Betty White Guest Star Betty White came out with The Big Show to kick of this weeks WWE Monday Night Raw live from Los Angelas. She said a few words and that she’s there to “Kick some Ass!” The Authority come out to start an in-ring segment. Later we see Betty White in a few segments with the New Age Outlaws. They attempt to give Betty White some spiked tea, however Betty turns the tables on Billy Gun and he ends up with the drink. How can I say something bad about Betty White? She’s a legend. It was exactly what you would have expected. The kick some ass line was charming. It was fine. YES!
Even Daniel Bryan couldn’t save this boring segment. NO!
The Authority – Randy Orton – Daniel Bryan Another in-ring segment with The Authority followed by Randy Orton. Orton now wants to be on Kelly and Michael and truly be The Face of the WWE. Daniel Bryan comes out and reminds Randy Orton that he beat him clean last week. Bryan wasn’t happy he was laid out by Kane and Orton after the match, and wanted Kane on Raw. The Authority said that Kane was suspended, and that wouldn’t be possible. I can’t take these segments with Randy Orton and The Authority. Even my beloved Daniel Bryan couldn’t save it in my eyes. Perhaps Bryan goes over at the Elimination Chamber and becomes WWE World Heavyweight Champion. All I know is they need to stop these segments this way, I mean at least mix it up, have Bryan in a fiery rage from his “NO NO NO” days call out The Authority. All these segments are the same, and boring. NO!
Rey Mysterio, Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. The Wyatt Family Amazing match from the Former Tag Team Champions, and Rey and the Wyatts. Bodies flying all over made for a great visual, and the quick hook of the Sister Abigail onto Rey Mysterio was awesome. Bray cuts a promo on The Shield for their upcoming match at The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View. Probably the match I’m looking forward to the most. Check out the match below YES!
Santino Marella (with Emma) vs. Fandango (with Summer Rae) Another bizarre use of Emma here, backing a losing Santino. Emma did her dance during their entrance to Santino’s Music. I mean I understand Santino is wrestling, but isn’t her dancing gimmick attached to her music from NXT? The debut and usage of Emma is quite confusing to me. NO!
Sheamus and Cesaro getting it on in a great tag match on Raw YES!
Sheamus & Christian vs. The Real Americans Antonio Cesaro is now just called “Cesaro”. Like Prince, or Madonna or Sting, if that means they are going to push him more you can call him Mud for all I care. Cesaro was great in this match, as was Sheamus and a very beat up Christian. Our friend The Solomonster has said on his podcast that his European Uppercut should be his finisher and I agree, after he hit the move in this match, it almost seemed the crowd expected the three count. As did I, it’s a great move. Good Match! YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Reports of Fans getting kicked out and CM Punk signs being taken away. NO!
CM Punk CM Punk took his ball and went home. The longest reigning WWE champion in the Modern Era, seemingly quit WWE last week after a meeting with Vince McMahon. We are now in the age of the crowd hijack, so as expected chants rang out and signs for CM Punk were all over the place. rang A CM Punk sign was viable with in the first few seconds of the Raw preview. My biggest fear was that this was going to take away from Daniel Bryan, and It did. Omaha isn’t a big market to begin with, and I feel energy was wasted chanting CM Punk’s name. CM Punk may have left for “the right reasons” but I fear that now Daniel Bryan has to share the spotlight with the absence of CM Punk. Time will tell. NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton I’m sick of Randy Orton and The Authority segments. I’m sick of Randy Orton. I’m sick of Triple H, who comes out to a moderate pop because, of course he is a very big star, and when you have Randy Orton out there whining and complaining, anything is better than Randy Orton. Stephanie McMahon saying “I can’t believe I’m saying this, Daniel Bryan might be the new face of the WWE.” Randy Orton will take on Daniel Bryan in a non-title match later tonight. As Triple H throws his hands in the air mimicking the yes chant. Michael Cole saying that he was leading the fans in the chant, nice try Cole. This segment could have been a 2 min promo backstage, it was a waste of time, and I was bored. NO!
Jerry The King Lawler with weaker content than BNB. NO!
Bad News Barrett & Jerry Lawler Wade Barrett, with a useless generic heel post superbowl “you stuffed your faces” corny promo. Yelling and screaming. Out of no where Jerry Lawler is on a mic cutting off Wade Barrett with the weakest retort I’ve ever heard from Jerry, saying “I have some bad news, maybe you won’t be here next week.” Crowd was just as confused as I was. That was it? Terrible NO!
The Shield vs. Rey Mysterio, Big E. Langston & Kofi Kingston Roman Reigns busted open the hard way in this match and required stitches after the fact. He will truely be a big star in the very near future, and it’s exciting to see him work. Dean Ambrose tagged Roman at the last moment to get a pinfall victory on Big E. Langston, after Roman did all the heavy lifting. This will further increase tension amongst The Shield, which is fine, but why does the Intercontinental champion have to take the fall? Can’t Kofi or Rey lay down? WWE continues to make their secondary champions look weak. However since Dean did get a pin-fall victory over Big E. perhaps this could set up a unification between the US and IC Championships, which needs to happen. After the Match The Wyatts cut a promo on the RawTron as the Shield looked on. YES!
