– WWE Diva and Total Divas star Nikki Bella posted the following message on her Facebook page in response to her critics:
“I don’t have to tell you how hard I have worked. I don’t have to tell you the hours, sweat, blood and tears I have put into this. I don’t have to tell you stories so you’ll feel bad for me. My dream may have started later than yours but you can’t take my dream away from me. You say bad things about me but in the end you don’t really know me. I may not be your internet darling but what I am is Fearless. And being Fearless is what has gotten me to where I am today. 8 years of constantly being put down, I am still here. And that’s because I am a Survivor.”
– R-Truth welcomed his new baby girl to the world this weekend. The WWE Superstar posted the following photos on Twitter.
– The official website of the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, is advertising WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar for the Jan. 12, 2015 Raw.
Lesnar is also advertised for the following Raw tapings: Dec. 8, 2014 – Greenville, South Carolina; Dec. 29, 2014 – Washington, D.C; Jan. 19, 2015 – Dallas, Texas.
– Nikki Bella, who is set to challenge AJ Lee for the Divas Championship at Survivor Series, posted this message on social media addressing her critics.
“I don’t have to tell you how hard I have worked. I don’t have to tell you the hours, sweat, blood and tears I have put into this. I don’t have to tell you stories so you’ll feel bad for me. My dream may have started later than yours but you can’t take my dream away from me. You say bad things about me but in the end you don’t really know me. I may not be your internet darling but what I am is Fearless. And being Fearless is what has gotten me to where I am today. 8 years of constantly being put down, I am still here. And that’s because I am a Survivor.”
As you might have picked up on, the top priority for WWE television this past week was to elevate Ryback back to the top-tier status he enjoyed prior to his lost to CM Punk at Hell in a Cell 2013.
Speaking of Ryback, he’s official for “Team Cena” at the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 23rd, as he joins team captain John Cena and team members Dolph Ziggler, Big Show and Sheamus.
On the other end of the match, which is a traditional ten-man elimination style match with the big Authority stipulation, is Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev and Luke Harper.
Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt and Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee for the WWE Divas Championship are the only other two matches official for the show thus far.
As noted, Adam Rose vs. The Bunny in a Kickoff Show match and a WWE Tag-Team Championship four-way with Goldust & Stardust vs. The Usos vs. Los Matadores vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow is also expected.
Survivor Series is less than two weeks away, and while three matches on the card are essentially set, much of the program is still unannounced. So, will the WWE work to build a pay-per-view that is solid from top to bottom, or are they simply throwing in the towel because this is a “free” event? Here is the card is expect to see on November 23rd in St. Louis.
Adam Rose vs. The Bunny
After attacking the Bunny last week on Raw, it appears these two legends of the squared circle will square off sooner rather than later. This pairing has kickoff show written all over it, as the company tries to get the crowd going with a “humorous” contest.
Gold & Stardust (Tag Team Champions) vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos
Los Matadores have picked up a few victories over Gold & Stardust over the past few weeks, and the Miz and his stunt double have also feuded with the champs. Throw in the Usos to make an even number of teams, and you’ve got yourself an elimination tag team match for the straps.
WWE has announced that Nikki Bella will challenge WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee for the title in a singles match at the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view.
With that now known, below is the latest official lineup for the show:
Traditional Elimination Match: Authority’s Power On The Line
– Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler & TBA) vs. Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane & TBA)
Divas Championship Match: – AJ Lee (c) vs. Nikki Bella
– CM Punk and his wife, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee, were spotted at the Chicago Blackhawks NHL game on Wednesday.
– Responding to the “#MyLoveLifeIn3Words” hashtag-game trending on Twitter today, WWE Superstar John Cena tweeted the following, referencing his girlfriend — Nikki Bella.
– Regarding the WWE release of ring announcer Justin Roberts, it’s said that it was a situation where his contract expired and the two sides couldn’t come to terms on a new deal. WWE somewhat acknowledged this in their announcement of his release, writing: “WWE has chosen to not exercise its option to renew ring announcer Justin Roberts’ contract.”
