As noted, independent pro wrestler Mike Dell was the performer used as the “psychiatrist” for Dean Ambrose on this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Dell is a Louisiana independent wrestler who often works for Luke Hawx’s “WildKat” promotion.
Several other talents from the local indy promotion were featured on RAW as well, as WildKat wrestlers Spade, Wild Card J, Curt Matthews and Purple Haze were used as part of Adam Rose’s “Rosebuds” on RAW.
Finally, the two “local wrestlers” who The Ascension squashed on RAW this past Monday night were Socoro and Bu Ku Dao, two more performers from the WildKat promotion.
It’s worth noting that Bu Ku Dao was under a developmental deal with WWE last year, but was ultimately cut from the roster. He was the member of the tag-team against The Ascension that took the bigger bumps on RAW this week.
Last night’s episode of Raw was held in the Big Easy, and it’s obvious that the company knew they were going up against the CFP Championship because they seemed to be holding something back all night. Anyway, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The best thing to come out of last night’s show was the announcement that the “Macho Man” Randy Savage will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. It’s about time one of the most talented and influential superstars of all-time takes his rightful place amongst fellow legends. Some will probably complain about the choice to have Hogan induct Savage, but as someone who loved the Mega Powers as a child, I think it’s a good choice and has the potential to be a touching and heartfelt tribute to one of the company’s most iconic figures.
I wasn’t expecting a ton out of the New Day vs. Kidd/Cesaro matchup, but it turned out to be one of the better contests of the night. Kidd and Cesaro worked well together, with the Cesaro Swing into a dropkick spot being particularly impressive. It would have been nice to see Kidd and Cesaro pick up the win, but I guess it’s a minor victory just to see them on television.
The recurring promos featuring Dean Ambrose and the doctor were certainly humorous. Ambrose seems like a natural actor and really at ease on camera, so it’s nice to see him get a chance to show off his talent. The promos were entertaining and it was an original way to have Ambrose gain entry into the Royal Rumble.
Finally, it was nice to see Daniel Bryan back in the city where he captured the title at last year’s WrestleMania. The interactions between Bryan and Stephanie were on point, especially when she tried to present Bryan with her crappy workout DVD. It was finally announced that Bryan would make his return to the ring against Kane on SmackDown this Thursday. As Kane approached the ring, Bryan dove threw the ropes and took out the Devil’s Favorite Demon before celebrating with the crowd.
After the controversy from The Ascension’s promo on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, where the former NXT standout team took shots at past WWE tag-teams such as Demolition and more specifically, The Road Warriors, Joe Laurinaitis, who portrayed “Animal” in the Road Warriors tag-team, has posted a blog to address the situation.
Road Warrior Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) wrote the following on his official Facebook page:
“The idiots in charge make the call everyone knows how stupid it is to copy icons yet they still do it. Do it in a mocking fashion to get heat I understand do it in a disrespectful way well that’s another issue that’s low and has no place in the business.
Where does it end and I usually are just are playing when I comment but this one is a shoot I believe they should have had Me Animal find a team. For some undetected odd reason they don’t do it. They missed the boat with Ascention and they missed it when my brother John was in the ring both great times to bring me in and they missed it.
They need to go to their merchandise numbers today and see we rank up with the main roster on selling merchandise for a reason.
Last night’s Raw was the first of 2015 and the company started the year not with a bang but with a whimper. The show was held in Corpus Christi, TX, and it’s unclear whether the audience was drugged prior to filming, because it was probably the most silent crowd I’ve ever heard at a WWE event. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
Pros
The clear highlight of the night was the Ambulance Match between Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt. As always, the two worked pretty well together and delivered a few memorable spots. The ending felt just a bit sloppy, but the rest of the match more than made up for it. In all, it was good to see Wyatt come out on top, as he needed the win more than Ambrose. This program has been one of the only good things going over the past few weeks, so it’s kind of sad to see it come to an end.
Another clear highlight was the Intercontinental Championship match. It was a good way for the Authority to exact revenge against Ziggler, and the 2-out-of-3 falls swerve was decent. It’s also nice to see that the company still has confidence in Bad News Barrett, and this hopefully means that Ziggler will move into the main event picture permanently.
It was nice to see the program actually have an intro and pryo again. This is a minor complaint, but the intro-less format felt really cheap, with it simply going to a lifeless Michael Cole saying, “Welcome to Raw” while panning over the crowd. Unfortunately, the intro and pyro will probably be gone next week due to budget cuts.