Road Dogg should have caught Cody, but the match was a YES!
WWE Tag-Team Titles: New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes (Steel Cage Match) I enjoyed the tag team re-mach in a steel cage. However why in a match that has no disqualification would there be a requirement to tag in an out? #WWELogic I suppose. Cody Rhodes climbed the cage to deliver a moonsault much like The Moonsault he did In Madison Square Garden. However he missed, and I dont’ think he was supposed to, I think Road Dogg botched this move by not getting out in front of him. Billy Gunn would have been there to deliever his finisher if Cody hit the move, and the result would have been the same. I was fully expecting a Golddust beat down in the cage, so kudos to WWE for not being predictable. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
The Raw after the Royal Rumble saw action, matches set up for The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View and more. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Royal Rumble: Everyone who watched The Royal Rumble, or heard about it, know that the crowd was completely upset that the 10 or so unadvertised spots did not go to Daniel Bryan. Loud Boos directed at Rey Misteryo who was number 30, and Batista (who I will from now on refer to as #Bootista) who won the 2014 Royal Rumble were heard loud and clear. I know this because, I was there. Yes I few out to the 2014 Royal Rumble in frigid Pittsburgh, PA to watch that Pay-Per-View live, and yes Daniel Bryan wasn’t scheduled to be in the Rumble, but not only did everyone want him in the thing, they wanted him to win. Congrats to the live crowd for making their voices heard. Hopefully this will induce change, because I dare the WWE to put on Batista vs Orton in the main event at WrestleMania XXX and not get booed out of the building.
Triple H and Daniel Bryan Face to Face. YES!
The Authority, Daniel Bryan With the largest story out of the Royal Rumble being Daniel Bryan not being in the Royal Rumble, WWE Raw kicked off right away with The Authority, and Daniel Bryan. Daniel talking about the #YesMovement and how he wanted to be in the Royal Rumble but The Authority wouldn’t let him. Daniel Bryan then gets in Triple H’s face and demands to be in the Elimination Chamber Match. Triple H then brings out the shield to beat down Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and John Cena make the save. I would have liked Raw to start with Daniel Bryan calling out The Authority, also I would have liked Daniel Bryan to beat the crap out of Triple H, the second The Sheild’s music hit. But for what it was, it was okay, and at least the segment didn’t end with Daniel Bryan being killed.It doesn’t happen often, but did you see Seth Rollins slip on his entrance?YES!
Bad News Barrett Segment You know it’s funny, I was in Pittsburgh with 13 other insane wrestling fans, some who like me flew in for The Rumble, and one my friends does a great Wade Barrett impression, and he was hilarious. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.” I heard that BNB used to be a fixture of the JBL & Cole show, and he was hilarious. I’ve come to the realization, that there are three main reasons I HATE Bad News Barrett on WWE Raw. NO!
What happened to this man? NO!
Three Reasons I hate Bad News Barrett
1. Yelling I know he’s in the arena, but I don’t think he needs to yell as much, I think it’s annoying. If he did it more soft spoken, even if it was backstage being shown to the crowd, it would come across better.
2. Podium & Gavel The podium and gavel is just plain silly and stupid. Is he a judge? Is he a preacher?
3. The Material So generic dising a local city, and their sports team. Wade Barrett can cut a great promo, we’ve seen it years ago in The Nexus and The Coree, why is he wasting time with cheap heat? Dumb!
#BOOtista, Orton and Brock Lesnar, on Raw. NO!
In-Ring Segment: Randy Orton, #BOOtista, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman I said it already once, but I dare WWE to put Randy Orton vs #BOOtista in the Main Event at WrestleMania XXX. Daniel Bryan chants ring though the arena, even though Daniel Bryan is not supposed to be involved with this segment. Brock Lesnar and Heyman come out to challenge Batista or Randy Orton, tonight on raw. But if you think you’re going to get a free Brock Lesnar match on TV, you must also believe the tooth fairy, was the one who gave you the five bucks under your pillow. NO!
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz The battle of Cleveland as these two are locals, I couldn’t help wondering how WWE was going to screw both of them, being WWE loves to beat guys in their own hometown (See: Jim Ross). Dolph wins it, and maybe his punishment is over? Probably not. YES!
WWE Tag-Team Titles
Brock destroys the Rhodes Brothers. YES!
New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
Some trash talking from The Road Dogg before this matche gets underway. I’m okay with NAO as the WWE Tag Team Champions. I’m assuming they will defend them at WrestleMania and lose it to a good team like The Usos. Brock Lesnar comes out destroys the Rhode’s brothers, which I was also okay with. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Batista Returned to WWE and it’s the go home show before the Royal Rumble, but was it enough for us to say YES! Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Animal Is back, with the world’s tightest pants! NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton & Batista I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this segment. Randy Orton Triple H and Stephanie McMahon is just boring me. Orton is way more whinyer these days as well. This isn’t the cold-hearted viper, we all know and love. This is an annoying whimpy sometimes self-doubting viper. Batista comes out wearing a pair of ridiculous tight Jeans. That outfit is what I would expect someone to put on him as a joke in the WWE 2k14 video game, with a diva’s dancing entrance. He’s back to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans to become the WWE Champion. Part of me want’s to say YES! because Batista is awesome, maybe I’m being to hard on the guy? But if I’m rating the segment by itself I have to go with NO!
Goldust, Cody Rhodes & Big E. Langston vs. The Shield WWE has won me over on tag team wrestling, plain and simple. I enjoy it, I love wathcing Cody and Golddust out there. I think it’s rediciolous that these two are defending their championship on the Royal Rumble pre-show. They deserve mid-card of the Pay-Per-View. Some would arugue, that if you put a solid match on the pre-show that will get people on the fence to buy the PPV. I get it, but still I think this is an attraction worthy of the actual event. Especially because I feel The New Age Outlaws could very well win the titles.YES!
Daniel Bryan is back YES!
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Great to see Daniel Bryan on Raw, especially since SEScoops.com broke the news a day after last week’s Raw that he had suffered a concussion last week. As a precaution he was pulled of the weekends live events and underwent impact testing to make sure he was good for this Sunday. He’s facing Bray Wyatt in a 1 on 1 match. Currently he is not scheduled to compete in the Royal Rumble. If he doesn’t show up in the Rumble and win it, I will be pretty disappointed, this is his year to win it. Do the right thing WWE, you have a major star on your hands. YES!
Xavier Woods vs. Fandango Fast forwarded this match. I think Fandango won. I have no idea why. Meaningless. NO!
CM Punk vs Billy Gun I didn’t catch Smackdown! on Friday, but I enjoyed The Road Doggs explinatinon here on commentary. The New Age Outlaws aren’t heel’s per se, more like tweeners. I would expect them to win the Tag Team titles to further along a breakup with Golddust and Cody Rhodes. Billy Gun looked a bit blown up in the match with CM Punk, but good match. YES!
Batista gets his revenge on Alberto Del Ro before the Rumble. Now What? – NO!
Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio Another fast forward delight, back in the day before DVR’s and dare I say VCR’s We would change the channel watching this thing live. Truth be told, I fell asleep during this very match live on Monday, and caught up Tuesday. Batista comes out and attacks Alberto Del Rio. Now I thought I was going to have to pay to see Batista get physical with Del Rio? Why give it away on Raw? I can only guess that Alberto Del Rio will cause Batista to be eliminated at the Rumble. We saw Batista destroy him, so something else needs to happen. Perhaps Ricardo Rodriguez comes back and they both get Batista out? Who knows. All I know is I give the match and aftermath a NO!
Brock Lesnar should be Fearless – NO!
Big Show, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Brock Lesnar shouldn’t be afraid of anyone at any time, period! I did like the Big Show this week, more serious, more business, calling out Brock Lesnar. I thought it was silly watching Brock backup from the ring, not wanting to get in there with Big Show. Getting thrown out and then throwing a temper tantrum. Brock is going to win this match at the Royal Rumble, a match I am looking forward to. But this segment was silly. I liked Big Show’s impression of Paul Heyman though. NO!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
– According to reports, the match WWE hoped to schedule between Goldberg and Ryback for WrestleMania XXX is said to be close to dead due to the fact that both WWE and Goldberg are far apart on the financial side of the potential agreement. However, one WWE source noted that the company hasn’t quite ruled out the possibility of a Goldberg vs. Ryback match just yet.
– As previously reported, WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil posted a tweet on his official Twitter account expressing some excitement over good news he received regarding the WWE Network. O’Neil’s tag-team partner, Darren Young, recently posted the following update on his official Twitter account:
With two weeks before the Royal Rumble, Noah Mark is back with his analysis of the second raw of 2014. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Kick Off Raw vs The USO’S – YES!
The Usos vs. Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan (Part 1) Raw starts off with the match advertised last week of Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. The USO’s were in the ring at the start of Raw ready for the match. The lights blacked out for the Wyatts entrance, and came back on 30 seconds later to reveal Daniel Bryan and The Wyatts already in the ring. I liked the quick entrance. The match was good with Daniel Bryan in a more aggressive style. Luke Harper and Derek Rowan, interfered just before The USO’s were about to get airborne on Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. This prompted another DQ on the Wyatts in their second week in a row with Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan drops to his knees to receive a Sister Abigail from Bray Wyatt. As I said for the last two weeks, I’m okay with this story in it’s context, provided it doesn’t go 16 weeks to WrestleMania. YES!
Damien Sandow holding his own against John Cena – YES!
Damien Sandow vs. John Cena I was fortunate to be in the crowd at Raw in Orlando, FL the night after The Hell-In-A-Cell Pay-Per-View. It was on that night that Damien Sandow cashed in his Money-In-The-Bank briefcase on John Cena. Although he didn’t win the match then, it was a great competitive match with Cena, and this episode of Raw was no different. There is a great chemistry between Sandow and Cena, and proof that Sandow should have a much more elevated status in WWE. All the things about Damien Sandow I enjoy are stripped away, no more robe, no more witty promos, he’s seemingly just an angry body. Where’s the man that would sign autographs with a quill pen? Why do we get “Sandow-Gimmick-Light”? I question this especially, because when he is called upon he delivers. Match was great. Don’t throw away Sandow after this. YES!
Kane & Brad Maddox, No Triple H or Stephanie. Kane and Brad get into it backstage, and Mr Maddox comes up with a Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan vs The Uso’s rematch in a steel cage for the main event. With Kane adding that he will personally chain the cage door shut. I thought this would spell disaster for Daniel Bryan, with some ulterior motive for his former Co-Tag Team Champion.
I did like the fact that Triple H and Stephanie were not on the show this week. Although they seem to back Orton, promoting him as the face Of WWE, they haven’t been targeting John Cena, like they did Bryan, with beat-downs and impossible handi-cap matches. YES!
Left – Intense Big Show to confront Brock Lesnar 1/6 YES! Right – Jolly Big Show eventually Beating Up Zed NO!
On an unrelated note, is Kane injured? Kane is one of the longest tenured Superstars on the roster, I know he has been working several holiday house show matches, however I don’t recall him having a TV match since that aforementioned Orlando Raw I was at where, on that show he shed his mask, this was after returning from filming a See No Evil sequel. It looked like he had a noticeable limp coming down the aisle way.
Big Show vs. Jack Swagger I don’t like smiling big show. I liked hoodie and skull cap wearing, intense Big Show from last week. I want all business Big Show. I want a focused Big Show that is going to seriously take on Brock Lesnar. Big show almost has John Cena-itus. Big Show should learn from his mistakes. Smiling Big Show ended 3-4 Raws this fall, then lost the Big One. Big show can smile his way to another loss at the Royal Rumble. I like Zeb Colter, but for some reason I DON’T want to see him hurt. I like Paul Heyman, but I DO want to see him get hurt. NO!
Moments before The New Age Outlaws, pull back their hands and walk out on CM Punk – NO!
CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield I’m hoping after The Royal Rumble, CM Punk will move away from The Shield. I love Roman Reigns but If the Shield were to break up, I don’t think he should be put against CM Punk one on one, yet. I like the idea of him building up his singles resume, perhaps with a Big E, Dolph Ziggler, a returning Jericho, maybe even Daniel Bryan, before we see CM Punk vs Roman Reigns in a big time match. I love the New Age Outlaws, and I don’t want to boo them. I haven’t checked out the Smackdown Spoilers (They are scheduled to take on Cody Rhodes and Golddust) so I’m curious to see if they are “bad guys” now. They both appear to be in great shape, and would love to see them, hang around till WrestleMania, but not at heels. Besides, book him however you wish, but at WrestleMania XXX they will no doubt be faces one way or another. NO!
Meaningless win for AJ. Waste of talent – NO!
The Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee & Tamina Snuka Throw-a-way match, AJ being underutilized. AJ hasn’t had many title defenses, the belt isn’t as special, not because of the person, because of the booking. She taps out and pins people left and right, then a silly beat down afterwords. If you’re going to give her a clean win, why bother, having the faces beat her down after the fact, they lost. This is why there is a huge drop off in star power in WWE, because you have someone like an AJ Lee who can cut a dynamite promo, you can cultivate that, make people want to see her, and let her flourish! Instead of losing her in the shuffle of 20 Total Diva® tag matches. NO!
WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Inductee The Ultimate Warrior will Headline The 2014 Hall Of Fame. Ironic I watched a DVD about how he was horrible person to work with, held up Vince McMahon for money at SummerSlam 1991, and “self destructed” But as the saying goes Money Talks, and there is a lot of people who remember the guy you see below and could care less about what was hapening behind the curtain. So for that (and because our Webmaster is a huge fan of the man from Parts Unknown) we say YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Noah Mark is back with his analysis of Old School Raw! Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us if you agree with this week’s picks.
Orton playing the generic Bad Guy, he’s much better than this. NO!
Ric Flair, Randy Orton, & John Cena PromoOld School Raw kicked off with the 16 time “Nature Boy” Ric Flair out first. He was quickly interrupted by former Evolution partner. Randy Orton. Randy Orton said he respected Ric Flair, but he needed the time more to address the one on one rematch putting himself vs John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at The Royal Rumble. Ric chimes in saying he’s not as good as he thinks. Orton threatens Flair, Cena ends up making the save.
