The talk within WWE right now is that Vince McMahon is putting enormous pressure on the WWE creative team specifically because of the September 21st rating for WWE RAW, which was the post-Night Of Champions edition of the show.
It appears that panic didn’t set in for the low ratings the previous two weeks, as WWE conveniently used the Labor Day holiday and the start of the NFL’s Monday Night Football season as excuses for the low numbers, however when the 9/21 number came in, everything changed.
Generally when WWE runs big angles at a pay-per-view, it is to boost the television ratings the following night, in basic “cliffhanger” fashion, however when WWE took that approach this past weekend and it resulted in an all-time low audience, it was the first time the term “panic” has been thrown around behind-the-scenes in WWE regarding ratings in quite a while.
Tag-team legends The Dudley Boyz — Bubba Ray and Devon — were Michael Cole’s guests on this week’s WWE.com sit-down interview.
During the interview, which you can watch above, Devon noted that they were overwhelmed by the reception they received for their WWE return on RAW in Brooklyn, New York. Bubba Ray added that the great part about the whole situation was that it was kept a secret.
Regarding what The Dudley Boyz have been doing over the past ten years, Bubba Ray said, “everything,” while Devon mentioned All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), however neither alluded to TNA Wrestling in any way, unless you count Devon saying that they have been active all over the world, as they go “non-stop.” (Total “Non-Stop” Action)?
Bubba Ray Dudley then spoke about how he saw the once nearly insignificant WWE tag-team division begin to thrive once again, particularly because of The New Day, and said that it was time for The Dudley Boyz to help get the WWE tag-team scene back to where it once was, and where he feels it belongs again today.
Michael Cole then brought up The New Day and asked if they feel they are entertaining. Devon said that they are a good team and they are very entertaining, but that they are also “kick-ass guys.” He mentions that The New Day is trying to follow in the footsteps of The Dudley Boyz because they are doing everything that The Dudley Boyz used to do to get attention.
Finally, Cole brings up the fact that The Dudley Boyz will be challenging The New Day for the WWE Tag-Team Championships at the next live WWE Network special, scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2015 from Madison Square Garden in New York City. As far as that fact is concerned, Bubba Ray mentions that it doesn’t get any better than to win the titles back in their hometown, especially in a building like MSG.
Make sure to visit SEScoops.com on Saturday, October 3, 2015 for the best live WWE Network results coverage from Madison Square Garden.
Coming out of this past Sunday’s WWE Night of Champions pay-per-view event, there was a throughline to the big news stories: Wrestler safety. On the undercard, we saw the latest in the series of recent fan run-ins/attacks on wrestlers, leading to the fan in question getting arrested. In the main event, Sting suffered some kind of neck injurytaking a turnbuckle powerbomb from Seth Rollins, and it was bad enough that they quickly went to the finish. On the surface, they’re separate problems, but the safety issue ties them together. WWE already appears to be increasing security to deal with unruly fans, so we’ll set that aside for today.
Sting’s injury gave me a lot of pause about both WWE using older wrestlers (especially in a main event position) and the type of moves they allow. Sting is in fantastic shape for a 56 year old man, but he’s still a 56 year old man. The buckle bomb, as Seth Rollins normally does it, is relatively safe, and it looks that way, too. Just look at how Rob Van Dam took it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCPso908-68
The goal is to come down as parallel to the ring post as possible, the way Van Dam did. Personally, I always thought the move was kind dumb because of how obviously Rollins is trying to protect his opponent. If you want the move to look “good,” you do it the way guys like Ricky Marvin did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2u7oWHdV24
Of course, that’s clearly many orders of magnitude more dangerous than the way Rollins usually does it. If there’s no real middle ground and the safer version looks ineffectual, why do it in the first place?
Sunday at Night of Champions, Sting hit the turnbuckles much more folded over than Van Dam did in the first example. This type of newer spot that uses the areas of the ring you’r not supposed to bump on require incredible body control and timing ven by pro wrestling standards. If I had to hazard a guess, maybe a 56 year old man who barely wrestles anymore doesn’t have the reflexes to ever take the buckle bomb correctly. That’s nothing against Rollins, and he could very well have done everything on his end correctly, but my gut is that whoever produced the match for them should have nixed that spot. Maybe it was just a miscommunication and Sting could hav taken it safely, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Eo-rpv4gfA
Sting’s injury reminded me of how a couple months ago at Battleground, for whatever reason, the show was full f wrestlers taking bumps on the ring apron. Apron bumps were popularized on the independent scene in the IWS promotion in Quebec where Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn first made a name for themselves. The whole point is that everyone knows it’s legitimately unsafe (again, but relative standards) to bump on the apron because of the lack of give. It’s just a cheap pop, especially when it happens repeatedly on the same card, and Battleground showed a surprising lack of continuity in WWE when it came to limiting those spots. Like with a man nearing his 60s taking a buckle bomb, it’s hard to believe it happened.
