wrestlers’ locker room. She states, “Not because I want to secretly check them out or anything, but I’d love to get a glimpse at the dynamic going on in there. All them always try to play it so cool. I want to see them in their natural habitat.”
– The official WWE website has issued a poll asking fans which WrestleMania dream match they you like to see simulated in WWE 2K14. The options are Shawn Michaels vs. The Rock, John Cena vs. Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker vs. Goldberg, and Daniel Bryan vs. Ric Flair.
-WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler is the special guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show,” which was posted online today. Lawler’s appearance is a two-part interview, with part one available right now online at PodcastOne.com.
-Speaking of WWE Divas, both Layla and Alicia Fox will be appearing on The Food Network program, “Cupcake Wars” on Saturday, September 21st at 8:00pm ET. The two Divas will serve as guest judges of a cupcake contest where the winners get to go to the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
-WWE Hall Of Famer, and one-half of the infamous Road Warriors, Joe “Animal” Laurinaitis celebrates his 53rd birthday today. Laurinaitis was born on September 12, 1960.
-Jim Ross recently responded to allegations that WWE is promoting bullying with the recent direction of characters such as Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, as well as Ryback. JR noted, “Anyone who interprets being a TV wrestling villain to real life bullying is embarrassingly misguided.”
-WWE Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper’s son Colt is currently taking part in a campaign called “Warrior Dash” to help the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit WaysToHelp.StJude.org.
-WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel and WWE Diva Layla will be signing autographs this Sunday, September 8th, at the Connecticut Women’s Expo at the Connecticut Convention Center at 11:00AM.
-WWE Superstar Ricardo Rodriguez was at the WWE Performance Center today.
-WWE Superstar CM Punk wrote the forward to his friend Natalie Slater’s new cookbook. The book is called, “Bake and Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans” and is available right now on Amazon.com.
-WWE Diva Layla recently revealed in a new tweet on her official Twitter page that her ring gear from Monday’s RAW is being donated to “Cure Cystic Fibrosis.” Layla’s tweet read:
My gear I wore lastnight on #raw is dedicated to Dylan Gonna donate this gear to #curecysticfibrosis… http://instagram.com/p/cr287mnlZG/
-Kayfabe Commentaries has released the trailer for the new “You Shoot” DVD with former TNA Knockout and WWE Diva Awesome Kong. Check it out below:
The following is a report from the series premiere of the new weekly WWE reality series on E!, “Total Divas.”
Total Divas kicks off with introductions and back-stories on some of the key characters on the show, such as the Bella Twins, the Funkadactyls (who are going by their real names, Ariane and Trinity) and Natalya (going by the name Nattie).
The show begins in Tampa, Florida. “10 Days Until WrestleMania.”
Trinity is dating John, known to WWE fans as Jimmy Uso, one half of the tag-team known as The Usos. The two are shown training to prepare for their first WrestleMania as wrestlers.
Nattie is shown training for WrestleMania with her father, WWE legend Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart in Tampa.
Now we meet Nkki Bella’s boyfriend, John. As the show notes, you may recognize him, he’s the current WWE Champion — John Cena. Cena and Nikki are shown at Cena’s home. They show a video package on Cena.
Next up we meet Brie Bella’s boyfriend, Daniel. Again, WWE fans may reocgnize him as Daniel Bryan. Brie notes that while he’s known in WWE as Daniel Bryan, his real name is Bryan Danielson.
We get to roam around backstage at a WWE event to see how the organization is run behind-the-scenes, as well as what goes into putting on a live event and television show. At the same time, we see Nattie in her hotel room preparing to go to WrestleMania. As we head to commercial break, we find out that Nattie is not going to be on WrestleMania.
–Commercial–
We return and we get to meet the newest addition to the WWE Diva roster, Eva Marie and Jo Jo. Nattie runs into the Bella Twins at their hotel. They show the new Divas meeting with Jane. Jane is a WWE Talent Relations official. The show how Nattie is treated backstage, which doesn’t come off well on this show.
Ariane is shown talking to her boyfriend in the hotel room. It is explained that Nattie basically has to babysit the new girls, the Funkadactyls and their boyfriends at WrestleMania, instead of getting to perform on the show.
