– There was no dark match after the cameras stopped rolling at Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Des Moines, Iowa. After the show was over, John Cena, Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns hung around in the ring and by the ringside area for a while taking pictures with fans and signing autographs.
– For trivia and statistic buffs out there, if Seth Rollins were to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion upon cashing in his “Money In The Bank” briefcase, he would be the first person in history from the state of Iowa to become WWE Champion.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin tweeted the following during the RAW main event on Monday night, which featured Seth Rollins, Kane and Randy Orton vs. John Cena, Roman Reigns and Chris Jericho.
– In a bit of an interesting note from Monday’s RAW in Des Moines, Iowa, apparently neither of the Seth Rollins t-shirts were available at the merchandise stands. As seen on RAW, Rollins, who is from Iowa, was over huge in the arena, which means WWE likely lost out on a decent chunk of merchandising money by not selling the Rollins t-shirts.
The WWE rolled through midwest tonight, as they set up shop in Des Moines, Iowa. This week’s card featured a total of eight matches, including a life changing six-man tag main event. It’s time to once again take the WWE to school, and I’ll be the one doling out the grades.
As always, matches will be graded based on usual factors such as workrate, in-ring psychology, move variety, crowd reaction, and overall impact on the storyline. Important in-ring promos will also be graded based on factors such as originality, believability, and importance. Without further ado, here is this week’s Raw report card.
Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel
Tonight’s show started with Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel, and featured a shitload of guests, including the Authority, John Cena, and Roman Reigns. There was some entertaining banter during the segment, including Triple H and Jericho hurling corny insults at one another as Jericho dissed Triple H’s pink tie, while the Game chose to attack Y2J’s scarf during a hilarious back and forth. Rollins was extremely over during the promo and got the biggest pop of the night in his home state. Cena threatening to sue the company was pretty lame, however, and held the promo back a bit. It was an overall decent segment, it set up the main event, and the crowd seemed to be into it.
Grade: B
Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro and the Miz
The first match of the night was a tag team match featuring the United States and Intercontinental Champions. The Miz showed up with his body double Damien Mizdow and a personal stylist, complete with chairs and makeup. Miz and Sandow were hilarious throughout the contest and the ending was solid. Ziggler and Cesaro also worked well together during the opening portion of the match, with Cesaro’s fall away slam into a pinning combination being one of the most impressive spots I’ve seen in a long time. Overall, it was an entertaining contest and was a good way to advance both feuds.
WWE Hall Of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland took a few questions from fans on his official Twitter account on Sunday night.
Edge noted that his favorite WWE Superstars are Dolph Ziggler, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and also spoke about how he won’t be writing any “tell-all” books trashing WWE.
Below are some highlights.
Always @HEELZiggler and all three of the Shield guys “@timb0nic: @EdgeRatedR who is your favorite WWE superstar on the current roster?”
Tonight is the Labor Day edition of WWE RAW, which takes place live tonight at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
Confirmed thus far for tonight’s show is a “Highlight Reel” segment with Chris Jericho and special guest, Randy Orton.
Superstars advertised for tonight’s show in Des Moines include John Cena, Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Kane, Seth Rollins and Triple H.
– What hard-hitting questions will Jericho have for Orton?
– How will Cena respond to Brock Lesnar?
– What is going on between AJ Lee and Paige?
– Will Reigns get his hands on Rollins?
– How will Brie Bella move past her sisters actions last week?
Make sure to join us here tonight for live WWE RAW results coverage.
– The Las Vegas Review-Journal has a new article about Jake Roberts and the Freakshow Wrestling event that he was flying to before he suffered health complications on the flight and was rushed to the hospital. It was noted that the show planned to take up a collection from fans this weekend to help support Roberts’ medical bills. You can check out the article at ReviewJournal.com.
– “Mr. Money In The Bank” Seth Rollins is scheduled to appear at the Gamestop Expo on September 10th in Anaheim, California. Rollins will be on hand to promote the new WWE 2K15 video game.
– The official WWE website is currently running a poll asking fans who they feel will be the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The options are Dean Ambrose, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton and Sheamus. With over 12,000 votes cast, Reigns is in a commanding lead with over 40 percent of the votes. After him are Cena and Ambrose, with the rest falling way behind in the vote.
