– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown taping from Dallas, Texas will feature Daniel Bryan & Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus & Bad News Barrett. Join us here later for live coverage of the taping.
– WWE will have a strong presence the USA Network’s “upfront” presentation today in New York City. John Cena, Nikki Bella and Titus O’Neal will be attending before they head overseas for the European tour.
– Finn Balor will be joining the WWE crew in Europe for this week’s tour.
– Lana tweeted the following photo with WWE Hall of Famer Edge on the set of the WWE Studios film, Interrogation.
It was announced on this week’s edition of WWE RAW, which took place from Austin, Texas, that on next week’s RAW, which takes place in London, England, a battle royal will be held to determine the next number one contender to WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella.
Also on this week’s RAW, a tag-tem match was announced for this week’s SmackDown. On SmackDown this week, which will be taped on Tuesday night, Sheamus and Bad News Barrett team up to take on Dolph Ziggler and WWE Intercotinental Champion Daniel Bryan in tag-team action.
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com on Tuesday evening for live SmackDown spoiler play-by-play results coverage!
As we reported earlier, the WWE announced today that AJ Lee has retired from in-ring competition. Since the announcement, WWE employees (both past and present), as well as thousands of fans have commented on the situation. Here is a sampling of tweets that have been sent out since the announcement.
The website SheKnows.com posted a scathing critique of the fans in attendance on Monday. During the Raw broadcast, the audience directed a number of chants at the Divas during their tag match, including, “You suck Cena” to Nikki Bella and “You suck Tyson” to Natalya, among others. The website also criticized Stephanie McMahon for not responding to the situation, writing:
The silence from the WWE is especially disconcerting considering that the organization is now “run” by Stephanie McMahon. Way to stick up for your girls, Steph.
Nikki Bella is the only WWE employee to comment on the situation thus far, writing on Twitter after Monday’s episode of Raw:
Amazing #RAW & crowd last night! Always the best! But not 2 clever..Was waiting 4..You suck Cena..Nikki sucks?? but WE LOVE DIVAS..Thank u!?
Although Nikki is the only Diva to directly respond to the chants, Paige retweeted the following post from Tommy Dreamer on Monday, in which he described the match as having a “good crowd reaction.”
– Former WWE Divas Champion Eve Torres-Gracie announced publicly that she and her husband Rener Gracie are expecting their first child. The former WWE Diva posted a photo on her official website that reads, “Baby Gracie: Coming September 2015.” You can check it out at EveTorres.com.
– Nikki Bella addressed the raunchy crowd chants that WWE tried to quiet down during Monday’s post-WrestleMania 31 edition of RAW. The fans chanted “You suck Cena” at Bella, which prompted the Divas Champion to respond with the following tweet:
Amazing #RAW & crowd last night! Always the best! But not 2 clever..Was waiting 4..You suck Cena..Nikki sucks?? but WE LOVE DIVAS..Thank u!?
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).
WWE taped a segment with The Bella Twins, AJ Lee and Paige for this week’s SmackDown after RAW last night, and the segment has some people talking.
The segment was described as one of the better Diva promo segments in quite a while. One line in particular that had a lot of people talking was when Nikki Bella told AJ Lee that Brock Lesnar defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on more shows than AJ did when she was the WWE Divas Champion.
It’s said that if the line makes it to the show this week, then it was a scripted line, however it’s also considered possible that Bella went off-script with the comment, something she and AJ have both done recently. If that’s the case, it likely won’t be on television this week.
Speaking of the verbal jab Bella took at AJ, there is said to be some backstage heat on AJ for how much time she took off from the company.
For complete WWE SmackDown spoilers for this week, click here.
