As part of WWE’s 2014 Second Quarter earnings results released on Thursday morning, WWE also reported pay-per-view buyrate information for WrestleMania, Extreme Rules, Payback and Money in the Bank.
These figures are for traditional pay-per-view buys, not including people who watched the shows on the WWE Network.
WrestleMania XXX drew 690,000 buys, down from 1,039,000 last year
Extreme Rules drew 108,000 buys, down from 231,000 last year
Payback drew 67,000 buys, down from 186,000 last year
Money In the Bank drew 122,000 buys, down from 199,000 last year
The WWE’s brightest stars will attempt to cash in at this Sunday’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Two ladder matches will main event the program, with one being held to declare a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. In addition, former champion Daniel Bryan will address the WWE Universe during the pre-show.
Here are my predictions for this Sunday’s event.
Summer Rae vs. Layla (Fandango Guest Referee)
I was never the biggest Fandango supporter, but I definitely thought he would be doing something bigger than referring a divas match a year ago. He has regressed over the past year and lost a lot of momentum. This will likely be the bathroom break match of the night, and Fandango will play a major role in the outcome, of course. Summer Rae will win this one by either rejoining Fandango or using him to influence the outcome of the contest before abandoning him.
Winner: Summer Rae by pinfall
Rusev vs. Big E
These guys performed well together at last month’s Payback, even though they were given less than four minutes total. They will hopefully get a little more time during this one, allowing both superstars to showcase their strengths.
I think Rusev will ultimately win this one, but Big E will also look strong during the match. Big E cut a passionate promo on last week’s Raw, so it appears the WWE wants to showcase him a bit more. Both guys will look good, but Rusev will force Big E to tap out in the end.
Winner: Rusev by submission
Stardust and Goldust vs. Ryback and Curtis Axel
The Rhodes Brothers storyline has been moving slowly over the past few months. It first looked as if the two brothers were going to feud with one another, with Cody searching for an adequate replacement because he felt Goldust deserved better.
He eventually rebranded himself as Stardust and the two have been on a winning streak ever since. They will continue to look strong on Sunday, picking up the win after Cody hits his Diamond Dust finisher on Curtis Axel.
One week from today, WWE’s annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view will be held in Boston, Massachusetts. The event has quickly become one of the most anticipated programs of the year, as it provides exciting action and sets up the storyline for months by allowing a WWE superstar to stalk his prey while holding a contract for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.
There will be two Money in the Bank ladder matches this year. One will be held for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and the other will be a traditional contest for a shot at the title. The first contest will feature perennial title contenders such as John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Alberto Del Rio, as well as up-and-coming stars such as Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, and Cesaro.
It seems like John Cena is once again the favorite to leave Boston as the champ.
The second ladder match will feature Seth Rollins, with the rest of the lineup to be determined in a series of qualifying matches. Thus far, only three matches have been announced for the entire pay-per-view, and with only one week left before the event, one has to wonder how the WWE will tie everything together in such a brief period.
Other than the two ladder matches, a matchup between the Usos and Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of the Wyatt family is the only confirmed contest on the card. It seems apparent that Dean Ambrose will be one of the participants in the traditional ladder match. Potential options also include those who did not qualify for the championship ladder match, including Bad News Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, and Rob Van Dam.
The two ladder matches will soak up a large portion of the roster, meaning the midcard will have to pick up some slack in order to fill up the three hours of airtime. Rumored contests include Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. RybAxel, Rusev vs. Big E, and a Divas Championship match involving Paige and all or part of the Funkadactyls.
– The theme of the next edition of WWE Countdown, which airs on Tuesday night on the WWE Network, will be the top ten “trash-talkers” of all-time.
– Below is a list of the top ten most-viewed shows on the WWE Network for the past week:
1. Payback 2014
2. Legends House
3. Main Event
4. RAW Pre-show
5. WCW Clash of The Champions
6. RAW Backstage Pass
7. NXT
8. WrestleMania Rewind
9. WWE Countdown
10. WrestleMania XXX
As previously reported, the Seth Rollins heel turn against The Shield on this past Monday’s RAW was actually not written into the script for the show. Apparently the Rollins heel turn was officially decided upon on Sunday afternoon prior to the WWE Payback pay-per-view.
According to one source, Rollins turning heel was Vince McMahon’s way of reacting to the low RAW rating for the Payback “go-home” show the week before.
According to one source — following neck surgery — the strength in Daniel Bryan’s right arm is not only not making gains during his current recovery process, but is actually getting weaker. As a result, WWE has become concerned with how well Bryan is coming along in his rehabilitation.
Apparently the situation surrounding Bryan and the status of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was the talk of the town backstage at RAW on Monday night in Indianapolis. He was sent back to Pittsburgh to see Dr. Joseph Maroon, who performed his neck procedure, to see why he wasn’t coming along as well as originally expected.
Because of the uncertainty regarding Bryan’s physical status heading into the Money In The Bank pay-per-view on June 29th, WWE made the decision to announce that either he will compete against Kane for the title in a “Stretcher Match,” or the actual Money In The Bank ladder match itself would be for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The reason WWE went with this idea is because of the feeling that they shouldn’t have a pay-per-view without the title on the line. As far as last Sunday’s WWE Payback PPV is concerned, the feeling is that the title was on the line due to the angle that was built up around it heading into the show.
While at this point nothing is definite, the feeling is that if push comes to shove, Bryan will wrestle on the 6/29 PPV, even if he isn’t as physically ready as he would like to be.
It should be noted, by the way, that WWE is also contemplating adding a second Money In The Bank ladder match, if the primary one becomes a match where the vacant title is at stake, where the winner would be the person who captures the briefcase, guaranteeing them a future title shot.
– The latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which features Y2J’s WWE Payback review and an interview with KISS member Bruce Kulick, is now available. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TIJ – EP44 – Bruce Kulick of KISS & WWE Payback Review
“Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick sat at Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons’ table at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony, and has plenty of stories to share about that night, and about his time in KISS! Plus, Y2J breaks down the WWE Payback PPV. How’d he do vs Egypt?”
– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which features JR’s exclusive interview with Eric Bischoff, is now available. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TRR – Ep16 – Eric Bischoff
“JR and Eric Bischoff are talking wrestling business… and by that, we mean “the business of professional wrestling.” They get into Eric taking over WCW and firing JR, the Monday Night Wars, the current state and future of the WWE, and what Eric thinks about his own son’s foray into the business. Plus, hear creative strategy, brand building, and what it takes to be a star.”
– Indianapolis Colts NFL player Trent Richardson, as well as Chris Copeland from the NBA’s Indiana Pacers were among the celebrities and athletes in attendance at Monday’s post-Payback edition of WWE RAW.
– Big Show is featured on the latest edition of RAW Fallout, which you can check out below.
– On part two of RAW Fallout, Money In The Bank qualifyer Alberto Del Rio is featured. You can check that one out below.
After last niight’s WWE RAW show went off the air, Triple H, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins stuck around for a little while longer as officials checked on Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. HHH and Orton shook hands and embraced with Rollins a few more times, confirming their new alignment.
After that, John Cena and Bray Wyatt came out. Wyatt sang, “he’s got the whole world in his hands,” while Cena sang a remix of the song, “you’ve got no penis in your pants.”
The two eventually had a little post-show dark match, which Cena ended up winning via the Attitude Adjustment.
– Alberto Del Rio became the first person to officially qualify for the WWE Money In The Bank ladder match this year. Del Rio advanced to the match, which as noted may be for a the WWE World Heavyweight Championship depending on Daniel Bryan’s status, by defeating Dolph Ziggler at Monday’s RAW.
– WWE released the latest list of the top-ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the week of May 26th through June 1st. You can check that out below.
This past Sunday’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which featured the wedding between Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella, earned the series 1.55 million viewers, tying the season high that was set on March 30th.
Sunday’s number is even more impressive given the fact that when Total Divas has been up against WWE pay-per-views in the past, their viewership generally takes a big hit. Additionally, there was also the NHL playoffs, which included the Chicago Blackhawks, with WWE being in Chicago for Payback.
The general belief is that had the show not been up against a WWE PPV show, it would have likely been the most viewed episode of Total Divas in history.
Seth Rollins turned on The Shield during the main event segment on the post-WWE Payback edition of RAW.
Instead of the originally scheduled Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns main event, Triple H revealed that he had a “plan B.” After saying that, Seth Rollins attacked both Reigns and Dean Ambrose with a steel chair, blasting them repeatedly with it. HHH and Orton stood at ringside all-the-while smiling in approval as they saw their plan come to fruition.
They end up joining Rollins in the ring to attack Reigns and Ambrose some more.
After his absence from the post-WWE Payback edition of RAW on Monday night, it was announced during the show that Bray Wyatt will be making his return at this week’s SmackDown.
SmackDown will be taped after the live edition of WWE Main Event, headlined by Rob Van Dam vs. Bad News Barrett for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, on Tuesday night. The show will air this Friday on the SyFy Network.
We will have complete spoiler results of the show as soon as the taping concludes on Tuesday night.
It was announced on Monday’s post-WWE Payback edition of RAW that on WWE Main Event this Tuesday on the WWE Network, Rob Van Dam will challenge Bad News Barrett in a WWE Intercontinental Championship rematch from Payback.
