According to one source, a big tag-team main event is scheduled to take place on tomorrow night’s post-Payback edition of WWE RAW.
In what could be a pairing of secondary champions depending on the outcome of some matches at tonight’s Payback pay-per-view, a tag-team match between Bad News Barrett and Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam and Sheamus is the plan for tomorrow night.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
At one point WWE had plans for Cesaro to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a recent program. Instead, WWE opted for “The King of Swing” to work with Sheamus for the WWE United States Championship, with the feeling that going for the I-C title would be counter-productive for the newest “Paul Heyman Guy.”
As of now, there is no definitive word as to whether or not this will impact Sunday’s WWE Payback pay-per-view, where both the I-C and U.S. titles will be on the line.
The following is highlights of a new Lows Blows interview with Prince Devitt:
On whether he’d get into training when he’s finished wrestling: “I would, I wouldn’t see it as a business opportunity but as a hobby. I really love helping people out, a lot of people have helped me out and though I can’t pay it back maybe I can pay it forward in the future.”
On never facing Sheamus in the ring: “That whole ‘this is our club and we don’t work with you guys’ (caused it). I think just as Sheamus and I left the scene the companies were starting to work together. But yeah, Sheamus put Irish wrestling on the map. I just had a chat with him last night, he’s in good form. I was never aware of being an ‘international hope’, for me I was just happy to do what I was doing and still am. Obviously I would’ve loved to work with Sheamus but the opportunities never arose because of the divide there. It’s sad but you can’t change the past but ultimately I hope people can learn from it and change the future.”
On ending up in New Japan: “I was only going out there for 3 months on an internship and it turned into 8 great years.”
On making his debut in Korakuen Hall: “I’d watched Japanese tapes growing up and actually felt like I was walking into one of these tapes.”
On whether other countries could learn from the Japanese model of training: “The whole system in Japan is tailored towards respect. I think the way people are trained in the west, some people may get it too easy, whereas in Japan everyone comes through the exact same way and everyone has come through the hard way. If I look across the ring from a lad in Japan, I know exactly what he’s been through to get there.”
On if he expected to be so successful in Japan: “The contracts are so short, I was never sure if I was going to be brought back again. I’ve never stepped back and thought, ‘Wow, I’ve done a lot of stuff.’ Maybe in the future it’ll hit me, but for the moment I’m trying to look forward and not dwell too much on the past.”
Check out the complete interview above.
– Sheamus granted three wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the WWE live event in Dublin, Ireland this past Thursday.
– Ric Flair, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase Sr. and others will be on hand at the Big Time Wrestling event on May 31st in North Charleston, South Carolina.
The following are some preview clips for this week’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which airs on E! on Sunday night:
Currently there are three matches officially announced for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st in Chicago, Illinois. Those matches are The Shield vs. Evolution in a No Holds Barred Elimination match, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a Last Man Standing match and Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Other matches likely for WWE Payback include The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan for the WWE Tag-Team Championships, Paige vs. Alicia Fox for the WWE Divas Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship, Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger, Rusev vs. Big E. and Summer Rae vs. Layla with Fandango as special guest referee.
As far as the No Holds Barred Elimination main event, a possible scenario being considered is one that would see Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins eliminated early, leaving Roman Reigns to make a huge comeback on all three Evolution members by himself.
The match will be Batista’s final match in WWE for several months, and based on plans for the future, could be one of Triple H’s last for a while as well.
Following Monday’s taped edition of WWE RAW in London, England, here is your updated lineup for the WWE Payback pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, June 1st. It should be noted that not all of these matches have been officially announced yet, although are all planned for the PPV.
No Holds Barred Elimination Match
– The Shield vs. Evolution
Last Man Standing Match
– Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Bad News Barrett (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
WWE United States Championship
– Sheamus (c) vs. Cesaro
– Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger
The undercard singles titles are all chilling across the pond these days, as Bad News Barrett, Sheamus, and Paige all won championships in recent weeks. New champions are a welcome sight in the WWE these days, especially considering how stale the previous champions’ runs had become.
