– In addition to their match at the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view this Sunday, CM Punk vs. The Shield in a three-on-one handicap match is also being promoted for the WWE live event on December 27th in Indianapolis, Indiana.
– After working under the mask as Sin Cara on WWE RAW last week, WWE Superstar Hunico was back to working under his normal gimmick at the non-televised WWE live events this past weekend.
– The Spaceship News website in Australia recently interviewed former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho. The interview, which mostly focuses on his rock and roll band “Fozzy”, can be read online at SpaceshipNews.com.au.
– WWE.com has confirmed that WrestleMania 31 will take place from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Here’s the official statement:
“The Show of Shows is coming to the Bay Area. WWE.com can confirm that Levi’s Stadium, the future home of the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., will host WrestleMania 31 in 2015. This will mark the first time WrestleMania comes to Northern California. As is tradition, the area will also host activities throughout the region for the week-long celebration leading up to WrestleMania itself. Keep checking back with WWE.com for more details on the announcement coming this week!”
– The WWE website has a new poll asking fans which faction would they join – The Shield, The Wyatt Family, The Real Americans, 3MB or The Authority. With over 24,000 votes cast, The Shield is leading with 54%. The Authority is next with 22% of the vote.
– WWE posted the following Tout video of Fandango talking to Summer Rae about his Slammy nomination for Breakout Star of the Year:
– WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart recently spoke about controversial Toronto mayor Rob Ford during his appearance on the Smart Mark Pro Wrestling Radio show. Hart said of Ford: “Toronto deserves Rob Ford, they put him in office. Toronto deserves everything it gets. Up in Calgary we’ve got a more prestigious mayor [Naheed Nenshi]. I think we’ve got the best mayor in North America.”
– WWE Superstar and member of The Shield faction Dean Ambrose celebrates his 28th birthday today. Ambrose was born on December 7, 1985.
– One of the most frustrating things about WWE over the past few months has been the handling of Daniel Bryan’s character. According to a backstage source in WWE, source, when it comes to Daniel Bryan’s push, it’s not that the WWE creative team didn’t want him to get revenge, win the WWE title or even gain some sort of symbolic win – it’s that no one on the creative team has the type of influence that Vince McMahon or Triple H have, who ultimately make the final call.
– Apparently the reason WWE promoted a match featuring “CM Punk vs. a member of The Shield on SmackDown” on RAW this past Monday night was because at around 10pm on Monday, Vince McMahon had yet to make up his mind on which of the three members of The Shield would be the best opponent for Punk.
WWE announced the nominees for the “Total Diva Of The Year” Slammy Award category, which will be presented by Eve Torres. The nominees are:
– AJ Lee
– The Funkadactyls
– Natalya
– Kaitlyn
– Eva Marie
– The Bella Twins
WWE also announced the nominees for the “Double-Cross Of The Year” Slammy Award category, which will be presented by The Shield. The nominees are:
– Triple H and Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam
– Shawn Michaels and Daniel Bryan at Hell In A Cell
– Mark Henry and John Cena retirement angle on RAW
– Paul Heyman screwing CM Punk at Money In The Bank
Damien Sandow defeated Dolph Ziggler in a match on RAW to determine the number one contender to the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Because of the victory, Sandow will now battle Big E. Langston for the title in two weeks at the WWE TLC pay-per-view.
Also announced for the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view is a handicap match featuring CM Punk against all three members of The Shield. The match was made by the Director Of Operations Kane on this week’s RAW.
The build-up to the WWE TLC pay-per-view in two weeks continues on Monday night as WWE RAW returns live from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
No matches or segments have been announced in advance, however the focus will remain on the Randy Orton vs. John Cena match at TLC, which is being billed as a “unification match.”
Included on RAW will be The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who along with Vince McMahon, is being advertised locally for the show.
WWE will also begin setting up the undercard for the WWE TLC pay-per-view, which is likely going to revolve around The Wyatt Family kidnapping Daniel Bryan and The Shield targeting CM Punk last week.
Additional talent advertised for RAW this week include Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Ryback, Goldust, Cody Rhodes, AJ Lee and even Paul Heyman, who has not appeared on RAW in a few weeks.
For the live crowd in Oklahoma City on Monday night two post-show dark matches are benig advertised. John Cena is scheduled to defend his WWE Championship against Alberto Del Rio, while Randy Orton is slated to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show.
– The WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view this year at the TD Garden in Boston had 13,500 fans in attendance, with 12,000 paid. WWE announced the attendance as 15,297.
– There are already plans for WWE Superstar and current member of The Shield, Roman Reigns, to get a huge push in the 2014 Royal Rumble match. The idea is to use him similar to the way Kane and Kevin Nash have been booked in the past, where he would rack up a number of impressive eliminations during the match.