We are backstage at a WWE event again, and ths time we see some heavy-duty drama. It is explained that Brodus Clay blew up at the Funkadactyls and other talent off-camera. Ariane ends up explaining to her boyfriend, Vincent, why she appeared to be noticably upset. Vincent, who is a pretty big guy, but not big enough, became irate. He repeatedly asks Ariane to go get Clay so he can confront him. Eventually, Nattie and Jimmy Uso have to tell Ariane that she needs to calm him down immediately. Someone also notes that Vincent would get his ass kicked.
–Commercial–
We return to some more drama, only a very different version. We are back in the hotel room with the new girls and the Bella Twins. The Bella Twins are upset that the new girls, specifically Eva Marie, look similar to them. They inform her that she needs to dye her hair blond.
We’re two days from WrestleMania now. We see Eva Marie headed to get her hair dyed. As we head to commercial break, she talks about how she doesn’t like the blond hair look.
–Commercial–
We’re back to find out that instead of blond hair, Eva Marie decided to dye her hair extremely red. We see her headed to see Jane, and she’s nervous about what she just did. Jane ends up liking the red hair.
We see John Cena walking the red carpet. Next the Divas are shown walking the red carpet. Nattie is on the red carpet doing interviews and pre-taped intros as it’s WrestleMania weekend kickoff time.
Back to Diva drama. We see the Bella Twins taking charge against the new Divas as it becomes more and more apparent that they don’t like the new girls.
As we head to another commercial break, we see the Bella Twins eating at a Cuban restaurant and talking. Nikki mentions how she is nervous about dating John Cena because she wants to get married and she’s afraid Cena won’t because he recently got out of a bad marriage.
–Commercial–
We return from commercial and we see the Funkadactyls backstage talking about an accident with Brodus Clay.
We shoot to Nikki and Cena out together at dinner. Nikki asks Cena about marriage and asks if the two getting married is something he sees in their future. Cena explains how he tried the marriage thing once and she knows how that worked out. Cena tells Nikki she makes him enjoy life. She tells Cena that she wanted to know if it was an option and tells him she loves him.
We return to the live WrestleMania show and see a countdown to WrestleMania on the titantron inside the arena. They show 30 minutes until the Divas match.
We see the Bella Twins watching Daniel Bryan and Kane wrestling in the ring later on. Then we find out that the Funkadactyls are having trouble getting ready for their WrestleMania match as we head to another break.
–Commercial–
We return and see the Funkadactyls have nothing to wear yet, as their ring outfits are still being made backstage. We see reviews of the Undertaker and CM Punk match as the girls scramble to get dressed.
As they head to the front to get ready to make their entrance, we hear John Cena’s music playing in the arena. Nattie says how they know something is wrong. We find out that their match has been cut from WrestleMania as we head to our final commercial break of the evening.
–Commercial–
As we return for the last segment of the show, they show the Bella Twins talking about getting cut from WrestleMania.
Trinity is shown and says there is absolutely nothing worse that can happen than getting cut from a WrestleMania match.
We return backstage at WrestleMania where we see WWE Diva Layla trying to console the Funkadactyls, who were distraught at being cut from the show.
A video package airs showing highlights of what fans can expect from this season of Total Divas on E! every Sunday night, and that concludes the premiere edition of Total Divas.
– In the latest edition of Behind the Match, Kaitlyn reveals her strategy in the Triple Threat Match for the WWE Divas Championship at last year’s Hell in Cell pay-per-view event.
– David Otunga appeared on Between the Ropes to promote the release of The Call—the highest-grossing WWE Studios film of all-time—on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download. The WWE Superstar discussed acting alongside Halle Berry, the sports-entertainment organization’s ongoing youth movement, former tag team partner Curtis Axel, finding a colorful coffee thermos and the clothes to match it, the George Zimmerman court case and more. To listen to the interview, click here.
– Former WWE talent Serena Deeb turns 27-years-old on Saturday. She is now recovered from a serious concussion suffered in late-2011 and has resumed competing for various independent organization.
– Savelina “Lina” Fanene has a background in sports. She is either related, or close to the family of The Rock.
– Dasha Kuret has a past as a beauty queen, fitness model and gymnist.
– Dani Jackson is an independent wrestler and has been recently working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).