The following are highlights of a new Jim Ross blog:
On Paul Heyman’s promo on RAW: “Speaking of Paul Heyman, Paul had a magnificent night on Raw delivering a home run on the Lesnar beating Taker promo. Heyman is the best talker in the business and continues to do amazing work and has to be considered as one of the greatest managers of all time on a short list that includes Bobby Heenan and Jim Cornette. Before all is said and done, Paul may be the best, pure manager to ever fulfill that role in the history of the business.”
On Paige’s main roster debut at RAW: “Paige has a significant upside and I can see her potentially having a Trish-Lita type rivalry with the talented AJ Lee who is still WWE’s most consistent, in ring diva. Both ladies have marketable, bell to bell skills and both can be aggressive in the ring which translates well to all audiences.”
On The Shield: “The Shield declaring their true colors as the show went off the air was significant. This gives WWE creative plenty of options going forward and the chance for Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins to take another step vertically not to mention when one or more of them ‘changes jerseys’ how big a deal that will be. I’d hope that metamorphous is not any time soon as the hotter The Shield becomes as fan favorites the more impactful they will be as antagonists when the time is right.”
The following news was revealed during tonight’s post-WrestleMania XXX edition of WWE RAW:
Big Show vs. Cesaro will take place on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
The Wyatt Family will take on The Shield in a six-man tag-team match on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.
NXT stars Alexander Rusev and Paige debuted. Rusev defeated Zack Ryder with his “Accolade” submission finisher, while Paige defeated AJ Lee to become the new WWE Divas Champion.
Vignettes aired hyping the pending WWE main roster debuts of NXT stars Bo Dallas and Adam Rose. The Rose vignette featured the NXT star on an “Erotic Express” bus.
Rob Van Dam made his return to WWE. He returned in a match against Damien Sandow, which he ended up winning.
Cesaro was revealed as the newest “Paul Heyman guy.” Cesaro turned on Zeb Colter, aligning himself with Heyman and defeating his former “Real American” tag-team partner via count out.
According to the official WWE website, Billy Gunn was injured during his match with Road Dogg and Kane against The Shield at WrestleMania XXX on Sunday night in New Orleans.
The official WWE website reported the following:
“At the very end of the match, Billy sustained a powerbomb maneuver,” reported WWE’s Dr. Chris Amann. “After that maneuver, he started to develop hemoptysis, which is the medical term for coughing up blood.
“We brought him back and evaluated him immediately, checked his oxygen, his blood pressure … everything was stable,” Amann continued. “We got some X-rays of his chest, which did not show any evidence of a collapsed lung, so our diagnosis right now is that he most likely ruptured a small blood vessel that caused bleeding to the airways and, subsequently, coughing up blood.”
As for Gunn’s condition at this time, Dr. Amann said, “We’re going to monitor him closely for the rest of the night, and we’ll have any additional updates as they’re available.”
Brian Fritz of Between The Ropes caught up with a number of WWE Superstars and WWE Divas at the WWE media day in New Orleans. The following are videos of the various interviews.
Paul Heyman Still Hustling Going Into WrestleMania 30
http://youtu.be/J56-95yZrzU
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan on WrestleMania 30, Increased Fame
WWE Superstar Seth Rollins on WrestleMania 30, Enjoying The Shield
WWE Superstar Cesaro on Fitness, Daniel Bryan and WrestleMania 30
WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil on His Gators, WrestleMania 30
WWE Diva Natalya on WrestleMania 30, Slapped by Summer Rae
WWE Diva Emma on Making PPV Debut at WrestleMania 30
Here we are the Raw before WrestleMania XXX. The go home show of all go home shows. Did Raw deliver? Check out our YES! and NO!
Brock Lesnar Finally F5’s after circling the ring 10 times. NO!
The Undertaker & Brock Lesnar The Undertaker comes out and cuts seeming the same promo he has each week he’s had a mic. Out pops Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, eventually Brock circles the ring seemingly a dozen times, before the obligatory Paul Heyman distraction where he slips in with a chair, to distract The Undertaker enough so that Brock can “sneak” in and get his hands on The Dead Man.