The two competed at the WWE Payback pay-per-view on Sunday night, with Barrett ultimately getting his hand raised and retaining his title.
Stephanie McMahon announced the status of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship during an in-ring segment on the post-Payback edition of WWE RAW.
McMahon stated that if Daniel Bryan is able to compete at the upcoming WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view in four weeks, he will be defending the title in a stretcher match against Kane. If he cannot, the title will be vacated and then be put on the line for the first time ever in the actual Money In The Bank ladder match itself.
– In a pretty coincidental tweet, WWE noted on Twitter today that Indianapolis, Indiana, which is the site of tonight’s edition of WWE RAW, was also the site of the first-ever WWE Buried Alive match. You can check out the tweet below.
– Also new on Twitter, from the official account of Roman Reigns, is a photo of his welted up back following his match against Evolution at last night’s WWE Payback pay-per-view.
The Friday, May 30th WWE Payback “go-home” edition of SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.76, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 1.76 final draw marks a decrease from the 1.87 rating that the show drew the previous week.
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.437 million viewers, which was also down in comparison to last week’s average of 2.540 million viewers.
– Roman Reigns noted during the WWE Payback post-show on Sunday night that he may have suffered a torn triceps during his six-man tag-team match against Evolution, which served as the main event of the evening. A fan who saw Reigns exit the building after the show noted that he clearly seemed to be in pain.
– Bad News Barrett suffered a black eye as a result of his match with Rob Van Dam at the WWE Payback pay-per-view. Barrett suffered the black eye when taking a stiff blow from Van Dam during their WWE Intercontinental Championship match.
– Bray Wyatt suffered various cuts as a result of his “Last Man Standing” match with John Cena at Payback, a match that many in the company were raving about afterwards.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley posted the following blog on his official Facebook page regarding the WWE Payback match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt:
THE REAL WINNER
Just finished watching ?#?Payback? and I thought it was a heck of a show – great atmosphere, a slap heard round the world, and matches that more than lived up to expectations. I received well over 1,000 comments about the show, and I know many of you are dissappointed that Bray Wyatt did not emerge victorious in his match with John Cena.
Or did he?
Winning is all relative in sports-entertainment, and in this wrestling fan’s eyes, Bray did indeed emerge victorious. He may not have made it to his feet by the 10 count last night, but in his promos and in his matches, Brey Wyatt has shown me that he is more than capable of standing on his own two feet at the very forefront of the new generation of WWE Superstars.
Unfortunately, there is no mathamatical formula for making a star in pro-wrestling. But if I had to boil down all the ingredients of the star-making process into one word, that one word would be “feuds”. Fans remember feuds, and Wyatt’s character and promos put him in a great position to create memorable feuds with just about any of the top stars in the company. Besides, there just might be some gas left in the Wyatt/Cena tank.
The following are highlights of a new blog by Jim Ross:
On Sheamus vs. Cesaro: “I picked Cesaro to unseat Sheamus for the United States Title and I was wrong. I think both men are currently miscast. The paying customers want Cesaro to be a fan favorite while Sheamus is a natural heel in my eyes. Nonetheless the bout was physical and I liked it as it served as a good kickoff to the main show. Cesaro continuing to use the Giant Swing is going to continue to facilitate him as a ‘face. Good sound bytes by @HeymanHustle at ringside. Young managers should pay attention to Paul and learn all that they can. There aren’t many “Heyman’s” around any more….which is a great segue for your own bit of humor.”
On Rusev vs. Big E.: “I picked Rusev to beat Big E and these two refrigerator sized athletes over achieved and maximized their minutes. Great dive through the ropes by Big E onto the “Russian” in the battle of strongmen. Both men are likely a year away from contributing on the main event level and that is not a knock. I like Lana’s upside. (No jokes, please.)”
On Bo Dallas: “Not sold on the Bo Dallas persona but it’s early. He feels like the Tim Tebow of WWE as I mentioned on Twitter live during the show @JRsBBQ. Also not wild about the Kane run on but it was what it was.”
On the Daniel Bryan/Stephanie McMahon/Brie Bella story: “The Daniel Bryan/wife Brie/Stephanie McMahon segment was excellent. Not too long and it had a noticeable beginning, middle and definitive end to the segment. I feel that there is good money in Brie, even though she ‘quit’ WWE vs. Stephanie down the road, perhaps at Summer Slam. The slap equated to a nice, personal issue to me and personal issues are tough to execute. By the way, Stephanie is a heel for those who have taken exception to my hero vs. villain philosophy.”
“WWE would be foolish to take the WWE Title off DB in a boardroom type scenario. It weakens their main prize.”
On Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena: “Cena vs. Wyatts in Last Man Standing was excellent booking especially getting the Usos and Harper/Rowan strategically involved notwithstanding a creative finish. Creating compelling finishes in a brutal match such as Last Man Standing in a PG world is challenging but the ending worked Monday night. Arguably the match of the night. Congrats to all involved.”
On the main event: “The 6 man elimination tag match was stellar and put in ample time, was intense and had a surprising finish with the Shield pitching the shutout. WWE has done a good job of developing three potentially, outstanding fan favorites in Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns even thought I see Ambrose as the best potential heel of the trio, Rollins as the most underrated talent of the group and likely a great ‘face, and Reigns as the next ‘it’ guy in the company.”
Former WWE Superstar Sean “X-Pac” Waltman posted the following mini-rant on his official Twitter account regarding the finish to Sunday night’s WWE Payback main event between The Shield and Evolution.
Going of the air they had all three Shield guys standing over the fallen Evolution. They laid there for Shield & they didn't show it. Why?
Big Show appeared on the local FOX morning show in Indianapolis, Indiana today, the site of tonight’s WWE RAW, to discuss the post-Payback edition of the show.
During the interview, Show revealed that his weight peaked at 537 lbs., but that he now currently weighs 425 lbs. “You get older and you learn to eat healthier and you want to live longer,” said Show of the weight loss.
The WWE Superstar also told the story of how child-actor Danny Bonaduce helped start his career in pro wrestling, and offered his final hype for tonight’s RAW.
You can check out the appearance above, or at FOX59.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted on Twitter on Sunday that he officially signed up for the WWE Network to watch the WWE Payback pay-per-view. Austin tweeted the following:
– The official announced attendance for Sunday night’s WWE Payback pay-per-view, which took place at the All State Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, was 13,311.
– Below are the “After Total Divas” videos for this week:
The WWE Payback 2014 Kickoff Show kicks off with Josh Mathews, Booker T, Kofi Kingston and Alex Riley at the expert panel. The foursome talk about some of tonight’s matches, including the lone Kickoff Show match, which features Hornswoggle vs. El Torito in a hair vs. mask match.
Mask vs. Hair – El Torito vs. Hornswoggle
After some more discussion at the expert panel, we are brought to ringside, where Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler introduce us to the first match of the evening. El Torito, dressed as the Chicago Bulls mascot, makes his way to the ring with Los Matadores. Out next is Hornswoggle, who is accompanied by 3MB. There is a barber stool/setup at ringside in case Horny loses.
The bell rings and here we go. As soon as the action begins, the Chicago fans break out in a “we want tables” chant. Horny takes the early offensive lead in the match. The guys do a bunch of comedy spots early, with Los Matadores and 3MB cheering on their respective man at ringside.
There’s a spot where Torito goes for the pin on Horny and Horny kicks out so hard that Torito flies into referee Charles Robinson’s hands. Robinson then throws Torito back on top of Horny. This happens a few times until Torito gives up on the pin attempt.
Back up, Horny argues with the ref until he turns around right into a gore from Torito. An “Ole! Ole!” chant breaks out as the guys all brawl on the floor outside the ring. Torito crawls under the ring. Torito ends up coming out of the other end of the ring with a big pair of scissors, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake style.
Horny and Torito battle on the floor some more as their team members watch on. Back in the ring, both guys are down. 3MB and the Matadores get involved, with Torito hitting a big splash on one of the 3MB members on the floor. This all leads to all three 3MB members being on the floor as Torito does a big top-rope dive onto all of them.
After another big splash spot on the floor onto all of the big guys happens, a loud “this is awesome” chant breaks out. Torito hits the Bronco-Buster on Horny in the corner. Horny recovers, gets control of Torito and yanks his mask off. Torito has another mask on underneath it, however, and a pre-celebratory Horny suffers the consequences, as he turns around into a rollup from Torito. 1-2-3. Torito wins.
Winner: El Torito
After The Match: Horny Gets His Head Shaved
After the match, Horny is put into the barber chair outside the ring. Torito, with help from Los Matadores, cuts Horny’s hair. They get the trimmers out now and they are shaving Horny’s head bald. Horny, of course, is screaming and selling the entire time. The announcers, of course, are selling this like it’s the greatest thing ever. Finally, they break out the shaving cream and disposable razors and begin shaving him completely and totally bald.
Backstage: A New Match Is Revealed
We are told at the expert panel that The Rhodes Brothers vs. RybAxel is set for tonight’s show. We see a WWE.com exclusive video of what led to this match. Backstage, we see Goldust and Cody Rhodes talking.
Another New Match Set For Tonight
Back at the panel, yet another new match is revealed, as Booker T informs Kofi Kingston that he just received breaking news, which is that Kingston is scheduled to compete against Bo Dallas later tonight.