The reason why Randy Orton only worked short matches on the non-televised live events he did work this past weekend, and the reason why he didn’t wrestle on the Long Island card was because he has a deviated septum.
Orton is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the issues, however the recovery time after such an operation is only a few weeks. It’s expected that Orton will miss some live events as a result.
When Orton does fully return, he is expected to initially work with Seth Rollins, even though he’s advertised to work with Kane on live events.
Where I’m from, local residents occasionally use the phrase “lazy man’s load.” If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it involves straining oneself by carrying multiple bags of groceries from the car in order to save a trip. Based on last night’s episode of Raw, I’m starting to wonder if WWE creative lives in my neighborhood.
As most know by now, the Authority is back in power in the WWE. We all knew they would be back in some shape or form, but most (myself included) did not expect them to be back so soon. So, was bringing the Authority back best for business?
The company appears to be laying the groundwork for a Triple H/Sting match at WrestleMania.
It is hard to deny that Raw has been directionless over the past few weeks. One week we had Daniel Bryan making matches, next fans were subjected to a stupid podium that decided to show up for a week or two, and finally we had Hogan dressed as Santa Claus calling the shots. In short, the shows were all over the place, and for the most part, just plain bad.
That isn’t a knock on the superstars, as they did everything they could to make the shows entertaining. Instead, it’s a knock on creative because they are unable to adapt from their comfort zone. For the past year, nearly every major storyline has focused on the Authority, and it seemed that creative was lost without their tried-and-true conflict creative device.
With that said, I suppose it is necessary to bring the Authority back into power to set up a potential match between Sting and Triple H at WrestleMania. It definitely appears that Sting’s first match in the WWE will be against the Game, so it makes more sense to have Sting deal the final blow to the Authority than to have Triple H request a match to exact revenge even though he’s no longer in power.
It was believed going into Monday’s RAW show in Washington, D.C., the final episode of the program for 2014, that Randy Orton would be making his return. Obviously that did not happen, however he did make an appearance in the building after the cameras went off.
Once RAW went off the air officially, Orton came out for a dark match main event, defeating Seth Rollins with a RKO. Orton then celebrated with John Cena at the top of the stage.
It was revealed on the final RAW of 2014 that The Authority is back in control of power in WWE.
This happened when Seth Rollins, with help from Big Show, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble, held Edge hostage, threatening to Curb Stomp him onto the Money In The Bank briefcase and paralyze him, unless John Cena agree to bring back The Authority.
Eventually, Cena gave in. Rollins tried to attack Edge anyways, but Cena stopped him, only to eat a Knockout Punch from Big Show and a Curb Stomp from Rollins. As Rollins, Show, Mercury and Noble go to leave, out came The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, drinking champagne and celebrating their return to power as the announcers questioned how The Authority being back in power will affect 2015.
As noted in the past, a match between Sting and Triple H is considered likely for WrestleMania 31, however recently, another match for Sting has been discussed internally.
The idea of a Sting vs. Seth Rollins match has reportedly been brought up recently, a match that seems like a long shot, but has been talked about.
It’s also worth noting that there has been some rumors going around that claim Rollins could be in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture soon. Obviously if that were to happen, the Rollins vs. Sting match would not.
As we noted recently, WWE will be releasing a new DVD and Blu-ray set called “The Destruction of The Shield” on February 17, 2015. According to WrestlingDVDNews.com, there will be a documentary, as well as an interview with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose airing before and after each match on the set.
The following matches are confirmed thus far for the project.
– Roman Reigns on FCW Triple Threat Match
– Triple Threat Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins vs. Leakee, FCW • February 5, 2012
– Dean Ambrose on United States Championship
– United States Championship Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Kofi Kingston, Extreme Rules • May 19, 2013
– Roman Reigns on WWE Tag Team Championship
– Tornado Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Team Hell No, Extreme Rules • May 19, 2013
Backstage morale in WWE, which was was not very good over the past several months, was made even worse after Vince McMahon’s live interview with Steve Austin on the WWE Network a few weeks ago.
