This week’s Raw took place in Miami, Florida in the home of the Miami Heat. LeBron James and Flo Rida both made appearances, and Triple H crowned a new number one contender.
Overall, it was a rather exciting episode of Raw, with the build to SummerSlam officially underway. As always, a few questions were answer, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.
5. Is Poor Booking Hurting the Wyatt Family?
Bray Wyatt attacked Chris Jericho backstage at Raw last night and commandeered the Highlight Reel. Wyatt of course lost to Jericho clean at Battleground, while Luke Harper and Erick Rowan also failed to capture the Tag Team Titles once again.
A few weeks back, fans were chanting “boring” during Wyatt’s promo, leading me to wonder if poor booking is hurting he and his family. Ultimately, I think they will be fine, as they are some of the best talents in the business, but better booking could help make them appear stronger and increase their popularity. Here’s to hoping for a clean Wyatt victory at SummerSlam.
4. Has Bo Dallas Actually Won Me Over?
When Bo Dallas first appeared in the WWE, I thought his character was destined for failure. He seemed to be nothing more than a troll hell-bent on annoying anyone within a thousand-mile radius. He was once again victorious last night, extending his undefeated streak.
I must admit though, Dallas has really won me over in recent weeks. His promos have been hilarious and his in-ring work has seemingly improved on a weekly basis. I still feel that he needs a new finisher before he can be taken too seriously, but I’m sure that will come with time. I never thought I’d say this, but I believe Dallas could be one of the better midcard superstars and a run with either the US or IC title could restore some interest in the midcard championships.
Tonight’s episode of Raw took place in Montreal, Canada and featured a total of eleven matches, including a first ever one-on-one meeting between the WWE World Heavyweight champion John Cena and Money in the Bank briefcase holder Seth Rollins.
Canadian icon and WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart graced the WWE Universe with his presence and cut a promo. Of course, he brought up the Montreal Screw Job, but it was a nice moment. Also, WWE continued to promote current on-going storylines leading up to Battleground.
Last week’s episode of Raw was one of the best and most exciting in recent history. Did this edition live up to last week’s high standards? Without further ado, here are highlights, lowlights and my random thoughts on the 7/7/2014 edition of Monday Night Raw:
BEST MATCH: The opening bout between the Usos and the Wyatt Family was the best match of the night. There were two other matches that could have stolen the show, but they failed to do so for a couple of reasons. First, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose gave it their best effort, but it was clear to see that the two didn’t have very much chemistry, at least when it comes to singles action. Also, the Dean Ambrose botch wasn’t a crowd-pleasing moment.
Chris Jericho vs. the Miz could have been special, but the match didn’t last as long as I hoped. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins had the most promise, but they weren’t given enough time to do anything memorable and the obvious interference by Kane and Randy Orton ruined the match for me.
What was your favorite match of the night?
WORST MATCH: AJ Lee/Paige vs. Naomi/Cameron was the worst match of the night. Aside from the main event and the tag team match between the Usos and the Wyatt Family, there weren’t any real standout matches. However, this bout stood out for all the wrong reasons and it was a poor showing amongst the four Divas involved. Bo Dallas vs. El Torito was a close second for the worst match of the night award because at least the crowd was somewhat into it.
The worst segment of the night was the Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox disaster, but I don’t think there was an opening bell and nobody was declared the winner. Therefore, Idon’t consider this to be a match; otherwise, it would have won the award.
UPSET OF THE NIGHT: Kofi Kingston defeating Cesaro was the upset of the night. I know that Kofi defeated Cesaro last week on Raw, but I didn’t expect him to do it again and I don’t think the fans/crowd did either. I see Cesaro winning the Intercontinental Title at Battleground and Kingston falling into obscurity once again, but at least Kofi is living in the moment now.
To quote the great Mike Adamle, Kofi be Jamaican me crazy.
MOST SHOCKING MOMENT: I expected Randy Orton to defeat Dean Ambrose in their match tonight, but I was anticipating Seth Rollins to screw Ambrose over, resulting in Ambrose losing cleanly. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Ambrose has been really hot as of late and Rollins costing him the match would have protected Ambrose a bit more. Also, it would have spiced things up and furthered the Ambrose/Rollins feud.