I had such high hopes for this program, but I must tell you, I’ve been less than impressed. Paul Heyman cut an amazing promo a few weeks back simultaneously putting over The Streak, and why Brock Lesnar would break it (Undertakers age, wear and tear). Since then this has been a lackluster build for me. Am I really to believe that a huge man like Brock Lesnar is THAT afraid to get into the ring? I can buy into some trepidation, but this was ridiculous. NO!
Alberto Del Rio takes it to Big E. Good Match YES!
Big E. vs. Alberto Del Rio I thought Big E and Alberto Del Rio put on a great match, with several near falls and a clean Del Rio win. Of course why they constantly beat a champion, I’ll never understand. Does anyone remember when they actually had in-ring introductions for a Big E intercontinental championship match? That being said, YES!
Summer Rae vs. Natalya I liked how a clip was shown from this past weeks Total Diva’s and there was a match to tie things in. I suppose that’s the one thing we lack when it is seemingly all the Total Divas ganging up on AJ who didn’t want to be on the show. However, the conflict was clearly 100% manufactured, and if there was any ounce of reality to Total Divas before this, there isn’t now. YES!
The Authority implying that Daniel Bryan is a “Flavor Of The Day” like Fandango was last year.
The Authority’s Farewell To The “Yes!” Movement, Batista, Randy Orton Triple H and Stephanie come out and cut a brutally honest promo that blurts the lines between story line and reality. They made some interesting arguments about people wanting to be on a bandwagon, and support a cause. This brought out chants of CM Punk, Yes, and others including boring. After a Stephanie McMahon narrated promo about Triple H always beating the “Flavor of the Day” including Booker T, Chris Jericho, RVD, Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy, Out comes BOOtista, and Orton. Pretty much the same song and dance. Objectively I think this was a good Heel Triple H Promo. But I’m exhausted from these Authority promos, and Batista and Orton coming out in succession. I’m tired from Daniel Bryan not getting anywhere in the stratosphere of equal mic time. By itself this was good, but after weeks of this, I’m over it. So I say NO!
The Usos & Los Matadores vs. The Real Americans & Ryback and Curtis Axel
This is basically the Pre-Show match with two teams combined. Less reason to get excited about the match itself. After an incredible year of tag-teams in the WWE in 2013, everything that I have enjoyed up to this point has vanished. Cody Rhodes and GoldDust were the hottest Tag Team attraction in WWE last year, they should have been in the tag-team titles mix, or facing each other, in a brother vs brother match that has been rumored for two years. The USO’s have been in line to win the Tag Titles since July of 13. What better way to elevate those titles then have them win it at WrestleMania XXX against the Outlaws? So another match, similar to what we will see on the small big stage, and I fear that The Uso’s who should retain this, may not possibly, so that a title change gets a reaction, or creates some sort of moment. NO!
Backstage Segment: The Shield & Roman Reigns vs. Kane I enjoyed this backstage segment from The Shield, they seemed like a cohesive unit here, and I hope to see more of this at WrestleMania. Could The Shield stay together for a while longer? Many thought the match would be all three members of The Shield in a triple thread at this years WrestleMania. I would dislike it to see someone like Dean Ambrose accidentally or deliberately cause a loss for the team. I’d like to see The Shield show their dominance over the last two years. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW
– NXT star Sami Zayn will be wrestling on WWE’s upcoming tour of Saudi Arabia later this month (4/17-19). is being advertised for WWE’s tour of Saudi Arabia on April 17th, 18th and 19th. He is scheduled to face Alberto Del Rio.
Other advertised matches include John Cena, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs. The Wyatt Family and Dean Amborse defending the US title against Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes in triple threat matches.
– Brie Bella has been teasing a physical altercation with Stephanie McMahon on Twitter, calling the Authority “completely annoying” and saying she’d love to “slap the crap out of them!”
