The following are some highlights from a Jim Ross online Q&A update:
On the way WWE has been concluding their recent PPVs: “I think that the main attractions at PPV should generally be the final chapter of a rivalry or the first installment of a rivalry when possible. Inconclusive finishes should rarely be utilized on any platform. I’ve been blogging about this matter a great deal. I’d suggest that you read my blogs. Thanks.”
On Lord Alfred Hayes: “Always a jovial guy who loved the ladies and his wine. I never worked a territory with Alfred and only for a time in WWE. I thought he always was underrated as a broadcaster and was a good promo guy when he was wrestling.”
On why Shawn Michaels vs. The Rock never happened: “Not sure why HBK vs. Rock never occurred but it would have been good without a doubt.”
On wrestling movies such as Beyond The Mat and The Wrestler: “Sobering. Sad at times. Not a total look at everyone in the business but accurate for some.”
– On Friday’s edition of the “Late Show with David Letterman,” WWE Hall Of Famer Andre The Giant was mentioned. While talking to Tom Brokaw, Letterman referred to New York Mayor Billy DeBlasio as “Andre The Giant.”
– Saturday marked the 16th anniversary of the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” match between WWE Hall Of Famers Shawn Michaels and Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
– WWE Diva and co-star of the Total Divas reality show, Eva Marie, recently tweeted about her appearance on Sky TV in Germany. Marie tweeted the following:
The December 2013 issue of WWE Magazine features an in-depth interview with Shawn Michaels, who weighed in on his most memorable matches and how he became one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time. Without mentioning Daniel Bryan by name, he addresses the topic of undersized WWE Superstars being overlooked for main event positions and how he personally responded to Vince McMahon’s perceptions at a time when larger-than-life individuals ruled the promotion.
On fighting an uphill battle to stand out in WWE, Michaels states, “I’m always slightly amused by how people talk about how so-and-so ‘isn’t big enough.’ And hoe someone is fighting an uphill battle because of his size. You don’t know the first thing about an uphill battle. Try doing it in 1994 and 1995, even earlier than that. Try doing it back when there hadn’t been—with all due respect—me complaining about how size shouldn’t matter. Now there’s a list of guys as long as my arm who complain about getting looked over.
“When I got here, I didn’t have a name. I didn’t have a legacy. I didn’t have a famous family. And there was only one guy who was gonna kick down the door and piss and moan until—quite frankly, and thankfully—the old man finally relented. Ha ha.”
Michael lays claim to being the originator of the ‘pipe bomb,’ which he used to push the Chairman’s buttons in the mid-1990s.
“I also chuckle at the notion of a ‘pipe bomb’ being something new. Back in 1994, 1995, and 1996, those were the original ‘pipe bombs,’ said Michaels. “That’s one of the things we were pushing for back then—bringing more of the reality of the situation to the forefront. I used to say stuff and The Chairman had no idea what was coming out. It’s just different now. We were also privately owned then. That’s why we just got yelled at, not fired. (Laughs)”
Ironically, Michaels doing away with his rebellious personality upon his return to the promotion in 2002 and becoming a ‘model employee’ incensed McMahon.
“Now, my faith and my family are what’s important. I’m not sure Mr. McMahon’s aware there is a life outside WWE. Over the years, he and I butted heads many times behind the scenes. And, honestly, I think there was a part of him that liked those confrontations. So when I came back (in 2002), and had re-prioritized my life, I was actually sort of a ‘model employee.’ That’s what sent him over the edge with me,” said Michaels.
– Former WWE Superstar Scott Hall, along with his son Cody Hall, are accepting booking requests for 2014 through their company, “HallGood Entertainment.” Promoters interested in booking either of the Hall’s can do so via e-mail at Scott@Razor4Life.com on by tweeting @Cody_Hall1.
– WWE CEO Vince McMahon will be writing the foreword to the new WWE 50th Anniversary book, which is scheduled to be released in March of 2014.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels recently responded to a fan on Twitter that asked him if WWE COO Triple H would be making any future appearances on his hunting show, “MacMillian River Adventures.” HBK tweeted the following:
RT: @HellcatPerez: "Any plans to have @TripleH back on your show again?" — We've been talking about it.