– Infamous Reddit user “Dolphins1925” had one of his worst prediction outings in recent memory, as he missed several of his picks for Sunday’s event. Dolphins, who for the longest time went flawless with his pay-per-view predictions, missed on the main event, picking Kane, as well as Summer Rae over Layla and Luke Harper & Erick Rowan over The Usos.
– Below is the official trailer for the “EXCUSE ME! – A Cougar Countdown” special on Vickie Guerrero, which airs on the WWE Network this Tuesday night at 9pm EST.
– The Usos successfully retained the WWE Tag Team championships against Luke Harper and Eric Rowan at last night’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. The feud is expected to continue, according to f4wonline.com, with a possible rematch taking place at Battleground on July 20th.
– WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan congratulated John Cena on his WWE World Heavyweight championship win at Money in the Bank. He tweeted:
Congratulations to my favorite wrestler John Cena "the champ is here" thank God,now he can keep things straight in the WWE,for a change. HH
The following is the final card for tonight’s WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view:
Money In The Bank Ladder Match (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
– John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton vs. Cesaro vs. Kane vs. Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio
Money In The Bank Ladder Match (Briefcase For Title Shot Up To One Year)
– Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Bad News Barrett*
WWE Tag-Team Championship
– The Usos (c) vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan
WWE Divas Championship
Paige (c) vs. Naomi
Divas Match (Special Guest Referee: Fandango)
– Summer Rae vs. Layla
Tag-Team Match
– Goldust & Stardust vs. Ryback & Curtis Axel
Singles Match
– Rusev vs. Big E.
* – Barrett suffered a separated shoulder during the SmackDown taping this past Tuesday, however WWE has yet to announce whether or not he has been pulled from his match.
Make sure to join us here later tonight for the absolute best live play-by-play results coverage of the fifth annual WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view!
Money in the Bank is only a few days away, and it appears that the card is all but set. There are two ladder matches scheduled so fans can enjoy double the fun. Leading into the event, most questions have been answers, but a few still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered heading into Money in the Bank.
5. Should Big E Be Given More Time to Speak?
This past week on Raw, Big E cut a rather passionate promo on Rusev. During his Intercontinental Title run, Big E was never really given an opportunity to connect with fans, leading many, including myself, to believe that his run with the title was stale.
However, after seeing him on Raw last week, I think that he could be one of the top superstars if booked properly. Instead of writing Big E cookie cutter promos that bore the fans, he should be given more time to speak freely and be himself as he did on Raw. If he had been given this opportunity while he still held the title, he could still be holding the strap today.
4. Will Bad News Barrett Compete?
Bad News Barrett was unfortunately the one receiving the bad news this week after separating his shoulder during a SmackDown taping. It seems that Barrett cannot avoid the injury bug, as he has been known to go down to injury at the worst possible times.
There has been no official announcement regarding his status for this Sunday’s pay-per-view, but it seems as if he will have to sit out while his fellow competitors attempt to win at shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. One can only hope that he recovers quickly and gets back in the ring, especially considering how successful his latest push has been.
One week from today, WWE’s annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view will be held in Boston, Massachusetts. The event has quickly become one of the most anticipated programs of the year, as it provides exciting action and sets up the storyline for months by allowing a WWE superstar to stalk his prey while holding a contract for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.
There will be two Money in the Bank ladder matches this year. One will be held for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and the other will be a traditional contest for a shot at the title. The first contest will feature perennial title contenders such as John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Alberto Del Rio, as well as up-and-coming stars such as Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, and Cesaro.
It seems like John Cena is once again the favorite to leave Boston as the champ.
The second ladder match will feature Seth Rollins, with the rest of the lineup to be determined in a series of qualifying matches. Thus far, only three matches have been announced for the entire pay-per-view, and with only one week left before the event, one has to wonder how the WWE will tie everything together in such a brief period.
Other than the two ladder matches, a matchup between the Usos and Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of the Wyatt family is the only confirmed contest on the card. It seems apparent that Dean Ambrose will be one of the participants in the traditional ladder match. Potential options also include those who did not qualify for the championship ladder match, including Bad News Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, and Rob Van Dam.
The two ladder matches will soak up a large portion of the roster, meaning the midcard will have to pick up some slack in order to fill up the three hours of airtime. Rumored contests include Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. RybAxel, Rusev vs. Big E, and a Divas Championship match involving Paige and all or part of the Funkadactyls.