For me this segment fell flat, and seemed forced. Orton was seemingly going through the motions, with “I respect you, but….” going into generic heel mode. This is not The Viper I know and enjoy. I feel some people don’t give Randy Orton the credit he deserves for his promo and character skills, he makes great facial expressions, and conveys a cold-hearted disposition. Well normally he does, this promo didn’t do Orton any favors. Clearly Ric Flair is getting order, or he had a few in the back, because he sounded marble mouth in this segment. Cena didn’t offer anything to this segment either. One month ago Cena may have delivered the best promo of his life in Seattle. Here, I felt the whole thing was boring. NO!
NO!
Jerry Lawler Health Update: Earlier in the day we reportedBreaking News Jerry “The King” Lawler was hospitalized. Of course with Jerry’s Heart Attack last year during Raw, your first thought would be another heart issue. Thankfully it seemed to be a stomach virus or food poisoning. however that didn’t stop the WWE from sensationalizing by directing viewers to turn to the WWE App to get an update on Jerry Lawler. NO!
Daniel Bryan…er Wyatt. So far okay. YES!
Luke Harper, Erick Rowan & Daniel Bryan vs. The Usos & Rey Mysterio Our first chance to see Daniel Bryan on TV as a Wyatt. First the original Wyatt trio appeared for their normal entrance, followed by the fourth Daniel “Wyatt”. Daniel Byran came out looking like he was in a Janitor or prison jump suit. A blank stare on his face, as he teamed up with Rowan and Harper to take on The Usos and Mysterio. I enjoyed this, I thought Bryan looked good with the group. They ended up losing the match due to Harper getting rolled up after a brief disagreement with Bryan as to who should come into the match when Rowan tagged both men. I would have preferred The Wyatts to win clean in this match. Their first week out and they’re arguing, I think an eventual separation from Bryan would be more effective if they were on the same page to start. But I’m still okay with this story line, provided I don’t have to wait 15 more weeks for Bryan to “Snap out of it”. YES!
Too Cool & Rikishi just 3 of the Old School Legends at Raw YES!
WWE Legends On Old School Raw:I was happy to see some of my old school favorites on Raw. Everyone had a good role on the show and for older fans this definitely was a great nostalgia feel. I will say that over the past few years we’ve seen a crop of “usual” legends. Most of which were not actually on a whole lot of episodes of WWE Raw. I would love to have seen a Raw with more attitude era and post era stars. Some of them are still affiliated and working for WWE. Perhaps WWE held a few back for a Royal Rumble appearance. There was also no “old school” diva on this show. I know Mae Young was originally scheduled to attend this show, however Mae Young experienced health issues and was unable to appear. With Brock Lesnar, in attendance this seemed like a perfect time for Sable to make an appearance in the show. YES!
Piper’s Pit – Piper’s still got it plain and simple. His interaction with The Shield, the hottest faction, group, whatever you what to call them. Piper pinching Roman Reigns cheek put goosebumps on my arm. I saw Reigns neck throbbing, great moment! People have compaired Dean Ambrose to Piper in the past, it was great to see Ambrose get to interact with a Legend. This would not be his only legend interaction on this episode of Old School Raw. I enjoyed seeing CM Punk and The New Age Outlaws come in to save piper. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW Old School and our Overall Raw Rating
The following are highlights from a recent Hampton Roads interview with WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil:
On his friendship with Batista, and how Batista convinced him to become a wrestler: “I used to be, like, ‘No, I’m not doing it. I’m going into coaching; that’s what I want to do,’ Dave, who’s probably one of my best friends, was, like, ‘But I really think you’d do well in it. You have the size and the charisma and the athleticism to do it.’ But I just kept saying, ‘No, I don’t think it’s for me.’ ”
On how he got his start in WWE: “It was really just blind faith based on what Dave had been telling me, but I walked in and had about a 15-minute conversation with (trainer and former WWE wrestler) Steve Keirn about wrestling and trying out and stuff like that. It was only about 15 minutes after I finished talking to him and left that the WWE called me and said they wanted me to try out. They had a show that day, so I went and picked my kids up from school, and I asked them if they wanted to go to a wrestling match. The next thing you know, two weeks after that, Daddy’s wrestling for the WWE.”
On vomiting on Zeb Colter: “I guess that’s something I can put under my belt: I can vomit on cue. Hey, our job is to entertain people, and I guess it entertained a lot of people…. There are a lot of people who want to hit Zeb Colter in the mouth on a regular basis, but me throwing up on him was just as good.”
Happy New Year everyone! Noah Mark is back with his the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us if you agree with this week’s picks.
Alright everyone, I’ve been sitting on writing this article to give all of us enough time to digest what we saw on Monday. I didn’t want to make a knee jerk reaction to what I saw. So hopefully here is my calm observation.