A lot of the talent felt that McMahon “crapped on just about everyone” except for Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. There’s also a feeling that McMahon made it clear that those four names were the only ones he sees any top star potential in.
Apparently things got bad enough that Triple H tried some damage control in the form of a speech to the entire WWE roster, which reportedly backfired.
NXT wrestlers are generally very fond of Triple H, however when it comes to the main roster, whatever he said in that speech reportedly lost him a lot of credibility, especially among talent that has been with the company for quite a while.
WWE Starting To DOUBT Roman Reigns As Their Next Top Guy — WrestleMania 31 Plans CHANGING?!
(News from The Wrestling Observer was used in this post. Visit F4WOnline.com for subscription information.)
The following are highlights of the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On the Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper match at RAW: “Ziggler vs. Harper…both men sold well, which is missing in many talent’s game within the business these days, and told a great story of competition and made me feel better about the IC Title status and how it an be heated up. I knew Harper had ‘it’ when I watched him down in NXT and Ziggler has been ready for ‘prime time’ for a good while now. I like how WWE has begun to utilize Dolph.”
On the Seth Rollins vs. John Cena match at RAW: “Rollins vs. Cena….nice chemsty..competitive…and we got a clean winner and a disgruntled loser who will want redemption. Leaving fans feeling empty with a impotent count out or disqualification can do more harm than good in any promotion.”
On The Ascension vignettes: “Interesting Ascension vignettes…almost Road Warrior-esque which will be interesting to see how the audience accepts. WWE needs a hot, fan favorite tag team for Ascension to come in and ravage to get the fan’s attention.”
On Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt at RAW: “Loved the effort of Ambrose vs. Rollins and I’m a fan of each talent but I felt like they depended too much on weaponry in their match. Less is more especially after we’ve seen the recent TLC PPV plus other cage matches recently. These two beat the hell out of each other….again.”
On The New Day faction: “Really curious as to how “New Day” is going to be accepted by the fans once they are launched officially IE in earnest. Today’s fans don’t seem to be too willing to provide second chances. I’d surmise that dressing in Carolina Blue and espousing such positivity that today’s wrestling fan may be a little hard on the talented trio who I happen to like personally and professionally. These three need to be special and draw positive attention to themselves by what they do in the ring and how they present themselves. If it’s the same old stuff, it won’t work. This sis where talents need to brainstorm and strategize on what they can do differently while they are being repackaged.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
As promised, here are the top pay-per-view events from 2014.
8. NXT Takeover
This event started off sluggish but certainly ended with a string of entertaining matches. In particular, the match between Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn featured solid in-ring work and highlighted why both of these guys could succeed if given the opportunity.
The real treat during this pay-per-view, however, was the final two matches of the evening. The match between Charlotte and Natalya for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship was probably the most technically sound women’s match I’ve ever seen, and the main event between Neville and Tyson Kidd was the perfect way to end the show. In my opinion, this was the event that made fans realize NXT is more than simply a developmental league for the main roster.
Worst Match: Adam Rose vs. Camacho
Best Match: Charlotte vs. Natalya
7. Payback
There was some worry heading into this one, largely due to the absence of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The event would carry on just fine without the title, however. It started off strong with a bruising contest between Sheamus and Cesaro.
From there, the Last Man Standing match was entertaining, even if it would have been nice to see Wyatt pick up the victory. With that said, this pay-per-view is all about the main event. It was an awesome 30-minute affair that featured memorable spots, brutal action, and a decisive Shield victory. This was also important because it would set up Seth Rollins’ heel turn the next night on Raw.
2014 is coming to a close. Aside from two episodes of Raw that most likely be forgettable, fans have seen everything the WWE has to offer this year. Here is a look back at all 16 pay-per-views (including NXT), with each event ranked and summarized.
