Noah Mark is back with his the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us if you agree with this week’s picks.

Complete WWE RAW Results (12/9)

WWE RAW (12/9): The “YES!”

Daniel Bryan

The Star of Raw Daniel Bryan

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:

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.

Complete WWE RAW Results (11/25): With VIDEOS

WWE RAW (11/25): The “YES!”

Daniel Bryan & CM Punk vs The Wyatts

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:

– Indy wrestler The Big O, who made a few appearances on Zack Ryder’s old YouTube series, received a WWE tryout before this week’s TV tapings.

– Earlier this week, WWE added a profile for Andrew “Test” Martin to the Alumni section of the company’s official website. Kevin Nash tweeted the following about the move:

https://twitter.com/RealKevinNash/statuses/342698767323111424

– The following matches are confirmed for tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown:

* Chris Jericho vs. Curtis Axel
* Alberto Del Rio vs. Heath Slater
* Kane vs. Ryback
* Fandango vs. Zack Ryder
* Rollins & Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton (Non-Title Match)

* New Tag Teams Coming To WWE, The Next Round of NXT Call-Ups & More

– In recent years, WWE has generally shied away from spotlighting wrestlers who succumbed to drug related causes as to not attract negative media attention. That is not the case today as the official website of WWE has added Test, who passed away on March 13, 2009 at the age of 33 as a result of an overdose of oxycodone, to its Alumni section. WWE says of the six-time title holder, “He’s best remembered as the Superstar who nearly married Stephanie McMahon before Triple H ruined their plans, but there was much more to Test than one disastrous night at the altar. A deceptively agile big man who could knock off opponents with a boot to the face or a top rope elbow drop, Test claimed pinfall victories over major competitors like Edge, The Undertaker and The Rock while collecting multiple singles and tag titles.”

Test’s death is not acknowledged on the page, with his final stint in WWE for the relaunched ECW brand in 2006 and 2007 branded as an “exclamatory ending to Test’s career and lasting proof that he was something far more than just a jilted groom.” To view his profile, click here.

– Ray Evans, who competed for various independent promotions in the Dallas, Texas area in the late-1980s and into 1990s, passed away Wednesday morning at the age of 49 following a long battle with cancer. Funeral services will be held on Saturday in Hubbard, Texas. (RIP: Ray Evans)

– Team Hell No’s battle with The Shield last week on Raw is spotlighted in this week’s “WWE Raw Slam of the Week.” (Watch)

In response to back-to-back attacks by World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio on No. 1 contender Big Show, SmackDown General Manager Booker T announced Tuesday night that he has suspended the Mexican grappler from this week’s SmackDown.

“Following the incidents last Friday on SmackDown as well as this week on Raw,” Booker told WWE.com, “it is my duty as GM to suspend Alberto Del Rio. He will not be in action this Friday night and will not be in the building.”

WWE teased in the announcement: “While there is no question these latest developments will make a profound impression on this week’s edition of the blue brand, one has wonder how it will affect the upcoming World Title Match between Del Rio and The World’s Largest No. 1 contender at Elimination Chamber.”

In May 2006, Chris Masters’ booming career with WWE at the time would come to a screeching halt when he was sent to a drug rehabilitation center due to his addiction with painkillers. Speaking to Power Slam, the former WWE Superstar addresses the matter.

“It was a developing thing that kind of escalated in 2006 and became a problem. You know, I had to go away for a couple months to rehab after the company became aware of my problem. It took a while to get over that. I went into rehab, not even ready to deal with the mindset that I was an addict,” he says.

“It was so much responsibility and I don’t think I was mature enough to handle all that opportunity that was given to me. I didn’t really appreciate it, I made a lot of mistakes and it kind of derailed my career. It took a while for me to get myself back on track, but I did, and now I’m completely fine, clean and sober. But I’m a walking miracle. At one point, I was taking 75 painkillers a day.”

Masters lost a noticeable amount of muscle mass by the time he returned to WWE programming on the August 28, 2006 episode of Raw with color commentator Jerry Lawler acknowledging him as the “leaner and meaner Chris Masters.” Masters appeared in a backstage segment on the October 2, 2006 Raw with Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Eric Bischoff in which he said he was “thinking about writing a book on nutrition.” Triple H quipped in response, “Really? What are you going to call it: How To Lose Fifty Pounds In Four Weeks?” Interviewer Greg Lambert feels the remark was deliberately intended to ridicule his loss of muscle, which conflicted with what WWE was purportedly trying to achieve with its Wellness policy.

Masters responds, “First of all, let me say that Triple H is a big ball-buster. I don’t think he’s as devious as people make him out to be, but he’s a ball-buster, albeit an equal opportunity ball-buster: he takes shots at Shawn Michaels all the time. They were always taking jabs at each other. So, it might have been the wrong message, yes, at the time. But I don’t think it was meant as a malicious thing.”