This week’s Raw was held in Los Angeles and was the last stop on the Road to WrestleMania. Sting once again made an appearance, Lesnar and Reigns finally came face-to-face, and the company did everything in its power to hype the biggest wrestling event of the year. With WrestleMania less than a week away, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler with Dean Ambrose as the special referee? Count me in any time, any day. When you get two ring generals together, expect a technical affair and that’s exactly what fans were treated to. The two tested each other’s strength at the beginning, with Bryan coming out on top after focusing on Ziggler’s elbow. The Show Off quickly turned the tables, however, dropping a big elbow onto Bryan’s chest for a one-count as the Intercontinental Championship hanged over the ring. This resembled a puroresu match with slaps to the face, stiff moves, and fast-paced action. The show went to commercial after both men toppled into the timekeeper’s area. After the break, Ziggler had Bryan locked into a sleeper before Bryan drove him into the corner to break the hold. Bryan nearly picked up the victory with an awesome German suplex pin before heading to the top rope – a decision that quickly backfired after Dolph hit the ropes but failed to connect with a superplex. He’d quickly recover and drive Bryan’s face into the mat from the top rope for another two-count. In the end, Bryan hit his signature dropkick into the corner and went for a second before Ziggler countered with one of the stiffest superkicks you’ll ever see and followed it up with the Zig-Zag for the win in a superb match. The Lunatic Fringe didn’t let him celebrate his victory for long though, hitting Ziggler with Dirty Deeds before pulling out a ladder and attempting to retrieve the title from above the ring before all of the competitors entered the ring to brawl. This match was the highlight of the night, and the ladder match on Sunday will probably be the highlight of WrestleMania.
They really needed to ditch the boring opening segments featuring The Authority, and thankfully they did so tonight by having Sting open the show. The Franchise discussed all of the ways Triple H snaked his way to the top of the company, but conveniently left out sleeping with the boss’s daughter. He made it clear that he wasn’t “fighting for WCW,” but simply to “take Triple H down.” Stephanie McMahon confronted Sting and the two went back and forth, hurling insults at one another in an entertaining segment. After Sting blocked Steph’s attempted slap, The Game came to the ring to confront his opponent on Sunday, with Sting warding off the sledgehammer-wielding Triple H with his signature black bat. Overall, it was a great way to open the show, hype the match for Sunday, and it was nice to see them finally cut Sting loose on the mic.
Snoop D-O-Double-Gizzle doing his best Godfather impersonation before being interrupted by #Axelmania. The man himself finally made a completely unexpected appearance to confront his imitator. It was an awesome, hilarious segment. #Hulkamania
The Intercontinental Championship match was once again prominently featured, as four of the participants in Sunday’s ladder match competed in the first match of the night. Ambrose and R-Truth teamed together to face Luke Harper and Stardust with Bad News Barrett on commentary. Harper and Ambrose worked very well together to start the match, with Ambrose hitting a nice bulldog before clearing the ring with the help of his partner. After the break, Stardust worked over Ambrose and hit an Alabama Slam before once again ceding control to his partner. The commentary team was surprisingly entertaining during this one with Barrett and Booker T trading barbs. After taking a beating and kicking out of multiple near-falls, Ambrose came back with a tornado DDT and hit up R-Truth with the hot tag. The faces dominated from there and R-Truth picked up the victory via pinfall after hitting his leaping reverse STO finisher. Ambrose and Truth danced together after the contest to conclude an entertaining opening half hour of the show.
Finally, Nikki Bella offered a Divas Championship match to either Paige or AJ Lee in an attempt to create a divide between her opponents on Sunday. After much debate, Paige decided she would take the title shot. The Divas have been putting on some decent matches over the past few weeks, and they continued their streak of quality matches this week. This one featured a few believable near-falls, they were given a lot of time (by Divas standards), and the ending at least did something to create intrigue for the tag match on Sunday by having AJ cost Paige the title.
WWE Diva and Total Divas star Natalya recently spoke with USA Today’s “High School Sports” blog. Below are highlights from the interview.
On who would win a UFC Tournament involving only WWE Divas: “(Laughs) Well, first of all I’d have to say myself. I’ve got a lot of pent-up anger from my childhood. Just kidding! Other than me, I’d have to say Brie Bella. She’s one of the feistiest divas I know. Everyone thinks Nicole is the more aggressive one, but Brie brings it! When things go down backstage don’t be afraid of Nikki, be afraid of Brie!”
On who she would not want to be alone with in a dark alley: “(Laughs) Brock Lesnar. There are moments when he’s really nice, but he’s so scary looking because he’s huge. You don’t even have to watch WWE to see that.”
On what fans can expect from the next season of Total Divas and WrestleMania 31: “Well, I never thought of myself as the type of person that would do a reality show, but it’s been really fun. And I realized that I’m a train wreck and I cry every episode of the show. I can’t even explain how it feels to let it all out. It shows all of these different sides of all of us. It’s made us a lot more well-known now too. Even the Kardashians really like the show! I’ve had so many people tell me how much the show inspires them and how relatable we are.
Also, we’ve got WrestleMania coming up on March 29 on the WWE Network. My dad is going with me; he’ll be my eye candy along with my husband! It’ll be an amazing show!”