16. Battleground
This event took place during July, and boy was it a hot mess. The opening contest between the Usos and Wyatt Family was money, but it was downhill from there, as fans were subjected to one dud contest after another.
The biggest mistakes involved advertising a Rollins/Ambrose match that didn’t take place, and using the same predictable ending sequence during the main event. Overall, this was completely forgettable and easily the worst pay-per-view of the year.
Worst Match: Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
Best Match: The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family
15. TLC
The final pay-per-view of the year was certainly not the best the company has to offer. Overall, this event suffered from a thin roster and overcomplicated booking. Like many pay-per-view events, it started off strong before derailing.
Ziggler and Harper stole the show during the opening contest. However, lame gimmicks (Stairs/Chairs Matches) and cheesy endings (Wyatt/Ambrose, Cena/Rollins) really held this event back and prevented it from being a success.
The following are highlights of a new Seth Rollins interview with The National:
On his character: “My character is very polarizing, sure. There’s a lot of stuff I’ve done over the past year that people haven’t been too pleased about – and to be the best at anything, you’ve gotta make some enemies. So call me number 1 villain, call me hero, call me top guy in WWE. Whatever you want, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m happy with what I’ve done to get here.”
On who he wants to face at WrestleMania 31: “Whoever the WWE World Heavyweight Champion is at that point, it doesn’t matter. As long as the title’s on the line, that’s the match I want to be in.”
On his in-ring style: “I’m well-versed on the mat, but I can pick up people much bigger than me. I can hang with anybody, I can trade power moves, I can fly through the air. Maybe there’s no one in the history of WWE who can say they can do all those things.”
– Vince McMahon, Big Show, R-Truth, Summer Rae and Alicia Fox went overseas to visit the U.S. troops this weekend. You can check out an assortment of photos from the trip at WWE.com.
– WWE will be taping next Friday’s edition of SmackDown tonight in Sioux City, Iowa. Hulk Hogan is advertised to make a special appearance. Other talent advertised for the show includes Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kane, Bray Wyatt, and Big Show. The dark match main event for the show will be Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt.
– Darren Young made his WWE in-ring return at the live event in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on Saturday night. Young defeated Justin Gabriel in the opening match of the evening, but was then beaten down by Seth Rollins.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Tully Blanchard reportedly suffered a torn biceps at the Pro Wrestling Syndicate event on Saturday night. The injury took place when Blanchard did a run-in after his daughter, Tessa Blanchard’s match.
Sometimes things work out. Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins.
Other times, things don’t. Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Fandango.
After last week’s NXT Takeover: R Evolution special, which fans are still raving about a week later, it became crystal clear to me that WWE is developing a number of future Superstars that have the potential to lead the company into the next generation.
Today, we are going to look at ten current performers/acts in the NXT system that I feel have the best shot at achieving success on the main WWE roster. With that being said, lets jump right into the list at number ten….
#10. The Lucha Dragons
The Lucha Dragons — Kalisto and Sin Cara, two talents that as individuals could flourish, but as a unit, make up one of the best tag-teams in WWE’s developmental system. Their ring work is solid and entertaining. Crowd pleasing. The gimmick is another story, but unfortunately, with WWE being in the middle of their PG-era, gimmicks and characters such as these two are unavoidable.
With that being said, they are what they are, and that’s a great tag-team combination. They’re the Los Matadores, only better. That’s not a knock against them, despite the fact it could be seen as one. If they remain under their current gimmick, it’s pretty much a given that they’ll never reach past mid-card, comedy-team status, but like I said, we’re going to have that one way or the other. Since that’s the case, it might as well be two guys who are as talented as these two.
I think it’s a given that these two guys will eventually make it to the main roster, and equally as predictable is the way in which they’ll be used. They’ll be two guys in a tag-team division on the main WWE roster that isn’t worth much, but for whatever it is worth, these two guys have the potential to be among the top teams in the company. While that’s not saying much, it’s saying something, and in this day and age, you pretty much have to take what you can get if you’re an aspiring wrestler.