– Sinn Bodhi posted the following update on Jake “The Snake” Roberts via Twitter:
With @JakeSnakeDDT at hospital, he's more worried about disappointing fans then getting better! We told him 2 shut up &beat this phnemonia!
– Apparently Rob Van Dam’s match against Seth Rollins at tonight’s WWE Main Event is the final of his current run with the company. It is believed that Van Dam will go back on hiatus following tonight’s tapings.
– There was no post-show dark match after last night’s edition of WWE RAW went off the air.
– WWE will return to Anaheim, California, the site of last night’s RAW, on Saturday, March 21, 2015 for a non-televised live event.
Campuses around the country are infested with returning college students this week. In honor of all the alcohol that will be consumed and the knowledge that will hopefully be absorbed, it’s time to take the WWE to school, and I’ll be the one doling out the grades.
Welcome to the first ever WWE Raw Report Card. Matches will be graded based on usual factors such as workrate, in-ring psychology, move variety, crowd reaction, and overall impact on the storyline. Important in-ring promos will also be graded based on factors such as originality, believability, and importance. Without further ado, here are this week’s grades.
Hall of Fame Forum
This week’s Raw started with a roundtable discussion regarding the upcoming rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. First off, I never thought I’d see the day where Shawn Michaels was the worst dressed man in the ring, but his combination of cowboy hat, jacket, and Remington t-shirt didn’t do him any favors.
Overall, it was nice seeing the legends together, even if it did feel a bit scripted at times and offered little insight. One hilarious moment was when Michaels said everyone loves Cena, eliciting massive boos from the audience. Speaking of Cena, his promo was surprisingly compelling, and it was nice to see him own up to the beating he took at SummerSlam.
Grade: B-
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
This was likely the last contest between Rusev and Swagger, and all I can say is, “Good riddance.” This match featured a lot of downtime that resulted in a poor workrate, and a lot of the match was spent outside of the ring with nothing going on.
The in-ring psychology was pretty good (Swagger sold the rib injury well) and the crowd was into it, so that raised the grade a bit, but it was ultimately a fitting ending to a rather pointless program that saw Swagger dominated at nearly every stage of the feud.
Grade: C
Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro
This was a rather short match, but both superstars worked well together during the time they were given. One criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed. One moment Cesaro was rolling outside of the ring to avoid the Five Star Frog Splash and only a few seconds later he was hitting the Neutralizer for the win in a sequence that felt a bit off.
The match also served its purpose by building a championship match between Cesaro and Sheamus – a program that looks like it could be entertaining with two of the company’s better workers.
The Conqueror brought John Cena’s title reign to a grinding halt at SummerSlam. Since then, he’s ditched the Big Gold Belt and disappeared from television. (He’s next scheduled to appear at the last Raw before Night of Champions.)
As most fans probably know by now, it has been announced that John Cena will invoke his rematch clause and once again try to slay the Beast Incarnate at Night of Champions.
Lesnar quickly ditched the Big Gold Belt after defeating Cena at SummerSlam.
At first thought, one might wonder if it’s really worth having these two compete again. After all, Cena was completely destroyed and the company seems to selectively choose which superstars receive a rematch anyway. (Where’s Randy Orton’s rematch from WrestleMania?)
The match is already set, however, so there is no use in arguing if the match should be booked, but instead how it should be booked. In my opinion, there are three ways to book the rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar.
The first option, which is the most likely, will see Cena once again be destroyed by Lesnar. He will walk away solidly defeated. He likely won’t give up, but he will lose the contest and that will be the end of Cena challenging for the title for a while. It will then be a depressing winter for the WWE Universe, as Lesnar will control the title and likely only appear once or twice a month.
In order to destroy the evil that is Brock Lesnar, the company will need a new hero to come save the children and their boxes of Fruity Pebbles. That man will be Roman Reigns and it will happen at WrestleMania. Lesnar will undoubtedly drop the title at WrestleMania, and it will likely be to Reigns, but the most interesting swerve would be to have Reigns win the title and Rollins cash in his briefcase to immediately steal it.
