– During Saturday’s WWE live event in Bangor, Maine there was a minor incident between a fan and Los Matadores. Shortly after The Lucha Dragons won the Triple Threat match over The Ascension and Los Matadores, one of the Matadores was seen speaking with WWE security and pointed out a fan that was sitting ringside. While it’s unclear exactly what happened, the fan was said to have possibly grabbed or pulled at one of the Matadores, resulting in the fan being ejected from the show. Others speculate it may have all just been a misunderstanding.
– Carmella chose not to wrestle following a stinger she suffered at the hands of Eva Marie at Friday’s WWE NXT live event in Nashville, TN. Carmella still appeared ringside for Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore at the NXT “Louder Than Life” live event/festival in Loisville, KY.
– The NXT matches at “Louder Than Life” this past Saturday were taped and will apparently appear on NXT TV some time later this month according to a reader at WrestlingFigs.com. The following matches took place:
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable
Alexa Bliss vs. NXT Women’s Champion Bayley
Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin
Bull Dempsy vs. Ellas Sampson
Tyler Breeze vs. NXT Champion Finn Balor
The Mechanics vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillians
– As seen on Monday’s RAW, Los Matadores attacked El Torito and left him laid out. It appears that this is part of the Los Matadores gimmick change that we reported about last week. As noted, WWE has been discussing repackaging Diego and Fernando.
– John Laurinaitis, who recently got engaged to The Bella Twins mother Kathy Colace, recently tweeted the following, leading fans to speculate that he will be returning to WWE television under his “People Power” character.
– WWE has been going back-and-forth on whether or not to have a Diva Search before the end of this year. If they were to do so, the show would be on the WWE Network, however following the reaction to Tough Enough, there are those in WWE who are apprehensive about doing another show like that.
– There is talk right now about repackaging the Los Matadores tag-team. The duo have been used on television less and less lately, and mostly appear in big eight-man tag-team matches. Whether WWE is planning a completely changing their characters or “updating” them remains to be seen.
WWE taped the following for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars prior to RAW on Monday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
– Zack Ryder def. Heath Slater in the opening match of the evening. It looked as though Xavier Woods was on commentary during this match, which Ryder ended up winning with the Rough Ryder in about five minutes.
– Los Matadores def. The Ascension in the second of two matches taped for this week’s WWE Superstars. The finish here saw Matadores score the pin after a cool series of moves, winning the contest at about the seven minute mark.
– The New Day won the Fatal Four-Way WWE Tag-Team Championship match at WWE SummerSlam on Sunday night, defeating The Prime Time Players, The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores to become the new WWE Tag-Team Champions.
– “Arrow” actor Stephen Amell won his in-ring WWE debut at SummerSlam, defeating King Barrett and Stardust with his tag-team partner, Neville. The finish of the match saw Neville hit the Red Arrow for the pinfall victory. Amell actually did a pretty good job of executing some cool moves during the match.
– Seth Rollins debuted new, all-white ring gear in his “Title vs. Title — Winner Take All” match against John Cena at SummerSlam. Rollins would go on to win the match with help from Jon Stewart, who hit Cena with a chair and set up the chair for Rollins to Pedigree Cena on, making himself the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and the new WWE United States Champion. Below is a photo of Rollins’ new ring gear.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair is in town for WWE SummerSlam weekend. Flair is there primarily to watch his daughter Charlotte wrestle at SummerSlam, and apparently other members of the Flair family are also in town for the show. Former WCW star David Flair is among those from the Flair family that made the trip.
– WWE taped the following matches for tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown:
* Ryback vs. Big Show
* The New Day vs. Los Matadores and El Torito
* Neville vs. Bo Dallas
* Brie Bella vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch
* Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Cesaro vs. Sheamus, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Kevin Owens
– WWE posted the following video of Triple H looking at the new Ultimate Warrior book, “Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived Forever.”
WWE taped the following matches on Tuesday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
– Seth Rollins kicks off this week’s show by coming out to the ring. He talks about John Cena and what happened on Monday’s RAW. Eventually, Rollins is interrupted by Cesaro. Cesaro comes out for our first match of the evening.
– Cesaro def. Seth Rollins via Disqualification in the first match taped for this week’s SmackDown. Kevin Owens joined the gang on commentary during this match and became involved in the finish, which saw Owens attack Cesaro for the DQ. Rollins teased a showdown with Owens but they ended up double-teaming Cesaro instead.
– Los Matadores & The Lucha Dragons def. The New Day & The Ascension in eight-man tag-team action in the second match taped for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
– Summer Rae and Rusev come out for a promo segment in the ring. They address what went down on Monday with Lana and the dead fish at RAW.