Of course, there’s also the question of whether or not someone Sting’s age should even be taking bumps, doing dives etc. I hesitate to say they shouldn’t wrestle at all because you can work a simple, safe match, but Sting being expected to work a 2015 WWE main event style match with modern indie influences was not smart. He’s a beloved legend who still looks really athletic doing his trademark spots and should not have been put in that position when something safer would have sufficed.
After thinking about it for a few days, my gut says WWE needs to b more diligent about cutting guys off and not letting them wrestle past a certain age. Jerry Lawler was, by all appearances, an ageless freak of nature who could wrestle forever until his heart stopped right after a match on Raw. Ricky Steamboat suffered a brain bleed much worse than most fans realized after the 2010 angle where the Nexus attacked him. Hulk Hogan, who has no business taking a bump these days, took one on the floor at WrestleMania, though he may have gone into business for himself on that spot.
And that’s is really part of the problem: You can’t guarantee that they’ll agree to work a restricted style while they’re amped up in the ring. WWE has been pretty careful as of late with how they’ve used older wrestlers, but they’re in a business where they can never be too careful.
– Diamond Dallas Page is the special guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– Chris Jericho reviews Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, which he was a part of, and interviews the Insane Clown Possee (I.C.P.) on the latest edition of his “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which is also available at PodcastOne.com.
– Finally, part two of WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair’s interview with former WCW executive producer Eric Bischoff is now available on the latest edition of Flair’s “Wooo Nation” podcast. You can download that one at Play.it.
WWE is cracking down on fans who jump the ringside gates and insert themselves into the show. The latest incident took place at Sunday’s Night of Champions pay-per-view, with Oscar Ramirez of Houston, TX entering the ring and standing next to Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.
WWE pressed charges and Ramirez will spend 10 days in jail after pleading guilty to criminal trespass of a property or building with no forced entry.
Chris Jericho tweeted the following about the incident:
So the jackass who jumped in the ring at #nightofchampions got sentenced to jail time. Let this be a lesson to all…stay out of OUR ring! 😉
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section of his website and commented on Sting suffering a neck injury at Sunday’s night of Champions pay-per-view.
A fan said it looked like Rollins botched a move on Sting and asked at what point Rollins would get heat for injuring opponents. JR said, “It’s a physical business and certainly isn’t ballet. Accidents happen. If a trend develops, and two situations isn’t a trend, then you may have a valid point.”
In response to a question about the way Rollins has been booked lately, JR replied, “Booking is highly subjective and can’t truly be judged over the short term. I’d likely tweak how Rollins is being booked, but that doesn’t make me right either. I think WWE is setting him up for an eventual ‘face turn down the road and I have no issues with where Seth is at this time at it’s a marathon and not a sprint even though many fans today have little to no patience.”
If you thought that the recent string of fans hitting the ring during matches involving former Shield members Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose was an angle, we can now be pretty certain it wasn’t. Today, PWInsider.com reported that the fan who jumped the rail and ran in the ring as Reigns and Ambrose uneviled mystery partner Chris Jericho at Night of Champions has not only been charged, but will be doing some jail time.
Oscar Ramirez, a 37 year old fan from Houston, Texas, was dressed in Shield attire and started posing before he was quickly removed by security and arrested. He was charged with criminal trespass of a property or building with no forced entry. Within hours, Ramirez entered a guilty plea and will serve 10 days in jail. If found guilty at a trial, he could have been sentenced to six months behind bars.
Until the fan was identified, the incident was used by a few fans as proof that the whole series of incidents had been a work. At least in the screenshots of his brief on-camera appearance, he had more than a passing resemblance to NXT referee and former independent wrestler Drake “Drake Younger” Wuertz. This caused Drake t take to Twitter to make it clear that he had not appeared on the pay-per-view:
An additional match has been made official for the next WWE Network live special, which is scheduled to take place next month in New York City.
In addition to the Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show match announced for the event, WWE has announced a tag-team title rematch from this past Sunday night’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
In WWE Tag-Team Championship action, current champions The New Day will be defending their tag-titles against The Dudley Boyz.
The next WWE Network live special is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2015 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
After undergoing medical tests to determine the extent of his injuries at Night of Champions, we can thankfully report that Sting’s neck is not broken.