#9. Tyler Breeze
Much like The Lucha Dragons, I feel that Tyler Breeze is an extremely talented worker, but is unfortunately stuck in a lame-duck gimmick. On social media, I’ve read a lot of comments that makes it seem like fans are actually believers of the Tyler Breeze gimmick in the sense that it could actually go somewhere on the main roster.
I am not one of those believers.
I’m of the opinion that if Breeze jumps to the main roster and is used with the same exact character that he has now, it’s one that has a ceiling that comes with it. This type of character can only go so far. Think of talents like Fandango and Adam Rose and how they are positioned on the main roster, and you’ve got my opinion of how Breeze would be used in this type of role.
If they were to change his gimmick, he certainly has the potential to go further than this type of character would allow. He’s got the talent in the ring, he has a unique charisma about him and he’s got a great look. His promo work is decent, nothing to ride home about in my opinion, but he’s got enough tools to work with that if he was given a different type of character, it would be interesting to see how far he could take it. Maybe if they started a character-change in NXT and let it grow a bit, that would be the route to take in terms of preparing him for a call up to the big leagues.
Whether or not that ever happens is another subject entirely.
Mr. Money In The Bank Seth Rollins was a guest on the This Is Awesome Wrestling Show this week, hosted by Glenn Moore. Rollins spoke in-depth about CM Punk’s WWE departure. Here are some highlights:
Thoughts on CM Punk leaving WWE: “Good for him. Kudos to Punk for finding himself something to do after WWE. He’s made a big splash over the last few weeks between his podcasts and signing with UFC. I wish him the best of luck. I really hope that he has as much success there as he has here. I think it will be very interesting for him to try something new. He’s only been a pro wrestler since he was 18 years old. For him, at his age, to step out of his comfort zone and try something new is pretty admirable and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does.”
The way CM Punk left WWE: “I think it could have handled better, probably, on both sides. And I think down the road, people involved will say the same thing. But as much as I don’t necessary agree with the way he left, I think I understand, mentally, where he was. This business can take a toll on you. You travel a lot. You get beat up a lot. There’s a lot of frustration that’s involved and mentally, over time, that can wear on you. It can put you in place where you’re a different person. And when you’re not happy with who you are and the person you want to be, you gotta take a step back. You gotta look at things outside the bubble a little bit. I think that’s what he did and I think he realized that he needed to take a step back and see what was going on. And if he didn’t like it, then he can move on. I think they agreed to disagree. Like I said, could have been handled differently from a public relations standpoint on both sides. I think once the dust settles, everything will feel itself out and it should be alright.”
If the locker room would welcome CM Punk back to WWE:“I don’t see why not. He’s a self-admitted jerk, first of all. And if you listen to his podcast, he didn’t say that he was in a great mood the last few months that he was there. He admitted how grumpy he was and how much of a jerk he was, even more than he already is. I think we would welcome him back. I’m not to hold too much grudges. I think everyone deserves a second chance; an opportunity to redeem themselves. I would welcome him back. I’m sure he would face some resentment, as far as the locker room is concerned. But guys get over that stuff pretty quick. I think if it was best for business, yeah, I would be open to it for sure.”
Rollins also talked about NXT, his TLC match vs. John Cena, his career, Crossfit, and what he wants fans to think about him when he retires.
As noted earlier today, WWE is hyping up the January 19th edition of RAW as a “RAW Reunion show,” with Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Shawn Michaels all advertised to appear.
What’s also interesting in terms of the advertising side of things is that Brock Lesnar is no longer listed. Originally, the advertising was built around Lesnar, however he is no longer included in the ads for the show.
As things stand now, the tentative plan is for the announcement of WrestleMania 32 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, where the 1/19 RAW takes place, to be made on that show, or close to it.