– Rusev def. Jack Swagger in the third match taped for SmackDown. Swagger got a big hometown pop since he is from Oklahoma. After the match, which Rusev won, he tried to attack Swagger some more, however Swagger ended up countering him and applying the Patriot Lock.
– Stardust def. R-Truth in the fourth match taped for this week’s SmackDown. Stardust was cutting a promo in the ring after the match when Neville ran out and attacked him.
– Cesaro & Dean Ambrose def. Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins in the fifth and final match taped for this week’s show. Cesaro picked Ambrose as his mystery partner. The finish of this match saw Ambrose counter a Pop-Up Powerbomb attempt by Owens, which allowed Cesaro to roll Owens up for the 1-2-3. This is how SmackDown will go off the air this week.
WWE taped the following matches prior to Monday’s RAW in Cleveland, Ohio for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– Cesaro def. Bo Dallas in singles action to kick off the evening. Cesaro picked up the win via submission after locking Dallas in the Sharpshooter.
– Luke Harper & Erick Rowan def. Los Matadores & The Ascension in a triple-threat tag-team contest. Harper and Rowan dominated a lot of the action before picking up the win with their finisher.
As announced on this week’s edition of NXT TV, WWE will be holding a live WWE Network special from Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on July 4th. Below is the full lineup for the show.
– Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston
– John Cena & Dolph Ziggler vs. Kane & King Barrett
– Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor (NXT Title)
– Chris Jericho vs. Neville
– The New Day vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro*
– Nikki Bella vs. Paige vs. Naomi (WWE Divas Title)
– The Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores
* – Tyson Kidd may be pulled from this match due to injury.
WWE taped two matches for this week’s edition of Superstars prior to Monday’s RAW in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Below are results from the taping.
– Luke Harper def. Jack Swagger in the opening match of the taping. The fans inside the Bell Centre in Montreal are hot from the word go tonight. In the end, Harper was too much for Swagger, as he takes him out and wins by pinfall.
– The Lucha Dragons def. Los Matadores in tag-team action. The Montreal fans were super-into the Lucha Dragons, particularly Kalisto, as he was flying all over the place throughout much of the match. In the end, The Lucha Dragons picked up the “W.”
WWE taped two matches for this week’s Superstars prior to Monday’s post-Extreme Rules edition of RAW in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Below are quick results of the two matches.
– The Prime Time Players def. Los Matadores in tag-team action. El Torito was at ringside with the Matadores. In the end, Titus O’Neil and Darren Young were too much for the bull fighting duo.
– Lucha Dragons def. The Ascension in another tag-team contest. The Dragons, particularly Kalisto, were flying all over the place en route to a quick victory.
The following matches were taped prior to Monday’s RAW in Albany, New York for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– Bad News Barrett def. Jack Swagger in a short but solid match to kick off the evening. The crowd was having fun with chants during this one, which saw Barrett pick up the pinfall victory after hitting Swagger with his Bull Hammer Elbow.
– A cage is shown hanging above the ring, but is never used, as it is there for the RAW show that follows this Superstars taping.
– Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (with Natalya) def. Los Matadores (with El Torito) in tag-team action in the second of two matches taped for Superstars. This was a non-title affair. The crowd seemed to be behind Kidd and Cesaro more as babyfaces than the actual babyface team. In the end, Cesaro and Kidd picked up the “W” to close out the Superstars taping.
WrestleMania is right around the corner. Although the build has been a little subpar, it’s still WrestleMania so it should be entertaining. Here’s how yours truly expects it all to play out.
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (Tag Team Champions) vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos
Kidd and Cesaro really deserve better than the pre-show treatment, but hey, what can you do? This is clearly between the Usos and the champs, as the other two teams are simply jobbers eating up space. Expect a few entertaining spots between the two, with Naomi and Natalya ultimately playing a role in the outcome. In the end, the champs will retain after Cesaro pins one of the Usos.
Winners: Kidd & Cesaro by pinfall
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Remember a few weeks back when Stephanie McMahon was on Raw promoting this battle royal as the most important thing since Hogan/Andre at WrestleMania III? So much for that, as it’s now on the pre-show. Hideo Itami has been added to the match after winning a tournament at Axxess over the weekend. I think they will use this as an attempt to put over NXT and increase viewership by having Itami pick up the win after hitting the GTS. Expect Mizdow to eliminate Miz during this one as well to set up a match between the two next month at Extreme Rules.
Winner: Hideo Itami
Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
This could easily be one of the most entertaining matches of the night, as Orton and Rollins are two of the best workers in the business. It will be filled with multiple near-falls, and J&J will undoubtedly try to help Rollins pick up the win. It’s hard to say what the hell they’re doing with this one, especially considering they blew the payoff for Orton weeks ago. I still think Orton wins and it will be a rough night for Mr. Money in the Bank (more on that later).