Sting was taken to the hospital after Night of Champions and reportedly underwent a CAT scan and MRI. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, “He was able to walk [after the PPV], but he was not doing well … The MRI showed no fractures”
There had been plans for Sting to appear in the opening segment of RAW, but he wound up going home after a long 24 hours. Sting suffered the neck injury after taking a powerbomb into turnbuckles at Night Of Champions. Despite the relieving medical news, Meltzer thinks WWE is “going to be leery” about putting Sting back in the ring after this close call.
“As many of you may already know, Sting is undergoing treatment for the injuries he sustained in last night’s match with Seth Rollins. Doctors will continue to evaluate his condition, but he is a man of remarkable health and resiliency, especially at his age and with all he’s endured throughout his stellar career. Therefore, we are optimistic he will have a speedy recovery and return to full health soon. Sting has kept his body in excellent shape, due largely to the guidance he’s received from his personal trainer Jeff Cavaliere (ATHLEAN-X), and we trust this will prove beneficial to the recovery process. As a side note, we later learned the greatest damage to his body took place before the match was over, but being the true professional he is and among the hardest workers to ever step foot in the ring, he insisted to see the match through to the end.
-Steve Martinez”
Last night, during the Sting vs. Seth Rollins main event, Rollins gave Sting the Buckle Bomb and Sting appeared to not take the bump as straight as he should. THe match was stopped briefly but Sting got his wind back and they soon went to the finish, with Rollins getting the pin by countering the Scorpion Deathlock into a cradle.
According to TMZ, Sting underwent a CAT scan at the hospital Sunday and thankfully there were no fractures. Sting was released Monday afternoon and is on his way home. He’s able to walk but is in significant pain. TMZ’s headline reads, “Full Recovery Uncertain.”
As seen at WWE Night Of Champions on Sunday night, a fan jumped the guard rail and hit the ring just before the start of the Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho vs. The Wyatt Family six man tag-team match.
As noted late last night, WWE issued the following statement regarding the fan incident after the show:
“WWE takes the safety of our performers very seriously and any fan entering the ring area will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to PWInsider.com, due to the recent string of fan incidents, WWE is reportedly looking to pursue the most stringent prosecution possible for all future fan incidents.
WWE generally issues lifetime bans to fans who jump the guard rail at events, however if WWE pursues criminal charges for these incidents in the future, the feeling is it will decrease the amount of repeat incidents.
The post-Night Of Champions edition of WWE RAW is scheduled to take place tonight from the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas with the fallout from Sunday night’s pay-per-view.
WWE Superstars advertised for tonight’s show include Seth Rollins, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens, Sheamus, The Dudley Boyz and The New Day.
While no matches have been officially announced as of yet, WWE is focusing on the following five points in their RAW Five-Point Preview.
* Why has Demon Kane returned?
* Is Ryback hungry for a rematch against Kevin Owens?
* How will Charlotte celebrate her Divas Title victory?
* What might The Dudley Boyz have planned for The New Day?
* Will Cena’s newly won U.S. Title be on the line?
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com later this evening for the best live WWE RAW results coverage on the web!
– After Sunday night’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view went off the air, Sheamus retreated up the ramp to the backstage area with his “Money In The Bank” briefcase.
In the ring, Seth Rollins sold the attack from the returning, masked Kane for a couple of minutes before slowly making it back to his feet to cut a quick promo. Rollins scolded the crowd and then gloated about being the best WWE World Heavyweight Champion of all-time. Finally, Rollins headed to the back to officially end the show.
– New WWE Divas Champion Charlotte is scheduled to be one of the guests on tonight’s WWE RAW pre-show on the WWE Network.
– WWE.com has a new poll up asking fans if Chris Jericho was a bad choice to be the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose at Night Of Champions. 69 percent of fans felt that The Wyatt Family would have lost if they had a different partner, while 31 percent of fans believed if Jericho couldn’t help them win, no one could.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross was full of high praise for new WWE Divas Champion Charlotte following her victory over Nikki Bella at Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view. “Good Ole’ JR” took to Twitter after the show to post the following.
Just my opinion but @MsCharlotteWWE ain't no diva…she's all woman and the champion making her the women's champ. Just saying…
– As noted, Scott Hall was among the guests backstage at WWE Night Of Champions on Sunday night in Houston. Here he is backstage at the show with Scott Norton and Big Show.
Sting was injured during last night’s WWE Championship match against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions.
Towards the end of the match, Rollins delivered a powerbomb that sent Sting into the turnbuckles back-first. It was a high-impact bump that appeared to knock the wind out of the 56 year old legend. As the match continued, Sting was barely able to stay on his feet, which resulted in the referee stopping the match and a WWE trainer entering the ring to check on him.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Sting suffered a ‘significant’ neck injury that could be career-ended.