Also advertised for the show is a John Cena vs. Seth Rollins “Lumberjack Match” with 30 lumberjacks in a match that is being billed as “the biggest lumberjack match in the history of Dallas.” It’s believed that the match will serve as the actual television main event of the show, with all 30 lumberjacks hitting the ring for the finish to simulate the wildness of a 30-man Royal Rumble match, as the show is also the “go-home” show for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Mr. Money In The Bank Seth Rollins recently spoke to the UK’s Sun newspaper and commented on Randy Orton being jealous of his success in WWE.
Rollins says he and Orton have never been friends and thinks Orton is feeling the heat from he and his former Shield members climbing the ranks.
“Randy and I are colleagues for sure, but we were never friends as far as hanging out. Randy’s got his life, I’ve got my life – we were business partners when it made sense. But now it doesn’t make sense any more so we’re at odds again. And if you look at the way things were when we first came in as The Shield, he didn’t like us very much then so it is one of those things where I think he has always harbored a little professional jealousy when it comes to myself. Maybe he’s a little afraid that some of the young guys are going to come in and steal some of his thunder.”
Rollins added that Orton is an incredible performer and is a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer, “but he’s had his time and I think he may be a little afraid to admit that.”
Dolph Ziggler was the featured guest on this week’s sit-down interview with Michael Cole.
Ziggler spoke about his momentum building since Survivor Series, winning the Intercontinental Championship in his hometown of Cleveland at TLC and finally beating Seth Rollins on this week’s live edition of SmackDown.
Additionally, Ziggler talked about fighting for years to become “the man.” He says he’s got a big chip on his shoulder and he’s on the right track to becoming “the man.” He promised it will eventually happen.
The following are highlights of the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Seth Rollins’ future: “Rollins vs. Cena…solid main event to close the three hour broadcast…Rollins seems to be lining up to be the next “Heyman Guy” somewhere down the road. My ‘guess’ is that Rollins will be WWE Champ in the next few months. I stress it’s my ‘guess.'”
On Roman Reigns’ return: “Roman Reigns return was good….but he’s got lots of work to catch up on if he wants to eventually get to the Promised Land. Injuries are never timely and can be especially harmful for a ‘rookie’ level talent. Here’ s where I’d expect Reigns athleticism and 2nd generation instincts to kick in.”
On his upcoming broadcast return at Wrestle Kingdom 9: “Speaking of Wrestle Kingdom 9 on PPV on January 4, I’m somewhat certain that some NJPW aficionados will find something wrong with the commentary no matter who does it especially as it concerns the unique names of some of the holds that the talent’s utilize. I can only do the best job that I can and let the cards fall where they may. I do think the style of broadcasting will be different that most USA broadcasts whether that be good or bad. Yes, I fully expect to be woodshedded by some keyboard warrior within minutes of the Tokyo Dome event ending. Gotta love the passion, right?”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– Members of the former Ring of Honor stable The Age Of The Fall were reunited backstage at this week’s WWE TV tapings. The members included Seth Rollins (as Tyler Black), Luke Harper (as Brodie Lee), Joey Mercury (as Joey Matthews) and Jimmy Jacobs, who has been working as a Rosebud.
– NXT Superstar Aiden English of the Vaudvillains is engaged to Shaul Guerrero, daughter of Vickie and the late Eddie Guerrero. Vickie posted the following on Instagram:
– In this video, Rikishi challenges Kim Kardashian to a “Booty Contest.”
The former WWE Superstar was at the Miracle on 1st Street Christmas Toy Giveaway in Los Angeles, California, when he brought up his sizable posterior and challenged Kardashian to come down to his wrestling school and take part in the contest.
– As seen last night at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs … and Stairs, Dean Ambrose lost to Bray Wyatt in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match. In a trivia note, this loss extended Ambrose’s winless drought on pay-per-view since The Shield disbanded in June. In addition to WWE TLC, “The Lunatic Fringe” has lost matches at Money in the Bank (to Seth Rollins in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match), WWE Battleground (to Seth Rollins in a singles match via forfeit), SummerSlam (to Seth Rollins in a Lumberjack Match), Hell in a Cell (to Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell Match) and Survivor Series (to Bray Wyatt via disqualification).