The following are highlights of a recent Busted Open Radio interview with former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho:
On a return at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view: “I can post a picture of me and the Pope on Instagram or Twitter and the first three thousand comments will be: ‘When are you coming back to the WWE?’ People are so obsessed with that. My response is that I don’t know. I talked about this the last time I was on the show in New York for Fozzy. I don’t have any plans. Not to say that I won’t but as you can see there are a lot of really cool projects that are going on under the Chris Jericho brand umbrella and I think that just adds to me being an asset to the WWE and spreading my wings as much as I can and gaining the biggest fan base I can. I’m not retired from wrestling, I never said that. The time has to be right and soon eventually it will be right. I came back to the Royal Rumble last year and to come back at the Royal Rumble this year, it would be like: ‘We’ve been there and done that’. I have to see what’s going on and figure out another cool way to make it work when the time is right.”
On the next major star in WWE: “I think anybody can be the face of the company if the fans dictate it. I think sometimes the powers-that-be may have different opinions but the thing about Daniel Bryan is that his rise is very organic. It happened basically in spite of the way he was getting pushed. I think if I had to pin point a moment that it happened, it was during that eighteen second loss at WrestleMania last year where people were legitimately angry that the company could treat him that way and started to really get behind him as a character. I think when everybody is chanting his name and the guy goes out there as possibly the best wrestler in the world and a great character and a great performer, why not? You need something different to replace the one that’s on top as we saw when they were trying to replace Hulk Hogan for so many years until Bret Hart stepped up. I think he can be the face of the company if they so desired.”
On the rise and the falls being a test from within: “If you are a conspiracy theorist, you would think that. All I know is from my experiences and if you look how I came into the WWE in 1999, it was the biggest thing in a long, long time. You look at the timeline of that, two or three weeks later, I was losing to Stevie Richards on Sunday Night Heat. There is always a growing process and if you remember the famous title match I had with Triple H where I beat him for the title back in 2000 and then was forced to give it up a few minutes later and what people forget about that is at the end of the show, I got pinned by Hunter in a six man tag team match, clean, 1-2-3. You always wonder that sometimes they do the opposite of what you would expect to happen as far as the way you would book things.”
“I think that there is kind of a test, can this guy get over? Can he sink or swim? What’s going to happen if we pull a swerve on him? Will he have a bad attitude? Will he stop working hard? You never know. My response to that is all you can do is the best you can do with whatever situation you are given. If you get too far with it, you got to make a stand and say something. Before I won the title that time at State College, Pennsylvania against Triple H, I was on my way to Vince’s (McMahon) office; it was like the movie Slap Shot: ‘Who owns the Chiefs? Pay me or I will leave’ sort of thing. I’m done! I lost to Viscera. I lost to the Godfather and this was a waste of my time. I’m done. The writer at that time was Tommy Blacha at the time and he said: ‘Listen, before you go to Vince, I have to say something.’ I said: ‘There is nothing you can say that’s going to change my mind.’ He said: ‘You’re going to win the World Title tonight.’ And that changed my mind. You just got to hold on and Eddie Guererro’s told me that his dad used to say: ‘The cream will always rise to the top. If you can wrestle, you will always have a job and you will get to the top.’ I still believe that. Whatever kind of politics or dipsy doodles may happen, all you got to do is keep performing to the best of your ability and sooner or later you are going to get that shot.”
On the possibility of Shawn Michaels returning to the ring: “Honestly knowing Shawn (Michaels), I don’t think so. That’s my opinion. He could but you look at the way he went out, in one of the greatest matches of all time at WrestleMania in the main event with this huge reception. The performer of Shawn Michaels caliber and his ego, and I say that in a good way because we all have egos, he is not going to come back for anything for less than that. I don’t think you are going to get anything bigger than that. Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels, in my opinion, were the two greatest matches ever. What can compare to that? My gut feeling says no, of course I don’t know but if you ask me, I’d say no.”
“The reason why Taker and Shawn worked is that you have two guys that are on the same exact level, iconic performers that no one can really touch. Maybe Shawn versus Triple H is something that maybe they would do but I don’t think that’s even big enough. I think that door is closed for Shawn and I think he is happy doing what he is doing and I think that’s the same for Steve Austin. I think he very satisfied with his career, I don’t think he feels the need to comeback. Sometimes it happens. As much as the wrestling fans demand it, sometimes if you feel that you did everything that you wanted to do and you’re happy, then why mess with it.”
On whether or not Big Show is hotter now than he has ever been in the past: “I only know from what I read in the reports. I haven’t had the chance to watch a lot of the shows because I have been busy on the road and I find with the Big Show has been around for so long and has performed at the highest level in some many different angles, in so many different personas, I think he is one of the most taken for granted performers in the history of the WWE. He can do anything, he can have a great match every single night but when he is motivated, he goes to a totally different level.”
