It was announced during Old School RAW in Baltimore on Monday during a backstage segment that Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt will be teaming up to compete in a tag-team match on next week’s edition of WWE RAW.
Also on RAW, two Royal Rumble participants have been confirmed. As we previously reported, Michael Cole announced on commentary that Batista has officially entered himself into the 2014 Royal Rumble match. Additionally, Alberto Del Rio officially entered the match. Del Rio announced his participation in the Rumble during an in-ring interview he did after defeating Sin Cara in singles action.
Following the video package promoting Batista’s WWE return at the January 20th edition of RAW, WWE announcers Michael Cole and JBL revealed that Batista is confirmed as a participant in the 2014 Royal Rumble match.
Also on RAW, while Jerry Lawler was not in attendance to do his usual commentary, Michael Cole and JBL did say that his condition was not as serious as it is being reported on the internet. They then plugged the WWE App for updates on his condition.
This week on Because Wrestling, we’re back! Happy New Year! It’s time to talk about the latest few weeks of wrestling news, lots of wrestlemania, and we chat with Brian Papa about his Kickstarter project ‘Ringmaster’! (more…)
– Part-time WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam is reportedly returning at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view later this month. Current plans call for Van Dam to work WrestleMania XXX in April.
– According to reports, WWE Superstar Batista is heading to California soon to train with mixed-martial-arts trainer Cesar Gracie in preparation for his WWE return on January 20th.
As previously reported, WWE was originally planning on a Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The idea came about when Show was feuding with The Authority.
Apparently the plan was for Big Show to go through Randy Orton and The Authority, although he would never win the title, yet he would come out of the program as a solid main eventer. This would set up Show looking strong, making Lesnar look strong for a match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX when he beat Show at the Rumble.
Speaking of Taker vs. Lesnar, there appears to be some concern over a few different issues. One is the physical style that Lesnar has in recent years. Lesnar’s rough style, mixed with the bad physical shape Taker is in, is causing some concern.
Another issue is that many, if not all of Taker’s opponents the last several years have secretly worked out their match with extensive practice before it actually took place. There is some concern within WWE as to whether or not Lesnar would be willing to put in that amount of time preparing for the match.
– WWE will make their “groundbreaking announcement” next Wednesday, January 8th at the International CES at the Wynn Hotel, which is expected to be the official announcement of the WWE Network. Vince McMahon will be on hand to make the announcement, along with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Triple H, John Cena and others.
– The 2014 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view is slated for both a DVD and Blu-ray release in February.
The final WWE RAW show of 2013 ended with Daniel Bryan joining The Wyatt Family. The RAW main event featured Daniel Bryan facing Luke Harper first. If Bryan defeated Harper, then he had to beat Erick Rowan. If he defeated them both, then he could get his hands on Bray Wyatt. Bryan ended up beating them both. When Bray’s turn to face Bryan came up, he stopped himself from attacking Bryan. Bryan ended up telling Bray he was right. He said fans chanted “Yes!” in every building he went to, and “they” still didn’t care. Bray then hit Bryan with his Sister Abigail finisher, but the two still ended up leaving together. Bryan stopped at the top of the stage to think over his decision, but ultimately decided to do it anyway.
Also on RAW on Monday night, both Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman returned. The two returned as part of Triple H’s “blockbuster announcement.” They announced their intentions on becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion by defeating whoever wins the Royal Rumble main event between John Cena and Randy Orton. This led to Mark Henry coming out, only to get beat up by Lesnar. Lesnar speared Henry through the barricade on the floor and then hit him with an F-5 on the floor.
It was announced on the special New Year’s edition of WWE RAW on Monday night that at next week’s special “Old School” themed edition of RAW, CM Punk will battle Shield member Roman Reigns in a singles match.
Also announced on RAW, in one of the promised “blockbuster announcements,” Stephanie McMahon revealed that John Cena would challenge Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the main event of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in a traditional Championship match.
– As noted earlier, Sheamus and Chris Jericho will be appearing at the Autorama car show in Pittsburgh on January 24th – the same weekend of the Royal Rumble. WWE.com is now advertising the Sheamus appearance, letting fans know he’ll be in town for the Rumble.
– WWE will return to Detroit, Michigan on March 4th for a SmackDown taping. The pre-sale is going on now with the password SMACKDOWN.
– WWE Superstar Evan Bourne, who has been out of action for almost 2 years now, is expected to return to action very soon. Bourne violated WWE’s Wellness Policy for the second time in January 2012 and served a 60 day suspension. Before hes brought back to television, he was involved in a bad car accident where he broke his foot in 4 places.
Broken in 4 spots, dislocated in 5! Ouch! I wish I was back in the ring already. Until then here is a gross pic http://t.co/hwJ0sSgD
Bourne returned to action back in March, defeating Sammy Zayn at NXT. He told fans at the time that he’d be returning to WWE “soon.” Bourne tweeted the following on Saturday night, teasing a possible appearance at the Royal Rumble:
My favorite Annual PPV will always and forever be @WWE‘s Royal Rumble. Wait, that gives me an idea…
As previously reported, former WWE Superstar Batista will officially return to WWE on the January 20th edition of WWE RAW and will be hanging around at least through WrestleMania XXX.