Dean Ambrose’s reign as United States Champion will likely be the forgotten reign in years to come. He held the title for almost a year while only defending it a few times before finally dropping it to Sheamus during a battle royal a few weeks back.
The same holds true for Big E and the Intercontinental Championship. Although he did not hold the title as long as Ambrose held his US Championship, his reign was unmemorable and he engaged in no meaningful feuds during his months with the title. As for AJ Lee, her run with the title seemed fresh at first, but she eventually ran out of challengers and it seemed like the right time to crown a new champion.
Ambrose held the title for almost a year and hardly ever defended it.
With recent undercard title reigns being unmemorable, it leads one to wonder if unification is the answer. One of the primary reasons the titles go undefended is because it is difficult to have too many stories going at once, especially meaningful ones that involve championship contests. This leads to champions holding insignificant titles like the US Championship as a way to legitimize or build up the character, but in reality, the title does little because it goes undefended.
One of the best options would perhaps be to unify the United States and Intercontinental Championships. By unifying the titles into just the Intercontinental Championship, it could make the title seem important again. In the Attitude Era, the title held importance, with fans knowing that most superstars who held the strap were on their way to the main event.
That is not the case anymore, however, as the title is thrown on random superstars in an attempt to build interest, but then creative puts in no further effort. It is a little sad that the most interesting thing to happen involving the Intercontinental Championship in recent months was a tournament to crown a number one contender that did not even involve the champion at all (except for a few clips showing him standing in the back, angrily looking at a monitor).
– Triple H announced on Monday’s RAW that The Shield will face Evolution at the upcoming Payback pay-per-view. This is a rematch from Extreme Rules, which saw The Shield standing victorious.
WWE Payback takes place on Sunday, June 1st from Chicago, Illinois.
– It was also announced on RAW that United States Champion Sheamus will face Cesaro on Tuesday night’s episode of Main Event on the WWE Network.
– New episodes of WWE Slam City, which features Brock Lesnar, Sheamus, Rey Mysterio and Damien Sandow, are now available at WWESlamCity.com. They will also be added to the WWE Network in the near future.
– The following is a new video blog from former WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson:
http://youtu.be/Bd27od40CZo
– The following stars are scheduled to miss this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, as they will be leaving for the company’s tour of Europe immediately after Monday’s RAW: Daniel Bryan, Kane, Randy Orton, The Shield and Big E.
Names that are scheduled for SmackDown this week include John Cena, The Wyatt Family, Sheamus, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show and Alberto Del Rio.
– WWE recently added the following talents to the official NXT roster page on WWE.com: Veronica Lane, Wesley Blake, Tye Dillinger, Marcus Louis and Bull Dempsey.
– According to one source, Adam Rose likely won’t be making his official main roster in-ring debut for WWE until the upcoming Payback pay-per-view on June 1st. It’s being rumored that Rose’s first opponent will be Jack Swagger.
– The new WWE United States Champion Sheamus is featured on the latest edition of “SmackDown Slam of the Week.” which you can check out below.
There is once again discussion within WWE about the possibility of unifying the WWE Intercontinental and WWE United States Championships.
However, with the WWE U.K. tour coming up, and the fact that Sheamus and Bad News Barrett are both European champions, it looks like there may be more smoke to the fire than usual.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
– According to one report, when Sheamus kicked Dean Ambrose during the WWE United States Championship battle royal on Monday’s RAW, it was supposed to be the beginning of his heel turn. Apparently fans haven’t quite caught on to that fact yet, so it will be interesting to see if they make it more apparent this coming Monday, or if they continue a slow-build sort of heel turn for “The Celtic Warrior.”
– It’s being said within WWE that John Cena has made it clear that he would like to work with Big E. at some point, possibly after this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
– Speaking of Cena, he recently hit a new social media milestone, as he now has 25 million friends on his official Facebook page.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
As previously reported, there has been discussion about adding another member to the Evolution faction in WWE. The key Superstar being considered for a future spot in the group is WWE United States Champion Sheamus. As noted, Sheamus is likely turning heel in the future, so he would fit into the group seamlessly based on story lines.