Here’s the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” I may have a different perspective than you since I was live at Raw this week at The Nassau Colosseum! Comment below and tell us how you like the column and if you agree with this week’s picks.
Daniel Bryan & CM Punk cut a promo before facing The Wyatts
The obligatory rematch between The Wyatts and Daniel Bryan & CM Punk, took place on Raw. First a promo from “The Beard & The Best” CM Punk discussing team names, and asking questions allowing Daniel Bryan to answer them with a “Yes!”. Daniel Bryan got a chance to say more than just the three letter word that will follow him for the rest of his career.
I love Daniel Bryan, and so does the crowd. In fact you could hear Daniel Bryan chants during the opening segment, proving once again that this demotion was not “Best For Business” But more on that in the “NO!” section.
Any match can be enhanced with the crowd behind you. When you have top stars like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, the two most over Superstars at Raw, it can add just that little more energy to the match.
CM Punk made a comment about Triple H and the authority in the opening promo, and wouldn’t know it after Daniel Bryan was “Kidnapped” by the Wyatts. CM Punk was laid out by The Shield. I wonder if that marks the end of Daniel Bryan and CM Punk together, because I was enjoying that. Time will tell.
Who would have thought Goldust would be having great matches alongside his brother in 2013!
The Shield vs The Rhodes and Rey Mysterio
I have never been a fan of Tag Teams growing up watching the WWE. I must say however, though all the missteps, and bad booking since SummerSlam, The WWE has a great tag team division. This, of course includes The Shield and The Wyatt factions. Day in and day out these teams from The Veteran Golddust, to newer WWE talent in The Shield and The USO’s, are having great matches. I am thoroughly enjoying watching these teams work.
The Kosher Butcher!
The Kosher Butcher Superstars for Sandy Relief Auction winner, ” Charlie Tebele was interviewed by Jerry “The King” Lawler. When asked if he were to be a WWE Superstar, what would his name be. Charlie was prepared, with a blue T-shirt and a great gimmick “The Kosher Butcher” He even went as far to come up with his finisher, The Circumcision! At first the crowd didn’t know what to make of this. Not sure if this was shown on TV, but The Kosher Butcher had at least a dozen of his friends and family at Raw, all wearing their Blue shirts! Great stuff. Half way during the Xavier Woods match, and some further thought, the crowd broke out into chants of both “Kosher Butcher” and “Circumcision”, add that to the list of most bizarre Raw chants.
Great Stuff.
Hit up Page 2 below for the “NO!” of this week’s WWE RAW:
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Shield’s Potential & Inevitable Implosion: “No one should sleep on the potential of Dean Ambrose or Seth Rollins considering that [Roman] Reigns is getting ample, fresh spotlight these days. Both Rollins and Ambrose are going to be top hands. I’d bet BBQ sauce on it.
“Ambrose has always reminded me as having some Brian Pillman and some Roddy Piper in his personality. So, if Ambrose doesn’t get institutionalized (Only kidding) with those perceived personality traits, he’s going to be outstanding. A little of The Loose Cannon and some of Hot Rod equates to money to me. Rollins, from day one in NXT, has always reminded me of CM Punk and I’m not sure exactly why but I perceive that it’s a good thing nonetheless. Rollins match several weeks back from Daniel Bryan was one that I could watch every night.”
“It’s obviously enviable that the Shield will implode at some point to allow the three stars to evolve separately instead of keeping all three talented men in one entity. How, where, when it happens remains to be seen but the why is a no brainer especially when WWE needs to build quality depth. This isn’t the era of the Horsemen when talent depth wasn’t an issue.”
CM Punk & Daniel Bryan: “Punk/Bryan are a great team. For now. I hope that they are back on their own sooner than later but I’ve really like them as a duo in recent weeks. Can’t say that I loved the kidnapping storyline as it challenges reality. For some, that may not be an issue at all which is fine. Perhaps Kane can find Daniel Bryan. Just saying. BTW…CM Punk’s promo was highly entertaining and worth watching again. Punk drop”
There’s much more to this blog, including JR’s thoughts on Bray Wyatt and new details on his upcoming one-man “Evening With Jim Ross” show.
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On overall Survivor Series thoughts: “I watched WWE Survivor Series Sunday night from Boston. No, I don’t get them for free and never have but who’s complaining? I get asked this question every PPV weekend. I pay my way and don’t condone people stealing including PPV’s from any company.”
