– On Monday’s post-Fastlane edition of RAW, WWE confirmed that there will in fact be a second annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view in March.

The first three participants in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal were announced on RAW, as The Miz, Ryback and Curtis Axel all announced themselves as entrants in the match.

– Z.Z. Top member Dusty Hill was in attendance at Monday’s RAW in Nashville, Tennessee. Below is a photo of the legendary rock star at the show.

Dusty Hill of @ZZTop in the house LIVE for @WWE #RAW in Nashville! pic.twitter.com/hFfUt4uedq

— WWE (@WWE) February 24, 2015

• UPDATE: Brock Lesnar’s Return To UFC Looking Unlikely Because ….

WWE Fastlane was held in Memphis last night at the FedEx Forum. It was a fitting venue, seeing as they pretty much mailed it in for most of the night. After a night of action, we now have a pretty clear idea of what WrestleMania will look like in five weeks. Here are the pros and cons from last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.

Pros

After a night of non-finishes and botched endings, the main event between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns was an absolute treat. These two guys started off a bit slow, but once they got going, they really gelled well. Bryan’s wrestling style went so well with the brawling style of Reigns, and it was nice to see both guys getting support from the crowd.

A few of the highlights included Reigns countering Bryan’s dive to the floor into an overhead belly to belly suplex, Bryan countering the spear into a beautiful small package, and also Reigns turning a potential hurricanrana into a brutal powerbomb from the top rope. These two also employed some solid in-ring psychology due to Reigns selling Bryan’s kick to the liver as he tried to hit a Superman punch. Overall, it was an exciting match, both guys looked great, it ended clean, and it’s always nice to see a main event end in a handshake.

The tag team match was a close second for match of the night. These two teams have so much chemistry and it’s really a pleasure to watch them do their thing. Cesaro’s half crab Cesaro swing was cool, as was the combination of Cesaro’s suplex from the apron into a springboard from Kidd.

The Usos looked good as well, teaming up for a double team Samoan drop that I don’t recall seeing them bust out before. In the end, new champions were crowned after Kidd picked up the victory with a swinging fisherman suplex. After their victory, it was nice to find out that they are “still the new WWE Tag Team Champions” (perhaps suggesting the outcome was changed last minute, as the odds shifted after the “smart money” was in).

The Bray Wyatt segment was enjoyable. He had the crowd going nuts in anticipation of the Phenom, only to shatter their dreams by popping out of the coffin. Wyatt called himself “the new face of fear,” and said: “At WrestleMania, I will claim the soul of the Undertaker.” This feud should be entertaining, but it would have been nice to see Wyatt play up the fact that fans weren’t getting ‘Taker, as the company needs more dislikable heels right now.

I’m not totally sure how I feel about the Sting and Triple H segment, so I’ll go ahead and put it in the pros section. Triple H of course continued to bury a long dead company, stating: “My legacy is putting your legacy out of business.” He also threatened Sting with the Benoit treatment, saying he would wipe him from the history books if he didn’t cooperate. It was cool to see Sting use his signature black bat though, and Hunter was very intense throughout the segment. Overall, it could have been better, but it was a decent setup for their match at WrestleMania.

Finally, the Rusev and John Cena match was far from perfect, but it worked out well. There was some hard-hitting action throughout, including a big spinning side slam from Rusev. The action was slow-paced and methodical, but it was entertaining for the most part. It of course ended in another non-clean finish, but it worked well in this case. I have to say, seeing Cena stagger out of the arena was pretty satisfying, even though it means he will definitely get redemption at WrestleMania.

– Both Rhyno and Solomon Crowe have been added to the NXT roster section on WWE.com following their respective debuts last night.

– The Miz ran into TMZ while out in Hollywood Wednesday night, who said he’s the greatest actor in wrestling history, even better than The Rock.

“The Rock has done wonders with generating fans that say, “You know what? We can actually do what we do and better than everybody. He’s number one. But am I a better actor than The Rock? Ab… I believe I am.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpJhfkwE7eg

– The official Twitter account of Wendy’s sent this message to Brad Maddox, who has not appeared on WWE television since being relieved of Raw General Manager duties in May 2014.

@BradMaddoxIsWWE You should be talking about Wendy's. We probably even have a General Manager position open. If you're still looking. ?

— Wendy’s (@Wendys) February 19, 2015

• Randy Orton may not return to WWE until after WrestleMania – details

– The Miz and his wife Maryse attended the Hot Tub Time Machine 2 premiere in Hollywood, California last night. They tweeted this photo from the red carpet:

On the red carpet #HotTubTimeMachine2 Premiere w/ @therealmaryseouellet

A photo posted by @mikethemiz on Feb 18, 2015 at 7:02pm PST

– WWE’s recent tour of Abu Dhabi was very profitable for the company. While attendance ranged from 4,500-5000 per show, WWE was able to charge higher than average ticket prices due to the region’s affluence. The tour was organized by the local government.

– WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall attended the I Believe In Wrestling’s Team Vision Dojo quarterly review last night in Orlando, Florida. Hall and Larry Zbyszko are senior advisers to the facility.

The dojo tweeted these photos of Hall working with the talent:

Great night of training! Tomorrow, open ring 5-8pm has been added to the schedule. Next #BELIEVE95 event Sat, Feb. 28 pic.twitter.com/e6y9dPLpSR

— Team Vision Dojo (@TeamVisionDojo) February 19, 2015

One of the best in #prowrestling ever @SCOTTHALLNWO! We're happy to have him as an advisor and as a great friend! pic.twitter.com/RG3vT1SAFp

— Team Vision Dojo (@TeamVisionDojo) February 19, 2015

As the entire northeast freezes under a mountain of snow, the WWE decided to dip down to Orlando in an attempt to heat things up heading into Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view. The show featured eight matches, as well as appearances from Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.

Pros

Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler was pure gold. Before the match, the two engaged in a hilarious back and forth, with Rollins laying down some burnsauce by telling Ziggler: “I know you fancy yourself a comedian but the only thing funny about you is that joke you call a career.” It was also hilarious to hear Ziggler question whether J&J getting him the wrong chocolates ruined his Valentine’s Day. Something tells me his Valentine’s Day was ruined for other reasons… As for the match, it was fast paced, full of spots, and exactly what you’d expect from two of the best workers in the business. Other than the J&J interference and non-finish, this was pretty much perfect on every level. I suspect a match between these two will be added to Fastlane after Smackdown. Here’s to hoping they give these guys 15 minutes and let them tear the house down. Highlight of the night by far.

I enjoyed the Dusty Rhodes backstage segments. The match between the New Day and Gold and Stardust was also nice, as it served as a nice juxtaposition between the brawling opening contest between Ambrose and Harper. Following the match, Stardust attacked his brother and called Dusty a “polka-dotted freak of a father.” I’ll admit, they’ve dragged this out forever and I wasn’t too excited at first, but I’m now getting into it.

Roman Reigns was the man last night. He sounded like a completely different person during his backstage interview before his match with Kane. His calm, confident, and collected demeanor is a stark contrast from the nervous guy we saw out there a few weeks ago talking about beanstalks while stumbing over every other word. His match with Kane was actually decent too, with Reigns winning via countout after hitting a big Spear. Daniel Bryan was on commentary during the match, with he and Reigns playing off of one another very well. It was also humorous to hear Michael Cole state: “Daniel Bryan is trying to steal Roman Reigns’ thunder. Roman Reigns just beat Kane, guys!” That means about as much as beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015.

For a comedy segment, the Paige bit was actually hilarious. The outfit was funny, it actually served some sort of purpose in furthering her feud with Nikki Bella, the fans seemed to be enjoying it, and the match with Summer Rae was good for the time they were given.

The Dean Ambrose “weekend update” promo, where the Lunatic Fringe was parked at a desk looking like a shady used car dealer, was also entertaining. His match with Luke Harper featuring some nice, brawling action and was a good opening contest. JBL’s “we’ve got an air psycho” line had me cracking up, and his plot to force Barrett to sign the contract for Sunday was perfect. Nobody in the midcard deserves the IC Title more than Ambrose, and it looks like he’s going to find a way to capture the gold on Sunday.

Bray Wyatt’s promos are starting to become a bit repetitive, but I still enjoyed his work this week. He once again attacked the Undertaker, stating: “You’re an empty shell, and any fear that I once of you has turned into nothing more than putrid, hateful pity.” I can’t wait to see this program.

As we all know, Raw is tonight. By show of hands, how many people are planning to bail before the end of the program? If this question were posed to last week’s viewing audience, over 250,000 hands would be in the air right now. That number represents the number of viewers who tuned in for the first hour but were long gone by hour three, and that’s not even counting the 600,000 viewers from the previous week who called in sick and didn’t show up at all.

Since Raw 1000, the program has been a three-hour fixture on Monday night, even though the company has done little with the additional hour in most cases. In all, the numbers show that it’s time to turn back the clock to Raw 999 and cut back to two hours.

Emma vs. Summer Rae in a dance-off? No thanks!