– Nikki Bella and Brie Bella shot some footage backstage at RAW in Atlanta on Monday night for future WWE.com material that will hype up their stipulation match at the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
In the latest issue of Life and Style Magazine, WWE Diva and Total Divas star Nikki Bella is denying that she and John Cena are engaged. She told the magazine:
“John is in a place where he doesn’t see marriage. I respect his decision right now because I’m happy.”
Even though Cena has claimed he never wants to get married again, Nikki still hopes she can change his mind and wants to have a family with him one day.
“I do want to get married and I want to have kids — and I want to have all that with John. I hope one day he wants those things!”
The full interview will appear in the new issue of Life and Style Magazine, available on newsstands tomorrow.
Peter Rosenberg is back with another exclusive interview as part of his “Wrestling With Rosenberg” series. On Monday, he interviewed WWE Divas Nikki Bella and Natalya ahead of last night’s WWE RAW from Brooklyn. Here are some of the highlights:
Natalya talked about the ongoing filming of Season 3 of Total Divas. She hinted that she still has a lot of drama going on in her life.
Nikki agreed that relationships are hard and require a lot of work. Natalya said being on the road with WWE can be very hard since you have so many commitments.
Peter said his wife is in the same industry, but doesn’t work directly with him every day. Natalya and Nikki talked about the difficulties of being around their significant other so often. Natalya said when Tyson Kidd isn’t on the road with her, she travels with The Great Khali and his English is actually excellent, despite what we see on television. She revealed he also speaks Japanese pretty well.
Peter asked about Nikki turning on Brie at SummerSlam and said he’s frustrated that their TV storyline has been stale. Nikki agreed, saying she pitched different ideas for their storyline but at the end of the day, she doesn’t write the show.
Peter asked if Nikki and Brie ever went too far with the angle. Nikki said at one point she cut her sister’s leg open with one of her high heels and she just got caught up in the moment. She revealed that Brie got her back recently when she slapped her in the face on RAW. Nikki says she almost blacked out and Brie told her, “That’s your first receipt.”
Nikki said she and Brie have been watching footage of Bret and Owen Hart’s feud from the mid 90’s, because she thinks that’s the best sibling feud WWE ever did.
There is much more to the interview, which you can watch above.
– After weeks of anticipation, The Bunny from Adam Rose’s “Rosebuds” group finally made his in-ring debut on Monday’s post-Night Of Champions edition of RAW. The Bunny teamed up with Rose to take on “The Slater Gators,” Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil. The Bunny helped lead Rose to victory in the tag-team contest. It’s also worth noting that after JBL pretended on commentary that he’d be absolutely sickened if The Bunny were to trend on Twitter, with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler egging the situation on, “#BunnyMania” ended up trending number one worldwide on Twitter during RAW.
– As seen on Monday’s RAW, there seemed to be a tease for a possible future name change for one of the Bella Twins. Since the feud began, Brie Bella has already been forced to change her entrance music. On RAW, Nikki Bella declared that from now on she wanted to be referred to as “THE Nikki Bella,” and noted that she wanted Brie Bella to drop the “Bella” name, pointing out that she was recently married and should have taken the last name of her husband as it is. Whether or not this was a throw-away comment or the beginning of a possible stipulation match that leads to a future name change for one of the Bella Twins remains to be seen.
WWE RAW emanates from the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee with the fallout from Sunday night’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, who successfully retained his title in his rematch against John Cena on Sunday, is not advertised to be a part of the show. Also expected to be absent tonight are Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns.
Superstars that are advertised for tonight’s show include Dean Ambrose, The Wyatt Family, Randy Orton, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Triple H, Kane, Cesaro, Sheamus, Big E and The Usos.
In the case of Reigns, as noted above, he is not expected to appear, however he is included in the advertisements for the show. It’s worth noting that this is likely a case of advertisements that were released prior to his emergency surgery this weekend.
WWE is focusing on the following points in their “RAW Five-Point Preview” for tonight’s show.
– Who is next for Brock Lesnar?
– Will Dolph Ziggler look for retribution on The Miz tonight?
– What will Goldust and Stardust do next?