– Afa Anoa’i Jr., who formerly competed in WWE as Manu, announced on his Facebook page the launch of his own wrestling promotion, Battlefield Pro Wrestling. It will be based in Pennsylvania.
The press release states, “Look out, Pennsylvania is about to become a BATTLEFIELD! Afadomis Productions inc. presents Battlefield Pro Wrestling, the thrilling, high-impact, much anticipated new addition to Pennsylvania’s storied wrestling scene. BPW is owned and operated by Afa Anoa’i Jr, a.k.a. Manu of WWE fame. Afa is part of the legendary Anoa’i family that has produced pro wrestling’s biggest superstars throughout the history of this great business. Anoa’i offers over 17 years of experience and is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Afa the Wild Samoan. Battlefield Pro Wrestling is committed to giving top quality entertainment each and every event and will deliver a roster that will be second to none in the independent scene. BPW strives to offer a product that Pennsylvania will be proud to call its own. Join us as we prepare for battle, and as we take the pro wrestling business by storm in 2015!”
– In this preview clip of tomorrow’s season finale of Total Divas, Nikki Bella mentions to John Cena that she is uncertain about signing her new WWE contract, which would extend her career for another three years.
“So what’s the hold up?” Cena asks. “Are you gonna leave or are you gonna stay?”
“So I had some productive meetings in Los Angeles,” she informs him. “There are some really great opportunities out there and I’ve always loved to do acting and I think it’d be amazing to be part of a TV show, of course. I guess I’m talking confusing ’cause I feel confused.”
“I love WWE but I think you and your sister are destined for success outside of the WWE,” Cena says.
WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella recently spoke with former WCW announcer Mark Madden on his 105.9 radio show out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Below are highlights from the interview.
On AJ Lee’s comments about Divas pay: “We’re all here because we’re living our dreams. Whether it’s two minutes or twenty minutes on TV, I’m beyond grateful for that, because there are millions of people that wish they could get two minutes in that ring, and they can’t, so I’m not going to be one to bitch about it. But do I think Divas should definitely get more time on TV? 100%. But do I think pay is different? No.”
On Divas not having the star power to make the money that guys like John Cena and Brock Lesnar make: “Let me put it this way: if a Diva was to headline a show, would those seats sell out like it does when John Cena’s headlining? Roman Reigns? Brock Lesnar? Absolutely not. We’re not there yet. We’re trying to get there, but we’re not there yet. As far as merch goes, we all get the same percentage, so I don’t know why anyone’s crying about it. We all make the exact same percentage, so it’s like, sell more merch if you wanna be like the guys. At the end of the day, we’re in a man’s world. People show up to watch men wrestle, and they look at us the ‘pretty things on the side’, but I think slowly, we’re changing people’s minds about that. It’s not gonna happen overnight, but eventually we’re gonna get there. We just need patience and time.”
On who came up with the 30-second RAW match that led to the “#GiveDivasAChance” campaign: “What’s funny about that is we were given about three minutes. Three to four minutes. And we – us four girls who were in the match – we put our heads together and said look: we can either give them a two minute match, or we can give them nothing and get Brie and I so much heat and tell a great story…We’re not gonna give people three minutes of BS, and it ended up being a big chance. It ended up turning into #GiveDivasAChance trending worldwide for two days. I mean, we could’ve gone out there, done a few moves and called it a day, but we were like, ‘How do we tell a great story?’ and at the end of the day, that’s what we did. Brie and I got good heat at the end of it, we got trended for two days straight, and it was like, ‘Whoa. We’re storytelling now.’ And that’s what puts the Divas on the next level. Instead of just going out there and doing moves, we storytell. ‘Cause that’s what the boys do, and that’s what we need to do”
– WWE referee Scott Armstrong celebrates his 56th birthday today. Armstrong was born on March 4, 1959. Also celebrating birthdays today are former WCW star Crowbar (41) and former TNA Knockout Sarah “Sarita” Stock (36).
– WWE taped the following matches for tonight’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network.
Adam Rose comes vs. Tyler Breeze
Blake and Murphy vs. Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins
Baron Corbin vs. Tony Briggs
Solomon Crowe vs. Bull Dempsey
Charlotte vs. NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
– Northeast Wrestling has announced that former WWE Superstars Rey Mysterio and Alberto El Patron will square off on August 1st at their “Wrestling Under The Stars” event from Fishkill, NY. Matt Hardy, Velvet Sky, Mickie James and The Young Bucks are also advertised for the show.