There are a number of reasons this makes sense. Most importantly, this roster is as thin as a two-dollar blanket right now. Take last week’s show, for instance. The company bookended the show with the nearly identical matches – neither of which was particularly memorable. By the end of the first hour, the crowd had already seen every participant in the main event compete in a match (aside from J&J, but they interfered in the Rollins/Ryback match). And please don’t get me started on how many times we’ve seen the Usos battle Miz and Mizdow over the past few months.

It would be a massive understatement to say that the shows have lacked direction in recent months too. I went back and watched a few episodes of Raw from 2012, right before Raw was permanently extended to three hours. Mind you, this was during the dreadful John Cena/Kane “embrace the hate” program, and even those shows featured more direction than the current product.

If the past is any indication, expect to see The Authority opening tonight’s episode of Raw.

By putting less stress on the writers and limiting exposure, they were able to establish a conflict (Kane attempting to terrorize Zack Ryder/John Cena), provide a climax near the middle of the show (Cena kissing Eve while Ryder hilariously looked on), and finally a resolution in the form of a catastrophe (Kane launching Ryder off of the stage).

They were able to build around this central storyline by sprinkling in five matches and a few entertaining segments that highlighted other members of the roster, ultimately creating a neat two hours of wrestling (or sports entertainment, whichever term you prefer). In recent weeks, the program has been an absolute mess, with the typical structure usually as follows:

The Authority starts the program by cutting the same boring 20-minute promo they cut every week and setting up a main event involving Kane and/or Big Show. Next is a match that they say will start after the break, usually trying to invoke some sense of suspense as to which superstars will be involved, but the roster is so thin that we know it will be Seth Rollins or an over-the-hill Authority goon competing against either Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Ryback or Roman Reigns – usually ending in a non-finish. We next get a sagging middle with “comedy” matches and backstage segments that rarely go anywhere. Paul Heyman is sent out somewhere near the middle to try to save the crowd. A few more filler matches typically come next, and finally a tag match to end the show, which also usually ends in a non-finish. Eat. Sleep. Lose A Quarter Million Viewers. Repeat.

Even with the help of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, Raw lost over a quarter of a million viewers by the end of last week’s program.

The overexposure is killing everyone involved in the process, including talent, announcers, and even the fans, hence the reason they aren’t sticking around for the full three hours. I get that the company is trying to appease shareholders, and increased ad revenue is one of the easiest ways to do so, but in the end, they are doing long-term damage in exchange for short-term ad revenue.

This is also not to say that a wrestling promotion can’t put on an entertaining three-hour program. It is simply stating that this wrestling promotion has proven they are incapable of doing so. There are a lot of problems with the current product, from hotshotting anything that is remotely popular to underutilizing some of the company’s best talent to even dragging out storylines fans are disinterested in. However, the biggest problem with Raw, and perhaps the company as a whole, can be summed up in one word: overexposure.

How would you feel about Raw going back to two hours? Do you think it would improve the product? Voice your opinion in the comments section.

– The Thursday, February 12th edition of WWE SmackDown averaged 2.596 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The number was up from the 2.441 million viewers that tuned into the show the week before.

– The Miz and his personal assistant, Damien Mizdow, are featured on this week’s SmackDown Fallout video, which you can watch below.

– Below is this week’s “Top 10 WWE SmackDown Moments” video.

• PHOTOS: Several HOT Pics Of RONDA ROUSEY In Sports Illustrated’s SWIMSUIT ISSUE!!

– The Usos are expected to induct their father Rikishi into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

– There was no dark main event after last night’s RAW. There was a brief comedy segment with Daniel Bryan and Jamie Noble.

– As seen on last night’s RAW, The Miz bragged that he invented the Figure Four leglock. Ric Flair’s daughter, NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte, called him out on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/mikethemiz/status/565000522013622273

– In the Fallout video from last night’s RAW, Goldust addresses the issues with his brother Stardust. Goldust says he doesn’t want to see Cody fall into the same trap that he once did.

WWE Superstar The Miz recently spoke with the folks at Ring Rust Radio for an in-depth interview. During the discussion, Miz talked about the return of Tough Enough, his recent tag-team with Damien Mizdow and his hopes for this year’s WrestleMania.

Below are highlights from the interview:

On his recent role on “Sirens” on USA Network: “Here is what I want you to imagine. When you go to the gym, the guy grunting, wearing compression pants, barely has anything on, staring in the mirror, checking out his muscles, and flexing is the character that I am portraying right now. It was a lot of fun. I have been in a lot of gyms and seen a lot of these characters so it was a lot of fun to play. The cast of Sirens is just so cool and so fun. Sometimes when you do a guest-starring role, it’s very hard to come in because these guys all know each other and you don’t know anybody. They really made me feel like part of the family which made me very comfortable on set. That is acting 101, to be comfortable and relax and they made me feel like that. We had a lot of fun and it’s going to be a great episode. With Psych no longer on, I feel like Sirens has taking over where Psych left off. Psych was such a great show, a fun show, and an interesting show that I also once guest starred on. Now Sirens is taking over that funny, interesting, cool comedy that I’m really happy to be a part of.”