I find Triple H and Stephanie completely annoying. I would LOVE to slap the crap out of them! Who else!!???? -B #RAW
The following are highlights of a recent Chad Dukes Wrestling Show WrestleMania Spectacular interview with Batista:
On his return to WWE: “I left for very specific reasons and the reasons were because there were certain opportunities I wasn’t getting when I was with the company, and we were so locked down and I mean when you’re under contract with them you’re pretty much limited to the things, you can do. You really can’t do anything else in the company without their say so and they weren’t…certain guys were getting opportunities that I wasn’t getting and I wasn’t real cool with that. So I left to accomplish certain things, and I felt like once I accomplished them, I always wanted to come back. At the end of the day I love professional wrestling. I really, I really do, man. So it’s not like I never planned to come back, I wanted to come back sooner. It’s just that you know it took me longer to accomplish certain things that I really want to accomplish. I didn’t want to be working and do one movie a year. It’s just I was out there auditioning and stuff, these were the jobs I was getting, and once I landed it, you know the Marvel deals, I felt like I accomplished everything I wanted to and then some. We didn’t come back and demand a lot of money you know I didn’t say, ‘I’m not doing house shows I’m only doing Monday Night Raw.’ I mean I said, ‘I’ll do Smackdown, I’ll do house shows.'”
On being selective with film roles: “I got offered a lot of roles, coming out of wrestling, on stuff that was going straight to DVD and it wasn’t the stuff that I want to do and I really wanted like, really good projects. I really, I really had a passion for acting and I really wanted to become a better actor. So I passed up on a lot of that stuff and held out for like better roles, and stuff that will put me in the next to guys were really established actors, so I could kinda learn from, so it wasn’t easy man. I got out there and pounded the pavement.”
On his heat with Daniel Bryan fans possibly coming from a 2011 tweet: “For some reason I think people thought that I didn’t like Daniel Bryan or I had this personal thing. I said a comment, I had one comment about him when he first won the world heavyweight championship and I was like, I was in shock and I said, “Okay.” Because I just didn’t get it. The reason I didn’t get it because it was too soon and that’s my personal opinion. I felt it was way too soon and they did that constantly over and over. I thought they, they just slap the title on people like, way too fast. It’s like, I think sometimes that they used the title, I might get a little grief for saying it, sometimes I think they use the title to get guys over. I thought it just, they did it, it was premature. I never had a problem with him being you know, World Heavyweight Champion, I just thought that they did it way too fast.
You can’t convince me that some body else was a bigger supporter of Daniel Bryan cause I mean that was years ago, before everybody was you know on his jock, when they wanted me to job him out, and I was like, “Hell no.” He’s just too good. He had been coming around for years and I could never figure out why they didn’t give him a job, but he had come out and they wanted me to work a match with him, and squash him and I was like, “No, not gonna happen.” He’s way too good man, we could have a good match, and we did. I mean we gave ‘em a version of what they wanted, but we gave ‘em a hell of a match. It looked like a competitive match. When at the time it’s not with what they wanted.”
On current WWE Superstar who are impressing him: “I love Bray Wyatt. I love him. I love that whole gimmick, that whole Wyatt Family gimmick, but Bray I think he’s gonna be a huge star. I get caught up in this guy, man. When I watch him he’s one of those guys. He’s another guy, I mean he doesn’t look like a stud. He’s not a statue of a man, but he is athletic as you can get, that kid can move man. He is agile, he is a stud man. That kid is as an athlete. He gets when he cuts a promo, you just get sucked in man. He is hypnotizing. When I talk to him like personal, on a personal level, he’s one of those kids who’s not afraid to learn, he has no ego. He’s still learning and he knows he’s still learning and he’s not afraid to ask questions, and I think that’s why he’s going to be so good. Cause he’s this good right now and he still wants to learn. I love the whole Shield gimmick, everyone’s real focused on Roman, and I think he’s definitely going to be a huge star, but Dean Ambrose to me, he’s the star of that.”
The following are highlights of a new Boston Herald interview with Roman Reigns:
On meshing well with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins: “We didn’t know we would complement each other so well. Everything from what we wear, entering through the crowd, even the triple powerbomb in itself, it’s clicked and been so organic. That’s been the most exciting part. We spend so much time together, we’ve jumped the friend stage in the past year and a half and become brothers.”