– Samoa Joe will be a guest on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast this Friday to discuss his departure from TNA and what’s next for him.
– Renee Young announced on Twitter that she will be guest co-hosting VH1’s Big Morning Buzz show this Wednesday morning. Her co-hosts will be Michelle Buteau and Nick Lachey.
– Divas Champion Nikki Bella got her nose busted up last night on RAW during her match with Paige. She posted the following photo on Instagram:
Raw emanated from the Garden State this week, but it was certainly no walk in the park for Seth Rollins. Fans were treated to two title matches during the show, as well as a special appearance from Jon Stewart. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The highlight of the night was Seth Rollins’ phony “Daily Show.” He immediately insulted the crowd by calling Newark the “armpit of America” before recapping his appearance on the real deal last Thursday. Mr. Money in the Bank had J&J rolling with a few corny jokes, while pondering the whereabouts of Mr. Stewart. His question was quickly answered, as Stewart showed up to a nice pop from the crowd. Stewart ripped on Rollins hard while displaying his knowledge of legends past in an absolutely hilarious segment that ended with Stewart delivering a swift kick to Rollins’ nuts. Entertaining top-of-the-hour segment, and it should provide a bit of crossover buzz heading into WrestleMania.
Triple H was so intense during his promo this week, and as always, his delivery was solid. Hunter took a few shots at the “kids” who think they know the backstage politics of the business, while threating: “I will make sure it is as if Sting’s career never existed.” Booker T’s involvement in the segment was refreshing and something new, even if it meant seeing The Game almost hand the five-time champ his walking papers.
Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper went into the “Pros” column before it even started. When you get two guys with this kind of talent in the same ring, it’s almost impossible to disappoint. Even though they weren’t given much time at all, the two worked a stiff match that saw both superstars take their fair share of abuse. Bryan was unceremoniously dumped over the top rope to the floor at one point, but was eventually able to counter a modified crossface into the Yes! Lock for the win. Following the match, Ambrose, Harper, Barrett, Ziggler, and R-Truth, all attempted to walk away with the Intercontinental Championship while Bryan looked on. It looks like our lineup for the WrestleMania ladder match is basically set.
It was a pleasant surprise to see Seth Rollins open the show, as he hyped his confrontation with Jon Stewart later in the night. He of course talked a little smack, saying: “Unlike the Daily Show where they give away their tickets for free, every single person in a seat tonight paid to see Seth Rollins.” The only downside to this segment was the involvement of Roman Reigns. He arrived, said a few words that weren’t exactly memorable, performed his two signature moves, and basically stood in the ring hoping to be cheered (he failed miserably, in case you’re wondering). It’s sad that even when the the company is using New Jersey’s own Jon Stewart to get Rollins heat, the crowd still universally boos the thought of Reigns becoming champion. Overall, it seemed like another lame attempt to get Reigns over, but Rollins was money.
The Miz “Niagara” commercial was on point. I loved Mizdow’s involvement in the backstage segment and commercial.
There weren’t many spots during the Ambrose/Barrett match, but it was pleasant. Most of the exciting action took place outside of the ring, with Ambrose diving through the middle ropes to take out Barrett and later delivering a big elbow from the ring apron. He eventually picked up the win after hitting Dirty Deeds following a distraction. It’s nice to see the company getting multiple midcarders involved in this Intercontinental Championship ladder match (including Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, probably Daniel Bryan as well). With that said, it is absolutely cringeworthy hearing JBL and Cole interact with R-Truth on commentary.
Alundra Blayze was announced as the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame. That’s cool, I guess.
Finally, John Cena cut his usual “inspirational” promo this week. It’s obvious Cena doesn’t possess the necessary credentials to warrant inclusion into the prestigious Andre the Giant Battle Royal, and Stephanie of course quickly shot down his hopes. The two engaged in their typical banter to start the nine o’clock hour. Stephanie declaring, “For once, I actually like this chant” when referring to the Yes! chant was humorous.
Axel was easily the MVP of this segment though, and the crowd was eating it up big time. The two followed up the segment with a quick match, with Cena quickly forcing Axel to tap out to the STF. Rusev once again denied Cena his rematch following the match, keeping us all on edge as to whether this will match occur at WrestleMania.