On what he takes away from his acting experiences: “You know anytime you get to act with different actors it’s a whole new experience. You learn so much about yourself and different things. Acting on a movie set is very different than acting in the WWE. In WWE we are performing for everybody in that arena. You have 18,000 strong cheering or booing you, where when you are on set you just have 20 people there. You don’t have anyone chanting “you suck” so it’s a completely different experience. You get more than one take, you get a bunch of different camera angles. You take what you learn from every experience and bring it back to the WWE. What I’ve learned is with acting and doing things for film you get a bunch of different takes, but in live TV you only get one.”

On finding downtime and what he does with it: “Time to myself is being in the WWE. We are on the road 250 days a year, we’re traveling, and the media stuff is a blast. I enjoy going to these different locations and going over the different media we do is a blast for me. Time to myself I don’t really need it. I’m young, I’m having fun, and as long as I’m having fun I don’t need time to myself. I want to work as much as possible because I enjoy what I’m doing.”

On the future of Miz and Damien Mizdow: “It’s funny that every sees to see this tension brewing between Mizdow and myself. The fact is that Damian is a stunt double. What was he doing before he met me? Nothing. He was crazy, he was barely on TV, and he never had a championship. Since he has been with me I have brought him to the promise land. I have made him relevant. I have made people cheer for him and love him. The reason why they are cheering for him is because he is an extension of me. If you watch him he is doing everything I do. So in a sense, everyone is cheering for me. So teasing this and that and the other thing, as long as Damian keeps doing what he is doing then that is completely fine with me. As long as he knows his place and where he stands. If he starts thinking that he is better than his place then we will start having problems.”

On how he and Mizdow play off each other and how they help each other in terms of furthering their characters: “It’s because I can play off of anyone and I am an amazing actor as well as a sport entertainer. I am a seasoned vet, I’ve been in WWE for ten years and I can make anybody look good. That is exactly what I am doing with Damian right now. I am making him look a million bucks, like the star that he could finally be. The problem is that if Damian decides that he is a bigger star than he really is, he is going to have a problem. Look at anyone that has been attached to me as a tag team partner, where are they at now? Look where Alex Riley is. You think he just wants to be in the preshow? No. Every Superstar wants to be in the main event of WrestleMania and do the things that I have done. If they over step their boundaries then they are going to have a problem. As long as Damian doesn’t overstep his boundaries, than he will be ok.”

On the return of Tough Enough and the benefits and disadvantages of participating: “I only see benefits to be honest with you. You look at me: a person trying to make it to the WWE, trying to get there, it’s difficult, and it’s hard. Putting a show like Tough Enough on air you get to see what people have to go through to make it into WWE. That is just a part of it. That’s just the beginning round. They don’t tell you about the middle and even the end game. I think it’s a great opportunity for people and the fans to really appreciate what people have to go through on a day-to-day basis. I love the show and it gave me the opportunity to be a WWE Superstar. I thank that show every day because if that show was never there, there may never have been a Miz.”

On what he hopes to do at WrestleMania: Everybody wants that moment. “That Monday after WrestleMania that everybody is talking about. Everybody saw that moment at the Super Bowl yesterday when Butler got that amazing interception and won that game that’s the kind of moment you want. Did he get the MVP? No he didn’t, but people are talking about Butler and that’s what I’m doing. Right now, Roman Reigns VS Brock Lesnar is probably going to be the main event at WrestleMania so obviously I can’t take that. I can make sure though that I have a moment that everybody remembers and is talking about that next morning. That is what the goal is.”

On the person he would most like to face at a WrestleMania: “Right now I would love to wrestle the Rock. It would be movie star VS movie star. Obviously I am a better actor than the Rock. I will be a bigger movie star I just need to find those couple of movies that really elevate me. I am building my cape and my resume right now to get to that level. Obviously the Rock is a little older than me and he is going to do great. I imagine I’ll be bigger, I’ll be the one hoisting up an Oscar and an Emmy and a Golden Globe as well as the WWE championship if we ever do get in that ring.”