On facing legends at WrestleMania XXX: “The faces will always change, the styles will evolve. I respect what people before me have done, but my time is now.”
On wanting to headline WrestleMania: “Every single day. Somebody just asked me if I would like to take on the Undertaker and beat his (WrestleMania) streak. I would rather retain the WWE world heavyweight championship while taking out the streak. My motivation is to be the best. I have a deep responsibility to leave things better than the way I found them. I don’t want to live off potential, so the first thing I have to do is capture the gold.”
The Shield member Roman Reigns spoke to The Washington Post this week to promote WrestleMania XXX. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Significance Of Performing At WrestleMania: “I’s Mania first. We want to get there the right way, and we want to just tear the house down. We wanna burn it down, put cracks in the wall, just demolish that place and have an awesome match.”
“As far as the next day? There’s going to be some gaps. There are going to be a bunch of big names that are gonna compete [at Wrestlemania] and then not be there on Monday. That’s when guys like myself, the rest of the Shield, Cesaro, the Usos .?.?. there’s a bunch of guys who want this and are willing to work every single day. If I’m a fan of the WWE, I would feel safe to know that your entertainment is in the right hands.”
How Crowd Reactions Affect His Matches:
“I try to live in the moment. When you’re in a singles match, you’re in there, and the guy’s on top of you, and you’re in a hold and you’re being smothered: You’re in the fight at all times. But when we’re doing these team fights, you have a little time to take in the moment and just absorb the energy of the crowd.”
“Especially with the crowds nowadays. They’re very opinionated; you can almost sense that the crowd has taken a leadership role within their own product. This is what they take joy in and take pride in. And if they’re not into something, they’re going to let you know. If they’re into something, same thing: They’re going to let you know.”
If He Sees Himself As A Potential Main Event Singles Star:
“I’ve always pictured myself being in the main event. It’s always been my expectation to be the top guy, the face of the company, the one with all of that responsibility. But that should be everybody’s goal. I didn’t get into this to just be in the middle of the pack. If you want to do that, go work in a different line of work. This isn’t the place to camouflage yourself. I’m trying to be the most exotic animal on this safari.”
Why He Does Not Use A Samoan Ring Name:
“It was a process. Of course, immediately the thought was: ‘He’s Samoan, so let’s run with that.’ But then I think they saw my personality, being more of a cultured guy, going to college, playing ball, things like that, just the kind of guy I am, you know, just be me — don’t try and focus on a nationality or an ethnicity or anything like that. Just be myself.”
The following is a non-spoiler match listing for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown. For complete spoiler results, click ahead to page two.
– Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre & Jinder Mahal
– Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Ryback & Curtis Axel
– Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara
– Goldust vs. Fandango
– Batista vs. Sheamus
– The Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee & Tamina Snuka
– Jack Swagger vs. Jimmy Uso
– The Miz vs. Mark Henry
– Bray Wyatt vs. Big Show
For complete spoiler results for this week’s WWE SmackDown, click ahead to page two …
Following their debut at the 2012 Survivor Series, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, collectively known as the Shield, quickly became one of the most dominant and influential stables in recent memory.
The group primarily acted as heels throughout their successful run, although they were frequently cheered as well. In particular, Roman Reigns would frequently receive huge pops from the crowd, as seen during his breakthrough performances at the 2013 Survivor Series and 2014 Royal Rumble.
After attacking Director of Operations Kane, the group officially turned babyface and the crowd has been eating it up in recent weeks, with their celebration following their beat down of Ryback and Curtis Axel on this past week’s RAW serving as evidence of the group’s popularity.
After a tumultuous few weeks, the Shield appears to be reunited, but for how long can the Hounds of Justice keep their respective egos in check?
The group now seems to be reunited and stronger than ever after there was serious tension between the Hounds of Justice. So why did the WWE decide to turn the Shield face after it seemed they would dissolve just a few weeks prior?