On Roman Reigns: “Highlight of the PPV for me was the spotlight placed on Roman Reigns who pinned four members of the opposition with the same move, a nice, snug clothesline. Reigns has “it” and has always been high on everyone’s list of hopeful, future WWE main eventers. The son of WWE Hall of Famer Wild Samoan Sika has transformed his former nose tackle body into a more healthy, appealing and more marketable one since signing with WWE’s developmental program. Soon…I expect that the other two Shield members will also be more in the spotlight as both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are also marketably skilled and have excellent futures, as well.”
On Big E. Langston: “Bothers me to read some tweets @JRsBBQ regarding Big E Langston who I got to know well in NXT and who I feel has a very significant upside. ‘E’ is another talented, educated, dependable athlete who is so much more than a former power lifter. The former state high school wrestling champion and D1 football lineman at Iowa has great feet and agility plus he’s another student of the game and takes his preparation and in ring progress seriously.”
On the WWE and World titles possibly being unified: “Not sure what to make of a title unification match, if that’s where WWE is headed, with Cena and Orton. A unique way to end the show that certainly presented more questions and speculation than answers. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’d expect that particular matter to be at the center of attention on RAW Monday night.”
Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.
– CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were unable to answer the question, “will they remain a tag-team following their win at Survivor Seires” when asked by Renee Young in an exclusive WWE.com post-match interview. The two claimed that “they don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” when working in WWE.
– WWE Superstar Mark Henry, who returned with his new look to answer the open challenge issued by Ryback at Survivor Series, spoke to WWE.com about his reason for coming out. Henry claimed that he answered Ryback’s challenge due to the fact that Ryback was disrespecting Bret Hart, Booker T and Mick Foley, who he cut off when he came out to the ring.
Also featured in post-match interviews at Survivor Series on Sunday night were The Shield, Curtis Axel, Natalya and The Bella Twins. You can watch these interviews online at WWE.com.
– The official WWE website has added an exclusive video featuring all three members of The Shield — Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, cutting a backstage promo following their victory in the “traditional Survivor Series elimination match” which served as the opening bout on the pay-per-view broadcast on Sunday night. Fans interested in checking that out can do so online at WWE.com.
– As we reported throughout the day on Sunday leading into Survivor Series, WWE Superstar Mark Henry was expected to make his return as the man who would answer Ryback’s rumored “open challenge” on the show. Ryback in fact did perform the “open challenge” and Henry ended up being the man to accept. Henry returned at Survivor Series by defeating Ryback, complete with his new look. Henry sported a completely shaved head and a longer beard, and was put over enormously by the announce team during the show.
– As previously reported, WWE officials are apparently very high on Summer Rae. In addition to Summer, it is being said that WWE is going to put heavy focus on attempting to elevate the status of both Roman Reigns and Big E. Langston in 2014.
– The official WWE YouTube channel reportedly ranked number four overall in total viewership for the month of October. WWE’s YouTube channel had 63,096,390 million viewers, trailing only The Ellen Show, The Fine Bros and Hola Soy German.
– Today (November 18th) marks 1 year since The Shield made their WWE debut. Shield member Seth Rollins is encouraging people to tweet the hashtag #Shieldiversary to show their support.
– Speaking of big debuts, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his WWE debut 17 years ago from yesterday (11/17) at the 1996 WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross tweeted that he remembers that day well – and The Rock replied:
@JRsBBQ Honored to have you call the match my friend. Hope you're well. Miss ya
– As seen on Monday’s Raw in Manchester, England, the show concluded with The Shield battling The Wyatt Family in a short-lived brawl before both parties turned their attention to the babyfaces. Despite what we saw on Monday, they are not expected to begin a full program together yet.
On this week’s SmackDown, video package aired highlighting the heated conclusion of Raw and the brawl is not shown. According to F4WOnline.com today, people within WWE feel it was a seed being planted that that will be touched again early next year. Meanwhile, Dave Meltzer stated in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that creative had suggested they fight at WrestleMania XXX.
– As reported earlier today, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee collapsed during her match at tonight’s WWE live event in London, England. The official WWE website has published a brief article on the unfortunate event, which at this time solely mentions the company’s official statement to the media on her status:
“Tonight in London, WWE Diva AJ Lee briefly fainted during a match with Brie Bella due to dehydration. She is currently being evaluated by WWE medical staff.”
TMZ.com is also covering the story, which adds that Lee walked to the backstage area on her own power.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. This blog featured JR’s thoughts on Monday’s RAW and the difficult task that WWE has each week filling a 3-hour show with compelling content. Jim Ross appears to be one of the many people who feel 3 hours is simply too much programming from WWE each and every Monday night:
“RAW had its moments from Manchester but 15 commercial breaks is a major issue unless the content has 16 segments of red hot content which is impossible to create. Trust me, it is impossible to produce 16 really good to great segments of TV wrestling in todays market with today’s talents performing under today’s rules of engagement.”