The main event for the June 29th WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view will be the ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which features John Cena, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt and Alberto Del Rio. As noted recently, Cena or Reigns (and Cesaro as a long-shot) will likely come out on top, as the winner is the likely candidate for Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
Also confirmed for the 6/29 PPV is a WWE Tag-Team Championship match with The Usos defending against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family.
The second ladder match, which was made official recently and will be for the usual Money In The Bank briefcase, as of right now only features Seth Rollins. Additional names rumored for the match include Dean Ambrose, Big E., Rob Van Dam, Bo Dallas, as well as Bad News Barrett and Dolph Ziggler, the latter two of which will either be part of that match or in an Intercontinental Championship match with each other.
Additionally, the direction for the WWE Divas Championship match at Money In The Bank seems to be Paige defending against Naomi of The Funkadactyls.
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On his upcoming Hall Of Fame MC gig: “Excited to head to Waterloo, Iowa July 18-19 for the annual National Wrestling Hall of Fame weekend at the Dan Gable Museum. All wrestling fans no matter amateur or pro should see the museum once in their life as it is truly fascinating and one of the bucket list days of my entire year. Randy Couture, The Steiner Brothers, DDP, Larry Hennig, Larry Matysik, For info on tickets to attend this weekend that includes a banquet, live, pro wrestling event, pro tryouts and the chance to meet the greats of the game you can call 319-233-0745 or visit them on Facebook. I will MC the banquet on Saturday July 19 and will also attend the pro wrestling event with WWE HOFer Jerry Brisco on Friday night July 18.”
On a Bray Wyatt face turn: “What do you think of Bray Wyatt being a character baby face after being turned on by Harper and Rowan who then become managed by Jake Roberts who builds his own faction?”
“Harper is a star in the waiting and the key to Rowan achieving a high level of success is him showing more animation and personality in the ring and being able to master a promo.”
On Bo Dallas: “Bo Dallas was the consummate, ivory snow baby face in NXT for a long, long time until the fans organically turned on him for being too goody-goody. The current incarnation of Bo Dallas isn’t as organic as what made him an antagonist in NXT but I hope it will eventually work for the young man’s sake. He’s a good kid who works hard and is a natural athlete. Only time will tell if this presentation clicks and the timing inasmuch as how long the persona is left to evolve and/or to tweak is critical.”
On Brodus Clay: “Brodus Clay always reminded me of the UWF version or the One Man Gang. Perhaps some day Brodus can see if my premonition actually is accurate. If Brodus can maintain a healthy, athletic weight so he can feed the comebacks approiately he has a shot at becoming a main event level heel IMO.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley:
On Luke Harper: “I wasn’t sold on him. I wasn’t sold on the idea that they kept comparing him to Bruiser Brody, because Brody for the longtime wrestling fan was one of the great wrestlers of his era or of all time. But he was known as the intelligent monster and Harper was an out of control maniac. I think once you stop trying to imitate somebody and find your own way things really start clicking. So, I’ve been watching him and things have really been clicking and after the Wyatts have this amazing run, hopefully as long as possible, yeah, I do think he has what it takes to become a singles star.”
On The Shield breakup: “I thought it was pretty cool, yeah! I didn’t see it coming and they had a long, a nice long run. Sometimes, and I’m not picking on other groups, but when I wrestled elsewhere for a couple of years it was almost as if they thought every person watching the show watched every episode and kept up on everything, and they would break up groups, literally within months, two or three months. ‘Yeah, they’ve been together long enough, time to break ’em up!’ These guys [the Shield] had been together for two years, the time was right; I think it gives Seth Rollins a chance to break out. He was almost like the forgotten member, even though he would steal shows. He wasn’t the crazy guy, like Ambrose, and he wasn’t the guy with the incredible physique, like Roman Reigns. So he tended to be forgotten. Evolution by the nature of its name should be constantly evolving, I think it was a good move, and I think he upped his stock.”
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley wrote the following on Facebook about Wyatt Family member Luke Harper:
I’M SOLD ON HARPER
If Luke Harper were a stock, I’d be buying him now. I’ve watched carefully for a while, and in the past two months, I’ve finally become sold on the big man, not only as an invaluable part of the bizarre The Wyatt Family, but as a potential breakout star on his own.