On what he needs to do to get back to the WrestleMania main event level: “Everyone always has different answers for that type of question. I think they are a lot of things involved with getting to the main event of WrestleMania. With me when I started going towards the main event, I felt the elevation and kept feeling that every time I did something it got better and better. Right now I am feeling like I am in those beginning stages again. It takes a while to build until you get to that main event at WrestleMania. This WrestleMania main event is already set in stone, so I am looking forward to the next WrestleMania. To build and build, and get bigger and bigger. Just keep making entertaining television where people are captivated by the Miz and what I am doing. They always want to know what I am doing and what I am going to say when I am not there.”

On whether he feels he’s still trying to prove himself to fans and wrestlers because his journey to the top was so unconventional: “Every day of my life is a fight. I don’t think I will ever get the respect I deserve in the WWE. I will never go to the Philadelphia’s or the New York’s and get cheered or get “Miz is Awesome”. They just don’t like me and don’t respect me. They don’t respect the way I got to the WWE even though they respect people whose Daddy got them into the WWE which I find amazing to me. I felt like I did the right path and I did everything right. Obviously I did everything right because I am the one being successful and proving everyone wrong. So I do enjoy the negativity I get because I generate positivity out of it and use it as adrenaline and energy to basically go out there and perform to the best of my availability.”

Check out the complete interview at BlogTalkRadio.com.

• VIDEO: Young Girl KOs Older Man, Claiming To Be Ex-UFC Fighter, With Vicious Punch

After being postponed last week due to snow, the good ole live, in-ring version of Raw was back last night, emanating from the Mile High City. The company was back in full force, with Triple H making a “major announcement” and a big main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.

Pros

The clear highlight of the night was the main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Anytime you get two guys with this type of talent in the same ring, you know you’re in for a treat. They certainly didn’t disappoint either, pulling off a number of impressive spots and exhibiting impeccable chemistry. The spot of the match was probably Rollins countering Bryan’s Running Knee finisher into a Powerbomb. In the end, Bryan picked up the win and will face Roman Reigns at Fast Lane for a chance to go to WrestleMania (more on this later).

The second best part of the night was probably the segment involving Curtis Axel and Dean Ambrose. It’s sad when the first thing Axel has to say when coming out is, “Don’t change the channel.” It’s like he’s a mind reader or something. Anyway, it was hilarious to see Ambrose quickly toss Axel over the top rope before telling him he’s now eliminated. Even more exciting was that Ambrose called out Bad News Barrett. This is a program that really needs to happen, as Ambrose is the type of guy who could bring some prestige back to the Intercontinental Title after the company has played hot potato with it over the past few years.

Bray Wyatt had a big night. His match with Dolph Ziggler was incredible, and it was nice to see two guys who don’t work together much get a chance to shine. Wyatt hit a devastating Sister Abigail that Ziggler sold better than anyone to end the match. Later in the night, he cut a promo saying things like, “I am the new face of fear” and, “We cannot wait to see you again.” It looks like they are going with the rumored Wyatt/Taker program for WrestleMania and I, for one, cannot wait. If only they had gone this route last year instead of wasting the streak on a part-timer…

Rusev’s beating of Rowan and post-match promo was money. I absolutely love this guy and he played off of the Russian flag miscue perfectly. Please push this guy to the top and don’t feed him to Cena.

Jimmy Uso and Cesaro looked great together. The highlights were a Cesaro Swing into a Half Crab and a brutal uppercut to end the contest. It was nice to see Cesaro pick up a victory, but the only downside was that they are already teasing tension between Cesaro and Kidd. I’d like to see these guys stick together for a while and get a run with the titles.

Finally, the Miz/Mizdow promo was absolutely hilarious. It was nice to see the Miz berate his now former stunt double and put the wheels in motion for a breakup. Here’s to hoping for a payoff at WrestleMania.

– On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Denver, Colorado it was announced that on this week’s WWE SmackDown show, which returns to its’ normal Friday time slot on the SyFy Network, The Miz will host a special edition of “MizTV” with his guests being Roman Reigns, and the man he will face at the Fast Lane pay-per-view, Daniel Bryan.

– On part one of this week’s three-part RAW Fallout, Curtis Axel continues to campaign for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Brock Lesnar. You can check out the video below.

– On part two of this week’s RAW Fallout, Bad News Barrett responds to Dean Ambrose’s challenge for a shot at the WWE Intercontinental Championship. You can check that one out below.

– Finally, in the third and final installment of this week’s RAW Fallout, an embarrassed Paige warns The Bella Twins that their “war” is not over yet. Check that one out below.

• PHOTOS: UFC Champ JON JONES Does D-X “Crotch Chop” w/ TRIPLE H & STEPHANIE MCMAHON At The SUPER BOWL!