It would be the ultimate roller coaster of emotions for fans. Their hero finally defeats the evil villain, only to have the title stolen from him by the Authority. It would be the perfect way to end the pay-per-view and also a great way to build a main event feud for Reigns.
– Originally, WWE wasn’t planning on announcing the SmackDown move to Thursday nights until September. The belief now, however, since the news got out and SyFy announced the time slot change in their updated calendar, is that WWE may go ahead and promote the move sooner.
– In addition to the return of John Cena and the segment featuring the WWE Hall Of Famers on tonight’s RAW, another thing WWE is advertising is what the new direction for Seth Rollins will be now that Dean Ambrose is out of the picture.
– The official WWE website is currently running a poll asking fans which WWE Superstar they would most like to see in a WWE Studios film. The options are Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Sheamus and Stardust. Leading the pack with a considerable amount of the vote is Undertaker, followed by Reigns and Wyatt. You can vote in the poll today at WWE.com.
– Although he has yet to be cleared to return, Daniel Bryan is being advertised for the WWE European tour in November. Matches advertised for the tour include Big Show vs. Rusev and John Cena vs. Seth Rollins on one side, with the other set featuring Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose vs. Kane.
– While Dean Ambrose is away filming the WWE Studios film project “Lockdown,” Roman Reigns will be taking his place at the WWE live events. For example, at the WWE live event in San Diego this weekend, Reigns filled in for Ambrose, defeating Seth Rollins in a tables match.
– Below is a new AfterBuzz TV interview with WWE Diva Natalya, who talks about the upcoming season of WWE Total Divas, NXT and more.
WWE will be premiering a new SummerSlam special on the WWE Network tonight called “Journey To SummerSlam.”
The show, which follows Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as they prepare to do battle at this year’s SummerSlam paty-per-view, airs on the WWE Network at 8pm EST.
Below is the official description for the show:
“As the Shield, they were the most dominant faction inside the ring, taking the entire WWE by storm. Now, the Hounds of Justice have disbanded, and all roads lead to SummerSlam. Witness the journey of three superstars – Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns – from their humble beginnings en route to the biggest event of the summer, SummerSlam 2014.
SummerSlam 2014 aired live on WWE Network on Sunday, August 17. Subscribers can re-watch SummerSlam along with every other past WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view, as part of the most comprehensive video-on-demand library available. After its premiere, Journey to SummerSlam will be available in the video-on-demand library as well.”
To check out a video preview of the show, click here.
Last night’s Raw was held in Las Vegas, Nevada and featured a total of seven matches, including another classic between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
Notably absent was former WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena, as he was recovering from injuries sustained at SummerSlam. Overall, a few questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following this week’s episode of Raw.
5. Can Big Show/Mark Henry Generate Interest?
The so-called “World’s Largest Team” has been running through the tag team division over the past week or so. The two giants once again teamed up this week on Raw, destroying Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in a relatively short contest.
Both of these guys have been largely absent over the past few months, so it’s good to see some sort of program, but can they generate interest as a tag team? With the Usos having beaten every team on the roster, it makes sense to find new challengers and I think Show/Henry against the Usos could make for a decent program. Obviously both teams are working as faces, so the best way to go about the feud could be to turn Show and Henry heel.
4. Should Swagger Be Given More Time to Speak?
Zeb Colter was notably absent last night after taking a kick from Rusev at SummerSlam. In his absence, Jack Swagger cut a surprisingly decent promo before his match with Cesaro.
Although Colter has served as Swagger’s mouthpiece for well over a year and the only words I’ve heard come out of Swagger’s mouth are “We the People,” I believe he should be given more time to speak. It would allow him to develop a non-robotic character, while also still receiving mentorship from one of the top managers in the business.
Following last night’s edition of RAW, where Dean Ambrose was stretchered out of the arena after taking a Curb Stomp from Seth Rollins on some cinder blocks, the official WWE website has a storyline update on Ambrose’s condition.
According to the website, Ambrose suffered extensive head and spine trauma. They also noted that he escaped from WWE trainers and is on the loose.