The WWE Network is advertising a four-way tag-team match for the WWE Tag-Team Championships for the official WrestleMania 31 Kickoff Show.
The match is scheduled to feature Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos, which means Jey Uso is likely able to work through his shoulder injury.
– Part one of this past Sunday’s two-hour long season finale, which was actually two separate shows that aired back-to-back to wrap up this season of the show, drew 1.214 million viewers and drew a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic for the 9-10pm EST. show. The 10-11pm EST. second episode drew 1.280 million viewers and the same 0.6 rating for the 18-49 demo.
– Wiz Khalifa talks about his experience as the special guest at Monday’s WWE RAW in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in part one of this week’s RAW Fallout, which you can watch below.
– In part two of this week’s RAW Fallout, Erick Rowan talks backstage after his segment on the show.
– Part three of RAW Fallout this week features the Los Matadores.
– Finally, John Cena is featured in the fourth and final portion of this week’s RAW Fallout.
This week’s episode of Raw was held in the greatest city in the world: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Brock Lesnar made his return, the Viper finally decided to strike, and Bray Wyatt received an answer regarding his challenge to the Undertaker. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Paul Heyman’s promo was the highlight of the night, and boy was it a highlight. In what was quite possibly one of the greatest promos of all-time, Heyman put just about everyone within a thousand-mile radius on blast. He criticized the Reigns video package that aired before he entered the ring, calling it, “nothing short of sheer propaganda” while calling Reigns’ father “one generation removed from cannibal.” He also addressed the Lesnar UFC controversy, saying that no one will take the title from Lesnar and that the Beast would gladly unify the WWE and UFC Championships over the summer if he chooses to do so. He later mentioned the Montreal Screwjob and said that anyone who tries to screw over Lesnar would not leave the arena alive. In all, the promo was a borderline shoot that perfectly blurred the line between fantasy and reality. He really did everything he could to put the main event at WrestleMania over, and he definitely succeeded.
Daniel Bryan vs. Bad News Barrett was a good match with both guys displaying strong fundamentals. Bryan hit the running high knee from out of nowhere for the win after failing to put away Barrett with a backslide. Bad News got the upper hand on Bryan after the match, however, hitting him with a Bull Hammer before being laid out by Dean Ambrose. It was a solid opening contest and a good way to further hype the ladder match at WrestleMania.
Connor “The Crusher” Michalek will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as the first recipient of the newly created “Warrior Award.” This company gives fans plenty of reasons to complain, but even the most cynical fan can’t help but praise them for this move.
Dean Ambrose squared off against Stardust in the second match of the night. The action was largely uneventful, with Ambrose picking up the win after a big clothesline and Dirty Deeds. This goes into the “Pros” column largely due to the post-match brawl, with all of the competitors in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match getting in on the fun. It’s nice to see the company making this into a big deal, and Barrett getting duped by a phony IC strap was also somewhat amusing.
Rusev quickly squashed Curtis Axel and then proceeded to talk some smack on the good ‘ole US of A. Cena had warned him beforehand not to do so in a nationalist rant prior to the match, but the Russian decided to press his luck. Cena absolutely destroyed Rusev, causing him to pass out twice in the STF. Lana granted Cena his rematch in an attempt to call off the dogs. Cena then stood up with an absolutely evil glare on his face, which was actually a nice change of pace. I’d like to see a darker, more ruthless side of Cena as they head into their rematch at WrestleMania.
The opening segment was pretty entertaining, all things considered. Noble sounded like a fool, leading Rollins to declare that they are “J&J Security, not J&J Public Speaking.” Orton was the star of this segment, however, as he went down the line and ripped everyone a new one. He said what we’ve all been thinking for months by calling Kane the “Devil’s Favorite Dumbass,” and continued by insulting Big Show, Rollins, and J&J. It was a solid opening to the show and the crowd seemed to be into it.
The Divas make an appearance in the “Pros” column this week after a solid match between AJ Lee and Summer Rae. They were given about five minutes and the match featured some decent action, with AJ eventually picking up the win with the Black Widow. It didn’t set the world on fire, but it’s definitely an improvement over what we’re used to in the main roster Divas division. I also thought the Bella Twins’ Flintstones outfits were kind of cute.
And, in a shocking turn of events, the Divas are back for an encore. Naomi and Natalya weren’t given much time at all, but the action was solid, with the highlight being Naomi’s excellent counter of the Sharpshooter. I wish this one would have been a little longer, but it served its purpose by advancing the tag team feud and getting the Divas more exposure.