The Wyatt Effect
One of the primary reasons the Shield were forced to turn face was the emergence of the Wyatt Family. There is only so much room on the roster for stables, and the Wyatt Family are without a doubt the predominant heel group on the roster today.
With the Wyatt Family serving as the main heel stable on the roster and essentially adopting the same M.O. as the Shield (appearing out of nowhere to savagely destroy unsuspecting foes), it only makes sense that creative would not want two stables acting in a similar manner, even if their gimmicks are stark contrasts of one another.
– The latest edition of “Talk Is Jericho,” which features Chris Jericho interviewing The Miz, is now available. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TIJ – EP24 – WWE’s The Miz WWE’s The Miz was the token All-American frat boy on MTV’s Real World, and parlayed that into a career in pro-wrestling! And he’s telling stories about all of it – from his first match with John Cena to his WWE locker room ban to being fired by Jeremy Piven to winning the championship belt!
WWE confirmed a few new matches for WrestleMania XXX on this week’s edition of RAW, which took place on Monday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
As previously reported, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee will be defending her title on the show in a “Vickie Guerrero Diva Invitational” against Naomi, Cameron, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Eva Marie, Emma, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes, Layla and Tamina Snuka.
Also confirmed on Monday’s RAW was the fact that Ryback and Curtis Axel will be part of the WWE Tag-Team Championship match at WrestleMania XXX against the current champions, The Usos.
Finally, WWE announced The Shield vs. Kane and The New Age Outlaws in a six-man tag-team contest for the show.
The following are highlights of a new interview with Dean Ambrose:
On having big ambition when first coming to WWE: “On the real, from the day we started this and had this opportunity, it was ‘O.K., screw everybody else in the world. We’re going to take over this company and this business for the next 10 years, whatever it is. We’ll fight whatever battles we need to fight together and we’ll stick together and have each other’s backs in circumstances. It was an all-for-one, one-for-all mentality. And we’ve done that and it’s been successful. I think you see that and it comes off as very real, cause it is real.”
“Does that mean we have to be finishing each other’s sentences and smiling and happy, high fiving all the time? No. Did Guns N’ Roses like each other every night? No. Did the Kinks like each other? No. Ray Davies and his brother hated each other, but onstage, magic.”
“As long as the three of us can get to the ring together, that magic that happens when all three of us are together is going to happen, whether we were arguing about who gets to sit in the front seat earlier in the night. By the time we get out in front of the audience, that magic’s going to happen.”
On his love of the wrestling business: “My favorite part of the job now is – I think it’s the same for everybody – from the moment you walk through the curtain to the moment you walk back behind the curtain. It’s being in front of the audience and letting it all hang out, whether you’re on TV or not, or a live event or pay-per-view. Any time the red light of the camera’s on. It’s a great escape. That we have the opportunity to do something that’s so much fun for a living is a real blessing.”
“No matter how bad your day’s going, whether your flight’s delayed or whether you got stuck in traffic or whether you’re hurt, sore, tired, whatever it is – your puppy died – whatever’s going bad, once you’re out there in front of the crowd, feeling the energy and having fun letting it all hang out – that’s the payoff to me.”
“The work for me is traveling, getting in and out of the buildings and stuff like that. The pay is getting the chance to wrestle in front of the entire world on TV, in front of big crowds, just being in front of the audience getting to do what you love to do. Just performing. I love performing whether it’s a live event or a pay-per-view or whatever it is; any time that red light of the camera is on. That’s the fun part for me.”
On Old School RAW, Roddy Piper and Jake Roberts: “He [Piper] was from two eras before me, so he’s a guy you never think you’re never going to get a chance to work with. When I found out I was going to get the opportunity to do that, it was like ‘whoa.’ When you’re on the ride and you’re going so fast, it’s hard to stop and smell the roses. That was one of the things where you had to go ‘I’m on Piper’s Pit right now, that’s crazy. The real Piper’s Pit right here in front of me. That’s crazy.’ It’s hard to – I keep saying it – but it’s another one of those things that’s hard to wrap your brain around.”
