– WWE announced on Tuesday night’s live Main Event broadcast on the WWE Network that the show will premiere Tuesday nights at 8pm (Eastern) on the WWE Network every week moving forward. The show is being billed as ‘live’ – but Main Event will actually be on slight tape delay. The shows will still air on the Ion Network on Wednesday nights and replay on Hulu.
– Starting this week, new episodes of WWE NXT will premiere on the Thursday nights at 9pm (Eastern) on the WWE Network. NXT will also replay on Hulu.
– WWE SummerSlam travel packages to Los Angeles go on sale tomorrow (Thursday). Gold Packages start at $540 and Platinum Packages start at $1,076. For more information, contact travel.packages@wwe.com.
– On Sunday, Randy Orton reached 1,000 days (career total) as a WWE World champion. The milestone puts him in the Top 10 for all-time days as champion in WWE history.
– Mick Foley posted a message on Facebook stating that he’s no longer under contract with WWE, but will continue representing the company at public appearances.
– At Saturday night’s Los Angeles Kings vs. Carolina Hurricanes game, the Staples Center promoted that SummerSlam tickets go on sale March 15th.
– Apparently WWE Superstar Randy Orton hit the 1,000-day mark for his career as a WWE Champion today. That puts him 10th place all-time in total accumulated time as champion in WWE history.
– WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam was recently asked by a fan on Twitter if he would be back in WWE by the SummerSlam pay-per-view. RVD simply replied by saying, “indeed.”
– The WWE Main Event television taping this coming Tuesday night in Detroit will be airing live on the WWE Network. Following the technical problems with the NXT Arrival live special, this is apparently being viewed as an attempt by WWE to run another live special to make sure the technical glitches are smoothed out to the best of their ability before the big WrestleMania XXX event takes place on the WWE Network in April.
– At Saturday night’s Los Angeles Kings vs. Carolina Hurricanes game, they pushed that SummerSlam tickets would be available at the Staples Center in L.A. on March 15th. The Kings mascot then reportedly tried to lead the crowd in a “Yes!” chant, one that apparently didn’t exactly catch on.
– Tickets for WWE SummerSlam at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA go on sale March 15th.
– As you can imagine, everybody was excited to have Betty White backstage at Monday’s RAW. She was described as extremely nice and was more than willing to take photos with whoever asked.
– WWE Superstar Christian was sporting a black eye on RAW. Christian took a ‘potato’ shot at a WWE live event over the weekend.
– Once again, prior to last night’s RAW, WWE did a test run for the RAW Preshow that will air on the WWE Network. Alex Riley, Josh Matthews, Tensai, and Booker T hosted the show.
As noted, WrestleMania 31 will be in Santa Clara in 2014. As a result, the annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, which is generally hosted in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, could see a venue and location change to the east coast.
With WrestleMania 31 on the west coast, SummerSlam, which is viewed within WWE as the second largest annual event, is now rumored for Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2014.
Additionally, the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view in 2015 is rumored to be held in either the Staples Center in Los Angeles or the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Many were surprised that the CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar match at this year’s SummerSlam wasn’t nominated for the “Match of the Year” in the 2013 WWE Slammy Awards. According to reports, several people within WWE feel that it is easily the best match in the entire company for 2013.
According to one source, the reason Punk vs. Lesnar was not nominated is because Punk “can’t have a better match” with Lesnar than Triple H did, so WWE nominated the Lesnar vs. Triple H match instead, and gave Punk the nomination for his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 instead.
Here’s the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” I may have a different perspective than you since I was live at Raw this week at The Nassau Colosseum! Comment below and tell us how you like the column and if you agree with this week’s picks.
Daniel Bryan & CM Punk cut a promo before facing The Wyatts
The obligatory rematch between The Wyatts and Daniel Bryan & CM Punk, took place on Raw. First a promo from “The Beard & The Best” CM Punk discussing team names, and asking questions allowing Daniel Bryan to answer them with a “Yes!”. Daniel Bryan got a chance to say more than just the three letter word that will follow him for the rest of his career.
I love Daniel Bryan, and so does the crowd. In fact you could hear Daniel Bryan chants during the opening segment, proving once again that this demotion was not “Best For Business” But more on that in the “NO!” section.
Any match can be enhanced with the crowd behind you. When you have top stars like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, the two most over Superstars at Raw, it can add just that little more energy to the match.
CM Punk made a comment about Triple H and the authority in the opening promo, and wouldn’t know it after Daniel Bryan was “Kidnapped” by the Wyatts. CM Punk was laid out by The Shield. I wonder if that marks the end of Daniel Bryan and CM Punk together, because I was enjoying that. Time will tell.
Who would have thought Goldust would be having great matches alongside his brother in 2013!
The Shield vs The Rhodes and Rey Mysterio
I have never been a fan of Tag Teams growing up watching the WWE. I must say however, though all the missteps, and bad booking since SummerSlam, The WWE has a great tag team division. This, of course includes The Shield and The Wyatt factions. Day in and day out these teams from The Veteran Golddust, to newer WWE talent in The Shield and The USO’s, are having great matches. I am thoroughly enjoying watching these teams work.
The Kosher Butcher!
The Kosher Butcher Superstars for Sandy Relief Auction winner, ” Charlie Tebele was interviewed by Jerry “The King” Lawler. When asked if he were to be a WWE Superstar, what would his name be. Charlie was prepared, with a blue T-shirt and a great gimmick “The Kosher Butcher” He even went as far to come up with his finisher, The Circumcision! At first the crowd didn’t know what to make of this. Not sure if this was shown on TV, but The Kosher Butcher had at least a dozen of his friends and family at Raw, all wearing their Blue shirts! Great stuff. Half way during the Xavier Woods match, and some further thought, the crowd broke out into chants of both “Kosher Butcher” and “Circumcision”, add that to the list of most bizarre Raw chants.
Great Stuff.
Hit up Page 2 below for the “NO!” of this week’s WWE RAW:
There has been some internal talk within WWE recently about the possibility of taking their next SummerSlam pay-per-view to London, England.
The company presented SummerSlam in London back in 1992, which didn’t work out as well as expected from a pay-per-view standpoint, although the live attendance was obviously through the roof.
There is no real word at this point regarding the seriousness of the discussions, but it has been mentioned during the current WWE European tour to some people with major business connections in the European market as something being legitimately considered.
-According to one source, WWE was originally going to focus on a Big Show vs. Randy Orton feud following the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view on October 27th. Apparently, the new plan is for WWE to promote a three-way program that features Big Show vs. Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan.
-Several people within WWE are of the opinion that ever since Eric Pankowski left the company before this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view, the creative direction has gone downhill.
After a lengthy career in Hollywood, Pankowski was hired by WWE in February of 2012 as the Senior Vice President of Creative and Development. Many credited Pankowski with the great creative run that WWE experienced over the past year, and feel that direction has suffered since his departure from the company.
Early estimates are in for the WWE SummerSlam 2013 pay-per-view buyrate. According to the estimates, this year’s SummerSlam drew 298,000 buys on pay-per-view in total.
Domestically (in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico) the show drew 186,000 buys on pay-per-view. Internationally, WWE SummerSlam this year drew 112,000 buys on pay-per-view.
By comparison, in the domestic market, SummerSlam was in the same neighborhood as the recent UFC show headlined by Jose Aldo vs. Chan Sung Jung (aka The Korean Zombie).
SESCOOPS.COM reader Bootleg Kev sent along the following:
I got to sit down with WWE Heavyweight Champ Alberto Del Rio right before this past Monday’s WWE Monday Night RAW. We speak on his current run as WWE Heavyweight Champ, the double blackeyes he was wearing last week on raw, his recent run as a baby-face, whether he prefers the baby-face or heel role, his upcoming storyline with RVD, how he feels about Darren Young coming out of the closet, who his dream tag-team partner would be, who some of his close friends in the locker room are, and of course the departure of his beloved ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez.
-As noted on a recent edition of WWE RAW, WWE Superstar John Cena referenced in a promo the fact that he was advised by doctors to skip the scheduled Daniel Bryan match at SummerSlam because of the severity of his elbow/triceps injury. That was a legitimate point made by Cena. It was Cena himself who insisted on risking further injury be competing in one final match, as advertised, before taking a lengthy hiatus to heal his arm.
Additionally, Cena’s rehab will reportedly be the focus of several upcoming episodes of the WWE reality show, “Total Divas.”
-The WWE live event on Friday, August 16th in Portland, Oregon drew approximately 6,500 fans for a live gate of $220,000.
According to a recent report, WWE changed the originally planned finish to the Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk match at the recent SummerSlam pay-per-view event in Los Angeles. The decision was made to switch the finish in the middle of the last week leading up to the event.
Apparently one of the main reasons WWE made the switch was because The Undertaker has reportedly agreed to work against Lesnar at the upcoming WrestleMania XXX event in 2014.
The general consensus within WWE was that if they are going to promote Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX, then Lesnar shouldn’t lose to Punk at SummerSlam, as that would have been his final match before the ‘Taker bout, and would send him into WrestleMania with a 2-3 overall record since returning to the company.
-With John Cena on the shelf recovering from surgery for at least the remainder of 2013, WWE has apparently informed their talent that now is the time to step up and work as hard as possible to help the company. It was basically outright explained to talent that if there was ever an opportunity to make yourself a star, now is that time.
-According to statistics released by The Los Angeles Times, this past week WWE SummerSlam generated 323,969 tweets on Twitter. The show that produced the most tweets this past week was VH-1’s “Lop & Hip-Hop: Atlanta,” which generated 729,782 posts on Twitter.
-WWE will be presenting their “Bret Hart: Dungeon Collection” DVD multi-disc set on InDemand pay-per-view in September.
-WWE is advertising a main event of Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at the upcoming live event in Montreal on September 6th. The semi-main event of the card features CM Punk vs. Curtis Axel in a no disqualification match. Also advertised to appear are Rob Van Dam, Big Show, Mark Henry and The Shield.
SESCOOPS.COM reader Phil Johnson sent along the following:
-Former ECW Champion Justin Credible has posted a new blog. This week Credible talks on Darren Young “coming out,” Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam, Monday’s Raw, being 9 months sober, among other topics. Jason Knight is this week’s special guest on Justin Credible’s Pro Wrestling 101 video series. Here is an extract from “The Justin Credible Report:”
“What a week for the WWE. Summer Slam is in the books, and there is so much to talk about. First leading into the PPV in LA, Darren Young comes out to TMZ that he is gay.
As you know WWE got a ton of free mainstream press heading into their second biggest PPV of the year. I’m happy for Darren, and I applaud his courage. On the other hand, there is no way that this was just a spur of the moment statement. I have been told that this was carefully thought out, and Darren and the WWE had this planned the whole time. There is just no way that Darren was conveniently asked that specific question and he just happened to decide now is as good a time as any to come out.”
You can read “The Justin Credible Report” in its entirety at PWMania.com.
-The man who portrayed the fireman during the “Ring Of Fire” match between Kane and Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam on Sunday night was independent wrestler Xtain Cole. As noted yesterday, Cole was also the man who portrayed the bully victim of Ryback on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
-WWE Hall Of Famer Tammy Sytch will be making an appearance at the Pro Wrestling World establishment in the Merchants Square Mall at 1901 S. 12th St. in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The former “Sunny” will be appearing on Saturday, August 24th from noon until 3pm ET. signing autographs and photographs at $15 a pop. Autograph and photo combos will be available at $25.
-WWE Superstar recently told reporter Arda Ocal of The Score his plans for a WWE return. During the recent WWE 2K14 panel, Mysterio told Ocal, “I was really hoping for SummerSlam, that was my main goal. But since it didn’t happen, I’m pushing it back one month. So, September.”
-WWE told key members of upper-management and creative this past weekend that many of the finishes planned for the SummerSlam pay-per-view would be altered at the last minute in an attempt to prevent leaks on the internet. As it turns out, the company ended up leaving all finishes as originally planned.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Show’s Production: Enjoyed the Summer Slam PPV and it was a real masterpiece from a TV production standpoint and look of the show. Very slick and well produced. No one does live TV better than WWE but I’ve been saying that for years.
The Main Event Swerve: Cena/Bryan/HHH/Orton created a most memorable moment at Summer Slam that certainly has a great deal of fans talking. It sets up some potential, interesting scenarios down the road. Bryan winning the title from Cena and then being able to celebrate before the pedigree and Orton’s pin was well done.
Daniel Bryan: Daniel Bryan may be more popular today than if he had actually won the WWE Title at Summer Slam. Bryan will now apparently chase new Champ Randy Orton and the thrill of the fan favorite chasing the antagonist has always interested me as a fan.
CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar: Punk vs. Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman was another masterpiece. I predicted that it would be overtly physical and it certainly was in delivering a ‘DEE-LUX’ Slobber Knocker of a match. Great intensity and physicality rarely fails to deliver when the money is on the line in a major PPV. Simple gameplan….great results.
-Part-time WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently tweeted his thoughts on the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Rock wrote:
“Congrats my #WWE family for a helluva #SummerSlam. The boys (and gals) worked their asses off. Congrats @RandyOrton new @WWE Champ! #Viper”
-According to reports, WWE has released NXT star Dante Dash from his contract. Dash had been with the company since 2011.
-WWE recently posted a new video on the official NXT Tout account where Paul Heyman talks about his next recruit being a “Paul Heyman girl” as opposed to a “Paul Heyman guy.” Many are speculating that Heyman is referring to current NXT Divas Champion Paige. Heyman does confirm that he has found his next star, but doesn’t mention anyone by name.
Regarding the conclusion to the main event at SummerSlam, many backstage within WWE felt it was a fantastic way to finish the match. Others disagreed, feeling that Daniel Bryan should have won clean and have his moment. The general consensus is with that type of finish, Bryan is continued to fill the “underdog” position in the company, which they feel gives the fans a chance to really rally behind him even more as he continues his chase.
In addition to that, many felt it was somewhat awkward that Bryan wouldn’t kick out of the pin attempt by Randy Orton, considering how much time had passed between Triple H’s pedigree and Orton’s actual pin.
A few people also pointed out how ridiculous it is that a somewhat retired in-ring competitor such as Triple H, would have such a devastating finishing move that it basically out-did annything John Cena attempted in the match, in terms of getting the pinfall on Bryan.
For those keeping tabs on the Reddit user who has a flawless track-record of predicting the outcomes to matches on WWE pay-per-view events, here’s the latest on him.
Apparently, the predictions posted on several websites, including this one, attributed to the Reddit user were not actually his picks. The infamous “Dolphins” did mention that he still has his source, but did not post anything on the forum-website.
He did, however, mention that he set up an official Twitter account, and would be posting his predictions on that platform. The streak continued, as he correctly predicted the outcomes to all three of the matches he posted picks for. Those matches were the Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk match, where he correctly picked Lesnar, the Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian match, where he correctly picked Del Rio and the Bray Wyatt vs. Kane match, where he correctly picked Wyatt.
The word going around backstage at SummerSlam in Los Angeles on Sunday night is that former WWE Champion John Cena will be taking time off soon. As noted previously, Cena is scheduled to have his injured elbow surgically repaired.
Normally, when Cena is injured and supposed to take time off to heal, he rushes through the process to get back to work quicker than he should. This time, however, the talk is that Cena will actually allow himself the proper amount of time to recover.
Cena is scheduled to appear at tonight’s edition of WWE RAW in Anaheim, California.