– As seen on Monday’s WWE RAW, Dean Ambrose made it clear that he is going after Bad News Barrett and the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Ambrose is scheduled to begin a program with Barrett, which will likely culminate in an Intercontinental Championship match between the two at the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view.

– The Miz “fired” Damien Mizdow on RAW this week. He then re-hired him and made him his “personal assistant.” As noted recently, there is a good chance that Miz and Mizdow will split and end up feuding with each other heading into this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view.

• PHOTOS: UFC Champ JON JONES Does D-X “Crotch Chop” w/ TRIPLE H & STEPHANIE MCMAHON At The SUPER BOWL!

The following matches were taped on Thursday night in Hartford, CT. prior to the live edition of WWE SmackDown for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event. While they will not air on the WWE Network, they will still be available on Hulu Plus on Friday and will air in some international markets on television this weekend.

– The New Day def. The Miz & Damien Mizdow in tag-team action to kick off the show. Big E. and Kofi Kingston represented The New Day in this one. The finish saw Big E. and Kingston pick up the pin after The Miz yelled at Mizdow outside of the ring, causing a distraction.

– Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler is announced for the main event of the show.

– Erick Rowan def. Curtis Axel in singles competition. This was described as a really solid match, however the fans in Hartford were apparently not making a lot of noise for it. There was a “Rumble winner!” chant directed towards Axel during the match. In the end, Rowan picked up the win with his finisher.

– Roman Reigns is shown on the big screen, which prompted a loud boo response from the fans in attendance. The Arnold Schwarzenegger WWE Hall Of Fame video package was also shown.

– Dolph Ziggler def. Luke Harper in the main event of the show. Ziggler got a great pop from the Hartford fans for his entrance, and the crowd was said to be really hot for Ziggler throughout the entire duration of the bout. In the end, Ziggler picked up the win to end this week’s show.

• PHOTO: GINA CARANO Back In The Gym — Training For MMA Fighting Return?!

– Bad News Barrett and Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer are scheduled for Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast on Wednesday. On his Friday show this week, The Miz and Damien Mizdow will be the guests.

– On Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast this week, which will be available tonight at 9pm EST., is WCW announcer Mark Madden.

– Below is the official synopsis for the new WWE “Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe” DVD and Blu-ray, which is scheduled for an April 14th release.

“Follow WWE Hall of Famer, The Ultimate Warrior, in his long awaited return to the WWE Universe. With unparalleled behind-the-scenes access, watch Warrior’s first meetings back at WWE headquarters, reconnecting with past and present WWE Superstars at WrestleMania 30, and his 2014 Hall of Fame induction. After Warrior’s untimely passing, his wife Dana, and daughters, Indiana and Mattigan, talk about the legacy Warrior left behind.”

• MMANEWS.COM: Updates On CM Punk’s UFC Debut — Who His Opponent Will Be, etc.

– The Miz will be appearing on the season premiere of the USA Network original series “Sirens” on Tuesday night at 10pm EST.

– Bubba Ray Dudley posted the following tweet on his official Twitter account after his surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble match, thanking the fans for their support.

Dear @WWEUniverse, THANKS AGAIN for the Rumble "pop" and the social media support. Hope to see you all again soon. I had a BLAST! @WWE #RAW

— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) January 27, 2015

– Below are the official times that WWE Superstars lasted in this year’s Royal Rumble match.

1. The Miz: 4:01
2. R-Truth: 4:13
3. Bubba Ray Dudley: 4:44
4. Luke Harper: 4:17
5. Bray Wyatt: 46:59
6. Erick Rowan: 0:55
7. The Boogeyman: 0:47
8. Sin Cara: 0:37
9. Zack Ryder: 0:34
10. Daniel Bryan: 10:10
11. Fandango: 7:36
12. Tyson Kidd: 2:26
13. Stardust: 12:23
14. Diamond Dallas Page: 2:28
15. Rusev: 35:17
16. Goldust: 6:21
17. Kofi Kingston: 2:50
18. Adam Rose: 8:49
19. Roman Reigns: 27:28
20. Big E: 14:49
21. Mizdow: 18:11
22. Jack Swagger: 12:49
23. Ryback: 11:00
24. Kane: 16:55
25. Dean Ambrose: 13:30
26. Titus O’Neil: 0:04:66
27. Bad News Barrett: 5:48
28. Cesaro: 4:55
29. Big Show: 8:21
30. Dolph ZIggler: 2:19
Total Rumble Time: 59:10

MMANEWS.COM: Updates On CM Punk’s UFC Debut — Who His Opponent Will Be, etc.

Details On A Major Botched Spot During Sunday’s Royal Rumble Match!

It happened again.

All the signs were there, yet somehow WWE didn’t see it coming.