It’s being said that if WWE were to add Sheamus to Evolution, that it would be done when Batista does eventually take his hiatus to do movie promotional work.
(Credit: ProWrestling.net)
Sheamus is lashing out against the pro wrestling online media once again. Earlier this week, it was reported that WWE’s United States champion was involved in a backstage altercation with Sin Cara.
On Wednesday night, Sheamus responded to the reports, tweeting:
Must be getting punchy. Don't remember being beaten up by Sin Cara backstage… It's just how Mexicans & we Irishmen hug it out fella ;)
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) May 7, 2014
Since then, he followed up with the following tweets:
For the record interwebbers. 3 BRITS don't hold @WWE titles. 2 Brits & 1 Irish fella OR 2 brunettes & 1 handsome ginger hold titles.
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) May 8, 2014
…and ALL dirt sheet heroes who dream they "got the better" of me away from cameras. Step up. Be men. In the ring most days. Try me fella.
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) May 8, 2014
…and lastly dirty sheeters. I'm not HHH's "work-out buddy". Trained with Hunter 3 times. In 2009. In Australia… Now. Back to me day off.
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) May 8, 2014
As previously reported, one source noted recently that Sheamus and Sin Cara were involved in a backstage physical altercation at this week’s WWE television tapings.
Regarding the rumors of a fight between the two, Sheamus tweeted the following:
Must be getting punchy. Don’t remember being beaten up by Sin Cara backstage… It’s just how Mexicans & we Irishmen hug it out fella ;)
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) May 7, 2014
According to reports, a backstage altercation took place at this week’s WWE television tapings between Sheamus and Sin Cara.
There isn’t a lot in the way of details regarding the scuffle, except for the fact that one source claimed Sin Cara got the better of Sheamus.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE has changed some of their originally intended plans for the future. Originally, Randy Orton was going to switch to a baby face, as the company had even informed their merchandise department to work on some baby face items for Orton for down the line. That appears to be off the table at this point, with the current plan having Orton staying heel for the time being.
WWE is looking at the following four stars — in order — to be the top four singles baby faces for down the line: John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro and Sheamus.
As far as Sheamus is concerned, while the original plan was to push him as one of the top baby faces in the company, it appears that they are starting a slow build towards an eventual heel turn for him.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The following are highlights from a recent Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Daniel Bryan running from Kane on RAW: “I can only assume that DB running away was to protect his wife as I don’t know any other reasonable explanation.”
On his relationship with Eric Bischoff: “My relationship with Eric is good and I will be interviewing him on a Ross Report podcast soon. I think that he’s moved on to other things from pro wrestling.”
On if WWE should have put the U.S. title on Rusev instead of Sheamus: “No…Rusev is too green to carry a championship match and needs to remain on a deliberate pace with constant coaching to allow him to grow into a star. He has potential and I like the package with Lana.”
On Extreme Rules not being very “extreme”: “In a PG world it is increasingly difficult to be “Extreme.” It might be time to re-evaluate that theme within WWE.”
On a CM Punk return to WWE: “I don’t see CM Punk returning to WWE any time soon, if ever. He’s enjoying life and there is life outside and beyond wrestling.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On his Ross Report podcast with HBK: “Today (Tuesday) at approximately 6 pm pacific time our much anticipated Ross Report Podcast with the great Shawn Michaels will be available for FREE downloading from podcastone.com or via iTunes. This is one of the most riveting and compelling interviews that I’ve ever been associated with and I feel confident that you are going to enjoy it immensely.”
On Sheamus winning the U.S. title: “Sheamus winning the US title in the Battle Royal was a solid start to RAW with good action and featuring multiple talents. Dean Ambrose US title reign albeit long was uneventful and perhaps Sheamus can help add value to the long time title. I could also see Sheamus trading in his protagonist jersey for an antagonist one sooner than later. Sheamus is a very smart talent who, I think, would be able to add the necessary heel nuances to his game.”