Below is an excerpt from the article, which features comments from WWE’s Dr. Chris Amann:
“As you saw during the match with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, toward the end of the match, Dean had sustained what we thought was pretty significant head and cervical spine trauma, so as a precaution we immobilized his neck, placed him on a stretcher and removed him from the ring area and brought him backstage. At the time of bringing him backstage, he was responsive and was refusing transport to a local medical facility for further evaluation. He had removed the straps and surgical collar, said he refused to go and we haven’t seen him since.”
The following are highlights of a new AZ Central interview with Seth Rollins:
Q: Before you signed with WWE, you worked with other wrestling organizations. Is there a big difference?
A: Sometimes I wrestled in front of very small crowds for very small amounts. I’ve done bingo halls and tents in front of 10 people with a cow mooing in the background. Doing that and then going to Wrestlemania and the Superdome and wrestling in front of 80,000 people is night and day.
The crazy thing is that at the core of it all, however you’re doing it, in front of however many people, it’s the same. You’re telling a story and interacting with the crowd.
Q: Do you have a lot of control over your persona?
A: I haven’t run into too many hiccups as far as creative control. The guys here are really talented and they do amazing, original programming 52 weeks a year. It’s really unprecedented as far as live television is concerned.
Q: So how much of Seth Rollins is you?
A: It’s a lot of me with a little bit of WWE added in. They’re expert at creating brands and marketing brands. We brainstormed and developed and turned Seth Rollins into the kind of cool persona I really enjoy being a part of. You have to have some of you in that.
– Apparently both Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella have spent a lot of time practicing their match over the last week or so. It is being said that the two will be given a decent amount of time for their match tonight, and many expect a lot of bells and whistles to help ensure that the match comes off well on the pay-per-view.
– Following tonight’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view in Los Angeles, Brock Lesnar is scheduled to appear on tomorrow night’s WWE RAW follow-up show, which is advertising a main event (likely a dark match) of Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose & Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton & Seth Rollins & Bray Wyatt.
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog, which features the WWE Hall Of Famer giving his predictions for tonight’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
On John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar: “If you’ve listened to my Ross Report Podcast on podcastone.com and iTunes you know that I’ve been saying for months that I thought Lesnar would win the WWE Title at Sumer Slam even before Cena regained the championship. I will stay with my prediction as I feel that WWE is grooming Roman Reigns for the to spot and that Reigns beating Lesnar next year at WM31 would be a big money match if properly built. Yes, one can build it ‘properly’ even if Lesnar isn’t a ‘full time’ talent. It’s called smart booking. It was done for decades with the traveling, NWA Champion.”
On The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler: “Timing is every thing in the wrestling biz and Ziggler has had too many false starts to endure many more w/o being looked upon by many frustrated fans negatively. I’d put Ziggler over and take a positive step in restoring the shine to the IC Title and what it has meant in years past in WWE…the in ring, work horse champ.”
On AJ Lee vs. Paige: “As I have said many times, AJ is WWE’s top in ring Diva while Paige has the ability to put herself firmly in that conversation. Although neither lady may find themselves ever on ‘Totally Divas,’ and they both may not care, I feel that AJ will retain her title Sunday.”
On Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton: ” ‘The Roman Empire’ begins its build in earnest with a quality win over a proven, top talent at a major PPV. WWE is doing a nice job building Reigns who is a work in progress but, as I’ve said, he has until April 2015 to be truly ready for ‘the spot.’ Funny how some fans of today’s generation are already having issues with Reigns which, based on their own reasoning, is embarrassing in my opinion.”
On Rusev vs. Jack Swagger: “It is hard to logically fathom seeing the Russian Flag prevail over the American flag in a match where capturing the flag determines the winner. I’m going with my fellow Oklahoman Jack Swagger who will always be the 2nd toughest wrestling from Perry, Oklahoma (Next to Dan Hodge) Sunday in LA in this traditional, nationalistic story line. A loss in this type of match won’t hurt Rusev in the least as he is still a work in progress too. The more personality Swagger demonstrates the better chance he has to contribute in a more significant way in WWE.”
On Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella: “I like this storyline, although I wasn’t crazy about the physical therapist component added last week implicating Brie’s husband Daniel Bryan having an affair with the physical therapist, and think that WWE can easily get more mileage out of this pairing. By hook or crook, I’d get Steph over and continue the rivalry in a very personal way which may include Nikki Bella. Steph has been a star in this presentation thus far. For a mother of three who has multiple full time jobs Mrs. HHH looks great and will represent well in the ring.”
On Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho: “Wyatt needs to win here and if he doesn’t I’d suggest counseling for all involved in the decision making process. There’s no reason that these two couldn’t have the match of the night or damn close to it.”
On Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose: “I’d like to see Rollins win a close one here and am curious to see how the Lumberjack Stipulation creatively plays into the match. I’d start the show with this match and feel that these two will tear down the Staples Center if provided the time so that they don’t have to rush the process.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Based on several online betting sites that are currently running odds for tonight’s WWE SummerSlam, below are the current favorites and underdogs for tonight’s big show.
– Brock Lesnar over John Cena
– Stephanie McMahon over Brie Bella
– Roman Reigns over Randy Orton
– AJ Lee over Paige
– Seth Rollins over Dean Ambrose
– The Miz over Dolph Ziggler
– Jack Swagger over Rusev
– Bray Wyatt over Chris Jericho
Make sure to visit the website tonight for the best WWE SummerSlam live results coverage on the web!
WWE has finally announced a SummerSlam “Kickoff Show” match for this Sunday, as Rob Van Dam will take on Cesaro during the 30-minute pre-show that airs prior to SummerSlam on the WWE Network.
With that now known, below is a look at the finalized card for this Sunday night.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
– John Cena (c) vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Divas Championship
– AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– The Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Lumberjack Match
– Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
Flag Match
– Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
Harper & Rowan Banned From Ringside – Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
– Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella
– Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns
Kickoff Show Match
– Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro
Make sure to join us here on the website this Sunday night for the best WWE SummerSlam live results coverage on the web!
The following are highlights of a new IGN interview with Roman Reigns:
IGN: And how about heading into your first-ever singles SummerSlam match?
Reigns: I’m excited, man. It’s a great opportunity to me. I have a really strong opponent in Randy Orton. A former multi-time world champion. He’s held just about every title under the sun. And he’s done it all in a major way. He’s basically wreaked havoc and ran roughshod over the WWE for quite some time. Some people might forget that. Not the Viper part, but that for many years he was running the show. The biggest bad guy in town. So I couldn’t have a better platform and a bigger stepping stone than I have at SummerSlam.
IGN: Over the past couple Pay-Per-Views, you’ve had world title opportunities. Some people say you’re not ready yet while others think you are. What do you have to say about that?
Reigns: Everyone has an opinion. That’s just a crazy part of this world now. You can type things on the internet. You can have no credentials in any area and just get on your smart phone and write whatever you want. For me, I know me. I know who I am. I know where I come from and where I want to go. I know I’m 100% ready.
Everyone else seems to have an opinion, and claim to know, whether I am or I’m not. I would love to see all the people who run their mouths try and do what I do. Because they can’t. I’m special and then men that I work with are extremely special. We were built, and I was born, to handle situations the way I do. I’ve always been the type who can be thrown in the fire and make it out. So I was ready six months ago. I was ready a year ago. Any time I’m given an opportunity, I feel I’m ready.
IGN: Your run with The Shield is done now, but you still have the Shield music and the entrance that takes you down through the crowd. Rollins and Ambrose got new theme music. Did you want a new track and a new entrance?
Reigns: No, I enjoy walking through the crowd. I think that’s a cool part of the show. And I think it’s become a bit of a signature trademark of the show. I would think now too that after my whole run with The Shield that the value of those seats have gone up. Before they were just seats. Now you can actually interact. When we would all walk down the steps, there were three guys there right up close. You could touch us. You could smell us. You know what I mean? We were right there. It’s not a common opportunity.
If there’s a certain Superstar who doesn’t want to touch hands, he can just walked down the middle of the entrance ramp and nobody’s close to him. When I’m walking down through the crowd, I have no choice. People are going to grab me. They’ll get a sense of me up close and my real size. So it’s a whole different experience. I’m very grateful to have kept that part. And for me it was an obvious choice. Because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.