– Will Paige and Nikki Bella prey upon AJ Lee now that she’s the Divas Champion?
– Will Dean Ambrose strike at Seth Rollins once again?
Night of Champions is only a few days away. Even though the WWE has been serving up plates of garbage on Raw for weeks now, many still have high hopes for this pay-per-view, as every title in the company will be defended.
With that said, here are my predictions for this Sunday’s Night of Champions pay-per-view, which in case you haven’t heard, can be viewed on the WWE Network for only $9.99 (or $12.99 if you’re afraid of commitment).
Nikki Bella vs. Paige (WWE Divas Champion) vs. AJ Lee
I don’t expect it to be a terrible contest, as two of the three competitors are great workers and Nikki isn’t the worst Diva fans have ever seen. In the end, I believe Nikki will capture the title with help from her sister, reuniting the Bella Twins and putting an end to their horrible feud.
Winner: Nikki Bella by pinfall
Sheamus (United States Champion) vs. Cesaro
This should be one of the more exciting contests of the night, but I unfortunately don’t see it being given a ton of time. Although Cesaro will put up a hell of a fight, Sheamus will retain after hitting a Brogue Kick, possibly setting up a feud with Rusev for the United States Championship in the near future.
WWE announced a Divas tag-team match for Monday’s RAW, which is the “go-home” show for next Sunday’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Brie Bella and AJ Lee will team up to take on the duo of Paige and Nikki Bella at the show, which emanates from the Cajundone in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Also scheduled for Monday’s RAW, as noted earlier today, is the return of several top NXT talents. Currently booked for RAW (and SmackDown) next week are Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze.
Finally, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is also scheduled to return at next week’s RAW. As seen on this past Monday night’s show in Baltimore, John Cena promised that he’s either kicking Lesnar’s ass, or Paul Heyman’s, if Lesnar doesn’t show up.
With new matches being officially announced on Monday’s “season premiere” of RAW in Baltimore, below is the latest official lineup for the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, September 21, 2014.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
– Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. The Miz
WWE United States Championship
– Sheamus (c) vs. Cesaro
WWE Tag-Team Championship
– The Usos (c) vs. Goldust & Stardust
WWE Divas Championship
– Paige (c) vs. AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
– Rusev vs. Mark Henry
Make sure to join us here on 9/21 for WWE Night Of Champions live results coverage.
As things stand right now, the only matches officially set for the September 21st WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view in Nashville, Tennessee are Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship and Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
According to reports, two additional matches that are all but confirmed are The Usos vs. Goldust and Stardust for the WWE Tag-Team Championships and Mark Henry vs. Rusev.
The plan right now for the WWE Divas Championship match on the card appears to be a four-way with Paige defending against AJ Lee, Nikki Bella and Brie Bella, as all four were linked together on all of WWE’s television shows this week.
Another match likely for the show, although it may not be a pay-per-view match, is Bo Dallas vs. Jack Swagger.
The key Superstars left without matches that are expected on the show are Chris Jericho (in his final match of his current run with WWE), Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.
It appears WWE is going with a Reigns vs. Rollins match, so they may go with Jericho vs. Orton since the Jericho vs. Wyatt and Reigns vs. Orton matches are set for next week’s RAW to combat the season premiere of Monday Night Football. However, they could either way, with one final Jericho vs. Wyatt “blow-off” match, as well as another Reigns vs. Orton bout.
As noted in the past, the WWE Studios film “Lockdown,” which Dean Ambrose is off filming, is set to wrap up on the Saturday before Night Of Champions, so he could end up on the show if WWE chooses to go that route.
WWE has announced that popular talk-show host Jerry Springer will be appearing at an upcoming edition of WWE RAW.
Following the season three premiere of Total Divas on E! this Sunday night, Springer will be appearing on the following night’s RAW in Baltimore, Maryland.
WWE.com reports that Springer will be at RAW to moderate a discussion between the Bella Twins.