On Kane and Daniel Bryan: “I wasn’t crazy about WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan seemingly retreating from Kane but I mark it off to DB simply wanting to protect his wife and doing what he can to keep her out of harm’s way. This matter needed to be explained better because one can’t have the company’s top champion being reluctant of physically engaging with anyone. I am of the opinion that this Daniel Bryan/Kane storyline needs better explanation for the TV audience and if nothing else for more viable questions to be asked that encourage the audience to mentally invest in what they are seeing.”
On The Wyatt Family’s development: “The continued creative development of the Wyatt Family has my interest even though I have no idea where it is going. I love Bray Wyatt’s promos and his in ring work as big men with a second gear are so marketable and so hard to find. Until Bray does something so heinous that the audience turns on him he’s going to continue to travel the cool, unique antagonist road that really isn’t a traditional heel road at all. It is however a star road and perhaps it’s more important to develop pure stars in today’s market, in the mind of some, than it is to develop traditional pro wrestling villains. Time will tell how it all works out but I am enjoying the evolution nonetheless.”
On Adam Rose: “Have to admit that I’m not plugged into the Adam Rose persona yet but I do know that the wrestler himself is a talented South African who can go bell to bell. I’m certainly willing to give Adam Rose a chance but his RAW exposure Monday night did not flip the switch for me just yet.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– It was announced during Monday’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW that the new WWE United States Champion Sheamus, who won the title by winning a 20-man battle royal to open RAW, will have his first title defense this Friday night on WWE SmackDown.
– Adam Rose made his WWE debut on Monday’s RAW. He appeared in the third hour in a segment with Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. While Colter was reading his “deportation list,” Rose’s music interupted him. He came out partying with his friends. He told Colter not to be a lemon, but instead be a Rose-bud. Colter ordered Swagger to attack him, but Rose caught him with a big boot and threw him out of the ring. Rose and his friends partied in the ring to end the segment.
– WWE revealed the top-ten most watched shows on the WWE Network during this week’s edition of RAW. The latest top-ten looks like this:
1. Extreme Rules 2014
2. Extreme Rules Pre-show
3. Legends House: Striking Out
4. Extreme Rules Post-show
5. Legends House: Cart Before The Horse
6. WrestleMania XXX
7. RAW Pre-show
8. WWE NXT
9. WWE Countdown: Tag Teams
10. WWE Main Event
– The following are video highlights of the 20-man battle royal from RAW that saw Sheamus walk out victorious as the new WWE United States Champion.
– WWE added to their official YouTube channel Renee Young’s backstage interview with new WWE United States Champion Sheamus from RAW. Hear what the “Celtic Warrior” had to say about capturing his second WWE U.S. title on Monday night below.
– Below are highlights of WWE’s WrestleMania XXX international media morning, which was just recently added to the company’s official YouTube channel.
– Sheamus won a 20-man battle royal on WWE RAW on Monday night — last eliminating Dean Ambrose — to become the new WWE United States Champion.
– Speaking of the new U.S. champ, as previously reported, he apparently fell asleep during Extreme Rules on Sunday night. He commented on those reports via his official Twitter account, writing the following tweet.
I swear, wasn't having 40 winks during the Rusev #ExtremeRules bout… That said, I am very well rested for #Raw tonight.
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) May 5, 2014
– There’s a rumor going around that WWE Superstar Sheamus dozed off last night at Extreme Rules when he was part of the pre-show panel for the R-Truth and Xavier Woods vs. Alexander Rusev match. Fans in attendance reportedly were yelling at Sheamus to wake up.
– The Washington Post has published a blog looking at Lana talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin at Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The blog notes that many fans on social media were upset that WWE would include Putin in a storyline, in light of the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
– Television host Maria Menounos will be taking over WWE Diva Natalya’s Twitter account (@NatByNature) tonight at 7pm EST. She’ll be tweeting during RAW to promote her show Chasing Maria on the Oxygen channel.
I'm taking over @natbynature's twitter tonight for @wwe #Raw at 7PM! Tweet u then!! #mariamenounos #chasingmaria pic.twitter.com/jViSRCulsG
— maria menounos (@mariamenounos) May 5, 2014