Bray Wyatt finally got his answer after weeks of provoking the Undertaker. After cutting a nice promo, the lights went out and ‘Taker’s music hit. From there, a message appeared on the big screen that said, “At WrestleMania, the man comes around.” Lightning then struck Wyatt’s chair, causing Wyatt to laugh maniacally as it burned. It was the perfect way to have the Dead Man accept Wyatt’s challenge without giving fans too much.
– This past Saturday NXT live event in Tampa, Florida drew over 500 fans, setting a new record for the venue.
– NXT star Finn Balor is advertised to appear at the WWE live event in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, April 14th. Matches advertised for the show include Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett, Big Show vs. Roman Reigns in a street fight, The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro.
– TNA President Dixie Carter posted the following congratulatory message to Hulk Hogan following his “Appreciation Night” at Madison Square Garden this past weekend.
For whatever reason, with under 24 hours to go before the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, WWE has pulled Justin Gabriel and Los Matadores from the advertised lineup for the 30-man over-the-top battle royal match. As noted late Saturday night, Gabriel has quit WWE. Why Los Matadores were pulled from the match at the last minute remains to be seen.
Speaking of the Royal Rumble, which takes place on Sunday night, January 25th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, WWE legend The Rock tweeted a photo of himself in Philadelphia late Saturday night.
The following was taped on Tuesday night for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event in Austin, Texas.
– JBL and Tom Phillips came out to a good reaction from the crowd.
– Kofi Kingston def. Tyson Kidd with a roll-up after countering a Sharpshooter attempt. Adam Rose and Cesaro, who were at ringside, joined in to beat down The New Day afterwards.
– The Miz and Damien Mizdow def. Los Matadores when Miz hit his Skull Crushing Finale for the 1-2-3.
– Natalya def. Summer Rae in Divas action.
– Bray Wyatt def. Jack Swagger with his Sister Abigail finisher for the pin.
– The Usos def. Goldust and Stardust in a non-title match, which served as the main event of the taping.
– Television actor Stephen Amell of “Arrow” fame from the CW channel has expressed interest in securing a guest hosting role for a future WWE RAW episode. Amell is apparently a longtime pro wrestling fan.
– As noted, David Otunga worked his first matches since WrestleMania XXX last year at this past weekend’s WWE live events, teaming with Titus O’Neil to lose to the team of Los Matadores. Otunga is reportedly not booked for this week’s television tapings, however, as he flew home on Monday morning.
As noted last week, Heath Slater has been taking time off from WWE for what the company is describing as “personal reasons.” Those reasons stem from the alleged domestic assault incident from the WrestleMania after party in 2011.
Due to Slater’s absence, WWE decided to officially drop the “Slater Gator” tag-team with Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil. Everyone within WWE had been praising Slater’s work in getting over what was viewed as a lower card comedy gimmick.
It appears as though the team of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro was put together due to the fact that the Slater Gator team was dropped, as a way to fill the hole left in the heel-end of the tag-team division.
On non-televised live events, Tyler Breeze has been brought up from NXT to work with O’Neil against Los Matadores.
The following matches were taped on Monday in Corpus Christi, Texas prior to RAW for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– Jack Swagger def. Titus O’Neil in singles action to start the taping. This was said to be a decent match that held the crowd’s interest. In the end, Swagger got O’Neil in the Patriot Lock to force the tap.
– Goldust & Stardust def. Los Matadores in tag-team action to close out the show. This was mostly a comedy match with a lot of entertaining and fun spots. The match finished with Stardust hitting his kick-finisher, which led to Goldust getting a roll-up for the 1-2-3.
As a bit of a reminder, there will be no WWE television tapings tonight, as both Main Event and SmackDown were taped on Sunday in Sioux Falls, Iowa. Below are the matches scheduled for tonight’s edition of WWE Main Event, which airs on the WWE Network.
– Cesaro & Tyson Kidd vs. Los Matadores
– Brie Bella vs. Summer Rae
– Big E. vs. Stardust
– Luke Harper vs. Jack Swagger
For complete spoiler results of this week’s Main Event, click here.
The following are WWE Main Event taping results for this coming Tuesday’s show on the WWE Network. Results are courtesy of ProWrestling.net.
– Cesaro and Tyson Kidd defeated Los Matadores. Cesaro and Kidd dominated most of the match and got the win with a powerbomb from Cesaro while Kidd performed a flip into a neckbreaker off the top rope.
– Brie Bella beat Summer Rae. Brie hit her running knee and a missile dropkick for the win.
– Big E defeated Stardust (w/Goldust). Starust went to the ropes for the Beautiful Disaster kick, but Goldust accidentally knocked him off the ropes. Big E used the Big Ending to get the win.
– Luke Harper defeated Jack Swagger in a really good match. They both kicked out of the others big moves but Harper won with a huge clothesline.