Apparently the idea is that this is not a one-time WrestleMania return type deal for Batista, but rather a “final run” for him that could last as long as two years. His new deal reportedly calls for him to take some time off during the summer to promote a film project.
Regarding the specifics of his return, while his first televised appearance back with the company will be on the 1/20 episode of RAW, he will not be wrestling that night. His first official match is scheduled to take place in the 30-man match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts issued the following statement regarding a possible appearance at WWE’s 2014 Royal Rumble:
“Daily questions on Rumble. Here is my official statement. I have had no contact from WWE. I publicized returning at the Royal Rumble as my goal about a year ago. Looking back, setting goals that are entirely in someone else’s hands was not the best idea. My advice, and my practice now is to set goals that you can control. Do your best to control your destiny. If the Rumble happens, I will do my best to put on a memorable performance. If they want to keep me around, I know I can do some cool stuff. It if doesn’t, I still have plenty to look forward to. That’s all on the Rumble and WWE for a while. Please enjoy the rest of these holidays with your loved ones. Thanks again for all the support. Remember, the Snake ALWAYS bites back.”
The deal for Batista to return during WrestleMania XXX season is something he and Triple H have been working on for a few months. Batista is scheduled to work some television tapings, pay-per-views and even some of WWE’s non-televised live events. The deal calls for Batista to stick around for at least some time after WrestleMania XXX in April.
Before announcing his return on RAW on Monday night, the original plan called for Batista to return as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble. WWE had copy of the promotional materials that were scheduled to be sent to local arenas and apparently those were sent out prematurely without notice that Batista’s inclusion in them was to be held off until he officially debuted at the Rumble.
Apparently as a result of the information leaking early on official arena websites, among other places, WWE was quite upset. One source joked that it was a good thing Vnice McMahon was overseas visiting the U.S. Troops when the news leaked, or he may have killed someone.
One person who recently saw Batista this past weekend noted that he has put on a lot of size and muscle and appears to be more ripped than usual.
– The former Sterling James Keenan, WWE developmental wrestler Corey Graves, teased an appearance in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match since it will emanate from his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsyvlvania.
– Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde, who originally portrayed Sin Cara, turns 31-years-old on Sunday. Also celebrating a birthday today is former WWE performer Drew Hankinson (formerly known as Festus and Luke Gallows), who turns 30.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has been announced to appear at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo taking place April 25-27, 2014 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois.
– WWE has signed a business deal with Flair to distribute The Bridge Direct’s WWE construction sets in the UK and Ireland.
Casey Collins, Executive Vice president of Consumer Products for WWE, said, “We are proud to be working with The Bridge Direct and GP Flair to launch this new chapter for WWE merchandising. We have had tremendous success by teaming with The Bridge in the US and have the perfect distribution channel with Flair to reach millions of WWE fans in the UK and Ireland.”
According to reports, WWE is planning on putting the WWE Tag-Team Championships on Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at some point before the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in January.
Harper and Rowan were already expected to become the WWE Tag-Team Champions before the WrestleMania XXX event in April, however it appears now as though WWE has moved those plans up and will do the title change earlier than originally planned.
According to current creative booking plans, Shield member Roman Reigns is going to have a major role in the 2014 Royal Rumble Match
Originally, it was expected that Reigns would have a similar role as most large athletes in the Rumble match in the past, such as Kane or Diesel, where they make him look strong by having him eliminate multiple participants in the match.
We are looking into further specifics, but the latest plans for Reigns’ role at the Rumble are even more significant than just a few weeks ago.
– WWE will be taping next Friday night’s 12/27 edition of SmackDown tonight from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX. Superstars advertised to appear include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton, John Cena, The Shield, The Wyatt Family, Mark Henry, Big Show, Damien Sandow and Alberto Del Rio.
We’ll have full spoilers up on the site later tonight – so check back for those.
– After an initial sellout, WWE has released additional tickets for RAW the night after WrestleMania XXX.
– WWE has released an extended version of the “speed dating” Royal Rumble 2014 promo video:
– Today is the birthday of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (49), Trish Stratus (38) and Rob Van Dam (43).
– WWE Hall of Famer Edge is the latest guest on Chris Jericho’s “Talk is Jericho” podcast. The two discuss Edge’s acting career, how he first got into wrestling, and more. You can listen to the interview at PodcastOne.com.
– Here is the official Royal Rumble 2014 promo video:
– WWE is reportedly working on securing their “surprise entrants” for the 2014 Royal Rumble match. The company has started the process of looking at Superstars that aren’t on the current active roster, some of which will be stars from the past making returns, others will be a few potential NXT stars that could get called up.
– WWE added a video to their official YouTube channel of The Miz attempting to win over a young fan during an appearance at the Tribute To The Troops (TTTT) special earlier this week. The video is accompanied by the following description: “At a Tribute to The Troops appearance with soldiers and their children, The Miz can’t seem to get a favorable, awesome response from a young WWE fan who was asked who his favorite WWE “
As noted, WrestleMania 31 will be in Santa Clara in 2014. As a result, the annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, which is generally hosted in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, could see a venue and location change to the east coast.