“Seeing his thought process before he [Piper] does something – it’s much different today because back when he did it was all him and it was wild west and he just did and said whatever he wanted – so it’s a little bit different today; watching him work, watching him go through his process was really cool to me and really interesting. Working with him beforehand, just kind of sharing some back and forth in preparation for it was really cool.”
“Going out there on live TV with a mic against Rowdy Piper is like going out there and hitting against the best pitcher in baseball or going out there and fighting Mike Tyson on TV. It’s like having a loaded gun with Rowdy Piper with a mic in his hand. You’re out there against the absolute best with a mic in his hand. That’s a rush.”
“I didn’t know until very late about the Jake the Snake deal. That was cool too, another icing on the cake, bucket list thing. Everybody was giving me crap because I was laughing when the snake was on me. The reason I was smiling is because I could not stop laughing. It happened so quickly. The whole thing was like ‘O.K. Jake the Snake’s here. What? Of course he is.’ And, the whole thing was like some wacky; trippy I drank too much cough medicine reality.”
As previously reported, there is a plan in place to break up The Shield. As noted, the idea is for Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to split off into a heel tag-team, while Roman Reigns will be used as a top babyface singles competitor going forward.
One of the reasons WWE had The Shield turn babyface on RAW was to set up The New Age Outlaws working a program with them, which they requested. Additionally, the feeling was it would better set up Reigns’ singles run.
The general consensus within WWE is that it will be better for Reigns’ singles run for Ambrose and Rollins to turn on him instead of Reigns turning on them.
Bray Wyatt refers to himself as “The Eater of Worlds.” After his first few months with the company, he could also easily refer to himself as “The King of the Promo” and not many would object.
No character in recent memory has used the promo to build up his character as well as Wyatt. Starting with a series of haunting videos preceding the stable’s debut, the Wyatt Family were able to build the foundation that would allow them to become one of the top heel groups in the company.
After a perfect debut (minus the Husky Harris chants) and successful feuds with Daniel Bryan and the Shield, it was revealed that Wyatt would be entering a program with John Cena during the WrestleMania season.
http://youtu.be/x7QJruEbKL4
Many cringed at the thought of Wyatt battling Cena at WrestleMania. I personally thought the match would result in nothing more than the WWE further elevating its biggest star while taking one of the hottest superstars in the company down a notch.
After all, Cena isn’t exactly notorious for putting over stars at WrestleMania, although he has put over the Miz and the Rock in the past. I am not here to make predictions regarding the matchup, but to instead discuss how the two have used masterful promos to build the fight into possibly the most anticipated match on the card.
The Rock is the only man to ever pin Cena clean at WrestleMania? Will Wyatt be able to defeat Superman?
Cena has discussed how his legacy is at stake at WrestleMania, while Wyatt has criticized Cena for being primarily concerned with selling merchandise and achieving fame. This is certainly not a new line of criticism directed at Cena.
In fact, Daniel Bryan levied the same insults at Cena during their build-up to SummerSlam, where he said Cena was in the WWE for fame, while he (Bryan) was there because he loves to wrestle.
Bryan’s rebukes never really felt personal though, largely due to the fact that he had to hold back because he was a face. Wyatt, on the other hand, has not held back one bit, criticizing Cena for living in a castle with his plastic girlfriend during his latest promo (seen above), which is also quite possibly his best yet.
The WWE Tag-Team Championship match at WrestleMania XXX on April 6th will now feature current champions The Usos defending in a three-way match against both The Real Americans, as well as the team of Curtis Axel and Ryback.
Originally, Axel and Ryback were going to be part of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The change was made, however, at the last minute to move them over to the tag-title match instead.
Another match that is reported to be added soon, but has yet to be officially announced, is a match featuring The New Age Outlaws and Kane against all three members of The Shield.
Apparently The New Age Outlaws wanted to work a program with The Shield before they split up. It’s also being reported that they will likely serve as the new henchmen for The Authority.
There is expected to be eight matches on a four hour WrestleMania show, which would leave plenty of time for the top matches to run long, giving the guys an ample opportunity to have a number of great pay-per-view style matches.