“I think all you have to say to Show is that: ‘You are going to be involved in the main event storyline (Randy) Orton and Hunter and I think that’s all that Show needs to turn it up some more. I think that Show at eighty percent is better than eighty percent of the roster. But when he is motivated, there are not a lot of performers that can touch him. I think he is very underrated. I think he is taken for granted by the fans and by the company. If I was going to start my own wrestling company, Big Show would be in the top 5 easily, easily, and easily.”
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently took part in a lengthy panel discussion at the Wizard World Comic-Con event in Nashville, Tennessee. Among many other topics, Bryan spoke about the most disappointing moment of his career, being trained by Shawn Michaels and William Regal, the Total Divas reality show, his dream match at WrestleMania and teaming with Kane.
You can check out the complete, 50-minute Daniel Bryan panel discussion from the Nashville Wizard World event below:
– According to a live reports from fans who were at RAW, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels received a lot of boos from the crowd when he was helped to the back after receiving the Yes! Lock by Daniel Bryan.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels says that he might continue to be a part of WWE storylines. When asked by a fan on Twitter if he’ll be “hanging around for a while,” Michaels replied:
RT: @BDreibrodt: "does this mean you're gonna be hanging around for a while? ::fingers crossed::" — We'll see…its been discussed,
-Both Vince McMahon and WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels visited the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida on Monday. According to reports, McMahon and HBK did not interact or speak with any of the developmental talent.
-Friday’s WWE Hell In A Cell “go-home” edition of SmackDown averaged 2.681 million viewers, which was an increase from the 2.640 million viewers that the show averaged the previous week.
-Despite the finish at WWE Hell In A Cell pointing in the direction, there are no plans for Shawn Michaels to come out of retirement and wrestle an actual match. Apparently HBK was swearing to everyone backstage at the show on Sunday niight that he’s not coming back for another match, nor was there any real talk from WWE management on at Hell In A Cell about that happening.
-One source within WWE claims that the expectation for tonight’s RAW rating is a 3.0, due to the Shawn Michaels appearance stemming from the Hell In A Cell main event angle, as well as John Cena’s first live appearance on RAW in the past few months. RAW tonight goes up against the MLB World Series.
-WWE is advertising Shawn Michaels for tonight’s post-PPV edition of WWE RAW. As noted previously, Michaels played a big role in the Hell In A Cell main event, ultimately costing his former student, Daniel Bryan, the WWE Championship after hitting him with a super-kick on Sunday night.
-As previously reported, John Cena is advertised to work a match against Alberto Del Rio (likely a dark match) on this Tuesday night’s WWE SmackDown television taping. The new World Heavyweight Champion is also being advertised for next Tuesday night’s SmackDown taping, as WWE attempts to create more interest in that brand now that Cena holds the major title most associated with it.
– Chris Jericho will be part of the guest panel on next week’s AMC “Talking Dead” show, which airs right after Walking Dead and features cast and production team mebmers as well as celebrities talking about the episode that just aired. The series airs live from Los Angeles and previously featured CM Punk as a guest.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is responding to fans on Twitter who have asked why he turned on Daniel Bryan at Hell in a Cell and knocked him out with Sweet Chin Music. When asked which Texan he should be compared to, Michaels wrote:
“How about Bruce Dern? You know, when he shot John Wayne in the movie “The Cowboys.” Just a thought:-)”
When compared to the biblical character Judas, Michaels said:
“Suppose we should be angry at all the actors who’ve play him over the years as well…ooh & the guy who plays satan:-)”
Michaels is scheduled for tonight’s WWE RAW from Orlando, but won’t be at this week’s SmackDown tapings.
Following the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view event in Miami, Florida on Sunday night, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan, who failed to capture the WWE Championship in the main event of the show, was helped to the backstage area by a couple of referee’s.
The new WWE Champion, Randy Orton, who won the title by defeating Bryan with help from a super-kick by the special guest referee, Shawn Michaels, continued his celebration after the pay-per-view ended.
WWE COO Triple H, who was also involved in the complex finish on Sunday night, was in the arena with Orton after the show.
According to one fan in attendance, the “energy was sucked out of the building like a vacuum” following the finish of Orton-Bryan.
