– Mexican wrestling legend Konnan continues to take shots at current talent on the WWE roster, most recently setting his sights on the current WWE Divas. Konnan noted that, “they suck. Only Tamina, Natalya and AJ can ‘go.'”
Konnan also tore into new TNA character Ethan Carter III, tweeting, “You couldn’t be a star if you were thrown by a Ninja. #BOOM.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted on his podcast on Tuesday that Vince McMahon is interested in coming on his show. Austin said that he and McMahon are looking to find a mutually viable time to record an interview.
Daniel Bryan, winning three Slammy Awards competing in a match, appearing in the Championship Ascension Ceremony, was without question the star of the show. His hometown crowd chanting YES! YES! YES! and DANIEL BRYAN! throughout the beginning of the Championship Ascension Ceremony. Going back earlier in the night to his first Slammy win for Superstar Of The Year. On stage The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. He announces the Superstar of the year is Daniel Bryan. We were all expecting fireworks to occur during that interaction. HBK even exited stage right a perfect set-up for a “surprise” superkick from out of nowhere! But there was no Sweet Chin Music. Just a humble acceptance speech by Bryan for his Slammy Award which he refereed to as The “HB Swizzle” award, Michaels naming it that just before presenting the award. Bryan did mention if it wasn’t for Shawn he wouldn’t be in the WWE. Likewise if it wasn’t for his interference at Hell-In-A-Cell he would be the WWE Champion. Although there was no physical interaction here, that wouldn’t be the last time these two interacted on the show.
See this is why I can’t shake off fighting the Daniel Bryan cause, he belongs in the main event. Heck this article uses his YES! and NO! and lord help us all if Daniel Bryan ever appears in a “NO!” portion of this article. Some people might say, he was in his hometown and had an extra kick of support. There may be a bit of truth to that, but I feel that there are just some hot wrestling towns. Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and apparently Seattle. After what transpired later in the show who knows what will happen the next few months. I’m excited! YES!
Championship Ascension Ceremony
John Cena showing why he is in fact the face of WWE.
Former World Heavyweight and WWE Champions appeared all in the ring for the Championship Ascension Ceremony. As I said earlier the crowd was going crazy for Daniel Bryan. While Triple H was talking up the match, and the championship, the Seattle crowd chanted YES and Daniel Bryan to the point where Triple H gave them what seemed like at least a minute of chanting and Yessing and clapping. This crowd was on fire for Daniel Bryan. Triple H introduced both Orton and Cena. The crowd did not want to hear what Orton had to say. There were boos and boring chants. Then Cena took the mic. More boos and cheering mix. Then Cena begins to speak and prove why he is the face of the WWE. These days with everything being very planned and scripted, Cena played to the crowd and included Daniel Bryan in the conversation, he compared Randy Orton’s rise to success to Daniel Bryan’s. The idea was Bryan didn’t have a father and grandfather to get him in to the WWE, he did it by working. Cena turned practically the entire crowd around and behind him., shouting out his past opponents, HBK, CM Punk, and putting over that the only fair shot Daniel Bryan had was the one with him. Brilliant, this is why he is where he is. The end was something I haven’t seen in the WWE in a long time. It was an awesome chain of events excuited perfectly. Cena and Orton shake hands as the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship are hoisted up. Orton gets in a cheap shot, the two are down on the mat fighting. Orton and Cena get pulled apart to their corners. CM Punk gets shoved by Orton causing CM Punk to start attacking Orton. Triple H throws down CM Punk, who retaliates with a knockdown of his on on The Game. HBK Superkicks CM Punk, setting up Daniel Bryan to
The Authority and John Cena look over A fallen Randy Orton. A great segment to end raw.
WWE Reminding us what they are capable of, a Powerful and compelling end to Raw.
deliver his running Knee on HBK. Orton tries to RKO Bryan but instead gets shoved into Stephanie McMahon knocking her down. Triple H runs to Stephanie’s aid, and then gets up and pedigrees Randy. The show closes with The Authority and John Cena looking disappointed over Randy Orton on the mat. What a great segment. This is what WWE used to do on a regular basis. Twists and turns, these chain-reaction action segments. YES!
Quick Mentions
Dean Ambrose vs CM Punk – Ambrose vs CM punk was a Pay-Per-View quality match with a great dissension in the ranks tease when Dean Ambrose wanted Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to head to the back so he could finish the job by himself. Punk gets the win shortly after that exchange, although Punk loses out to the numbers game and gets a great spear from Reigns. YES!
The Wyatts – With a chip on my shoulder because of Daniel Bryan’s demotion, I don’t think I appreciated Bray Wyatt’s amazing performances over the last few weeks. They are great, and compelling. YES!