Additionally, there is expected to be at least one match on the pre-show, which as announced on Wednesday, will be a two hour hype show. While nothing is official, the match will likely feature some of the odd men out of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal match, or an NXT match of some kind.
– Despite the fact that we’ve seen a ‘reunited’ Shield on WWE television over the past several weeks, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that there are still plans to break up the dominant faction.
The current plan is for Roman Reigns to break off on his own, while Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose would remain as a tag team for the foreseeable future.
– WWE’s latest Five Things video focuses on Five Things You Will Discover On The WWE Network:
Triple H has words with BOOTista and Randy Orton, in the opening Segment YES!
In-Ring Segment: Triple H, BOOtista and Randy Orton Raw started off with Triple H in the middle of the ring, blaming the WWE Universe, for the events leading to the match between Triple H & Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania. He said he had no chocie but has too end the #YesMovment. Out comes Batista, followed by Randy Orton. I really enjoyed the back and forth between all three. With Batista caling Randy Orton a “paper champion” and Orton saying if Batista was the big deal he was supposed to be they wouldn’t have gone on to cheer for Daniel Bryan.
Triple H tried to make his exit, Batista stopped him and said he has to fix things. That’s when Triple H went off on Batista, saying he hated when Part-Time movie stars come back and think they know how to run the business. Triple H also called out Orton, for being technically gifted, but still needs his hand held to win the match.
Triple H then annoucned a bombshell that if he wins the match between him and Daniel Bryan, he will enter the triple threat match at WrestleMania XXX, and win it to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
I thought this was a great segment, and I like that now Triple H has a shot to be in the Main Event at WrestleMania. That gives people some doubt that Daniel Bryan could lose his match between him and Triple H, which he wont. I like the direction this story is going in, as we are two Raw’s from Mania! YES!
Sheamus wins on St Patrick’s Day. NO!
Bad News Barrett & Hornswoggle Obligatory Hornswaggle segment for St Patrick’s day. Followed by an unfunny and predictable Bad News Barrett segment. Yawn. Someone tell me why Barrett is not wrestling, is he injured? NO!
Sheamus vs. Titus O’Neil Gimmick Match, the aforementioned Hornswaggle gets involved and becomes a chess piece. Christian on commentary was the bright spot. He attacks after the match, which also was predictable, I didn’t hate the attack though, but overall for me the segment was a NO!
The Usos vs. The Real Americans
Sold match, looks like The Real Americans are back as a cohesive unit. This win by The Real Americans I’m assuming will lead to their involvement in a 4-way tag match at WrestleMania. Perhaps on the grandest stage of them all, we will finally see Cesaro snap on Jack Swagger and swing him many many times. YES!
John Cena and Bray Wyatt, let’s hope the match lives up to the hype. YES!
John Cena & Bray Wyatt Promo Segment Obviously we won’t know until WrestleMania XXX if these two will have a good or great match. For all we know they could have an amazing match. But I have to say I really enjoy Bray Wyatt’s promo work here. John Cena is John Cena, I could do with out the comedy. His act is getting stale, and he is in need for a change, a big change. I think this this program is a good fit for both superstars, of course I would rather have seen The Shield vs The Wyatts, but since that ship has sailed, I’m enjoying what I see. YES!
Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan……Part 20. YES!
Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton have good matches with each other, I enjoyed this one as well. Batista came down to take it to Orton, followed by Daniel Bryan sending Batista out of the ring with the Knee. This was a great live illustration to show what “could” happen at WrestleMania XXX. Batista power bombing Orton Afterwords got a decent pop. I have to say, seems a fair amount of heat on BOOtista is melting away, now that Daniel Bryan has the potential to headline with him and Orton at WrestleMania XXX YES!
Paul could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves. YES!
Segment: Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is a master wordsmith. He is perfect for someone like Brock Lesnar, who’s mic skills aren’t as sharp. I love the story they are telling here, acknowledging The Undertaker is getting older and it has been getting harder the last few years for him to win decisively. YES!