Finding your way, and blazing your own unique path is no easy task in WWE, especially when standing in the very long shadow of Bray Wyatt. But Harper has found that way. I wasn’t ready to buy into the Bruiser Brody comparison, no matter how many times it was brought up. Brody, a legend in the business, and a huge inspiration on my own career, was known as “the intelligent monster.” Harper has excelled in my mind, by stepping off that path that Brody blazed, and finding his own, unique way to excel in WWE – as the guy who can do anything at any time, without any seeming rhyme or reason. The hurricanrana followed by a dropkick makes perfect sense, because it makes absolutely no sense.
Here’s one wrestling fan looking forward to Luke Harper’s matches making little sense, but a huge impact on WWE Monday Night Raw for a long time to come.
– The dark match before Tuesday night’s WWE TV tapings saw Natalya defeat Rosa Mendes.
– The dark match in between Main Event and the SmackDown tapings saw Los Matadores defeat Ryback and Curtis Axel after El Torito distracted Ryback.
– After the SmackDown tapings concluded, Bray Wyatt called Seth Rollins to the ring. It looked like they were going to start fighting, but instead they attacked Dean Ambrose, who was still in the ring following the Wyatt vs. Ambrose SmackDown main event.
Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Luke Harper and The Usos then hit the ring and a huge brawl broke out. Reigns and Ambrose both grabbed steel chairs and went after Seth Rollins as the ring cleared out. The night ended with Reigns and Ambrose playing to the crowd.
While it appears that Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are headed towards a run as WWE Tag-Team Champions, there are those within the company who feel that will not happen.
The belief in the company right now is that NXT tag-team The Ascension will be called up soon, and that The Usos will hang onto the titles until that happens.
– Following the WWE SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio, a six-man tag-team dark match took place that saw Big Show, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose defeat The Wyatt Family.
– For those who have asked, Dolph Ziggler’s new ring trunks, which he wore this past Monday night on RAW, says “Over It” on the back.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Nick Bockwinkel has stepped down as the president of the Cauliflower Alley Club due to health issues. Former Killer Bees member Brian Blair will now serve as the president going forward.
It’s being reported that the complete script for tonight’s WWE Payback pay-per-view was written in full this past Tuesday.
It should be noted, however, that while the script doesn’t include a WWE Tag-Team Championship match, nor has one been advertised on television leading into tonight’s show, there has been talk of a last-minute addition of The Usos vs. Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan.
Update: The video was pulled from Youtube due to a copyright clalim
Erick Rowan and Luke Harper briefly won the WWE Tag Team Titles at yesterday’s live event from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
While they were celebrating with their newly won gold, Fit Finlay came out and explained to the referee that The Wyatt Family cheated to win, knocking out one of the Usos with the titles. The match was then re-started and The Usos retained.
Currently there are three matches officially announced for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st in Chicago, Illinois. Those matches are The Shield vs. Evolution in a No Holds Barred Elimination match, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a Last Man Standing match and Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Other matches likely for WWE Payback include The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan for the WWE Tag-Team Championships, Paige vs. Alicia Fox for the WWE Divas Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship, Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger, Rusev vs. Big E. and Summer Rae vs. Layla with Fandango as special guest referee.
As far as the No Holds Barred Elimination main event, a possible scenario being considered is one that would see Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins eliminated early, leaving Roman Reigns to make a huge comeback on all three Evolution members by himself.
The match will be Batista’s final match in WWE for several months, and based on plans for the future, could be one of Triple H’s last for a while as well.
– The kid who played “Little Johnny” during the Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena steel cage match at Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view was the son of Jameson, a former WWE character who at one point co-hosted the “Bobby Heenan Show” on the USA Network.
– Short Sleeve Sampson apparently received massive heat from WWE for posting a photo on his official Facebook account prior to last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The reason is because the photo had John Cena with Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in the background going over their match.
The following are highlights of a recent IGN interview with Seth Rollins:
On The Shield playing off each other well against The Wyatt Family: “Yeah, definitely. From the first time we had any sort of interaction with them, when we were over in the UK last November, there was definitely some crazy electricity that was going on. We knew that once we got into it that it was going to be awesome. I think it exceeded whatever hype it had laid in front of it, and that’s really tough to do nowadays, to have a match where people wanted to see that. They were genuinely like, “Damn, I want to see that. That’s going to be awesome.” So I was really happy we got the opportunity to do that with those guys.”