The following are highlights of a new Wrestle Reaction interview with Vince Russo:
On the Nikki Bella backstage segments and storyline: “It’s difficult for me to criticize people, but I try to do it in a nice way. Nikki Bella is not a good actress. Now, you have to understand, these people are wrestlers. Acting isn’t their forte. You’re asking them to be good wrestlers and good actors. Some people are just good wrestlers and not good actors; those are the people you have to work with more. When they first started doing those backstage segments tonight, my first thought is “good”! They’re protecting Nikki Bella. They know she’s not a good actress. They’re putting her in a pre-taped situation where, if it’s bad, they can shut it down and do it over again. Then what do they do? They put her out there in the ring, in front of the people, on a live show where there is no net, no protection, and she’s not a good actress. Something like that makes absolutely no sense! Look at the time we spent on that in-ring segment and at the end of the segment all we got was a shove. If the idea of that segment was for Stephanie McMahon to give Nikki Bella a Diva’s Title shot, well then when she’s in the back with Triple H, call Nikki into the office and do your business back there in 30 seconds. It doesn’t warrant a 12 minute in-ring segment where nothing happened and you made your Diva’s Champion Paige, the most valuable person in that ring, a supporting actress in the background. There was no point to that. At the end of the day, it was a waste of time!”
O the current WWE creative mindset: “When Ed and I were writing for WWE, we were not of the wrestling world. We were fans like you guys. So, we weren’t “The Bookers” who had 25 years of experience in the wrestling business and did things only one way. We were fans, we came in fresh. We were writing from a fan perspective and what the fans wanted. That had a lot to do with the success of the Attitude Era. The minute Ed and I left to go to WCW, WWE went back to what they know and what they know is “wrestling”. They have people working backstage, in their training facility, who have been wrestlers for years and years and that’s the product that they put out there. Unfortunately, and Glenn Gilberti (The Disco Inferno) said it best on my show, “Wrestling does not draw”. At the end of the day, the matches do not draw. It’s everything else in between that draws. They don’t know how to do that anymore. They’re just doing what they know how to do and that’s “wrestling”.”
On Vince McMahon wanting The Rock vs Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31: “This is my opinion. I’m the biggest fan from the guys from my era and generation. I mark out when I see Shawn Michaels come out last week. When I see The Rock, I mark out. But, there has to come a point in time, in my opinion, where the WWE stops relying on that older talent to get a boost in the ratings. They have enough talent now. The talent is there. They have some guys that are unbelievable! That article I wrote for PyroandBallyhoo.com, where I talked about Rollins and the Shield, the fact that they split up the Shield and made stars out of all three is unbelievable! That is a great accomplishment by the WWE. They’ve got those guys, they’ve got Bray Wyatt, the talent is there. At some point, you have to start going with what you have and build that up. You have to stop relying on Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, as much as we love to see them, you gotta bring Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to that level. I think Vince is out of his mind to go with Brock Lesnar vs The Rock. At some point, the future of the WWE has to be now! It can’t be the Attitude Era, it has to be now!”
– The ESPN 2 talk show “SportsNation” covered WWE’s publicity stunt involving gay NFL player Michael Sam. Host Max Kellerman spoke about the topic, stating that if Sam still has NFL aspirations, he should not appear on the show next Monday night in Baltimore, Maryland. The show conducted a poll as well, with 72 percent of the votes saying Sam should not appear on the WWE program.
– Brie Bella posted the following tweet on Twitter today, apologizing for hitting her sister on Monday night’s edition of WWE RAW:
After breakfast I realized no matter how mad I get, I shouldn't have hit my Sister on #Raw. Sorry to my fam and to #WWE for my actions. – B
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin tweeted the following during the RAW main event on Monday night, which featured Seth Rollins, Kane and Randy Orton vs. John Cena, Roman Reigns and Chris Jericho.
The following are highlights of a new Slam! Wrestling interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus:
Her relationship with Lita and making appearances together: “It’s great any time I get to spend time hanging out with Amy. We have to work at (scheduling things), but in some ways it can be easy. She can say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this project coming up, so I’m going to swing through Toronto for a couple of days on my way there.’ In fact, we just baptized (Stratus’ son) Max about a month ago, and (Amy) came in to Toronto for that.”