A few weeks later, John “Bradshaw” Layfield made a similar crack at Masters’ expense in reference to MVP’s No Mercy opponent Marty Garner. He said, “The guy looked like he had escaped from a concentration camp: the guy was as skinny as Chris Masters.”

Masters responds, “I won’t take anything JBL says too seriously, because the guy’s an idiot [laughs]. Look at his body! Who is he to criticize anybody? But I didn’t realize it was such as a big deal. People wanted to point the finger and say [the weight loss] was because I was on steroids … But that wasn’t my problem. I didn’t go away because of that or come back leaner because of that: it was because I would wake up every morning in rehab and run two miles as my therapy. I wasn’t able to do as much weight training. So, I did gradually lose a lot of weight. I didn’t realize, coming back, it would be so dramatic and people would make such a big deal about it.”

Masters packed the muscle back as months later his physique had noticeably enlarged. Lambert asks, “Was that because you been stung by [the comments]?”

“Part of it was. Eventually, it wore on me, but not at first,” Masters says. “I was happy with myself: I didn’t mind being smaller. But after a certain point, it probably go to me, so I cut back on the aerobics and running, and went back on the heavy weights.”

Masters was suspended by WWE in August 2007 and November 2007 as a result of violations of their drug testing policy. This led to his first release from he company on November 8, 2007. He says of the events, “I hadn’t overcome my prescription pain pill problem. I had taken something that hadn’t been prescribed to me, and I got red-flagged for that.”

Masters eventually conquered his drug addiction and was rehired by WWE in June 2009. He explains what led him to change his ways.

“I’d got fired from the job I always wanted. I’d blown through six figures worth of money, and I knew I had to change my ways. We’ve seen a lot unfortunate tragedies in the business. I’ve seen Test and Umaga, who I knew well, pass away and it always affects me. There’s always a sense of relief that I was able to catch myself and not let it get to that point. It gets to a point where you either hit rock bottom or you’re going to die,” Masters says.

“I hit rock bottom, then a second rock bottom, and, by the third, it finally woke me up. The same thing has happened to Matt Hardy. But I hear now, it looks like he’s doing great. Hopefully, he’s reached enough rock bottoms that now, he’s back on track.”

WWE issued an apology via WWE.com to those who participated in Raw’s “Power to the People.” The tabulating provider’s overloaded system reported several inaccurate results, prompting WWE management to follow WWE.com’s Live Chat Poll for the night’s final vote.

Text Voting Inaccurate in Raw’s Power to the People

WWE would like to apologize for technical difficulties that occurred during the “Power to the People” edition of Raw on Monday night.

The interactive event aimed to give the WWE Universe the ability to choose what they wanted to see on their television screens. Unfortunately, uncontrollable difficulties created by an influx of heavy voting traffic resulted in not every one of the more-than 697,000 recorded votes to be properly counted.

During Monday’s Raw broadcast, WWE fans were given the option to text A, B or C to 46993 (GOWWE) in order to decide what they wanted to happen on the show. Things went perfectly at first when text votes selected Kelly Kelly (option B) to take on Brie Bella for the Divas Championship. However, our vote tabulating provider’s system became overwhelmed, causing these votes to definitively affect the following contest, in which Mason Ryan (also option B) was voted into a match against Evan Bourne — even though, as it was later discovered, Sin Cara had received 90 percent of the total votes in WWE.com’s Live Chat poll, and should have been Bourne’s opponent.

Votes for the third poll’s bout — Kane vs. Mark Henry in an Arm Wrestling Contest — were counted correctly. However, problems began to occur again during the next poll determining a match stipulation between United States Champion Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston. At this point, so many text votes were received that the system overloaded, crashed and had to be restarted.

With little information to work from, WWE management selected to follow the system’s earliest projections, which determined that the 2-out-of-3 Falls Match had been the people’s choice. It was not until later that it was discovered that “Vickie Guerrero Banned from Ringside” was actually the top vote getter.

Restarting the tabulating system allowed for things to run smoothly with the voting for the Triple Threat Match to determine a No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship going off without a hitch.

Regrettably, technical difficulties occurred once more leading up to the night’s Six-Man Tag Team Match main event, when it became apparent to WWE management that text votes were again not being tabulated properly. At this time, a decision was made to turn to WWE.com’s Live Chat Poll for the official judgment. With the power still in the hands of the people, the WWE Universe selected the Elimination Match (option C) by an overwhelming 87 percent, leading to this stipulation being enacted.