The match was restarted and went on for several more minutes, but the call was made to end the match early and Seth Rollins won with a small package.
Off camera, Sting was helped to the backstage area and received additional medical attention.
As we reported on Sunday night, a fan jumped the guard rail and hit the ring while Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose were staring down The Wyatt Family, prior to Chris Jericho being introduced as their mystery partner.
The fan ended up being taken down and out of the ring by security, Jericho came out as planned, and the match went on — as did the remainder of the show — without any additional interference from the fan, or other fans.
As this is the second time in recent weeks that WWE has had a fan jump the rail, coincidentally enough during Ambrose matches in both cases, WWE issued the following statement:
“WWE takes the safety of our performers very seriously and any fan entering the ring area will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
For those who missed it, you can view a photo of the fan hitting the ring at Night Of Champions by clicking here.
After coming up short in his WWE United States Championship match against John Cena, Seth Rollins managed to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Sting in the main event of Sunday night’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view in Houston, Texas.
Following the match, Sheamus rushed to the ring and nearly cashed in his “Money In The Bank” briefcase, blasting Rollins with a “Brogue Kick,” only for a returning Kane — who came back with long hair and his traditional mask — to chokeslam him and stop him from doing so.
To make things even, however, Kane also choke slammed Rollins, and finished him off with a Tombstone Piledriver to end the pay-per-view.
John Cena defeated Seth Rollins in the co-main event of WWE Night Of Champions on Sunday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas to capture the WWE United States Championship for the fifth time.
Cena won the title by defeating Rollins via pin fall after hitting him with his “Attitude Adjustment” finisher. You can check out a photo of Cena celebrating with the U.S. title after the match below.
Immediately after the match, as Rollins was set to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Sting in the very next bout, Rollins tried to run away to the backstage area, however Cena cut him off in the aisle and hit him with a second Attitude Adjustment, which you can view below.
At the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view on Sunday night, a fan hit the ring while viewers waited to find out who the mystery partner would be for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.
The fan stood next to Reigns and Ambrose in the ring before being tackled and taken out by security. This was, oddly enough, the second time in the past few weeks that Ambrose in particular has been involved at a WWE event where a fan jumped the guard rail.
You can view a grainy screen shot photo of the fan in the ring during the match below.
UPDATE: WWE has issued a statement regarding the fan hitting the ring during WWE Night Of Champions on Sunday night. Read what WWE had to say by clicking here.
For those wondering, the mystery partner for Reigns and Ambrose ended up being Chris Jericho, who acted like a bit of a heel after the trio lost to The Wyatt Family when Jericho was submitted by Braun Strowman.
You can view Jericho’s post-match heel antics below.
Chris Jericho returned at Sunday’s WWE Night of Champions pay-per-view and was revealed to the mystery partner of Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. He was spotted in Houston, Texas earlier in the day.
Jericho is scheduled to compete at the upcoming WWE MSG live special that will air on the WWE Network on Saturday, October 3rd.
In addition to former NXT World Champion Kevin Owens defeating Ryback to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion, former NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte defeated Nikki Bella to become the new WWE Divas Champion, ending Bella’s 301-day record-setting reign as champion.
Charlotte’s father, WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair joined Paige and Becky Lynch in the ring to celebrate the victory, as both Charlotte and Flair had tears in their eyes during what was a very emotional moment for the Flair family.
– You can add WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall and decorated tag-team The Young Bucks to the list of guests who were backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Sunday night for WWE’s “Night Of Champions” pay-per-view event. As previously reported, Chris Jericho, Kane, MVP and Stevie Ray were also backstage at the event.
– In the opening match of WWE Night Of Champions on Sunday night, former NXT Champion Kevin Owens won his first main roster title, as he defeated Ryback to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
– Here’s the WWE Night Of Champions “Kickoff Show” pre-show featured Stardust & The Ascension vs. Neville & The Lucha Dragons in six man tag-team action:
https://youtu.be/guYuwZ3AaCY
– The following is a video preview of the new WWE Network show “Breaking Ground,” which premieres on the WWE Network on Monday, October 26th.
Well, it looks like Kane and Chris Jericho aren’t the only guests backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the site of tonight’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view event.
According to PWInsider.com, former TNA star MVP is backstage at the venue in Houston, where he lives. Additionally, Stevie Ray, former Harlem Heat tag-team partner of Booker T, who also lives in the Houston area, is backstage as well.
As noted earlier this evening, Jericho is rumored to be the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in their six-man tag-team match against The Wyatt Family, however that is strictly a rumor at this point.