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Jerry Lawler not being mocked in his hometown on RAW: “The King got out unscathed in his home town. That somewhat surprised me and, just thinking out loud, I wonder if WWE missed an opportunity to help a villain IE Del Rio have more momentum for this Sunday’s HIAC PPV? It better serves the returning John Cena to face a hot antagonist.”
On how fans perceive John Cena: “Find it humorous that on my Twitter feed @JRsBBQ that those that did not like Cena before he was injured STILL don’t like John even after viewing the videos. Without question Cena is amazingly polarizing but also, without question, John Cena is the biggest star in WWE, like it or not.”
On the in-ring product on Monday’s RAW: “The in ring product last night was solid and enjoyable for the most part. Any one who thinks that WWE, or any one else, can have three hours of great, TV rasslin and it all be really good needs to be drug tested. That’s not going to happen any time soon. I honestly don’t think that’s possible at this time in the business.”
“Ambrose vs. Bryan was a really, nice match. Bryan provided his fans ‘hope’ while Ambrose taking a clean loss gives him something to bitch about and to plot for his retribution. Great selling and near falls which are two essentials of any good, pro wrestling bout.”
“Orton vs. Ziggler was another good bout that Orton needed to win and Ziggler provided the ‘shine’ for that outcome. Another loss that did not destroy Dolph who has proven to me that he is one of WWE’s top talents. Many fans are growing impatient of Ziggler’s current status on the card but all he can do is continue to out perform as many of his opponents as he can on a regular basis and his time will come. That’s akin to HBK being considered only a tag team wrestler and never any thing else for years until Shawn got into one on one bouts and, over time, became a show stealer.”
On Paul Heyman’s promo on RAW and the Punk/Heyman feud: “Paul Heyman’s promo was the best verbal presentation on the show but that can be said more often than not. Heyman knows how to be an antagonist and how to facilitate fans to dislike him. Villains who purposely make fans laugh are erroneously produced in my view. Bobby Heenan could pull it off but ‘Wease’ was a genius and he did not have writers providing his material.”
“Certainly feel that the Heyman-Punk personal issue is nearing a definitive end. I guess we will find out on Sunday. I’m not sure where else it can go involving the two especially as it relates to Punk giving Heyman the long promised physicality that Heyman’s TV persona deserves.”
On HBK’s performance on RAW and how WWE ended the show: “Thought HBK was effectively utilized in Memphis and much better than the week before. I tweeted @JRsBBQ last night asking if RAW would end the night with ‘hope’ or ‘heat’ and the answer obviously was one of ‘hope’ as the overachieving, underdog Daniel Bryan…along with the Big Show….left the live audience on a high and hopefully, for the talents and WWE’s sake, the motivation needed to purchase the HIAC PPV this Sunday.”
Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was interviewed by WWE.com about his role as special guet referee in the main event of Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. When asked about his former student Daniel Bryan’s longterm prospects, Michaels replied:
“I believe he’s going to be a player in WWE for a long, long time, and that’s when greatness is established — over time. It’s not in one day. Greatness is something that stands the test of time, and I think that’s what he should focus on.”
– Speaking of HBK, new episodes of Shawn Michaels’ MacMillan River Adventures begin airing on the Outdoor Channel tonight at 11:30pm EST.
The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler:
On his first memory of watching WrestleMania: “WrestleMania IV when they had the tournament for the title (won by Randy Savage). I was cheering for Ricky Steamboat. I was a big fan of Steamboat as a kid.”
On his dream opponent for WrestleMania: “Shawn Michaels.”
On his favorite match in WrestleMania history: “Shawn Michaels vs. the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV (won by the Undertaker). They could have just had a good match, and we would all still be talking about it. But they went out and had one of the best storytelling matches of all-time. I went into the crowd and just watched it.”
Check out the complete interview online at NOLA.com.
Following Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, some new items have been revealed for this coming Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
RAW on Monday is scheduled to feature, among other things, an official contract signing between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan for their Hell In A Cell match for the vacant WWE Championship at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels, who will serve as the special guest referee for the aforementioned Orton-Bryan title match, will also be appearing on Monday’s RAW.
Also announced for RAW on Monday, as we reported previously, is Triple H “dealing with the Rhodes Brothers” for winning the WWE Tag-Team Championships from The Shield’s Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on last week’s show, as well as more information on “The Game” stripping Big Show of his name.
Finally, WWE will follow-up on the storyline concussion that RAW General Manager Brad Maddox suffered after being on the receiving end of a Big Show knockout punch on Friday’s SmackDown.