At the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night, the rabid, passionate fans in Philadelphia completely turned on what is generally a very popular, fun, 30-man annual match.

Things started off just fine. The momentum was great coming out of what was an excellent triple-threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Seth Rollins. Everything was in place. One left turn when WWE should have gone right, however, and everything could potentially fall apart.

WWE went left.

The match began like every other year. Out first comes The Miz, followed by R-Truth.

Whatever.

But then the countdown clock hit, the fans counted from ten to one and we had our first surprise of the night. Bubba Ray Dudley, the former “Bully Ray” in TNA Wrestling, was our first unexpected entrant of the match.

The fans were hot in Philly for their former ECW original. Dudley borrowed R-Truth for a few minutes, turning him into his own personal D-Von Dudley replacement, and the fun began.

“Wazzupp?!”

“Truth! …Get the tables!”

“3-D!”

The match was going along smoothly.

Dudley was eliminated a few minutes after popping up in WWE for the first time in ten years.

That was their first big mistake.

Seven entrants later — enter the leader of the “Yes! Movement.” Straight out of the gate it was clear — Philadelphia came to see Daniel Bryan win the match that he wasn’t even entered in last year.

It was going to be an ugly night.

Daniel Bryan was only in the match for a few minutes before being eliminated by Bray Wyatt. He was the eleventh Royal Rumble entrant to be eliminated this year. From there, the rest of the show completely fell apart.

WWE clearly had a game plan. Get Bryan’s elimination out of the way early, give the fans time to get the “boo’ing” out of their system, and then hopefully we’ll go along with our business.

Well, that didn’t exactly happen, did it?

What in the world did WWE expect to happen? Did they learn nothing from 2014?

Apparently not.

I’m assuming WWE was under the impression that once Bryan was out of the way, they would get behind Roman Reigns, and if they didn’t, when The Rock came out to endorse him and help him win, surely at that point the sheer excitement of seeing a big movie star for a few minutes would make them forget that they’re favorite wrestler had been screwed for the second year in a row.

Right?

Wrong!

Of course that wasn’t going to work. There were many other options WWE could have tried that would have saved the show from completely falling apart. For those who missed it, from the point Bryan was eliminated, throughout the rest of the entire match, except a couple of pops here and there, the rabid Philly fans boo’d the living crap out of everything that was happening.

Bryan was only cleared to return to the ring a few weeks ago. Knowing the Royal Rumble was coming up, if you’re not planning on having him win the match, why even have him return? Why not wait until after the Royal Rumble to bring him back?

Well, they had already brought him back, so that’s out. Knowing he’s back, however, why not save him for the final two? If you’re hell bent on having Reigns win the match, at least you have the fans turn on him at the very end of the match. They boo the finish. It sucks, but it’s better than 20-30 minutes of guttural boo’ing and madness.

Going forward, Roman Reigns is expected to be “the guy.” The next John Cena, if you will. If this is his launching off point, they better have their writers quickly figure out a way to turn him heel and capitalize on momentum that is already in place, because if they think that was a one time thing, they’ve got a rude awakening coming in their future.

Fans don’t forget. Reigns’ push had already peaked and started going down several weeks ago. His promo work isn’t there yet. His matches, while good, are not so good that fans will overlook the rest of the missing pieces of the puzzle. He’s simply not going to work as the top babyface superstar in the company. It’s not going to happen. Not yet, at least.

Regardless, another Royal Rumble is in the books. Another year of fans completely turning on WWE and crapping on their choice for a top guy, or a top match for WrestleMania, and they let it be known. Now, all that’s left is to wait and see if WWE smartens up and finds a way to give them what they want.

WrestleMania 31 — Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan.

Personally speaking, I don’t like the sound of that. Another triple-threat main event for the title? I’m not into it. But it’s pretty clear that the fans are choosing Daniel Bryan as their guy. Why WWE is so dead set on fighting it is completely beyond me.

But hey, I guess there’s always next year!

What are your thoughts on this year’s Royal Rumble and the fan reaction to the match? Let us know by posting your feedback below. You can also add me on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or follow me on Twitter @MBoone420.

The following is the final advertised lineup for tonight’s WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, which takes place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and airs live on the WWE Network.

WWE Royal Rumble Kickoff Show

– Big E., Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd & Adam Rose

– Booker T interviews Shawn Michaels

WWE Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View

– The Bella Twins vs. Paige & Natalya

– The Ascension vs. New Age Outlaws

– The Usos vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow (WWE Tag-Team Championship)

– 30-man over-the-top Royal Rumble match

– Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

Make sure to join us here at the website tonight for the best WWE Royal Rumble live play-by-play results coverage on the web!