Daniel Bryan Takes On Luke Harper – YES!
Daniel Bryan Joins The Wyatts: Daniel Bryan is an incredible wrestler, he’s got a likable personality, and he’s good on the mic. Shawn Michaels definitely taught him well, but Bryan has that extra ingredient needed to make a star, that unteachable “it” factor. You either have it, or you don’t. Bryan has it, and it has developed over the years to something a massive audience can get behind. We are in in a time where WWE has failed to match the caliber star power and top new talents of the decades before it. So partly due to John Cena’s injury Daniel Bryan is given the ball. The crowds love him, and are behind him. Daniel Bryan headlines Summer Slam with Cena, followed by the next 3 Pay-Per-Views with Orton. The Pay-Per-View buy rates were down from the previous year. It shouldn’t rest squarely on Bryan’s shoulders, there is an incredible short shelf on top stars, with practically all of them on John Cena’s level either retired or part time. Look at Survivor Series, headlined by Big Show vs Randy Orton, drawing one if not the lowest Survivor Series buy rates in the PPV’s history. I could argue that Daniel Bryan in the main event SAVED the prior three pay-per-views from a similar dismal buy rate.
Erick Rowan vs Daniel Bryan – YES!
Nonetheless, back down Daniel Bryan goes on the card, he becomes the scapegoat, pun intended! Bryan’s been in a feud with the Wyatts since the end of October. My anger and frustration has clouded my appreciation for the Wyatts, and this story line. So let me look at it just from the perspective of the story line alone. The Wyatts have a great persona, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan can hang with the likes of just about anyone in the ring. I feel Bray Wyatt is the weakest wrestler out of the group, but wrestling isn’t the most important talent needed for this, Bray could easily fit in a horror movie, he looks the part and is competent enough. So after two months of mostly Daniel Bryan getting the short end of the stick, on this past Monday’s Raw Bryan is given a chance to go one on one with Bray Wyatt. All Bryan must do is defeat Luke Harper and Derrek Rowen.
Daniel Bryan Joins the Wyatt Family. YES!
After the two matches Bray comes in the ring, the match starts, Erick and Luke join in on the attack. Bray tells Bryan he’s afraid this is where their story ends. He says he has no mercy left to give. He says this is his fault. Bryan says you’re right, you were right all along and joins the Wyatts. (View Full Details here) So within the story line itself. I’m okay with this, in fact I’m totally fine with this scenario, provided Daniel Bryan is out of this “spell” by The Royal Rumble. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, in this day in age, with people wanting instant gratification, binge-watching full seasons of TV shows in a sitting, I can’t wait 16 weeks for WrestleMania XXX for Daniel Bryan to come out of his spell. Doing so may inflict permanent damage on his popularity. So if Daniel Bryan is “following the buzzards” for four weeks, I’m on board. YES!
CM Punk takes on Seth Rollins on an “Off Night” – NO!
CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins: Everyone has an off night, Seth Rollins and CM Punk didn’t work. there were a few botches, CM Punk tried to cover by turning a move off the ropes into a small package, but it was sloppy. I would imagine most of the heat goes on Seth Rollins, but it takes two to tango. CM Punk on Twitter knew it was a stinker NO!
“@RMB316: @CMPunk IM sure you hear this a lot. Good match on #Raw really enjoyed it. Keep it up all the best in 2014” it was garbage.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Noah Mark is back with his the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us if you agree with this week’s picks.
Complete WWE RAW Results (12/23)
WWE RAW (12/23)
Here are some quick thoughts about this weeks edition of Christmas Raw. Did you watch it?
The WWE Diva’s are awesome to look at. Not so awesome to watch wrestle.
12-diva’s Jingle Bells Match: The tag team division has been completely turned around. At one point it seemed like there was barely a tag team division. AJ Lee is the best women’s wrestler on the roster, why aren’t we seeing her in great matches. I guess I know why, because of Total Diva’s. That doesn’t mean there can’t be great woman’s wrestling. NO!
John Cena, CM Punk, and Big E. Langston victorious to end Christmas Raw
CM Punk John Cena & Big E Langston vs The Shield I enjoyed the match, Cena, Punk and Big E all out there. The end seemed silly though. Why would there suddenly be a disqualification, because the two illegal Shield members saved themselves from being pinned by Big E? It doesn’t make sense, but still the match was better than the Good Santa vs Bad Santa, which I thought for sure would close the show. Therefore it gets a YES!