WWE Fastlane was held in Memphis last night at the FedEx Forum. It was a fitting venue, seeing as they pretty much mailed it in for most of the night. After a night of action, we now have a pretty clear idea of what WrestleMania will look like in five weeks. Here are the pros and cons from last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.
Pros
After a night of non-finishes and botched endings, the main event between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns was an absolute treat. These two guys started off a bit slow, but once they got going, they really gelled well. Bryan’s wrestling style went so well with the brawling style of Reigns, and it was nice to see both guys getting support from the crowd.
A few of the highlights included Reigns countering Bryan’s dive to the floor into an overhead belly to belly suplex, Bryan countering the spear into a beautiful small package, and also Reigns turning a potential hurricanrana into a brutal powerbomb from the top rope. These two also employed some solid in-ring psychology due to Reigns selling Bryan’s kick to the liver as he tried to hit a Superman punch. Overall, it was an exciting match, both guys looked great, it ended clean, and it’s always nice to see a main event end in a handshake.
The tag team match was a close second for match of the night. These two teams have so much chemistry and it’s really a pleasure to watch them do their thing. Cesaro’s half crab Cesaro swing was cool, as was the combination of Cesaro’s suplex from the apron into a springboard from Kidd.
The Usos looked good as well, teaming up for a double team Samoan drop that I don’t recall seeing them bust out before. In the end, new champions were crowned after Kidd picked up the victory with a swinging fisherman suplex. After their victory, it was nice to find out that they are “still the new WWE Tag Team Champions” (perhaps suggesting the outcome was changed last minute, as the odds shifted after the “smart money” was in).
The Bray Wyatt segment was enjoyable. He had the crowd going nuts in anticipation of the Phenom, only to shatter their dreams by popping out of the coffin. Wyatt called himself “the new face of fear,” and said: “At WrestleMania, I will claim the soul of the Undertaker.” This feud should be entertaining, but it would have been nice to see Wyatt play up the fact that fans weren’t getting ‘Taker, as the company needs more dislikable heels right now.
I’m not totally sure how I feel about the Sting and Triple H segment, so I’ll go ahead and put it in the pros section. Triple H of course continued to bury a long dead company, stating: “My legacy is putting your legacy out of business.” He also threatened Sting with the Benoit treatment, saying he would wipe him from the history books if he didn’t cooperate. It was cool to see Sting use his signature black bat though, and Hunter was very intense throughout the segment. Overall, it could have been better, but it was a decent setup for their match at WrestleMania.
Finally, the Rusev and John Cena match was far from perfect, but it worked out well. There was some hard-hitting action throughout, including a big spinning side slam from Rusev. The action was slow-paced and methodical, but it was entertaining for the most part. It of course ended in another non-clean finish, but it worked well in this case. I have to say, seeing Cena stagger out of the arena was pretty satisfying, even though it means he will definitely get redemption at WrestleMania.
The Road to WrestleMania will become a lot clearer after Sunday’s pay-per-view. Fastlane is available for free to all new WWE Network customers, and even those who previously cancelled their account and re-subscribed, so there’s really no reason to miss out on the action. Here is how I expect the event to play out.
Goldust vs. Stardust
Man, they really should have saved this one for WrestleMania, but I guess there is only room on the card for one tag team breakup storyline, and it looks like that’s going to be Miz and Mizdow. Expect these guys to put on one hell of a match, as they have been lobbying for it for what seems like years. After a solid ten-minute contest with a number of near-falls, Stardust will pick up the win with Cross Rhodes.
Result: Stardust via pinfall
Rusev (United States Champion) vs. John Cena
These guys have done a pretty good of building up this match over the past few weeks, and it genuinely seems like Cena is interested in winning the United States Championship, which is always a plus. It’s almost guaranteed that this feud is going to continue into WrestleMania, so I expect Rusev to pick up the win, but certainly not clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHA5g_T227k
Lana will become involved at some point, possibly distracting Cena long enough for Rusev to pounce and pick up the win via the deadliest finisher in all of wrestling (the distraction roll-up), or by using the title as a weapon to knock out Cena while the Ravishing Russian distracts the referee. This will set up a rematch at WrestleMania where Cena will most likely go over.
Result: Rusev via pinfall
Nikki Bella (Divas Champion) vs. Paige
Paige is the most popular diva in the entire company by far right now. They are going to want her to capture the title at WrestleMania. Nikki wins with help from her sister before dropping the title to Paige next month.