The main event segment, which featured CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, the Wyatt Family and eventually the Usos and Rhodes brothers, showcased several talents that are on track to be the future of WWE:
“The closing segment of the show was compelling in my eyes. Several new ‘players’ got to make it to the magical last segment of Raw which has served many of the biggest manes in the business well.”
“So, I liked that some new bodies were involved in what is generally perceived as the money segment of the broadcast.”
“Now let’s see who takes the ball and does more than they are asked to do and pushes and shoves to the front of the line.”
Many fans were excited to see The Shield and the Wyatt Family cross paths, with Jim Ross being one of them:
“Have said all along that the Wyatt Family vs The Shield are lighting in a bottle and I’m hoping that there might be a significant match between the two entities at WM30.”
“There are 6 men involved in the Wyatt-Shield business and at least one or two need to separate from their peers and elevate up the cards. Who will it be?”
“These guys have been polished up in the WWE Performance Center and are being heavily counted on to be main event level stars much sooner than later.”
As always, you can check out Jim Ross’ amazing line of BBQ products at WWEShop.com.
– While still unofficial, it appears as though the six-on-six confrontation featuring The Wyatt Family and The Shield vs. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Goldust, Cody Rhodes and The Usos on Monday’s RAW was the beginning of the build towards a traditional elimination match with all twelve men at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view on Sunday, November 24th.
– According to reports, WWE Superstar Damien Sandow is currently being groomed for a top position in the company. Sandow, who was given a win over Kofi Kingston on RAW on Monday, recently cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase unsuccessfully against current World Heavyweight Champion John Cena. Since then, company officials within WWE are starting to work Sandow into a top-tier position.
Day seven of the WWE European tour continues on Tuesday with half of the WWE roster remaining in Manchester, England for the WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event television taping, while the rest of the roster travels to Newcastle, England for a non-televised live event.
Announced already for the SmackDown television taping is an arm-wrestling contest between World Heavyweight Champion John Cena and former champion Alberto Del Rio. The two will continue to hype their upcoming title rematch at the WWE Survivor Series on Sunday, November 24th.
Confirmed for the WWE Main Event portion of the television taping is a WWE Divas Championship match between current title-holder AJ Lee and Natalya.
Also official for the SmackDown television taping is an appearance of WWE Superstar CM Punk.
Unless WWE continues their recent trend of false-advertising, you can count the following Superstars out of SmackDown and Main Event on Tuesday: Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz and The Shield. Orton vs. Bryan is advertised as the main event for the WWE Championship at the live event in Newcastle, as well as a six-man tag-team match featuring Big Show, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz vs. The Shield.
Make sure to check back here at the website on Tuesday afternoon for live play-by-play spoiler results of the WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event television taping.
– WWE announced 13,614 fans in attendance at Monday’s taped edition of WWE RAW at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, England.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley posted a tweet on his official Twitter account on Monday night addressing the tease of a Wyatt Family vs. Shield program on RAW. Foley tweeted the following:
So how cool was that ending to #RAW? From the inception of the @WWEBrayWyatt family, I've seen BIG $ in a match-up with @TheShieldWWE
– After the televised portion of RAW ended on Monday, the babyfaces remained in the ring. CM Punk raised JBL and Jerry “The King” Lawler’s hands and went back into the ring. At one point, Goldust convinced Punk to reenact Roman Reigns “fall incident” from one of this past weekend’s WWE live events. All the babyfaces eventually made their way to the back, except for Punk. Punk got back on the microphone and said, “I just wanted to say that to come here and wrestle and perform in front of you is a humbling experience. You’ve been fantastic all night and there’s only one thing I can say, thank you.”
– The following are some off-air notes from Monday’s taped edition of WWE RAW in Manchester, England:
Several signs were confiscated during the show. Security at the show warned several fans for holding their signs up on the hard-camera side too much, including one that read “Stink-Face Me AJ.”
At one point during the main event, CM Punk told the fans that they are “the best motherf**cking crowd ever.”
There was a “fight” in the crowd between a fan dressed as Kane and another fan dressed as Goldust. Arena security eventually sent them on their way. Here’s video of the fans wrestling outside the arena after the show:
SEScoops.com reader Josh Wilding attended the November 10th WWE Live event in Cardiff, Wales and sent in the following videos:
At the end of the WWE Championship match between The Big Show and Randy Orton at WWE Live in Cardiff, Kane came out and distracted Big Show, allowing Orton to RKO him and pick up the win. Minutes later, The Shield attacked Show, and this is what happened next: