– WWE officially added a match featuring “WWE World Heavyweight Champion vs. Batista” to their WrestleMania XXX section on Monday.
– WWE Superstar Mark Henry is scheduled to appear at the Showtime and Food Network’s “Ultimate Tailgate Experience” in New York City on January 29th.
– In addition to Ben Roethlisberger, a number of other members of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers were in attendance at the Royal Rumble show on Sunday night.
Batista Returned to WWE and it’s the go home show before the Royal Rumble, but was it enough for us to say YES! Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Animal Is back, with the world’s tightest pants! NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton & Batista I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this segment. Randy Orton Triple H and Stephanie McMahon is just boring me. Orton is way more whinyer these days as well. This isn’t the cold-hearted viper, we all know and love. This is an annoying whimpy sometimes self-doubting viper. Batista comes out wearing a pair of ridiculous tight Jeans. That outfit is what I would expect someone to put on him as a joke in the WWE 2k14 video game, with a diva’s dancing entrance. He’s back to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans to become the WWE Champion. Part of me want’s to say YES! because Batista is awesome, maybe I’m being to hard on the guy? But if I’m rating the segment by itself I have to go with NO!
Goldust, Cody Rhodes & Big E. Langston vs. The Shield WWE has won me over on tag team wrestling, plain and simple. I enjoy it, I love wathcing Cody and Golddust out there. I think it’s rediciolous that these two are defending their championship on the Royal Rumble pre-show. They deserve mid-card of the Pay-Per-View. Some would arugue, that if you put a solid match on the pre-show that will get people on the fence to buy the PPV. I get it, but still I think this is an attraction worthy of the actual event. Especially because I feel The New Age Outlaws could very well win the titles.YES!
Daniel Bryan is back YES!
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Great to see Daniel Bryan on Raw, especially since SEScoops.com broke the news a day after last week’s Raw that he had suffered a concussion last week. As a precaution he was pulled of the weekends live events and underwent impact testing to make sure he was good for this Sunday. He’s facing Bray Wyatt in a 1 on 1 match. Currently he is not scheduled to compete in the Royal Rumble. If he doesn’t show up in the Rumble and win it, I will be pretty disappointed, this is his year to win it. Do the right thing WWE, you have a major star on your hands. YES!
Xavier Woods vs. Fandango Fast forwarded this match. I think Fandango won. I have no idea why. Meaningless. NO!
CM Punk vs Billy Gun I didn’t catch Smackdown! on Friday, but I enjoyed The Road Doggs explinatinon here on commentary. The New Age Outlaws aren’t heel’s per se, more like tweeners. I would expect them to win the Tag Team titles to further along a breakup with Golddust and Cody Rhodes. Billy Gun looked a bit blown up in the match with CM Punk, but good match. YES!
Batista gets his revenge on Alberto Del Ro before the Rumble. Now What? – NO!
Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio Another fast forward delight, back in the day before DVR’s and dare I say VCR’s We would change the channel watching this thing live. Truth be told, I fell asleep during this very match live on Monday, and caught up Tuesday. Batista comes out and attacks Alberto Del Rio. Now I thought I was going to have to pay to see Batista get physical with Del Rio? Why give it away on Raw? I can only guess that Alberto Del Rio will cause Batista to be eliminated at the Rumble. We saw Batista destroy him, so something else needs to happen. Perhaps Ricardo Rodriguez comes back and they both get Batista out? Who knows. All I know is I give the match and aftermath a NO!
Brock Lesnar should be Fearless – NO!
Big Show, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Brock Lesnar shouldn’t be afraid of anyone at any time, period! I did like the Big Show this week, more serious, more business, calling out Brock Lesnar. I thought it was silly watching Brock backup from the ring, not wanting to get in there with Big Show. Getting thrown out and then throwing a temper tantrum. Brock is going to win this match at the Royal Rumble, a match I am looking forward to. But this segment was silly. I liked Big Show’s impression of Paul Heyman though. NO!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
With two weeks before the Royal Rumble, Noah Mark is back with his analysis of the second raw of 2014. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Kick Off Raw vs The USO’S – YES!
The Usos vs. Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan (Part 1) Raw starts off with the match advertised last week of Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. The USO’s were in the ring at the start of Raw ready for the match. The lights blacked out for the Wyatts entrance, and came back on 30 seconds later to reveal Daniel Bryan and The Wyatts already in the ring. I liked the quick entrance. The match was good with Daniel Bryan in a more aggressive style. Luke Harper and Derek Rowan, interfered just before The USO’s were about to get airborne on Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. This prompted another DQ on the Wyatts in their second week in a row with Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan drops to his knees to receive a Sister Abigail from Bray Wyatt. As I said for the last two weeks, I’m okay with this story in it’s context, provided it doesn’t go 16 weeks to WrestleMania. YES!
Damien Sandow holding his own against John Cena – YES!
Damien Sandow vs. John Cena I was fortunate to be in the crowd at Raw in Orlando, FL the night after The Hell-In-A-Cell Pay-Per-View. It was on that night that Damien Sandow cashed in his Money-In-The-Bank briefcase on John Cena. Although he didn’t win the match then, it was a great competitive match with Cena, and this episode of Raw was no different. There is a great chemistry between Sandow and Cena, and proof that Sandow should have a much more elevated status in WWE. All the things about Damien Sandow I enjoy are stripped away, no more robe, no more witty promos, he’s seemingly just an angry body. Where’s the man that would sign autographs with a quill pen? Why do we get “Sandow-Gimmick-Light”? I question this especially, because when he is called upon he delivers. Match was great. Don’t throw away Sandow after this. YES!
Kane & Brad Maddox, No Triple H or Stephanie. Kane and Brad get into it backstage, and Mr Maddox comes up with a Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan vs The Uso’s rematch in a steel cage for the main event. With Kane adding that he will personally chain the cage door shut. I thought this would spell disaster for Daniel Bryan, with some ulterior motive for his former Co-Tag Team Champion.
I did like the fact that Triple H and Stephanie were not on the show this week. Although they seem to back Orton, promoting him as the face Of WWE, they haven’t been targeting John Cena, like they did Bryan, with beat-downs and impossible handi-cap matches. YES!
Left – Intense Big Show to confront Brock Lesnar 1/6 YES! Right – Jolly Big Show eventually Beating Up Zed NO!
On an unrelated note, is Kane injured? Kane is one of the longest tenured Superstars on the roster, I know he has been working several holiday house show matches, however I don’t recall him having a TV match since that aforementioned Orlando Raw I was at where, on that show he shed his mask, this was after returning from filming a See No Evil sequel. It looked like he had a noticeable limp coming down the aisle way.
Big Show vs. Jack Swagger I don’t like smiling big show. I liked hoodie and skull cap wearing, intense Big Show from last week. I want all business Big Show. I want a focused Big Show that is going to seriously take on Brock Lesnar. Big show almost has John Cena-itus. Big Show should learn from his mistakes. Smiling Big Show ended 3-4 Raws this fall, then lost the Big One. Big show can smile his way to another loss at the Royal Rumble. I like Zeb Colter, but for some reason I DON’T want to see him hurt. I like Paul Heyman, but I DO want to see him get hurt. NO!
Moments before The New Age Outlaws, pull back their hands and walk out on CM Punk – NO!
CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield I’m hoping after The Royal Rumble, CM Punk will move away from The Shield. I love Roman Reigns but If the Shield were to break up, I don’t think he should be put against CM Punk one on one, yet. I like the idea of him building up his singles resume, perhaps with a Big E, Dolph Ziggler, a returning Jericho, maybe even Daniel Bryan, before we see CM Punk vs Roman Reigns in a big time match. I love the New Age Outlaws, and I don’t want to boo them. I haven’t checked out the Smackdown Spoilers (They are scheduled to take on Cody Rhodes and Golddust) so I’m curious to see if they are “bad guys” now. They both appear to be in great shape, and would love to see them, hang around till WrestleMania, but not at heels. Besides, book him however you wish, but at WrestleMania XXX they will no doubt be faces one way or another. NO!
Meaningless win for AJ. Waste of talent – NO!
The Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee & Tamina Snuka Throw-a-way match, AJ being underutilized. AJ hasn’t had many title defenses, the belt isn’t as special, not because of the person, because of the booking. She taps out and pins people left and right, then a silly beat down afterwords. If you’re going to give her a clean win, why bother, having the faces beat her down after the fact, they lost. This is why there is a huge drop off in star power in WWE, because you have someone like an AJ Lee who can cut a dynamite promo, you can cultivate that, make people want to see her, and let her flourish! Instead of losing her in the shuffle of 20 Total Diva® tag matches. NO!
WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Inductee The Ultimate Warrior will Headline The 2014 Hall Of Fame. Ironic I watched a DVD about how he was horrible person to work with, held up Vince McMahon for money at SummerSlam 1991, and “self destructed” But as the saying goes Money Talks, and there is a lot of people who remember the guy you see below and could care less about what was hapening behind the curtain. So for that (and because our Webmaster is a huge fan of the man from Parts Unknown) we say YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
– Chris Jericho revealed on Instagram that his band Fozzy will begin recording their next album this Thursday and said the band will be back on touring very soon.
“Trust me when I tell you the songs we’ve written for this album are like nothing we’ve ever done before …and are going to BLOW YOU AWAY!! So excited!! Stay tuned for more info about the album and upcoming live dates…. #2014 #theyearofthefozz #lightsgoout #doyouwannastartawar #fozzy”
– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross answered a “Q&A” question on his website about the possibility of SmackDown going live:
“I don’t know. It could happen very easily of the network on which it aired wanted to move it to Tuesday. For it to be live on Friday night it would be challenging at best but I assume doable if necessary.””
– Mark Henry tweeted the following while watching Monday night’s RAW from home. WWE kept Henry off TV to sell the attack from Brock Lesnar. He wrote:
It's been a long time since I watched raw at home. Great show!!! I'm sitting here with this sling on my arm pissed. pic.twitter.com/Hp1bAPbB8T
– On Monday’s Old School RAW, we saw Brock Lesnar dispose of Mark Henry once again before getting into a confrontation with the Big Show.
While at first it looked like WWE was setting up a program between Henry and Lesnar, Monday’s segment was done to put Lesnar over by “sacrifice” Henry en route to Lesnar’s feud with Big Show. There are no plans for a Lesnar vs. Henry match.
– Steve Austin noted on Twitter that while in Las Vegas for WWE’s major announcement tonight, he will try to interview Triple H for his Steve Austin show podcast.
Noah Mark is back with his analysis of Old School Raw! Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us if you agree with this week’s picks.
Orton playing the generic Bad Guy, he’s much better than this. NO!
Ric Flair, Randy Orton, & John Cena PromoOld School Raw kicked off with the 16 time “Nature Boy” Ric Flair out first. He was quickly interrupted by former Evolution partner. Randy Orton. Randy Orton said he respected Ric Flair, but he needed the time more to address the one on one rematch putting himself vs John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at The Royal Rumble. Ric chimes in saying he’s not as good as he thinks. Orton threatens Flair, Cena ends up making the save.
For me this segment fell flat, and seemed forced. Orton was seemingly going through the motions, with “I respect you, but….” going into generic heel mode. This is not The Viper I know and enjoy. I feel some people don’t give Randy Orton the credit he deserves for his promo and character skills, he makes great facial expressions, and conveys a cold-hearted disposition. Well normally he does, this promo didn’t do Orton any favors. Clearly Ric Flair is getting order, or he had a few in the back, because he sounded marble mouth in this segment. Cena didn’t offer anything to this segment either. One month ago Cena may have delivered the best promo of his life in Seattle. Here, I felt the whole thing was boring. NO!
NO!
Jerry Lawler Health Update: Earlier in the day we reportedBreaking News Jerry “The King” Lawler was hospitalized. Of course with Jerry’s Heart Attack last year during Raw, your first thought would be another heart issue. Thankfully it seemed to be a stomach virus or food poisoning. however that didn’t stop the WWE from sensationalizing by directing viewers to turn to the WWE App to get an update on Jerry Lawler. NO!
Daniel Bryan…er Wyatt. So far okay. YES!
Luke Harper, Erick Rowan & Daniel Bryan vs. The Usos & Rey Mysterio Our first chance to see Daniel Bryan on TV as a Wyatt. First the original Wyatt trio appeared for their normal entrance, followed by the fourth Daniel “Wyatt”. Daniel Byran came out looking like he was in a Janitor or prison jump suit. A blank stare on his face, as he teamed up with Rowan and Harper to take on The Usos and Mysterio. I enjoyed this, I thought Bryan looked good with the group. They ended up losing the match due to Harper getting rolled up after a brief disagreement with Bryan as to who should come into the match when Rowan tagged both men. I would have preferred The Wyatts to win clean in this match. Their first week out and they’re arguing, I think an eventual separation from Bryan would be more effective if they were on the same page to start. But I’m still okay with this story line, provided I don’t have to wait 15 more weeks for Bryan to “Snap out of it”. YES!
Too Cool & Rikishi just 3 of the Old School Legends at Raw YES!
WWE Legends On Old School Raw:I was happy to see some of my old school favorites on Raw. Everyone had a good role on the show and for older fans this definitely was a great nostalgia feel. I will say that over the past few years we’ve seen a crop of “usual” legends. Most of which were not actually on a whole lot of episodes of WWE Raw. I would love to have seen a Raw with more attitude era and post era stars. Some of them are still affiliated and working for WWE. Perhaps WWE held a few back for a Royal Rumble appearance. There was also no “old school” diva on this show. I know Mae Young was originally scheduled to attend this show, however Mae Young experienced health issues and was unable to appear. With Brock Lesnar, in attendance this seemed like a perfect time for Sable to make an appearance in the show. YES!
Piper’s Pit – Piper’s still got it plain and simple. His interaction with The Shield, the hottest faction, group, whatever you what to call them. Piper pinching Roman Reigns cheek put goosebumps on my arm. I saw Reigns neck throbbing, great moment! People have compaired Dean Ambrose to Piper in the past, it was great to see Ambrose get to interact with a Legend. This would not be his only legend interaction on this episode of Old School Raw. I enjoyed seeing CM Punk and The New Age Outlaws come in to save piper. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW Old School and our Overall Raw Rating
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about Monday’s Old School RAW:
Piper’s Pit: “Thought it was one of the better Piper’s Pit segments that we’ve seen over the past few years. Succinct, cut to the chase content, etc. Nice rub for the Shield. Roddy endorsing Punk did nothing but good as well.”
Brock Lesnar’s Segment With Mark Henry & Big Show: “No issues with Lesnar/Henry/Show but for anyone to think that Lesnar is as hot right how as he needs to be isn’t looking at Brock through honest eyes. His absence was long and Brock wasn’t red hot when he left. The former WWE and UFC champion is an amazing talent but he’s got little traction from where I sit and needs to promoted aggressively and soon if he’s expected to sell PPV’s at WM30. The good news is that it can be done.”
Daniel Bryan & The Wyatt Family: “I’m still confused as to where the Daniel Bryan/Wyatt Family storyline is headed. I’m trying to like it as I’m a big fan of all the men involved in the equation but I don’t know much more about their relationship or issues than I knew last week. As a fan, I needed a little more concrete info or a viable tease from these four men than I was provided.”
Jerry Lawler’s Health Scare: “Good to hear that Jerry Lawler is fine after Monday’s health scare. Sounds as if King had a stomach virus or food poisoning but NO heart issues Monday in Baltimore. I hope to have a conversation with King this week if he can work me into his busy schedule. It’s not easy being a combination of a superhero and Larry Flynt. :)”
Jake Roberts’ Surprise Return: “The final surprise of Jake the Snake Roberts was a good surprise. Jake looked good and he was well received. Via @DDPYoga and making smart, personal decisions, Jake has gotten himself healthier and the alternative if he had continued to travel his former road was bleak.”
– Following the second consecutive week of being attacked on RAW by Brock Lesnar, WWE is reporting that Mark Henry suffered a dislocated and fractured elbow due to the kimura that Lesnar applied to him at Old School RAW.
– WWE added the following video promo hyping the announcement that Batista will be an official participant in the 2014 Royal Rumble match:
Happy New Year everyone! Noah Mark is back with his the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us if you agree with this week’s picks.
Alright everyone, I’ve been sitting on writing this article to give all of us enough time to digest what we saw on Monday. I didn’t want to make a knee jerk reaction to what I saw. So hopefully here is my calm observation.
Daniel Bryan Takes On Luke Harper – YES!
Daniel Bryan Joins The Wyatts: Daniel Bryan is an incredible wrestler, he’s got a likable personality, and he’s good on the mic. Shawn Michaels definitely taught him well, but Bryan has that extra ingredient needed to make a star, that unteachable “it” factor. You either have it, or you don’t. Bryan has it, and it has developed over the years to something a massive audience can get behind. We are in in a time where WWE has failed to match the caliber star power and top new talents of the decades before it. So partly due to John Cena’s injury Daniel Bryan is given the ball. The crowds love him, and are behind him. Daniel Bryan headlines Summer Slam with Cena, followed by the next 3 Pay-Per-Views with Orton. The Pay-Per-View buy rates were down from the previous year. It shouldn’t rest squarely on Bryan’s shoulders, there is an incredible short shelf on top stars, with practically all of them on John Cena’s level either retired or part time. Look at Survivor Series, headlined by Big Show vs Randy Orton, drawing one if not the lowest Survivor Series buy rates in the PPV’s history. I could argue that Daniel Bryan in the main event SAVED the prior three pay-per-views from a similar dismal buy rate.
Erick Rowan vs Daniel Bryan – YES!
Nonetheless, back down Daniel Bryan goes on the card, he becomes the scapegoat, pun intended! Bryan’s been in a feud with the Wyatts since the end of October. My anger and frustration has clouded my appreciation for the Wyatts, and this story line. So let me look at it just from the perspective of the story line alone. The Wyatts have a great persona, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan can hang with the likes of just about anyone in the ring. I feel Bray Wyatt is the weakest wrestler out of the group, but wrestling isn’t the most important talent needed for this, Bray could easily fit in a horror movie, he looks the part and is competent enough. So after two months of mostly Daniel Bryan getting the short end of the stick, on this past Monday’s Raw Bryan is given a chance to go one on one with Bray Wyatt. All Bryan must do is defeat Luke Harper and Derrek Rowen.
Daniel Bryan Joins the Wyatt Family. YES!
After the two matches Bray comes in the ring, the match starts, Erick and Luke join in on the attack. Bray tells Bryan he’s afraid this is where their story ends. He says he has no mercy left to give. He says this is his fault. Bryan says you’re right, you were right all along and joins the Wyatts. (View Full Details here) So within the story line itself. I’m okay with this, in fact I’m totally fine with this scenario, provided Daniel Bryan is out of this “spell” by The Royal Rumble. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, in this day in age, with people wanting instant gratification, binge-watching full seasons of TV shows in a sitting, I can’t wait 16 weeks for WrestleMania XXX for Daniel Bryan to come out of his spell. Doing so may inflict permanent damage on his popularity. So if Daniel Bryan is “following the buzzards” for four weeks, I’m on board. YES!
CM Punk takes on Seth Rollins on an “Off Night” – NO!
CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins: Everyone has an off night, Seth Rollins and CM Punk didn’t work. there were a few botches, CM Punk tried to cover by turning a move off the ropes into a small package, but it was sloppy. I would imagine most of the heat goes on Seth Rollins, but it takes two to tango. CM Punk on Twitter knew it was a stinker NO!
“@RMB316: @CMPunk IM sure you hear this a lot. Good match on #Raw really enjoyed it. Keep it up all the best in 2014” it was garbage.
On last night’s episode of WWE RAW, Brock Lesnar made his return and challenged the winner of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match at The Royal Rumble. Lesnar then made a challenge to anyone in the WWE locker room, which brought out Mark Henry. The two brawled and Lesnar got the best of it, hitting Henry with an F5 outside the ring.
The final WWE RAW show of 2013 ended with Daniel Bryan joining The Wyatt Family. The RAW main event featured Daniel Bryan facing Luke Harper first. If Bryan defeated Harper, then he had to beat Erick Rowan. If he defeated them both, then he could get his hands on Bray Wyatt. Bryan ended up beating them both. When Bray’s turn to face Bryan came up, he stopped himself from attacking Bryan. Bryan ended up telling Bray he was right. He said fans chanted “Yes!” in every building he went to, and “they” still didn’t care. Bray then hit Bryan with his Sister Abigail finisher, but the two still ended up leaving together. Bryan stopped at the top of the stage to think over his decision, but ultimately decided to do it anyway.
Also on RAW on Monday night, both Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman returned. The two returned as part of Triple H’s “blockbuster announcement.” They announced their intentions on becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion by defeating whoever wins the Royal Rumble main event between John Cena and Randy Orton. This led to Mark Henry coming out, only to get beat up by Lesnar. Lesnar speared Henry through the barricade on the floor and then hit him with an F-5 on the floor.
As reported on Sunday night, WWE Superstar and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is scheduled to return on RAW tonight in Richmond, Virginia.
In addition to Lesnar, it appears as though Lesnar’s on-air manager Paul Heyman will be making his WWE return on RAW tonight as well.
Lesnar’s return was revealed during the SmackDown taping in Washington, D.C. on Sunday night, where Big E. Langston referenced Lesnar attacking Mark Henry on RAW on the SmackDown show that airs after RAW this coming Friday.
Brock Lesnar is returning to WWE television as soon as Monday’s WWE RAW from Richmond, Virginia.
At Sunday night’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Washington DC (airing Friday, January 3rd), there was a backstage segment where Renee Young was interviewing Big E Langston and Mark Henry.
Langston talked about Brock Lesnar ‘attacking Mark Henry on RAW’ – something we haven’t seen play out yet on WWE television. Langston was apparently an event that will take place on Monday’s 12/30 show. Also during the interview, Henry said that he’s looking forward to meet Lesnar in the ring.
– With the latest rumors that Brock Lesnar is interested in fighting for UFC again, we’ve heard from a reliable source that Lesnar has it written into his WWE contract that he is permitted to fight for the MMA promotion. This claim is being denied by multiple executives within WWE, however those close to Lesnar insist it’s true.
– The official WWE website has published a list of the top 10 “mic moments” in 2013. Number one went to Mark Henry’s fake retirement speech. Trailing Henry at number two was AJ Lee’s Diva pipe bomb, while CM Punk’s promo against The Rock rounded out the top three.
– Former WWE developmental star Brett DiBiase welcomed his first baby boy into the world over the weekend. Brett is the youngest son of WWE Hall Of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase Sr.
– Fans at the WWE live event in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday were given the opportunity to vote on the stipulation for the match between Mark Henry and Fandango. 53 percent of the fans in attendance ended up voting for a Dance Off. This led to Henry dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” complete with a moonwaulk, before being attacked by Fandango. Henry ended up fighting Fandango back and doing another moonwalk.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Noah Mark is back with his the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us if you agree with this week’s picks.
Complete WWE RAW Results (12/23)
WWE RAW (12/23)
Here are some quick thoughts about this weeks edition of Christmas Raw. Did you watch it?
The WWE Diva’s are awesome to look at. Not so awesome to watch wrestle.
12-diva’s Jingle Bells Match: The tag team division has been completely turned around. At one point it seemed like there was barely a tag team division. AJ Lee is the best women’s wrestler on the roster, why aren’t we seeing her in great matches. I guess I know why, because of Total Diva’s. That doesn’t mean there can’t be great woman’s wrestling. NO!
John Cena, CM Punk, and Big E. Langston victorious to end Christmas Raw
CM Punk John Cena & Big E Langston vs The Shield I enjoyed the match, Cena, Punk and Big E all out there. The end seemed silly though. Why would there suddenly be a disqualification, because the two illegal Shield members saved themselves from being pinned by Big E? It doesn’t make sense, but still the match was better than the Good Santa vs Bad Santa, which I thought for sure would close the show. Therefore it gets a YES!
The USOS vs The Prime Time Players: The match was fun to watch. Good tag team action YES!|
The USO’s and The Prime Time Players all celebrate after the match. Barf
The USOS & Prime Time Players Curtain Call Before the match Darren Young mistakenly refer to Austin Texas as Houston, to get some sort of heel heat, I didn’t have a problem with this. I did have a problem with after the match, The USO’s and The Prime Time Players all doing the Millions of Dollars dance. Here’s why I have an issue with it. This is starting to become a thing, with Superstars hugging after the match, we saw it a few weeks ago with the Michael Strahan, Miz, Titus O’neil segment. We saw it with Big Show, Rey Mysterio and The Rhodes. Forget about ruthless aggression, these guys are all becoming wimps! It’s OKAY for two fan favorites to dislike each other, and not hug at the end. I’m not saying they need to attack each other after the match… but I’m hoping it’s just a lighthearted Christmas episode thing, and not a growing trend. Although with the recent article of WWEshopping their television shows to TV Network’s including Disney. We might see everyone hug at the end of matches in the future. NO!
“Bad Santa’ full of Christmas Cupcakes
Good Santa Vs Bad Santa:It is what it is I guess. Mark Henry playing the good Santa, Damien Sandow playing the bad Santa with produced backstage segments contrasting the two. The announcers played it up as you would have expected. The whole concept is silly. Bah Humbug! NO!
Live Announcing: I would say it was a good thing that Michael Cole and JBL announced the show live from Stanford CT. (They had pre-recorded cut-in’s from the arena, but voiced most of Raw Live) it gave it a fresh feel, JBL made some topical references as he eluded to on twitter. The Batista announcement which clearly wasn’t scheduled for the show originally was added in, and the live commentary allowed for reaction from JB and Cole. Did you miss Jerry “The King” Lawler? I did not. YES!
@NEIL_MALONE@WWE@GoToBermuda pre taped? Not sure u noticed, our commentary was live. The Romo reference should have given that away.
“Santa Claus is an Illegal Immigrant” – Zeb Colter
The Real Americans vs Los Matadores: Another good tag team match on Raw. We saw the Antonio Cesaro swing, which if you haven’t’ seen live is an awesome thing to watch. With all the tag teams in the WWE, I think the WrestleMania pre-show match should involve all the tag-teams that one make it to the PPV. Perhaps the winner can face the champions. YES!
RAW OVERALL: NO! Call me scrooge if you will, but the over cheesy holiday wrestling show, should go on Smackdown! I think Raw looses it’s coolness by being lame. If Disney pony’s up the cash this could be what you see on RAW every week so get used to it! There was some good action on the show which I enjoyed, no real progression of WWE story lines but the big announcement of The Animal Batista, which was awesome to see.
– Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska, Canadian twin sisters who are directing WWE Studios’ See No Evil 2, revealed on Twitter that there is no set date for the film and both would be interested in competing inside the WWE ring. The twin duo also remarked on working with WWE Studios for the film.
“Love working w/ @WWEStudios – you guys are in for a real treat w/ @SeeNoEvil2Movie, best experience we’ve ever had killing people #twinning.”
– The tandem of Big E Langston and Mark Henry wreaking havoc on The Real Americans are highlighted in the “WWE Raw Slam of the Week.”
– Celebrating birthdays Saturday were former WWE wrestlers “Outlaw” Ron Bass (65) and Gymini (46).
– WWE Superstar Mark Henry is apparently telling friends that he is going to wrestle for two more years, when his current contract is set to expire, and then he wants to retire from in-ring competition and work with children in urban communities in some form or fashion.
– WWE has added the following video footage of WWE Diva and Total Divas star Naomi’s JET Magazine photo shoot:
– Today marks 4 years since the passing of former WWE superstar Umaga (Eddie Fatu). The Usos, Edge and several other wrestlers paid tribute to him today on Twitter.
– The Bella Twins tweeted that they’re headed to Los Angeles for a Make-A-Wish event.
– NXT star Scott Dawson tweeted that he’s been cleared to start training again after a recent injury:
Cleared to get back in the gym today. #DawsonRecovery 37%. Still the best even on one leg
– As seen Monday night on Raw, WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston and Mark Henry defeated the team of Ryback and Curtis Axel, with Henry being portrayed as a mentor to the young up-and-comer. This alliance is not expected to last, because as of this week, WWE creative has plans for “The World’s Strongest Man” to battle Langston at the Royal Rumble.
– As seen Sunday night at Survivor Series, Mark Henry returned to action by answering Ryback’s open challenge, and defeating him. According to F4WOnline.com, the short-lived storyline was copied from TNA Wrestling. On Impact Wrestling on Spike TV, former WWE Diva and reigning TNA Women’s Champion Gail Kim has been issuing open challenges, which inspired WWE’s creative department to utilize the idea for themselves.
– According to a source within WWE, plans are in place for the company to heavily focus on tag team competition in 2014, and company officials are contemplating holding a three-day tryout camp for independent wrestling duos early in the year. It is said that WWE honcho Paul “Triple H” Levesque is a huge fan of tag team wrestling.
The following press release was sent out today announcing WWE Studio’s involvement in a new thriller movie titled, “Incarnate” co-starring Mark Henry:
WWE® Studios and Blumhouse Productions Form Partnership for the Thriller “INCARNATE”
WWE Studios and Blumhouse Productions announced today a partnership on INCARNATE, the micro-budget thriller from Blumhouse directed by Brad Peyton (JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND), scripted by Ronnie Christensen (DARK TIDE) and starring Aaron Eckhart. WWE Superstar® Mark Henry has been cast in a cameo role, and WWE Studios will leverage its extensive multi-platform reach for the film.
Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge and Sinister franchises) is producing the film for Blumhouse which is co-financing the production with IM Global. Michael Luisi, WWE Studios President, is Executive Producing alongside Couper Samuelson, Michael Seitzman, Trevor Engelson, Stuart Ford and Charles Layton. Universal Pictures will distribute the film in the U.S. and Blumhouse International is overseeing foreign rights.
INCARNATE stars Aaron Eckhart as an unconventional exorcist who taps into the subconscious of a nine-year old boy played by David Mazouz who is possessed by a powerful, ancient demon. The film is currently shooting.
“WWE Studios is thrilled to partner again with Blumhouse on INCARNATE,” said Michael Luisi, President of WWE Studios.
Jason Blum said: “WWE has a tremendous brand and we are excited to work with them on INCARNATE.”
Bradley Buchanan, SVP of Business Affairs, negotiated the deal on behalf of WWE Studios.
– CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were unable to answer the question, “will they remain a tag-team following their win at Survivor Seires” when asked by Renee Young in an exclusive WWE.com post-match interview. The two claimed that “they don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” when working in WWE.
– WWE Superstar Mark Henry, who returned with his new look to answer the open challenge issued by Ryback at Survivor Series, spoke to WWE.com about his reason for coming out. Henry claimed that he answered Ryback’s challenge due to the fact that Ryback was disrespecting Bret Hart, Booker T and Mick Foley, who he cut off when he came out to the ring.
Also featured in post-match interviews at Survivor Series on Sunday night were The Shield, Curtis Axel, Natalya and The Bella Twins. You can watch these interviews online at WWE.com.
– The official WWE website has added an exclusive video featuring all three members of The Shield — Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, cutting a backstage promo following their victory in the “traditional Survivor Series elimination match” which served as the opening bout on the pay-per-view broadcast on Sunday night. Fans interested in checking that out can do so online at WWE.com.
– As we reported throughout the day on Sunday leading into Survivor Series, WWE Superstar Mark Henry was expected to make his return as the man who would answer Ryback’s rumored “open challenge” on the show. Ryback in fact did perform the “open challenge” and Henry ended up being the man to accept. Henry returned at Survivor Series by defeating Ryback, complete with his new look. Henry sported a completely shaved head and a longer beard, and was put over enormously by the announce team during the show.
– WWE Superstar Sheamus is in Boston, Mass. today. Obviously with Boston being the site of tonight’s WWE Survivor Series, many are speculating as to whether or not Sheamus will appear in some form or fashion on the show.
Sheamus wrote the following on Twitter recently:
Havin gr8 time in Boston Ma.1st ever American city I visited when I was 18. Ya can sense the Irishness.Savage city.Bring on #SurvivorSeries
– As noted previously, WWE Superstar Mark Henry is also in Boston tonight. Fans have been speculating that Henry will answer Ryback’s rumored “open challenge” on the show. Sheamus could be another guy that could respond to the challenge, although that is obviously pure speculation, and actually pretty unlikely due to his condition.
– Kellan Lutz, who is portraying “Hercules” in a separate film from the one Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently starred in, noted in a recent interview that he was unable to get as big as The Rock did for his role. Lutz even went as far as to say, “There’s not enough ‘extra-curricular’ stuff for that.”
Check out the complete interview online at ContactMusic.com.
– WWE Superstar Mark Henry has apparently been spotted in Boston, Massachusetts, the site of tonight’s WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. Henry was seen flying into Boston with WWE agents Billy Kidman and Dean Malenko.
Obviously Henry’s presence in Boston doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be making his return during the show. Some are speculating, however, that he will return to answer the “open challenge” that Ryback is rumored to be a part of on the show tonight.
