WWE Superstars and co-stars of The Marine 4, The Miz and Summer Rae, recently appeared on the Sam Roberts Podcast for an in-depth, hour-long interview.
During the discussion, The Miz spoke about the negative fan reaction to Roman Reigns.
“The WWE fans and the bloggers and the Twitter people, they all think they know everything about the WWE and what it takes to be a WWE Superstar,” said The Miz. “They think they know what’s right. They are entitled to their opinions. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, that is no problem, but the fact is Roman Reigns works hard.”
Miz continued, “A lot of the things you read are like, ‘the system is giving him the push.’ It’s like who cares if it is or it isn’t? The guy is talented, the guy is good at what he does. If WWE ignored him they would love him even more. They like people that it’s like ‘we made him.’ Daniel Bryan – ‘we made him.'”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross has updated his official blog with lots of thoughts on Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Below are some highlights:
On Samoa Joe: “Next week on the Ross Report I will have a provocative conversation with @SamoaJoe who some feel is headed to WWE sooner than later. It would take me about 10 minutes to sign Joe if I were still in my old, talent relations role in WWE.”
On Roman Reigns: “Roman Reigns is on track to become what WWE wants him to be. I believe in this athlete and feel that he simply needs time and not to be force fed the audience and he will end up being the star that WWE wants/needs. Reigns match with Big Show was a pleasant surprise and arguably the best match on the show.”
On the Extreme Rules main event: “I’m not a fan of escaping the cage as a way of winning a cage match but that’s not the talent’s issue. Orton and Rollins worked hard but it was too predictable that multiple outside parties were going to get involved in the conclusion of the match. Some fans and apparently many in the decision making business of the overall wrestling biz feel that a loss is damning for a talent a takes them down too many notches. Obviously, I don’t share totally in that philosophy.”
On Sheamus: “Sheamus is on track to become a hit as a villain if he continues to perfect the nuances necessary to do so. He’s a big, bully of a man who seems to enjoy his bad guy positioning. His match with Ziggler provided me with a surprising outcome. Thought the ass kissing phase went a little long but in the end, no pun intended, Ziggler got a win and has an issue while Sheamus left with heat. Good for both.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
On Monday’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the main event for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view was revealed.
Seth Rollins will be defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a triple-threat match against Randy Orton and Roman Reigns. The decision was made by the fans via a WWE App poll during RAW.
WWE Payback takes place on Sunday, May 17, 2015 at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Here’s the complete schedule for WWE Network original programming premieres for this week:
Monday:: Jerry Springer’s “WWE: Too Hot For TV” will be released on-demand after RAW.
Tuesday: King of the Ring live special at 8pm EST
Wednesday: Mick Foley Night kicks off at 9pm EST with a 1-hour career highlights. At 10pm is a special edition of Foley’s “Cheap Pops” comedy show, taped last week from Full Sail University.
Thursday: Chris Jericho’s podcast with Stephanie McMahon following Smackdown at 10pm EST.
Friday: A special on Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show from WrestleMania 24 at 9pm EST, obviously playing off the Mayweather-Pacquaio fight this Saturday.
Next week, a new edition of WWE 24 focusing on Roman Reigns will premiere after RAW.
Extreme Rules has come and gone, and fans were treated to a cage match, a sprawling Chicago street fight, and even some good old fashioned arse kissing. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from Extreme Rules 2015.
Pros
If we are being completely honest, there wasn’t a lot to choose from tonight in terms of positives. If forced to choose a Match of the Night, it would have to be Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper in a Chicago Street Fight. The action was stiff and sprawling, with Ambrose beating Harper senseless with a kendo stick to start the match before Harper turned the tables and suplexed the Lunatic Fringe through a chair. After receiving a snake eyes into a chair propped up in the corner, Ambrose regained momentum after hitting an awesome clothesline from the apron. The backstage segments were refreshing, and it was nice to see this one continue later in the night. After two matches, the competitors returned in their car and interrupted the New Day’s victory celebration, with the action once again returning to the ring. From there, Harper buried Ambrose under a pile of chairs, but it would ultimately backfire, as Ambrose would suplex Harper onto the chairs and hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Overall, these two had great chemistry, Ambrose provided some humor, and it was a creative way to start the show.