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Poll: Who Will Win The 2015 WWE Royal Rumble?

Tonight, fans will be treated to perhaps the most exciting sixty-plus minutes of action all year. Bodies will be flying, dreams will be shattered, and ultimately, one man will punch his ticket to WrestleMania. However, there are still many questions to be answered before we start discussing ‘Mania. Most importantly, here is how I believe this Sunday’s Royal Rumble will play out.

The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose

It’s sad to see Kidd and Cesaro once again relegated to the pre-show, but at least they are getting some airtime, I suppose. On one hand, I expect Adam Rose to find a way to screw things up and cost Kidd and Cesaro the match. With that said, the New Day got the upper hand on Raw by picking up a clean victory, so based on WWE logic, it’s Kidd and Cesaro’s turn to win.

Winners: Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose by pinfall

The Usos (Tag Team Champions) vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow

Am I going crazy, or have we seen this matchup way too often in recent months? It seems unlikely that Miz and Mizdow would pick up the titles shortly after dropping them, especially as they continue to tease tension between the two. I think Miz once again tries to steal the show and refuses to tag Mizdow, eventually costing the team the match. This will further tension between the partners, eventually resulting in a breakup and payoff match at WrestleMania.

Winners: The Usos by pinfall

Paige and Natalya vs. The Bella Twins

This was basically slopped together so there’s not much to analyze or discuss. Either Paige or Natalya (whichever they want to challenge for the Divas Championship next month) forces Nikki to submit for the win.

Winners: Paige and Natalya by submission

The following was taped on Tuesday night for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event in Austin, Texas.

– JBL and Tom Phillips came out to a good reaction from the crowd.

– Kofi Kingston def. Tyson Kidd with a roll-up after countering a Sharpshooter attempt. Adam Rose and Cesaro, who were at ringside, joined in to beat down The New Day afterwards.

– The Miz and Damien Mizdow def. Los Matadores when Miz hit his Skull Crushing Finale for the 1-2-3.

– Natalya def. Summer Rae in Divas action.

– Bray Wyatt def. Jack Swagger with his Sister Abigail finisher for the pin.

– The Usos def. Goldust and Stardust in a non-title match, which served as the main event of the taping.

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On Monday’s WWE Royal Rumble “go-home” edition of RAW, which was also the RAW Reunion special, two additional matches were made official for this Sunday’s pay-per-view.

The Usos will be defending their WWE Tag-Team Championships against the team of The Miz and Damien Mizdow.

Another tag-team match was made official as well, as the New Age Outlaws, who appeared as part of the RAW Reunion special, will return once again this Sunday to compete against The Ascension.

Make sure to join us here at the site this Sunday night for live WWE Royal Rumble play-by-play results coverage.

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As things stand right now, aside from the 30-man over-the-top Royal Rumble match itself, there are only two matches that have been officially announced for the 2015 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, those being Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and The Usos vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow for the WWE Tag-Team Championship.

It appears that Nikki Bella vs. Natalya for the WWE Divas Championship will be added, and with the Rumble match itself being such a lengthy match, and one with so many competitors involved, there’s a good possibility that only one or two additional matches will end up being added to the card.

Matches such as Roman Reigns vs. Big Show and Ryback vs. Rusev were being pushed, however three of those four are announced as Rumble participants, and nothing can be officially booked for Ryback until WWE wraps up the “firing” angle from last week’s RAW.

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(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

WWE ended up cutting one of the main segments planned for this coming Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which was taped on Tuesday night at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas.

On Monday’s WWE RAW, the first episode of the show in 2015, a “Miz TV” segment with Seth Rollins was advertised and promoted for Friday’s show. For whatever reason, WWE ended up not doing the segment.

Both The Miz and Seth Rollins still worked the SmackDown tapings, but for some reason, they decided against the advertised talk-show segment.

You can read a complete spoiler report for this Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown by clicking here.

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As noted earlier today, Seth Rollins was advertised as being “in action” on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, although it wasn’t revealed who he would be working against.

Whether or not Rollins will be competing in a match remains to be seen, however it was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW that Rollins would be taking part in a promo segment.

This Friday’s edition of SmackDown, which is the final time the show will air in its’ usual Friday time slot before the move to Thursdays, will feature the return of MizTV, as Rollins will join Miz and Damien Mizdow on the talk show segment.

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– 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.

– The Usos defeated the team of The Miz and Damien Mizdow on this week’s edition of WWE RAW, which was the final episode of the show for 2014.

– For those who didn’t notice it, Edge was showing some support for the NXT Champion during his appearance on RAW, as he wore a Sami Zayn t-shirt throughout the show.