Adding Seth Rollins to the main event at the Royal Rumble was brilliant. With Rollins essentially having two chances to win the title in a few weeks, it provides many booking possibilities. My interest level in the main event went from nonexistent to moderately intrigued in a matter of seconds.
Booker T on commentary was a nice change of pace. Hopefully King is well soon, but they really need to shake up the commentary team. I wouldn’t mind seeing Booker become a regular at the table again.
The Kane/Rollins vs. Ryback match was somewhat entertaining but nothing to write home about. The double Curb Stomp was at least a decent finish.
Finally, it was nice to see the company giving guys more time to cut backstage promos. Rusev, Reigns, Ambrose, Wyatt, and possibly a few superstars whom I’m forgetting all received promo time last night. Good to see the company letting the talent speak instead of filling that time with ads or plugs for the Network.
Former WWE Superstar Lance Storm noted on social media that he turned off tonight’s edition of WWE RAW as a way of protesting the show after watching The Ascension’s promo.
Storm made it clear that he took exception to The Ascension mocking the legendary Road Warriors tag-team during their pre-match promo on the show. He mentioned that it wasn’t a nice move to have someone mock a wrestler who has passed away.
– The “local tag-team” that lost to The Ascension on Friday night’s edition of WWE SmackDown were Lance Anoa’i, who is a cousin of The Usos and Roman Reigns, and Rhett Titus, a former ROH Tag-Team Champion.
– WWE and E! will be presenting the official music video for the single “Bye Bye,” by WWE Diva and Total Divas star Cameron this weekend to coincide with the return of Total Divas on Sunday.
For better or worse, it’s a new year. Everyone starts with a fresh slate, New Year’s resolutions are in effect, and generally speaking, people try to better themselves for the first week of the year before giving up the futile expedition.
Things are no different in the WWE, as every superstar will be trying to reach the next level in 2015. Here are ten superstars who will strike gold in 2015 by capturing a title that was previously unattainable.
10. Charlotte
Although her debut on the main roster was less than memorable, Charlotte has the potential to revolutionize the Divas division. As seen in NXT, the daughter of the Nature Boy can easily put on entertaining 15+ minute matches any night of the week. It’s now up to the WWE to let the talented women of NXT show what they can do on a regular basis. Charlotte will help to legitimize the Divas division a bit in 2015 by capturing the Divas Championship.
9. Sasha Banks
Charlotte and Sasha Banks put on one of the best Divas matches in the history of WWE a few weeks back at R Evolution. It appears “The Boss” is next in line for the throne in the NXT Women’s division, meaning she will capture the title after Charlotte leaves NXT in 2015.
– The El Rey Network will be airing a Lucha Underground marathon tonight, featuring eight hours worth of shows, beginning at 4pm EST.
– Hip-hop artist Wale, who is friends with Paul Heyman and is a Washington D.C. native, was in attendance at Monday’s RAW.
– Several NXT talents sent congratulatory messages to The Ascension after their in-ring debut for the main WWE roster on RAW. Paige noted that she actually went out into the arena to watch their match.
– As promised, former NXT Tag-Team Champions The Ascension made their main roster WWE debut at Monday’s RAW in Washington, D.C. The Ascension defeated The Miz and Damien Mizdow in a quick tag-team match on the show.
– The backstage video promo from Bray Wyatt on Monday’s RAW was taped last week at RAW in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wyatt was not in attendance at the event on Monday night in Washington, D.C., as he worked the non-televised live event in Richmond, Virginia on Monday.
– A tag-team rematch from NXT Takeover: R Evolution between The Ascension and the team of Hideo Itami and Finn Balor is confirmed to take place on next week’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
– As noted a few weeks ago, Matt Hardy and his wife — Reby Sky — are expecting their first child together. In the video below, they reveal that they are having a boy.
As noted recently, WWE has been working on a new main roster gimmick for former NXT Champion Adrian Neville, one that is rumored to be inspired by the legendary cartoon character Mighty Mouse.
There were said to be suggestions within WWE recently regarding the possibility of putting a mask on Neville and making him a full-on children’s character based on Mighty Mouse.
The gimmick is apparently not set in stone yet, however after The Ascension, Neville is said to be the next NXT talent to be moved up to the main roster.
– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which features an interview with former WWE Superstar Vader, is now online. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TRR – Ep45 – Big Van Vader aka Leon White
“Big Van Vader grew up in Compton, CA., played college football in Colorado, spent a few years in the NFL with the Rams, and found pro-wrestling after injuries ended his pro career… and he’s telling all those stories & more on “The Ross Report.” Hear what inspired his mask & gimmick, why he preferred working with Shawn Michaels over Ric Flair, what really happened when Stan Hansen popped Vader’s eye out, and which title match was the “most special” for him.”
The following are highlights of the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On the Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper match at RAW: “Ziggler vs. Harper…both men sold well, which is missing in many talent’s game within the business these days, and told a great story of competition and made me feel better about the IC Title status and how it an be heated up. I knew Harper had ‘it’ when I watched him down in NXT and Ziggler has been ready for ‘prime time’ for a good while now. I like how WWE has begun to utilize Dolph.”
On the Seth Rollins vs. John Cena match at RAW: “Rollins vs. Cena….nice chemsty..competitive…and we got a clean winner and a disgruntled loser who will want redemption. Leaving fans feeling empty with a impotent count out or disqualification can do more harm than good in any promotion.”
On The Ascension vignettes: “Interesting Ascension vignettes…almost Road Warrior-esque which will be interesting to see how the audience accepts. WWE needs a hot, fan favorite tag team for Ascension to come in and ravage to get the fan’s attention.”
On Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt at RAW: “Loved the effort of Ambrose vs. Rollins and I’m a fan of each talent but I felt like they depended too much on weaponry in their match. Less is more especially after we’ve seen the recent TLC PPV plus other cage matches recently. These two beat the hell out of each other….again.”
On The New Day faction: “Really curious as to how “New Day” is going to be accepted by the fans once they are launched officially IE in earnest. Today’s fans don’t seem to be too willing to provide second chances. I’d surmise that dressing in Carolina Blue and espousing such positivity that today’s wrestling fan may be a little hard on the talented trio who I happen to like personally and professionally. These three need to be special and draw positive attention to themselves by what they do in the ring and how they present themselves. If it’s the same old stuff, it won’t work. This sis where talents need to brainstorm and strategize on what they can do differently while they are being repackaged.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
WWE aired a vignette on RAW hyping The Ascension’s main roster debut next Monday night.
After a strong run in NXT using a “gothic” gimmick, the duo has been repackaged as an old school late 80’s “Road Warriors” style team. They’ve worked WWE live events in recent months and even competed on Main Event several weeks back, but this will be their first appearance on RAW.
At one point there was talk of pairing The Ascension with Bray Wyatt, but it looks like they’ll be flying solo for now.
Next week’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, which falls on Christmas day, will feature Charlotte defending the NXT Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks in a rematch from NXT Takeover: R Evolution. WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair will accompany Charlotte to the ring for the bout.
Additionally, next week’s edition of NXT will feature another NXT Takeover: R Evolution rematch, as the team of Finn Balor and Hideo Itami take on The Ascension.
The future of the WWE went to school last night, and I’m here to grade their performance. Matches will be graded based on usual factors such as workrate, in-ring psychology, crowd involvement, and overall impact on the storyline. Important promos will also be graded based on entertainment value, believability, and originality.
While this is supposed to act as a weekly report and recap for NXT, more importantly, it’s a place for you, the SEScoops readers, to discuss this week’s episode, dole out your own grades, and discuss the future of the product. Without further ado, here is this week’s NXT Report Card.
Adrian Neville/Kevin Owens Opening Promo
This was a pretty good way to start the show and the crowd really seemed to be into it. Neville did his best to make amends with the fans and put over Sami Zayn, saying things like, “We went to war” and “The better man won.”
Neville isn’t the strongest promo man in the game, but he did his best, even if he can be a bit redundant at times. Owens, on the other hand, cut an intense and articulate promo that seemed to have the crowd on the edge of their seats. Overall, it was a good way to start the show and set up the main event between Neville and Owens.
Grade: B+
Bayley vs. Becky Lynch
This one started off a bit sluggish, with most of the early action consisting of Bayley throwing punches and not utilizing many wrestling moves. The action picked up toward the end, however, with the ending sequence being particularly impressive. The counter into Lynch’s finisher was fresh and it worked well with the in-ring psychology due to Bayley’s injured knee.