With WrestleMania 31 on the west coast, SummerSlam, which is viewed within WWE as the second largest annual event, is now rumored for Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2014.
Additionally, the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view in 2015 is rumored to be held in either the Staples Center in Los Angeles or the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Diamond Dallas Page recently spoke with Steve and The Scum of WGD Weekly, which is available on YouTube and iTunes. Here are highlights from the interview where DDP talks about the WWE Performance Center, working with NXT talents and lots more:
Jake Roberts or Scott hall being in the 2014 Royal Rumble: “I have no idea, and I know better than to have an idea. I can hope, like any other fan out there. I would love to see them do something that would pop the crowd like crazy, but you know, you never know”
Whether Roberts or Hall would be physically ready to compete in the Rumble: “I don’t know about Scott. I don’t know that you’ll ever see Scott back in the ring. He’s smarter than the average bear when it comes to that…He is getting his body back…Scott has taken a shit load of bumps, he has been blessed with a new hip and no pain and that hip was like torture…so I don’t know if he is gonna risk that…Jake, on the other hand, Jake could go in the Royal Rumble and go 20 minutes. He would probably be crippled afterward, but he’ll do it. You have to remember what animal you’re talking about here…He is 58, I’m 57, I wouldn’t do what he does”
Current stars Chris Jericho, Ryback, and Dustin Rhodes using DDP Yoga: “When you get to Jericho, you get to be 40 and think you’re career is over like I did. All of a sudden, you find DDP Yoga and he’s addicted to it, it’s the only workout he does. All of a sudden he is back to making a million dollars a year in the ring and kicking ass with his band on the road, he couldn’t do either before DDP Yoga and he’ll be the first to tell you. Ryback, same thing, he rehabbed his body with DDP Yoga, and still does it religiously, Dustin Rhodes does it religiously””
Meeting Jake Roberts and how Jake helped his career: “I met Jake Roberts in 1986. He came into my nightclub in 1986 and I was a big fan of his…When I got into wrestling, I didn’t see him for a while…I had been down at the Power Plant for about two to three months and Jake Roberts had just signed with WCW…He saw me and we started talking…we just bonded. I got to do some road shows with him, be his driver, and learn from him. Then, I tor my rotator cuff…and they fired me. I hadn’t seen Jake in about five months…he called me up to see how I was doing. He let me know that he and his wife were split up again, so I asked my wife if he could move in, so, that was the first time Jake lived with me, that was in 1993, about 20 years ago…I was so excited to get the arm band off my rotator cuff so Jake could get in the ring with me and teach me. His feelings were that, you are gonna learn more from me sitting on the couch going over your matches than you ever will from going in the ring…you just need to learn when, why, and how to get the people involved. Over the next few years, I’d bring my matches to him and he’d critique them for me and he was a big part…I always say without Dusty Rhodes, there is no “Diamond” Dallas Page, but without Jake Roberts, there is no DDP, the main eventer…He helped me out a lot…I made a lot of money because of what he taught me. I got to live the dream on a whole different level.”
Creating what would become the Razor Ramon gimmick for Scott Hall: “I created that whole gimmick. The black hair, the brushed back cut, five o’clock shadow, all mine, and he’ll be the first to tell you…took him from a blond, brownish hair with a big mustache and turned him into what would become best known as Razor Ramon, but it was the Diamond Studd before it was Razor Ramon.”
In Demand recently released the promotional poster for the 2014 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The poster is accompanied by the following description, which is pretty interesting when considering the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view main event stipulation:
WWE: Royal Rumble PPV Premiere: Sunday, January 26, 2014
Don’t miss John Cena, CM Punk, The Shield, and all your favorite WWE Superstars as they compete for the right to face the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion in the ultimate battle at WWE Royal Rumble, Sunday, January 26, at 8PMET/5PMPT.
It should be noted that this could always be a case of dated promotional materials, however many are speculating that when the WWE TLC pay-per-view concludes in two weeks, there will still be a WWE and a World Heavyweight Champion.
– As seen Monday night on Raw, WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston and Mark Henry defeated the team of Ryback and Curtis Axel, with Henry being portrayed as a mentor to the young up-and-comer. This alliance is not expected to last, because as of this week, WWE creative has plans for “The World’s Strongest Man” to battle Langston at the Royal Rumble.
– As seen Sunday night at Survivor Series, Mark Henry returned to action by answering Ryback’s open challenge, and defeating him. According to F4WOnline.com, the short-lived storyline was copied from TNA Wrestling. On Impact Wrestling on Spike TV, former WWE Diva and reigning TNA Women’s Champion Gail Kim has been issuing open challenges, which inspired WWE’s creative department to utilize the idea for themselves.
– According to a source within WWE, plans are in place for the company to heavily focus on tag team competition in 2014, and company officials are contemplating holding a three-day tryout camp for independent wrestling duos early in the year. It is said that WWE honcho Paul “Triple H” Levesque is a huge fan of tag team wrestling.