– Monday’s WWE RAW had a Trendrr.tv social media score of 213,032, down a sharp 17% from last week’s post-Battleground episode. RAW’s social score ranked #2 on cable for the night behind the MLB Playoffs game between the Dodgers and Cardinals.
– Former WWE & TNA star Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria/Tara) will be working the October 26th Ring of Honor “Glory By Honor XI” show from Chicago Ridge, Illinois. ROH ran an angle last night where Maria Kanellis appeared at Varon’s Chicago restaurant The Squared Circle and got into a confrontation with her.
– Fans have probably noticed that Shawn MIchaels has had no interaction with Triple H since returning to WWE television. Creative wants to keep them apart for as long as possible to maximize the impact for when the former DX members finally go face to face.
– As of Monday afternoon, Bray Wyatt will not be wrestling at Hell in a Cell. He’s expected to miss four weeks while he recovers from the leg injury he suffered at a live event over the weekend.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is expected to appear on next week’s “go home” edition of WWE RAW to hype his role as special referee in the main event of Hell in a Cell.
– On Monday’s RAW, it was announced that CM Punk will wrestle Ryback and Paul Heyman inside Hell in a Cell at next weekend’s pay-per-view. Original plans called for only Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton to take place inside the steel cage, however, Vince McMahon made the decision on Monday afternoon to feature a second match inside the cell.
On Monday’s live edition of WWE RAW, a new match with an added stipulation was announced for the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, which emanates from Miami, Florida on October 27th.
It was announced by RAW General Manager Brad Maddox that a “Beat The Clock Challenge” would take place to determine whether Paul Heyman or CM Punk would get to select the stipulation for Punk’s match against Ryback at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view. Ryback would take on R-Truth, while Punk would take on Curtis Axel. Ryback defeated Truth at 5:44, while Punk defeated Axel at 5:33.
It had already been revealed earlier in the night by Heyman that if Ryback won, the match with Punk would be a two-on-one handicap match against both Ryback and Axel. Since Punk won, he decided to keep it a two-on-one handicap match, instead featuring Ryback and Heyman against himself in a Hell In A Cell match.
With that now known, here is an updated look at the official lineup thus far for this year’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view:
Vacant WWE Championship Hell In A Cell Match with Special Referee Shawn Michaels
-Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship
-Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. John Cena
Hell In A Cell Handicap Match
-CM Punk vs. Ryback & Paul Heyman
Stay tuned to SESCOOPS.COM for further updates to the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view lineup, and make sure to check back on Sunday, October 27th for the best live results coverage of the show on the internet.
WWE recently announced a WWE Tag-Team Championship match for tonight’s live edition of WWE RAW. Current champions, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns of The Shield, will defend their titles in a rematch from the WWE Battleground pay-per-view, as they take on Cody Rhodes and Goldust.
Also announced for tonight’s RAW, as previously reported, is the return of WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels, who will serve as the special guest referee for the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell rematch for the vacant WWE Championship between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan.
Make sure to check back here at the website at 8:00pm E.T. for detailed, live play-by-play results coverage of WWE RAW.
The official WWE website has released their “Five-Point Preview” for tonight’s edition of the show. In the preview, WWE.com confirms that the special guest referee for the Hell In A Cell main event between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan, WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels, will be appearing on the show.
Regarding HBK’s appearance on RAW tonight, WWE.com wrote the following:
With WWE Championship Match special guest referee Shawn Michaels now confirmed by WWE.com to appear on Raw, what twists and turns lie ahead on the path to the place where rivalries are settled? WWE.com has five possibilities for Monday night’s Raw.
-As previously reported, WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley will have WWE cameras present at his comedy show in Long Island, New York on November 17th. Apparently, the footage WWE is shooting is for a new documentary that is scheduled to be released in 2014. Foley noted on Twitter that in addition to the November 17th show, his show in New York on November 3rd will also have cameras present to film footage for the documentary.
-WWE is working on a new “Shawn Michaels WrestleMania Matches” DVD and Blu-ray set, which is reportedly scheduled for a WWE release in either February or March of 2014. According to HBK’s official Twitter account, he shot interviews for the DVD-set while he was in town for WWE RAW last Monday night.
-The following is a new interview with WWE Superstar Ryback. In the interview, Ryback speaks to members of the Abu Dhabi media, including comments about how he feels working with Paul Heyman in WWE is going to take him to the next level. He also talks about how he dislikes the internet.