Below are the latest online betting odds for Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view. Keep in mind that the numbers, which are from the 5Dimes website, don’t mean much until about 90 minutes or so before the beginning of the show, where at that point they have approximately a 95-percent accuracy rate.
As the entire northeast freezes under a mountain of snow, the WWE decided to dip down to Orlando in an attempt to heat things up heading into Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view. The show featured eight matches, as well as appearances from Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler was pure gold. Before the match, the two engaged in a hilarious back and forth, with Rollins laying down some burnsauce by telling Ziggler: “I know you fancy yourself a comedian but the only thing funny about you is that joke you call a career.” It was also hilarious to hear Ziggler question whether J&J getting him the wrong chocolates ruined his Valentine’s Day. Something tells me his Valentine’s Day was ruined for other reasons… As for the match, it was fast paced, full of spots, and exactly what you’d expect from two of the best workers in the business. Other than the J&J interference and non-finish, this was pretty much perfect on every level. I suspect a match between these two will be added to Fastlane after Smackdown. Here’s to hoping they give these guys 15 minutes and let them tear the house down. Highlight of the night by far.
I enjoyed the Dusty Rhodes backstage segments. The match between the New Day and Gold and Stardust was also nice, as it served as a nice juxtaposition between the brawling opening contest between Ambrose and Harper. Following the match, Stardust attacked his brother and called Dusty a “polka-dotted freak of a father.” I’ll admit, they’ve dragged this out forever and I wasn’t too excited at first, but I’m now getting into it.
Roman Reigns was the man last night. He sounded like a completely different person during his backstage interview before his match with Kane. His calm, confident, and collected demeanor is a stark contrast from the nervous guy we saw out there a few weeks ago talking about beanstalks while stumbing over every other word. His match with Kane was actually decent too, with Reigns winning via countout after hitting a big Spear. Daniel Bryan was on commentary during the match, with he and Reigns playing off of one another very well. It was also humorous to hear Michael Cole state: “Daniel Bryan is trying to steal Roman Reigns’ thunder. Roman Reigns just beat Kane, guys!” That means about as much as beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015.
For a comedy segment, the Paige bit was actually hilarious. The outfit was funny, it actually served some sort of purpose in furthering her feud with Nikki Bella, the fans seemed to be enjoying it, and the match with Summer Rae was good for the time they were given.
The Dean Ambrose “weekend update” promo, where the Lunatic Fringe was parked at a desk looking like a shady used car dealer, was also entertaining. His match with Luke Harper featuring some nice, brawling action and was a good opening contest. JBL’s “we’ve got an air psycho” line had me cracking up, and his plot to force Barrett to sign the contract for Sunday was perfect. Nobody in the midcard deserves the IC Title more than Ambrose, and it looks like he’s going to find a way to capture the gold on Sunday.
Bray Wyatt’s promos are starting to become a bit repetitive, but I still enjoyed his work this week. He once again attacked the Undertaker, stating: “You’re an empty shell, and any fear that I once of you has turned into nothing more than putrid, hateful pity.” I can’t wait to see this program.
The following matches were taped prior to the WWE SmackDown taping in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday, February 10th for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.
Dark Match:
– Nikki Bella def. Emma in a Divas match. Brie Bella was at ringside for this one. The finish saw Nikki hit Emma with her Rack Attack finishing move for the 1-2-3.
WWE Main Event Spoilers
– The Ascension cut a promo to open the taping. They spoke about the “old relics” in the WWE Hall Of Fame, trashing the legends of the sport.
– The Ascension def. two local wrestlers in a quick tag-team squash match. The finish saw The Ascension hit their Fall Of Man finishing move for the pin.
– Naomi def. Natalya in Divas action. This was kept relatively short and for a Divas match, was said to be pretty solid. In the end, Naomi rolled Nattie up with a small package to get the 1-2-3.
– Cesaro def. Sin Cara in the main event of the taping. This was said to be a pretty long match that was competitive throughout. In the end, Cesaro picked up the “W” after hitting Sin Cara for The Neutralizer.
On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Denver, Colorado, we saw the beginning of several programs leading into the first ever WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view, which emanates live from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee on Sunday, February 22, 2015.
Below are some confirmed and rumored matches for the show:
Confirmed
– John Cena vs. Rusev
– Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan (#1 Contendership Match)
– Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige (WWE Divas Championship)
– Triple H and Sting face-to-face confrontation
Rumored
– Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Make sure to visit us here on the website on Sunday, February 22, 2015 for the best WWE Fast Lane live results coverage on the web!