The tag team match was definitely a treat tonight. As always, Kidd and Cesaro went together like peanut butter and jelly, teaming up for multiple combination moves throughout the match. Cesaro was the clear star of this one, displaying his strength by catching Big E in midcard and slamming him to the canvas. Just as it looked as if the champs would retain their titles, Xavier Woods distracted the referee and allowed for Kofi Kingston to grab the roll-up victory. Putting the titles on the New Day isn’t going to have anyone jumping for joy, but it will be nice to see Kidd and Cesaro chase the titles as babyfaces. Fans should be looking forward to these two competing again in the future, as they told a great story, pulled off a number of impressive spots, and the end sequence was believable.
It was announced that the King of the Ring would return on Tuesday night as a WWE Network exclusive. That’s sounds like something that is best for business.
Finally, the main event was sort of barely snuck its way into the pros column. These two ring technicians displayed solid fundamentals to start the match while Seth tried to sneak his way out of the cage. Rollins eventually took control after hitting the sling blade as both guys attempted to utilize the cage as a weapon early on. One positive in this match was that they were given sufficient time before the inevitable outside interference occurred, and seeing Orton hit a Pedigree was a nice change of pace. In the end, Kane of course interfered and helped Rollins retain the title after Seth hit Orton with an RKO. The commentators stupidly discussed whether Rollins was permitted to use the banned move after the match, as if it even mattered because the only two options were a win for Rollins or a disqualification victory for Orton – either instance resulting in Rollins keeping his title. Overall, this was your typical BS cage match, but it was one of the few highlights during an otherwise uneventful night, so here we are.
The WWE Universe will get its annual dose of extreme this Sunday at Extreme Rules. Every major title is scheduled to be defended, and nearly every match on the card features some sort of stipulation. Here are my predictions for this Sunday’s pay-per-view.
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (Tag Team Champions) vs. The New Day (Pre-Show Match)
The New Day sucks, plain and simple. They belong on the pre-show, and there’s absolutely no way they capture the titles on Sunday. Kidd and Cesaro continue their run as champions after picking up the victory. I do not think they will do so via pinfall or submission, however. I believe the New Day will be on the verge of defeat, leading to Xavier Woods interfering in the match and the New Day viciously attacking the champs. This would further solidify them as heels, while also starting a face turn for the champions by building fan sympathy.
Winners: Kidd & Cesaro by disqualification
Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper (Chicago Street Fight)
This has the potential to be one of the better matches of the night. Expect the action to sprawl all over the area in something resembling a hardcore match from the Attitude Era, with multiple weapons being utilized along the way. In the end, Ambrose will find a way to win after incapacitating his opponent with Dirty Deeds, hopefully leading to a push where he goes after the Intercontinental Championship now that it appears Daniel Bryan will be on the shelf for a while.
Winner: Dean Ambrose by pinfall
Daniel Bryan (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Bad News Barrett
Bryan is injured and will not be competing on Sunday. That’s basically a guarantee. WWE is essentially engaging in false advertising by not announcing that this match will no longer take place. Expect some sort of backstage segment during the show where Bryan is attacked to write him out of the storyline.
WWE United States Champion John Cena recently spoke with Rob Leigh from talkSPORT.comabout his title defense against Rusev this Sunday at Extreme Rules, his US Championship Open Challenges and advice for Roman Reigns on dealing with negative crowd reactions. (more…)
– Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback and Roman Reigns vs. Kane are two new matches WWE has booked for upcoming live events in May. As noted recently, WWE is planning on having Ryback be the “mystery Superstar” that Wyatt has been referring to in his recent “cryptic promos.”