“We have so much that we can relate to each. It’s nice that we were able to stay friends beyond (wrestling). It’s funny, because we’re total opposites in a lot of ways. On paper, you’d never think that we would hang out together. But we lived so much of our lives together on the same path — we were in the trenches together, from the beginning all the way through the end when we both retired — that we just stayed in touch.”
The movie Gridlocked that comes out this month: “It was just an amazing opportunity. Acting wasn’t something that I was necessarily actively pursuing, but I always said that if a good project landed on my desk, I’d certainly consider it. I had taken a break (from acting) after my last movie (2012’s Bounty Hunters) to focus more on my business and my brand. Then after a few months, I was meeting with an agent, and thought, ‘Yeah, let’s see what’s out there.’ Then suddenly I got this opportunity. They were filming Toronto, it was an action movie, which is a natural fit for me. I believe it was the universe saying, ‘Yep, here’s something amazing for you.'”
“I’m very proud of what we did with Bounty Hunters, and it was a great vehicle for me as my first film, but I’d say that the things that were missing in that one, we got to have in this one. With a smaller independent film, you don’t necessarily have the time to shoot it, the budget for giant explosions and extravagant set pieces. If you saw Bounty Hunters, you may have noticed that even though I got beaten up a lot, I didn’t spill a single drop of blood. I remember we were doing a panel, it may even have been at Fan Expo, and someone asked why there was no blood. The producer joked that, ‘Well… blood’s expensive.’ So I got to bleed in this movie. You know you’re in the big leagues when you can bleed.”
The recent feud between Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon: “I texted Stephanie and told her, ‘Girl, you’re looking good — great to see you out there again.’ She was freaking out over not having worked for so long. But she looked fantastic. I love watching Stephanie, and I love how she’s come out to help build Brie Bella by putting her in this program. And I think Brie did an excellent job — she’s a great character, and a great person, and great for the product as well. It’s tons of pressure to work with the boss, and (you have) to be your best every week. If you’re given the opportunity, and you come through, that’s great. That’s the kind of challenge I love.”
– Despite officially turning heel at this past Monday’s RAW, Nikki Bella worked as a babyface at the WWE live event in Sacramento, California on Saturday night. Apparently the fans cheered her just fine during the show.
– On today’s WWC TV show, Juan Manuel Ortega, who is a heel manager in the promotion, was “on the phone” with a mystery wrestler who referred to as “Patron.” Most assume that is in reference to Alberto Del Rio, who as noted is now going by his Spanish nickname of “El Patron,” which means “The Boss.”
Eva Marie, who has previously eloped with her longtime boyfriend Jonathan Coyle, re-married the part-time Total Divas star in California recently. WWE had cameras at the ceremony to film the footage for a future edition of Total Divas, the third season of which premieres on Sunday, September 7th on E!.
WWE.com wrote the following regarding Marie and Coyle’s marriage:
Eva Marie marries Jonathan Coyle
Congratulations to Eva Marie on her official marriage to Jonathan Coyle!
Eva Marie, who had previously eloped with her boyfriend Coyle, sealed their union with a ceremony in Napa, Calif., that she dubbed the #RedWedding on Twitter. Eva’s fellow Divas Summer Rae, Cameron, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella and Layla were in attendance, as was an E! camera crew who captured the evening’s festivities for the upcoming season of “Total Divas,” which begins Sunday, Sept. 7, at 9/8 CT.
– With WWE SummerSlam taking place in Los Angeles, California, several Hollywood celebrities were in attendance. Among them were Maria Menounos, Michelle Beadle, Bill Simmons, and Ronda Rousey, who was accompanied by members of her “Four Horsewomen” stable. I noticed Shayna Baszler sitting next to Rousey, but the shot of Rousey at ringside was so brief, I couldn’t tell who else was sitting with her.
– During the Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella match at WWE SummerSlam on Sunday night in Los Angeles, Nikki Bella made the heel turn that we reported about in the past few weeks. With the help of Nikki, who hit Brie and turned on her sister, Stephanie McMahon ended up winning the match. Afterwards, the announcers spoke about Nikki Bella turning on her sister and “joining The Authority.”