– Sunday at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs … and Stairs, WWE.com reported that AJ Lee was tended to by physicians after a scary incident in which Divas Champion Nikki Bella blinded her with hairspray. The report has since been slightly changed, as it is now noted that she was blinded with “unidentified spray.”
The physicians’ quick treatment of Lee helped prevent any long-term damage to her vision.
The following are highlights from the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On the Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper match: “Thought the first match featuring Ziggler vs. Harper for the IC Title in a Ladder match was a great start and arguably the best match on the show. They were lucky to get the live audience fresh and they did not have to follow several other specialty matches. These two needed medical attention after their match which should come as no surprise. Harper got five staples in his head while Ziggler got a cut glued shut. I actually had a cut glued shut after being schooled by HHH in Madison Square Garden many years ago. It beats the heck out of stitches ”
On the John Cena vs. Seth Rollins match: “Liked the position on the card for Cena vs. Rollins and the Reigns involvement was timely. It’s smart to have a long window to promote Cena vs. Lesnar for the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble in January which should stimulate January subscribers for the Network. Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury certainly earned their keep in this match in their role of J&J Security. I’ll say this, John Cena is beastly strong.”
On Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt: “Happy that young talents Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt closed the show for multiple reasons that all essentially come down to perception. These two beat the Hell out of each other, without question, and both took another step forward to becoming main event talents. I applaud their work ethic and willingness to put their bodies at such risk. Going on last after everything that was done in the ring earlier makes it tremendously challenging and I don’t know how Ambrose and Wyatt could have done any more.”
On TLC compared to NXT Takeover: R Evolution: “As much as I enjoyed many aspects of the TLC show, it wasn’t quite as good, merely in my opinion, as the overall @WWENXT show, from start to finish, that I watched Thursday night from Orlando.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
TLC came and went last night, leaving behind a trail of broken tables, dented chairs, and fried television monitors. There were plenty of highlights last night, but the company certainly took a few missteps as well. Overall, here are the pros and cons from last night’s TLC pay-per-view.
Pros
The show got off to a hot start last night with the ladder match. Ziggler and Harper really gave everything they had, as both were men were bruised and bloodied by the end of the contest. There were a number of memorable spots (especially when Harper catapulted Ziggler into the ropes with the ladder), and overall, it ranked up there with some of the best ladder matches in company history. Amazing way to start the show, and unfortunately for WWE, the rest of the show paled in comparison.
Ambrose and Wyatt also put on an amazing show. This was about as brutal as it gets during the PG era, with Ambrose leaping from the top of a ladder to drive Wyatt through a table on multiple occasions. It was also nice to see the company have the confidence to let these guys close the show, although the ending was less than desirable (more on that later).
As expected, Damien Mizdow was over big time with the crowd, with the fans even booing Miz in his hometown of Cleveland in favor of Sandow. I couldn’t help but crack up when Mizdow started emulating the half crab on the apron. The guy has major star potential, and he and the Miz play perfectly off of one another.
Although the booking was atrocious, Rollins proved why he is a future star during his match with John Cena. Join me in the “Cons” section to read more about this one.
Finally, I thought it was a decent decision to have Nikki Bella retain the title, and honestly, it was far from being the worst match of the night. It seems like the company has being playing hot potato with the Divas Championship since AJ Lee’s long title reign ended so it’s nice to see the title stay around someone’s waist for more than a month.
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship will be the main event for next month’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
John Cena defeated Seth Rollins in a tables match (with help from the returning Roman Reigns) at Sunday’s TLC PPV to retain his #1 contender’s title shot.
The 2015 WWE Royal Rumble takes place 6 weeks from tonight on Sunday, January 25th from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.