On the live edition of WWE SmackDown on Thursday night, WWE announced a new title match for the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 22nd.
Nikki Bella will be defending the WWE Divas Championship against Paige at the show, which is the final pay-per-view before this year’s WrestleMania 31 event in March.
With the Bella-Paige match announced, below is the latest official lineup for the first-ever WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view event:
– John Cena vs. Rusev
– Triple H and Sting face-to-face confrontation
– Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige (WWE Divas Championship)
Make sure to join us here on Sunday, Feb. 22nd for the best WWE Fast Lane live results coverage on the web.
Tonight, fans will be treated to perhaps the most exciting sixty-plus minutes of action all year. Bodies will be flying, dreams will be shattered, and ultimately, one man will punch his ticket to WrestleMania. However, there are still many questions to be answered before we start discussing ‘Mania. Most importantly, here is how I believe this Sunday’s Royal Rumble will play out.
The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose
It’s sad to see Kidd and Cesaro once again relegated to the pre-show, but at least they are getting some airtime, I suppose. On one hand, I expect Adam Rose to find a way to screw things up and cost Kidd and Cesaro the match. With that said, the New Day got the upper hand on Raw by picking up a clean victory, so based on WWE logic, it’s Kidd and Cesaro’s turn to win.
Winners: Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose by pinfall
The Usos (Tag Team Champions) vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow
Am I going crazy, or have we seen this matchup way too often in recent months? It seems unlikely that Miz and Mizdow would pick up the titles shortly after dropping them, especially as they continue to tease tension between the two. I think Miz once again tries to steal the show and refuses to tag Mizdow, eventually costing the team the match. This will further tension between the partners, eventually resulting in a breakup and payoff match at WrestleMania.
Winners: The Usos by pinfall
Paige and Natalya vs. The Bella Twins
This was basically slopped together so there’s not much to analyze or discuss. Either Paige or Natalya (whichever they want to challenge for the Divas Championship next month) forces Nikki to submit for the win.
Divas Champion Nikki Bella may have suffered an injury to her leg.
According to a few fans on Twitter who attended today’s WWE live event in San Antonio, Texas, Nikki claimed on the mic that she would be unable to wrestle due to a strained hamstring. Brie then took her place in a match against Natalya, and won.
As you can see in this photo, Nikki’s left leg was heavily bandaged.
Nikki is no stranger to leg injuries. She has repeatedly said in interviews that growing up, she planned to play professional soccer until an injury to her right leg during a game in high school ended her chance of a career. In 2013, she fractured the same leg during a match and was sidelined for months.
As things stand right now, aside from the 30-man over-the-top Royal Rumble match itself, there are only two matches that have been officially announced for the 2015 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, those being Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and The Usos vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow for the WWE Tag-Team Championship.
It appears that Nikki Bella vs. Natalya for the WWE Divas Championship will be added, and with the Rumble match itself being such a lengthy match, and one with so many competitors involved, there’s a good possibility that only one or two additional matches will end up being added to the card.
Matches such as Roman Reigns vs. Big Show and Ryback vs. Rusev were being pushed, however three of those four are announced as Rumble participants, and nothing can be officially booked for Ryback until WWE wraps up the “firing” angle from last week’s RAW.
– During this week’s episode of the Monday Night War looking back at the fall of WCW, Chris Benoit was mentioned by name. While footage featuring the late wrestler is featured in its original form on the WWE Network, this may be the first time where he was mentioned by name on an original program.
The subject of Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn defecting to WWE in 2000 was addressed and a clip of the group debuting on the January 31, 2000 episode of Raw was shown with audio of Jim Ross mentioning all four by name. The accompanying clips, however, were focused on Guerrero, Malenko and Saturn.
Vince McMahon has said in the past that he is okay with acknowledging Benoit within a historical context, but not in a promotional manner.
“It’s not right to pretend he didn’t exist,” McMahon said in a 2009 interview with WWE Magazine when asked whether Benoit’s history can be acknowledged by the company. “It’s one thing to include him as part of a historical perspective, which I believe is okay, and it’s another thing to promote him, which is not okay.
“The situation is very similar to that of O.J. Simpson—despite his controversy, O.J. was still a part of the NFL scene. You can’t deny that he existed.”
– Here is a preview clip of this Sunday’s episode of Total Divas as Nikki and Brie Bella bring their personal issues to work when they get into an argument backstage.