The USOS vs The Prime Time Players: The match was fun to watch. Good tag team action YES!|
The USO’s and The Prime Time Players all celebrate after the match. Barf
The USOS & Prime Time Players Curtain Call Before the match Darren Young mistakenly refer to Austin Texas as Houston, to get some sort of heel heat, I didn’t have a problem with this. I did have a problem with after the match, The USO’s and The Prime Time Players all doing the Millions of Dollars dance. Here’s why I have an issue with it. This is starting to become a thing, with Superstars hugging after the match, we saw it a few weeks ago with the Michael Strahan, Miz, Titus O’neil segment. We saw it with Big Show, Rey Mysterio and The Rhodes. Forget about ruthless aggression, these guys are all becoming wimps! It’s OKAY for two fan favorites to dislike each other, and not hug at the end. I’m not saying they need to attack each other after the match… but I’m hoping it’s just a lighthearted Christmas episode thing, and not a growing trend. Although with the recent article of WWEshopping their television shows to TV Network’s including Disney. We might see everyone hug at the end of matches in the future. NO!
“Bad Santa’ full of Christmas Cupcakes
Good Santa Vs Bad Santa:It is what it is I guess. Mark Henry playing the good Santa, Damien Sandow playing the bad Santa with produced backstage segments contrasting the two. The announcers played it up as you would have expected. The whole concept is silly. Bah Humbug! NO!
Live Announcing: I would say it was a good thing that Michael Cole and JBL announced the show live from Stanford CT. (They had pre-recorded cut-in’s from the arena, but voiced most of Raw Live) it gave it a fresh feel, JBL made some topical references as he eluded to on twitter. The Batista announcement which clearly wasn’t scheduled for the show originally was added in, and the live commentary allowed for reaction from JB and Cole. Did you miss Jerry “The King” Lawler? I did not. YES!
@NEIL_MALONE@WWE@GoToBermuda pre taped? Not sure u noticed, our commentary was live. The Romo reference should have given that away.
“Santa Claus is an Illegal Immigrant” – Zeb Colter
The Real Americans vs Los Matadores: Another good tag team match on Raw. We saw the Antonio Cesaro swing, which if you haven’t’ seen live is an awesome thing to watch. With all the tag teams in the WWE, I think the WrestleMania pre-show match should involve all the tag-teams that one make it to the PPV. Perhaps the winner can face the champions. YES!
RAW OVERALL: NO! Call me scrooge if you will, but the over cheesy holiday wrestling show, should go on Smackdown! I think Raw looses it’s coolness by being lame. If Disney pony’s up the cash this could be what you see on RAW every week so get used to it! There was some good action on the show which I enjoyed, no real progression of WWE story lines but the big announcement of The Animal Batista, which was awesome to see.
– Today (November 18th) marks 1 year since The Shield made their WWE debut. Shield member Seth Rollins is encouraging people to tweet the hashtag #Shieldiversary to show their support.
– Speaking of big debuts, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his WWE debut 17 years ago from yesterday (11/17) at the 1996 WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross tweeted that he remembers that day well – and The Rock replied:
@JRsBBQ Honored to have you call the match my friend. Hope you're well. Miss ya
-As a bit of an update on the Bray Wyatt injury situation, he did appear at the WWE live event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as scheduled. However, Wyatt did not actually wrestle in a match. Instead, he sat at ringside in his rocking chair as Luke Harper and Erick Rowan went on to defeat The Prime Time Players in a traditional tag-team match.
-Also at the WWE live event in Philadelphia on Sunday night, WWE Hall Of Famer Bob Backlund was in attendance. Backlund was spotted signing autographs and taking pictures with fans, all-the-while staying in character, during the intermission portion of the show.
For a complete report from the WWE live event in Philly from Sunday night, check out the main page.
As noted recently, WWE Superstar and leader of The Wyatt Family, Bray Wyatt, suffered an injury during a six-man tag-team match at the non-televised WWE live event in Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday night.
The match, which featured The Wyatt Family vs. The Prime Time Players and R-Truth, saw Wyatt chasing Darren Young around the ring, and then bumping awkwardly into the guard rail outside of the ring. According to live reports, Wyatt was carried back to the dressing room by Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, and immediately examined by WWE medical personnel.
According to a new report, Bray Wyatt suffered some sort of calf injury, and not a knee injury, to his right leg. While there aren’t a lot of specific details available at this time, the injury is apparently not a serious one.
Additional details have surfaced regarding the possible injury WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt may have suffered during Saturday’s WWE live event in Providence, Rhode Island.
As noted in our previous report, Wyatt appeared to have suffered an injury while chasing Darren Young of The Prime Time Players during a six-man tag-team match on the card. We noted that Wyatt was reportedly in “obvious pain” and had to be carried to the back by both Erick Rowan and Luke Harper.
According to another eye-witness account from the event, Wyatt seemed to have injured his right leg from a bump he took on the guard rail outside the ring. After being carried backstage by Rowan and Harper, Wyatt was reportedly laid down on the ground almost immediately, and checked out by WWE medical personnel that was on site.
Again, we should have more specific details on Wyatt’s condition on Sunday morning.
According to a live fan report from the WWE non-televised live event on Saturday night in Providence, Rhode Island, WWE Superstar and leader of The Wyatt Family, Bray Wyatt, may have suffered an injury during his match.