– Former WWE Diva AJ Lee recently made the following post on Twitter, thanking her fans for their support.
So you guys got #ThankYouAJ and #AJTaughtMe trending for days??? I have the most badass fans on earth.
April 15th in Hamburg, Germany drew 9,500 fans (John Cena tour)
April 16th in Toulouse, France drew 4000 fans (without John Cena and Rusev)
April 16th in Budapest, Hungary drew 8,500 fans (Roman Reigns tour with Cena and Rusev)
April 17th in Antwerp, Belgium drew 4,000 fans (Cena and Rusev back on the tour)
April 17th in Dortmund, Germany drew 8,000 fans (Roman Reigns tour)
April 18th in Zurich, Switzerland drew 4,000 fans (John Cena tour)
April 18th in Nurnberg, Germany drew a sellout of 7,000 fans (Roman Reigns tour)
April 18th in Jacksonville, FL for NXT drew 150 fans
April 20th in Albany, NY for RAW drew 6,800 fans
WWE released a promotional video for this year’s “Payback” pay-per-view which has led to rumors on what the possible main event could be.
Based on the video, which you can watch above, speculation has spread that the main event of this year’s WWE Payback pay-per-view will be a triple-threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns.
WWE Payback takes place on Sunday, May 17, 2015, from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Roman Reigns was Michael Cole’s guest on this week’s WWE.com sitdown interview. Reigns spoke about how his match at WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar changed him, Big Show’s recent attacks on him and more. Here’s a recap:
Jim Ross recently updated the blog on his official website to share his thoughts on Monday’s RAW in London, among other topics. Below are some highlights:
WWE Network airing one of his one-man shows: “We are in talks with WWE to tape a version of our RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross show for airing on the WWE Network at some point in the future. Details are still being discussed but this could happen much sooner than later. If all the details get finalized we would likely tape the show in Orlando at the NXT Arena. Fingers crossed for this project which I hope will lead to more opportunities to contribute to @WWENetwork.”
Crowd chants at RAW: “Thought some of the insider oriented crowd chants were distracting and unnecessary. I wonder if it’s truly the fan’s expressing their feelings or simply trying to gain attention on TV? Or perhaps a little of both?”
Roman Reigns: “Roman Reigns seems to be on a more acceptable pace to become accepted by the fans who have demonstrated that they are not fans of a systematic and structured game plan to establish new, fan favorites. I like Reigns and have every confidence in him becoming a top level main eventer in WWE for years to come. The process simply takes time and careful planning and execution.”
Tough Enough: “Curious to see what the skinny is on Tough Enough returning to TV. Anxious to see the cast including the coaches. TE is a solid concept but the cast of characters that interact each week make or break the show. That’s the reality TV business in a nutshell.”
Seth Rollins: “WWE Champion Seth Rollins had a really good night in London and is improving in his role every week or so it seems to me. Smart creative to have such a talented albeit beatable WWE Champion who is surrounded by ‘protection.’ J&J Security are underrated, entertaining and add a great deal to Rollins’ presentation.”
Following Monday’s taped edition of WWE RAW at the O2 Arena in London, England, new matches and stipulations were announced for the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
Below is an updated look at the lineup:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match With The RKO Banned
– Seth Rollins (c) vs. Randy Orton
WWE U.S. Championship Russian Chain Match
– John Cena (c) vs. Rusev
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Bad News Barrett
WWE Divas Championship
– Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige
Rumored Matches
– Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus
– Roman Reigns vs. Big Show (or Roman Reigns & Ryback vs. Big Show & Kane)
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com on Sunday, April 26th for the best WWE Extreme Rules live results coverage on the web!
– WWE recently applied for a number of new trademarks. WWE has applied to trademark the term “Superfriends Crew,” possibly for a new stable. They also applied for “New Face of Fear” for Bray Wyatt, “Lone Wolf” for Baron Corbin, “The Vigilante” for Sting, “Anti-Diva” for Paige, “The Beast Within” for Brock Lesnar, and other terms such as Starrcade, Halloween Havoc and WWE Nation.
– UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey has signed with Dany Garcia, The Rock’s ex-wife and business partner, to be her new business manager. With a budding movie career (Fast 7, The Expendables 3) and a new book coming out next month, it will be interesting to see what’s next from UFC’s most dangerous female fighter.
It’s worth noting that Rousey and The Rock also share the same agent, Brad Slater.
– It’s believed that stipulations will be added to the Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton WWE title match and John Cena vs. Rusev U.S. title match at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Also expected for the PPV is Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler in singles action, and either Big Show vs. Roman Reigns or Big Show & Kane vs. Roman Reigns & Ryback. Already scheduled for Extreme Rules, in addition to the two aforementioned title matches, is an Intercontinental Championship bout between Daniel Bryan and Bad News Barrett.
It was reported last week that almost no one knew that Seth Rollins was going to be cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase and winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31 until half-way through the show, however that is not the case.
Brock Lesnar knew about Rollins cashing in prior to signing his new WWE contract and because he, Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns were working closely together during the build-up of the match, the belief is Reigns knew a few days in advance as well.
Regarding Reigns not winning the title, which was the original plan for WrestleMania, many WWE talents have been really defensive of Reigns and there has even been some bitterness towards the vocal fans that ultimately forced the change in plans. Even though in WWE who aren’t knocking the vocal fans are said to be very defensive of Reigns.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. the internal reaction to Reigns losing this year is said to be nearly the complete opposite of the way talents reacted to Batista last year, as he went through a similar situation with the vocal fans changing plans for WrestleMania XXX, which was suppped to end with “The Animal” winning the title.
The feeling regarding Reigns is that the company spent a year building him and grooming him to be the next top guy, and then the vocal fans put his big climax in jeopardy, ultimately costing him the title and what would have been the most important moment of his career.
Former WWE Superstar Scotty 2 Hotty was not the only person who was upset about Rikishi’s WWE Hall of Fame induction.
There was also some drama over the fact that Rikishi’s cousin and former Head Shrinkers tag team partner Samu was also not invited to the show. Samu’s father Afa and Roman Reigns’ father Sika were said to be unhappy about the Samu’s omission.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE did eventually invite Samu to ease the tensions amongst the Anoia family, but the damage was already done – and this was before they got even more upset about Reigns not winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
Speaking of Cena, the WWE has a poll up asking who should respond to The Champ’s next open challenge. The options include Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Damien Mizdow, Sheamus, and more. With 25% of the vote, Sheamus is currently leading the results. Check out footage of Stardust answering this weeks’ open challenge below.
The following matches were taped prior to Monday’s RAW in Austin, Texas for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– Jack Swagger def. Adam Rose in the opening match of the taping. The crowd was really into Swagger in Austin, doing loud “We The People” chants. In the end, Swagger picked up the win via submission after getting Rose in the Patriot Lock.
– R-Truth def. Curtis Axel in the second of two matches taped for this week’s Superstars. Axel was doing a lot of “Axelmania” poses and such throughout the match. In the end, Truth picked up the pinfall victory.
Note: According to our live correspondent, security was confiscating anti-Roman Reigns signs again this week prior to RAW going live on the USA Network.
Randy Orton will challenge WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins in the main event of Extreme Rules on Sunday, April 26th.
Orton defeated Roman Reigns and Ryback in a triple threat match on RAW to earn the title shot. After the match, Orton ate a curb stomp at the hands of Seth Rollins, who stood tall above a fallen Orton after RAW went off the air.
Also announced for the show, Daniel Bryan will defend the IC title against Bad News Barrett and Rusev gets a US title rematch against John Cena.
Join us here on April 26th for live results of WWE Extreme Rules.
On a four-hour pay-per-view for WrestleMania 31 this year, the longest match was just 18 minutes and 34 seconds — Triple H vs. Sting. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns was the second longest match on the main card, coming in at 16 minutes and 44 seconds. The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the Kickoff Show lasted 18 minutes and 8 seconds.