Hit up Page 2 below for the “NO!” of this week’s WWE RAW:
According to one source, WWE is apparently puzzled as to why Brie Bella is not more over as a babyface right now. The general consensus is that she came off on the “Total Divas” reality show as a super-babyface, unlike her twin-sister Nikki Bella, who at times came off as a heel.
Considering the fact that she came off as such a babyface on the show, WWE reportedly failed to understand why she didn’t receive more sympathy from the fans during the beat down she suffered at the hands of Tamina Snuka and AJ Lee on this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
Obviously, Total Divas represents a small percentage of the fan base that watches RAW, and the demographics are very different, however some in the company fail to make that connection.
Speaking of Bella, as noted previously, current plans call for her to challenge AJ Lee for the WWE Divas Championship at the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
– There is talk backstage in WWE that the ongoing Big Show storyline will lead to a singles match against Triple H at November’s Survivor Series pay-per-view from Boston.
-As previously reported, AJ Lee has been medically cleared to return to in-ring action following a recent concussion scare. According to one report, while AJ is unlikely to work a match at the upcoming Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, there has been talk of adding a match featuring AJ and Tamina Snuka against The Bella Twins
-According to one source, the recent pairing of AJ Lee and Tamina Snuka was inspired by the Shawn Michaels and Diesel combination from the 1990s.
-Vickie Guerrero recently noted on her official Twitter account that she is going back to college to get her medical administration degree.
-The president of WWE Studios, Michael Luisi, has been added to the panel at the upcoming New York Comic Con, which takes place this Sunday and also features WWE Superstars Kane and Hornswoggle.
-Speaking of the New York Comic Con, WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley will be in attendance to sign autographs as part of his promotional work for the new WWE comic book from Papercutz.
-Rock and Roll legend and former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth was the special guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show.” Fans interested in checking that interview out can do so online at PodcastOne.com.
-Several WWE personalities have posted tweets promoting the “Boldest Fan” challenge from SummerSlam Axxess weekend. The full segment where a fan took a splash from “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry is now available online at YouTube.com.
WWE Diva Tamina Snuka posted the following about it on Twitter:
@TheMarkHenry crushes the World’s Boldest Fan. See him enter the Hall of Pain: http://youtu.be/BNLIMFvRrZY #WWEBeBold #PowerHouse
Additionally, WWE Diva Aksana tweeted about it:
You have to see this!!@TheMarkHenry crushes the World’s Boldest Fan. http://youtu.be/BNLIMFvRrZY #WWEBeBold
-WWE Superstar Darren Young, who came out of the closet as a homosexual this past Thursday, recently took to Twitter to address the rumors of his past relationship with WWE Diva Tamina Snuka. Young wrote:
“If I could just lay this rumor to rest & simply say @taminasnuka is like a sister 2 me & we have never dated. Sorry Tamina.”
-Former WWE Diva Kharma (aka Awesome Kong) is scheduled to appear on an upcoming episode of the “Double Divas” reality show on the Lifetime Network. The show focuses on two lingerie shop owners in Georgia. Kharma tweeted about the upcoming appearance, writing:
“Thank you to everyone at LiviRae and the cast & crew of ‘Double Divas’ for helping me find under gear that’ll keep my puppies in check! I’ll keep you all posted on the air date of my tv appearance for @DoubleDivasTV on Lifetime. It was a crack up!”
-The latest edition of “The Steve Austin Show” is now online. The latest episode of the show features actor and comedian Jay Mohr. You can check out the podcast online at PodcastOne.com.
-WWE Diva Tamina Snuka, who has been romantically linked to Darren Young in the past, recently responded to a fan on Twitter about their supposed relationship. Snuka simply wrote, “Fact NEVER dated.” You can follow Tamina on Twitter @TaminaSnuka.
-Speaking of Young, the openly gay WWE Superstar was once again the subject of much discussion on today’s edition of “TMZ Live” at TMZ.com. As noted yesterday, Young was scheduled to appear on the show on Thursday, however he did not appear due to connection issues. The TMZ Live crew fielded questions from listeners, as they typically do on the program, and a lot of the questions were in regards to Young’s coming out of the closet on Thursday. You can listen to future editions of TMZ Live online at TMZ.com.
-WWE Diva Tamina Snuka, daughter of WWE Hall Of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, as well as the woman who was previously romantically linked with Darren Young, talked about Young’s decision to come out of the closet and reveal his homosexual lifestyle to TMZ this week. Tamina wrote the following in a new tweet on her official Twitter account:
“@DarrenYoungWWE It takes a lot of Heart and Courage to Know Who Are #YouAreAmazing”
-The following is the latest video of the “JBL & Cole World Tour” from Green Bay, Wisconsin. The video comes courtesy of the official YouTube channel of WWE announcer JBL:
– WWE has signed Missouri independent wrestler Ryan Drago to a developmental deal. He confirmed the signing at a June 1st Metro Pro Wrestling event in Kansas City. Drago was originally trained by WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race and will be among the talents reporting to WWE’s new Performance Center early next month.
– There is some speculation that WWE Diva Tamina Snuka might have suffered a concussion during a match against Natalya that was taped for this week’s episode of Superstars on Monday night prior to RAW.
– This Friday on SmackDown on Syfy, Sheamus will join forces with Randy Orton to battle Mark Henry and Big Show.
– The following two matches were taped Monday night at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina, for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars:
* Natalya vs. Tamina Snuka
* Brodus Clay and Tensai vs. Epico and Primo
– In Tuesday’s birthdays, WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele turns 75-years-old, Paul London turns 33-years-old, and All Japan wrestler turns 31.
– Former WWE Champion Dave “Batista” Bautista was at the Saddle Rack in San Jose, California, over the weekend participating in a benefit with fellow The Man with the Iron Fists star Cung Le.
– WWE returns to Little Rock, Arkansas for a SmackDown taping at the Verizon Arena on Tuesday, February 12, 2013. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am at Ticketmaster and the arena box office.
– KATC.com has an article up looking at WWE fans who camped out at Red’s Fitness Center in Louisiana to meet WWE superstars training at the gym prior to to that night’s WWE RAW. One fan who got to the gym at 6am to see the WWE superstars doing their morning workouts said, “It’s a hobby. I love getting my wrestling autographs and I’ve been doing it for six years.”
– Vickie Guerrero tweeted that Tamina Snuka will be joining her at this weekend’s WWE live events and talked about surrounding herself with good company:
– SuperLuchas.net is reporting that Batista could be returning to WWE at the 2013 Royal Rumble. Their reports have been hit-or-miss, so take this one as a rumor for now.
– WWE Diva Tamina Snuka is currently out of action with an injury. Her last televised match was the Divas Battle Royal (won by Kaitlyn) on the August 20th episode of RAW. It’s speculated that her back is injured, but we don’t have confirmation on this yet.
– Barbie Blank is now a brunette. The former WWE diva known as Kelly Kelly visited Hollywood stylist Erick Ohair on Tuesday and tweeted this picture of her new look:
— Matches taped Tuesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut for this week’s episode of WWE NXT Redemption are as follows:
* Maxine vs. Tamina Snuka
* Johnny Curtis vs. Yoshi Tatsu
* Darren Young vs. Jimmy Uso
* Percy Watson vs. Titus O’Neil
WWE developmental wrestler Xavier Woods, who formerly competed as Consequences Creed for TNA Wrestling, competed in a pre-taping dark match. He defeated Hunico in a singles match.
Woods appeared before the WWE audience for the first time at Raw live events over the weekend. He defeated Curt Hawkins on all three shows.
– Alberto Del Rio returned to action Saturday night against Sheamus at the SmackDown live event from Albany, GA. Del Rio has been out of action for months and is said to have looked great in his return match.
– Vickie Guerrero has been campaigning for Tamina Snuka to join her stable. Tamina and Vickie travel together on the road.
– After his recent release from TNA, a number of people in WWE believe Brian Kendrick will be returning to the company later this year for WWE’s planned Cruiseweights show on the WWE network.
Kendrick wrote on his Facebook page this week he asked TNA to release him because they did not have enough work for him. Kendrick told the Lowdown Unlimited show this past week that he has kicked the marijuana habit and is open to working for WWE again.
– Former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio was backstage at Monday’s RAW from San Diego, despite not appearing on television. Del Rio returned to WWE this weekend on the SmackDown brand’s live events from California, but competed in arm wrestling challenges with Sheamus because he’s not medically cleared to return to the ring.
– Video game publisher THQ is already doing motion capture work for the WWE ’13 video game, due out this fall.
Jim Ross noted on Twitter recently that he’ll be doing commentary with Jerry Lawler in the game, a welcomed change to last year’s Cole-Lawler team.
– WWE diva Tamina is now known as Tamina Snuka. She’ll get a shot at Beth Phoenix’s Divas championship this Sunday at Elimination Chamber.
— The Undertaker was shown cutting his hair during a vignette on Monday’s Raw SuperShow. The iconic wrestler shaved his head bald last year and appeared to don wear a wig for his return two weeks ago.
Regarding the Raw vignette, the official WWE website wrote, “Then, Undertaker appeared on the TitanTron, revealing a shocking moment, taking a razor to his hair and proclaiming “vengeance will be mine.”
— Tamina will be known as Tamina Snuka going forward. WWE is pushing her as the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka.
— WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin is in Canada shooting scenes for the action film The Package. Dolph Lundgren co-stars.
— Jim Ross was spotted last night by the bench of the Oklahoma University women’s basketball team for their game against the Connecticut.