During the six-man tag-team match, Wyatt was reportedly chasing Darren Young of The Prime Time Players out of the ring until he landed wrong and immediately went to the ground before ultimately crawling back into the ring.
While The Wyatt Family would go on to finish and win the match, the referee did throw up the dreaded “X” symbol to signal a quick finish to the contest.
After the match was over, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family carried Bray Wyatt out of the ring. Additionally, an eye-witness account from a fan in attendance claims Bray appeared to be in what was described as “obvious pain.”
Check back here at the website for an update, as we will have more details on Bray Wyatt’s condition on Sunday morning.
Take this for what it’s worth, the Prime Time Players worked against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on both WWE live events this weekend.
Generally, WWE likes guys who are wrestling on big shows, such as pay-per-views, to work out their matches on the non-televised live events leading up to the pay-per-view show. Whether or not this is any indication as to who will win the Tag-Team Turmoil match during the Night Of Champions Kickoff show, which the Prime Time Players are a part of, remains to be seen.
Make sure to check back here at the website tonight for the best WWE Night Of Champions live pay-per-view results coverage on the internet.
-The Wall Street Journal currently has a featured article up on their website about WWE changing their guidance for the remainder of 2013. You can check that out online at WSJ.com.
-You can watch Darren Young’s recent appearance on The Ellen Show online below:
-This coming Sunday’s edition of Total Divas will finally feature the wedding of Tyson Kidd and Natalya that has been hyped up all season. Total Divas airs on the E! channel on Sunday night’s at 10:00PM Eastern Time.
-In the latest edition of ESPN Magazine, former WWE broadcaster Jonathan Coachman, who now works for ESPN, is featured in a brief story where he comments on WWE Superstar Darren Young coming out of the closet to TMZ prior to this year’s SummerSlam event. The Coach basically described it as no big deal and talked about how Pat Patterson, who is Vince McMahon’s right-hand-man, has been out for 40 years.
-According to statistics, WWE Superstar Darren Young was the third most searched for item on the internet on Thursday, with more than 200,000 searches. That is around the same amount of searches that SummerSlam and secondary UFC shows usually receive. The only two ahead of Young were Lisa Robin Kelly, who passed away, and Olinguito.
-The mainstream media coverage of the Darren Young situation continues, as The Toronto Star at one point had a featured story on the main page of their website devoted to Young. The article isn’t as prominently featured on the main page of their website anymore, but you can check out the story online at TheStar.com.
-After over 24 hours as the number one trending topic on Twitter, “Darren Young” has now fallen completely off the top ten trending items list.
WWE Superstar and one-half of The Prime Time Players tag-team, Darren Young, continues to make headlines for his decision to announce his sexual orientation during a recent interview with TMZ at an airport.
The same day Young spoke to TMZ, he also appeared at a “Be A Star” rally, where he made some more comments about the headline-grabbing announcement. “People told me that I would not be a WWE superstar, and I didn’t take no for an answer,” said Young.
Young continued, talking about overcoming a speech impediment. “I improved my speech and I’m living the dream. So (all I can) tell you is, if you have any types of disabilities, don’t (sell) yourself short.”
-Brooke Orndorff, the granddaughter of WWE Hall Of Famer “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff was arrested in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Tuesday and charged with robbery and battery. The arrest was the result of an incident that happened on August 3rd. Brooke’s father, Paul Orndorff III, was also arrested and charged with being party to robbery, party to battery and two counts of financial identity fraud. For more information on this story, visit TheCitizen.com.
-WWE has posted a “web exclusive” SummerSlam preview on their official YouTube channel. The video description reads: “The Miz takes a stroll backstage and gets ready to host “The Biggest Party of the Summer” with other WWE Superstars such as Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, and The Prime Time Players.”
– Former WWE Diva Michelle McCool was backstage at last night’s RAW from Austin, Texas. No word if her husband The Undertaker was visiting as well.
– Dolph Ziggler spoke to WWE.com cameras during RAW and commented on his ongoing feud with Big E Langston (and AJ Lee). Ziggler admitted that Langston is incredibly strong and it’s going to be hard getting the big man off his feet when they eventually meet in the ring.
– Darren Young and Titus O’Neil of the Prime Time Players were interviewed for the WWE App during RAW and said they’re both interested in furthering their singles careers. Both men wrestled (and lost) in singles matches on RAW.
– R-Truth was interviewed by Tony Dawson for the WWE App during RAW and commented on the Wyatt Family beating him down last week. Truth said the Wyatts are crazy and he could only hold his own for so long before succumbing to the 3-on-1 numbers game.
– World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio was also interviewed for the WWE App during RAW. Josh Mathews mentioned Damien Sandow watching Del Rio’s match earlier in the night – but Del Rio said he doesn’t even know who Sandow is and isn’t worried about him cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.