Regarding timing issues at this year’s WrestleMania, the main event was supposed to last about ten minutes longer than it did. The segment with The Rock and Ronda Rousey ended up going 24 minutes long, with WWE officials originally looking at cutting time off of the Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker match to make up for it. Instead, the decision was made to chop the time off of the Lesnar-Reigns title match.
As previously reported, there were rumors that Roman Reigns’ family was extremely upset following his loss at WrestleMania. In particular, his father – WWE Legend Sika – was reportedly so upset that he was “looking to start a war.”
The family was even supposedly divided during the event, with some rallying behind Sika while others attempted to keep him calm. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer posted the following message on his message board today regarding the situation:
Six different sources on the Sika story by the way. Two more on the Afa side of the family for his reaction. This was not a secret. Was something everyone was openly talking about, both in the family, close to the family, and more.
WWE employee Michael Hayes also commented on the situation yesterday, tweeting the following:
SOO much BS on line. I talked with Sika Monday morning, he was very proud of his son and blown away by WM, as was I, props to Taker!!!
– The new documentary on the life and career of The Iron Sheik is now available on Netflix.
– The Rock’s new film, “Furious 7,” opened to an estimated $56 million to $60 million on Friday night.
– Speaking of The Rock, the following is a segment from the new “Lip Sync Battle” show which features The Rock performing Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” against Jimmy Fallon on the premiere episode.
– Below is Byron Saxton’s full sit-down interview with Roman Reigns, which aired on this week’s SmackDown. During the interview, Reigns claims he would have beaten Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 if he had 30 more seconds, and promises to beat Seth Rollins again.
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and Roman Reigns spoke to Title Match Wrestling last weekend prior to WrestleMania. Reigns addressed his critics directly, telling the “haters” to keep doing their thing and hating, because he’s going to keep doing his thing.
Hogan spoke about inducting Randy Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame and said he’d want to wrestle Roman Reigns if he ever wrestles another match.
The following matches were taped for tonight’s post-WrestleMania 31 edition of WWE SmackDown this past Tuesday in Fresno, California.
– Randy Orton vs. Big Show
– Natalya vs. Naomi
– Roman Reigns interview with Byron Saxton
– The Miz vs. R-Truth
– Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper
– Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
For complete spoilers for tonight’s WWE SmackDown, click here.
WWE made the call to have Seth Rollins cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship late in the show at WrestleMania 31 this past Sunday.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rollins found out about the new plans as The Rock and Ronda Rousey segment was going on. He was then taken into a room with producer Michael Hayes, as well as Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns, to go over the new plans for the finish of the main event.
Originally, the plan was for Reigns to win the title from Lesnar, however WWE reportedly changed those plans sometime in advance. The belief is that Lesnar was fully aware of the new plans before he signed his new deal with WWE last Tuesday.
It’s unknown when Reigns found out that he wasn’t going to become the new champion, however as noted earlier today, his family, particularly his father Sika, was furious when they realized Reigns wasn’t winning as planned, and reportedly wanted to “go to war” with WWE as a result.
Several members of the legendary Anoa’i family were very angry at the finish of this past Sunday’s WrestleMania 31 main event after seeing that plans had changed and Roman Reigns was not going to end up winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Reigns’ father, Sika, was so upset that he was apparently “looking to start a war.” One WWE source commented to Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
“Sika forgot this business is not real life, and was legit pissed at the finish and looking to start a war. A lot of the younger (family members) were rallying around Sika, but the other 45 or 50 of them talked some reason.”
A different source who was around the Anoa’i family during WrestleMania said they were furious and disappointed, but not “out of control.”
While the family came out of respect to watch Rikishi get inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, they were primarily there to see Reigns have his big “WrestleMania moment” and win the title.
coming out next month, it will be interesting to see what’s next from UFC’s most dangerous female fighter.