Sometimes things work out. Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins.
Other times, things don’t. Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Fandango.
After last week’s NXT Takeover: R Evolution special, which fans are still raving about a week later, it became crystal clear to me that WWE is developing a number of future Superstars that have the potential to lead the company into the next generation.
Today, we are going to look at ten current performers/acts in the NXT system that I feel have the best shot at achieving success on the main WWE roster. With that being said, lets jump right into the list at number ten….
#10. The Lucha Dragons
The Lucha Dragons — Kalisto and Sin Cara, two talents that as individuals could flourish, but as a unit, make up one of the best tag-teams in WWE’s developmental system. Their ring work is solid and entertaining. Crowd pleasing. The gimmick is another story, but unfortunately, with WWE being in the middle of their PG-era, gimmicks and characters such as these two are unavoidable.
With that being said, they are what they are, and that’s a great tag-team combination. They’re the Los Matadores, only better. That’s not a knock against them, despite the fact it could be seen as one. If they remain under their current gimmick, it’s pretty much a given that they’ll never reach past mid-card, comedy-team status, but like I said, we’re going to have that one way or the other. Since that’s the case, it might as well be two guys who are as talented as these two.
I think it’s a given that these two guys will eventually make it to the main roster, and equally as predictable is the way in which they’ll be used. They’ll be two guys in a tag-team division on the main WWE roster that isn’t worth much, but for whatever it is worth, these two guys have the potential to be among the top teams in the company. While that’s not saying much, it’s saying something, and in this day and age, you pretty much have to take what you can get if you’re an aspiring wrestler.
#9. Tyler Breeze
Much like The Lucha Dragons, I feel that Tyler Breeze is an extremely talented worker, but is unfortunately stuck in a lame-duck gimmick. On social media, I’ve read a lot of comments that makes it seem like fans are actually believers of the Tyler Breeze gimmick in the sense that it could actually go somewhere on the main roster.
I am not one of those believers.
I’m of the opinion that if Breeze jumps to the main roster and is used with the same exact character that he has now, it’s one that has a ceiling that comes with it. This type of character can only go so far. Think of talents like Fandango and Adam Rose and how they are positioned on the main roster, and you’ve got my opinion of how Breeze would be used in this type of role.
If they were to change his gimmick, he certainly has the potential to go further than this type of character would allow. He’s got the talent in the ring, he has a unique charisma about him and he’s got a great look. His promo work is decent, nothing to ride home about in my opinion, but he’s got enough tools to work with that if he was given a different type of character, it would be interesting to see how far he could take it. Maybe if they started a character-change in NXT and let it grow a bit, that would be the route to take in terms of preparing him for a call up to the big leagues.
Whether or not that ever happens is another subject entirely.
2014 is quickly coming to an end. With only two weeks left in the year, fans have seen basically everything the WWE has to offer in 2014, for better or worse. In particular, the fourth quarter of 2014 was filled with exciting action, unexpected debuts, and a noticeable lack of WWE World Heavyweight Championship matches.
With all four quarters essentially “in the books” at this point, we want you to familiarize yourself with our picks from all four quarters. Next week, we are going to create a poll where you can vote on your pick for 2014 Match Of The Year.
– As noted on Monday night, Hulk Hogan was announced for next week’s edition of WWE RAW. The show will be WWE’s Christmas-themed show, as it takes place on December 22nd, three days before Christmas. WWE posted the following on their official Twitter account.
– WWE ran The Ascension vignette on Monday’s WWE RAW, the same video package that was premiered on last Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown. It appears based on the vignettes that WWE will be turning up the volume on The Ascension gimmick. They posted the following on Twitter to further hype their upcoming main roster debut.
– Former NXT Champion Adrian Neville is expected to be the next NXT star who will be called up to the main roster. There has been talk of him being repackaged with a new gimmick. Comment below and share your best gimmick ideas for Neville.
– Former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan won an MLB Network Social Media Award for “Celebrity Fan of the Year.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan recently spoke to The Huffington Post about gay professional wrestlers, stating that it’s been widely accepted for years while other professional sports are still catching up.
– Paul Heyman tweeted the following on Monday morning:
The Ascension will rise … according to this vignette that aired on Friday’s SmackDown.