On the energy in the crowd when they had their first confrontation with The Wyatt Family: “Yeah, that’s what we live for. Those moments are what we do it for. That’s what keeps us coming back. It’s a rush every time we come down the stairs and through the crowd and get in the ring and have a great match. It’s special moments like that where you can’t describe the electricity; it’s a lighting-in-a-bottle sort of thing. That’s what keeps you coming back and really why you do it. Make people really feel something; that’s pretty impressive. That’s an awesome thing to be able to do.”
On if he’d prefer to stay with The Shield for a bit longer before the inevitable split: “I definitely do. I think there’s a lot of life left in The Shield, especially with the different direction the crowd has taken on with us. I think there’s a long way to go for us as a group — as individuals as well. There’s no reason we can’t advance in both situations. I think people assume that for whatever reason there’s an exclusivity to being a single star and a great stable. But for me it’s never about that. We can all grow as individuals, and we can all be big stars in our own right. The Shield can be as big as it’s ever been. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”
The following is a non-spoiler match listing for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which was taped on Tuesday night and will air on Friday, May 2, 2014 on the SyFy Network.
– Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger
– Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth
– The Wyatt Family vs. Sheamus & The Usos
– Damien Sandow vs. Dolph Ziggler
– Big E. vs. Titus O’Neil
– Dean Ambrose vs. Ryback vs. Curtis Axel vs. Alberto Del Rio
For a complete spoiler report for this week’s WWE SmackDown, click ahead to page two …
The following are results for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which aired live on the WWE Network on Tuesday, April 29, 2014.
– Goldust def. Alberto Del Rio in a singles bout to open the show. The match saw a lot of back-and-forth action until Goldust counters Del Rio’s superkick attempt and blasts him with his Final Cut finisher for the 1-2-3 and the victory.
– After Goldust picks up the victory, Cody Rhodes comes in and congratulates him. Renee Young enters the ring and interviews both guys. She asks if their recent singles matches means they are going their separate ways. Goldust says that the Brotherhood is still together. He says they may work singles matches from time-to-time, but ultimately they have each others backs. Young asks Rhodes if he is proud of his brother. He seems offended at the question and asks if she thinks Goldust is better than him because he won tonight and Cody lost on RAW. Eventually he apologizes and reiterates the fact that the Brotherhood is together and says things will stay that way. The two hug and that’s that.
– Paige def. Alicia Fox in Divas action to retain her WWE Divas Championship. The match went back-and-forth, with Paige taking a lot of punishment before ultimately hitting Fox with a big DDT to score the pin fall victory. After the match, as Paige was walking up the ramp, Tamina Snuka comes out to the top of the stage and the two have a staredown.
– Backstage, Renee Young is with Sheamus. She asks Sheamus for his level of concern knowing he has to face Bray Wyatt in the main event tonight. Sheamus talks briefly about how he’s not afraid and informs Wyatt that tonight — it’s time to fight.
– Bad News Barrett def. Kofi Kingston in singles competition. Barrett cuts a promo before the match dressing down Big E., informing him that he’s going to take his WWE Intercontinental Championship this Sunday at Extreme Rules. The two have a solid back-and-forth match that ends when Kingston leaps in the air off of the ringside steps, but gets caught on the way down with the Bull Hammer Elbow from Barrett. Barrett rolls Kingston back in the ring and covers him. 1-2-3. Barrett wins.
– Bray Wyatt def. Sheamus in the headline bout of this week’s edition of WWE Main Event. Bray Wyatt sings along with the crowd, singing of course, “he’s got the whole world in his hands.” He sings along with them until Sheamus’ music hits to interupt him. The two end up having an extremely competitive match that sees Erick Rowan and Luke Harper distract Sheamus at the end, allowing Wyatt to hit him with his Sister Abigail finisher for the 1-2-3.
– After the main event ends, Rowan and Harper join Wyatt in a three-on-one beatdown of Sheamus until The Usos come out to make the save. The show goes off the air with all six guys staring each other down.
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 …
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 …