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— Much like the Anonymous General Manager on WWE’s Monday Night Raw, TNA Wrestling has its own anonymous entity, The Network. TNAWrestling.com is teasing that the person pulling the strings may be revealed on Thursday’s episode of iMPACT!:

“The Network’s latest mandate has Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff beside themselves and they demand to know who at The Network is involved. Will the Network finally reveal the one making all the controversial decisions?”

TNA will tape this week’s episode of iMPACT! tomorrow and next week’s show on Wednesday.

— TNA Wrestling has announced “Gut Check” work shops for Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Plattsburgh, New York.

“‘Gut Check’ workshops will allow for TNA management to scout up-and-coming talent and give aspiring wrestlers the kind of instruction and advice they can’t receive anywhere else in the industry,” Jeff Jarrett said.

More information is available here.

— Today marks the second anniversary of the passing of former WWE talent Andrew “Test” Martin, who succumbed following an accidental overdose of the painkiller oxycodone. WWE Diva Kelly Kelly, who was involved in a two-and-a-half year relationship with Martin, posted a remembrance on her Twitter account.

“Forever and always in my heart Andrew Martin not a day goes by I don’t think of you,” she wrote. “I know he’s in heaven watching over all of his jobbers @thetommydreamer :) thinking of all the great memories we had today.”

— A fan asked Beth Phoenix today on Twitter if she’ll ever pose for Playboy. She responded, “Never ever.”

— Tomorrow’s Raw taping at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. is not sold out but all the floor and second row seats are gone. After WWE had not sold out a show in months, (sans the Royal Rumble), Raw has sold out three consecutive weeks.

source: f4wonline.com

IGN.com has released the latest preview video for SmackDown vs. RAW 2011, which will be released in the United States next month.

This video highlights the new “WWE Universe” mode – which replaces the traditional “Exhibition Mode” .. In SvR2011, every thing you do in the game has consequence. Check out the video:

Kelly Kelly and her ex-boyfriend, the late Andrew "Test" Martin

WWE Diva Kelly Kelly spoke to the UK’s Daily Star this week about the untimely death of her ex-boyfriend, former WWE & TNA star Andrew “Test” Martin.

“Not a day goes by when I don’t think about Andrew. … He was a big part of my life, we were together for two-and-a-half years. When I first started, Andrew looked after me. We were there together, we had some good times and some hard times – he wanted more than anything to be healthy,”

Andrew Martin, who Kelly Kelly calls the “love of her life,” died back in March 2009 prescription pill overdose after a long battle with addiction.

Kelly Kelly is dedicating the remainder of her wrestling career to Andrew MArtin and vows to become a respected in-ring worker. She explains that even though women wrestlers aren’t having “25 minute matches” like the men, the Divas are still on the road upto 300 days a year and live the same hectic lifestyle.

“We’re on the road for the same amount of time as the guys, I know we don’t have to wrestle 25-minute matches like the guys but we travel 200 to 300 miles a night exactly the same as them. But this is my life – I’ve been doing it since I was 18 so by now I’m used to it! I’m young and I have no plans to settle down!”

To read the full interview, including which WWE Diva is helping Kelly improve in the ring, visit the Daily Star website.

ESPN.com has published an extensive report on brain damage to pro athletes, especially pro wrestlers, with the big news that former WWE wrestler Andrew “Test” Martin had brain damage similar to Chris Benoit’s at the time of his death in March.

Studies conducted on Martin’s brain revealed that he suffered damage “stemming from repeated blows to the head.” Dr. Bennet Omalu, co-director of the Brain Injury Research Institute, told ESPN that they discovered “excessive amounts of tau proteins similar to those he found in Benoit.” Both Benoit and Martin are said to have had brains similar to “those of Alzheimer’s patients more than twice their age.”

Omalu explains, “After repeated blows to the head, at some point the brain loses the ability to heal itself. he tau impairs normal brain function and kills brain cells. The delicate balance of the neurotransmitters, which control moods and drives and maintains safety, can be destroyed. With Andrew Martin as the second case, the WWE and the sport in general have to ask themselves, ‘Is this a trend?’ The science tells us that jumping off 10-foot ladders and slamming people with tables and chairs is simply bad for the brain.”

WWE was contacted by ESPN and said the following regarding Dr. Omalu’s findings:

While this is a new emerging science, the WWE is unaware of the veracity of any of these tests, be it for Chris Benoit or Andrew Martin. Dr. Omalu claims that Mr. Benoit had a brain that resembled an 85-year-old with Alzheimer’s, which would lead one to ponder how Mr. Benoit would have found his way to an airport, let alone been able to remember all the moves and information that is required to perform in the ring. WWE has been asking to see the research and tests results in the case of Mr. Benoit for years and has not been supplied with them.

Visit ESPN.com to read the entire article.