We reported a few weeks ago that WWE is going for an “old school” presentation of the powerhouse tag team and you can certainly see shades of the Legion of Doom and Demolition is in this promo.
Comment Below and tell us how you think The Ascension will do on the main roster.
NXT Takeover: R Evolution Results Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida December 11, 2014
– Corey Graves announced that his in-ring career was over and that he was retiring due to concussions. However, it was revealed that he is joining the NXT announcing team. He makes his debut tonight.
– Kevin Owens def. C.J. Parker in the opening match on the show. The fans were heavily into Owens throughout the match. Owens ended up getting busted open pretty badly near the end of the match, likely from a palm strike from Parker. It looked like he may have suffered a broken nose. In the end, Owens picked up the win with a big power bomb for the 1-2-3.
– The Lucha Dragons def. The Vaudevillains to retain the NXT Tag-Team Championships. This was a fun match with a lot of high-spots and high-flying offense. The finish saw Kalisto hit the Salida del Sol on Simon Gotch for the 1-2-3.
– Baron Corbin def. Tye Dillinger in a quick squash. The fans did the routine where they count from the opening bell. The count died down when it got past 30, although the match didn’t last much longer than that. Corbin hit Dillinger with the End Of Days for the pinfall victory. After the match, he and Bull Dempsey, who was in the front row, had a long staredown.
– Finn Balor & Hideo Itami def. The Ascension in an awesome tag-team match. Balor’s entrance alone garnered “this is awesome” and “marking out” chants from the fans at Full Sail University. He had the head gear and the full-body paint, etc. The finish in this one saw Balor and Itami both hit a double-foot-stomp off the top, with Balor scoring the pinfall.
– Charlotte def. Sasha Banks to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. This was an excellent NXT Women’s match that had a lot of positive chants from the fans, such as “this is wrestling!” In the end, Charlotte hit the Natural Selection for the pinfall victory to retain the title.
– Sami Zayn def. Adrian Neville to become the new NXT Champion in the main event of the evening. This match tore down the house, exactly as you would expect. Zayn hit his big running boot to the face in the corner for the pinfall victory after a bunch of teases with ref bumps, which at one point actually led to the fans chanting “this ref sucks.” Lots of cool spots throughout this one and lots of intensity from the fans in attendance. After the match, the entire NXT roster, including Pat Patterson, came out to congratulate Zayn. They put him up on their shoulders and it was a big, giant celebration.
As Zayn was at ringside taking in the moment, Kevin Owens came out to congratulate his friend once again. He then viciously attacked him, reigniting their classic rivalry. Owens power bombed the new NXT champion onto the ring apron and the show closed with Zayn selling the attack.
Overall, an excellent show that showcased NXT’s unbelievably talented top stars.
During Tuesday night’s WWE SmackDown television taping, a vignette aired hyping the main roster debut of NXT tag-team The Ascension. The promo aired during the start of the number one contender’s match between The Usos and Tyson Kidd & Cesaro.
It’s possible that The Ascension will be wrapping up business in NXT at this Thursday’s NXT Takeover: R Evolution special, where they are set to work with Hideo Itami and Finn Balor.
The tag-team made a main roster appearance back in September, defeating Los Matadores on an episode of WWE Main Event.
Reddit user MetsFan4Ever has provided some backstage news from the the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, site of tonight’s WWE RAW:
– As you can expect, the mood backstage today is very tense. Everyone is doing their best to stay away from both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. There was said to be a long “closed door” meeting earlier today with Vince McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie.
– WWE has been working on the first promo video for The Ascension. The vignette is tentatively scheduled to air tonight, but could be held off until after next week’s NXT Takeover special on the WWE Network.. WWE’s production team has been working on it throughout the day, with Kevin Dunn making several tweaks.
The Ascension will reported to have a look similar to popular WWF tag teams of the the 1980s.
Following this week’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, below is the latest official lineup for the NXT Takeover: R Evolution live WWE Network special, which takes place on December 11th:
NXT Championship vs. Career Match
– Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn
NXT Tag Team Championship
– Kalisto & Sin Cara (c) vs. Simon Gotch & Aiden English
NXT Women’s Championship
Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks
– Finn Balor and Hideo Itami vs. The Ascension
– Kevin Owens debuts
Make sure to visit the website on December 11th for the best NXT Takeover: R Evolution live results coverage on the web!