Interesting observation, did you notice how CM Punk didn’t exist on the promo they showed? Would have made great sense to use him, after all, The Undertaker beat CM Punk last year at WrestleMania 29 and, Brock Lesnar went on to beat CM Punk at SummerSlam. But no, he is erased.
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW
The following are highlights from the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On the opening segment of RAW: “Loved the antagonist angst aka ‘heat’ that the show produced for the primary storyline going into WrestleMania 30 in NOLA. The opening segment was stellar. Now the winner of the HHH vs. Daniel Bryan one on one match is going into the main event, WWE Title bout with Triple Threat rules and that match now has more intrigue. Good booking from where I’m sitting.”
On the closing segment of RAW: “The last segment of RAW rocked as I like “heat” (no jokes please) and HHH got an ample amount of steam on Daniel Bryan which added a great deal to the WM30 scenario. The hay is largely in the barn for this storyline but I’m anxious to see if WWE adds any thing new to the scenario that will culminate in a couple of weeks in the Super Dome in a likely show closing presentation.”
On The Shield: “Good stuff with the Shield on RAW even though I feel that there is something suspicious about their fan favorite turn as many Tweeted me about during the show @JRsBBQ. I am intrigued by this trio and what goes down with them at WM30.”
On Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena: “Bray Wyatt had a great promo which is becoming the norm on Monday nights but it’s frightening to think how good Wyatt will be over time. Reminiscent of his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan who was a colorful promo talent in his vaunted heyday. Speaking of Bray Wyatt, I think it’s pretty cool to have a grandfather who was recruited to play college football for Bear Bryant and Blackjack’s personal recruiter was Bum Phillips, two football coaching legends. The kids got great DNA as his dad, IRS/Mike Rotunda, was grossly underrated.”
“A fresh match with an up and coming new star vs. the face of the company is an announcer’s dream. Wyatt vs John Cena is a match that certainly has my interest I think it will kick ass. I know it will be physical because that what two, former, college football offensive linemen do.”
On the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal: “The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with 30 men in an over the top rope rules scenario, BROTHER, is actually gaining more of my interest. The talents talking about being in it have piqued my curiosity. Funny how that works. I’m assuming that some talents will be in the Battle Royal and in other bouts at ‘Mania but that’s an assumption.”
– WWE is considering a 6-man tag match at WrestleMania featuring The Shield vs. Kane and NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension, according to a report by Justin LaBar at Triblive.com.
– WWE.com has published a feature looking at The Undertaker’s 20 Greatest Rivals.
– WWE.com also has a playlist of Superstars Impersonating Hulk Hogan.
– Sting will be making a “special appearance” for Revolution Pro this Saturday at York Hall in London, England. Also on the show are Colt Cabana, The Young Bucks, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, Ricochet and more. It does not appear that Sting will be wrestling.
The following is a list of the current merchandise sellers at the arenas in WWE.
1. John Cena
2. Daniel Bryan
3. CM Punk (down on the list because he’s been off TV and hasn’t been at the arenas)
4. Batista
5. Sheamus
6. Hulk Hogan
7. Randy Orton
8. Brock Lesnar
On the official WWE website, the list of top merchandise sellers is as follows:
1. John Cena
2. CM Punk
3. Daniel Bryan
4. Hulk Hogan
5. The Shield
6. Steve Austin
7. Brock Lesnar
8. Undertaker
9. Randy Orton
Notably absent from the list are Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio, both of whom have been among the top merchandise movers, especially Mysterio, who has been in the top tier list for several years.
Hulk Hogan’s WrestleMania XXX Announcement, John Cena & The Wyatt Family Hulk Hogan starts the show announcing an Andre The Giant memorial 30 man Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. Battle Royals have happened before at WrestleMania, with Andre The Giant winning the first ever Battle Royal at WrestleMania II. At Wrestlemania IV Bret Hart and Bad News Brown, both heels at the time agreed to share the trophy, well for a few moments. And who could forget the 19 man Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven. I don’t think anyone was expecting this, and at first I thought, the idea seemed silly, but this will get alot of talent on the card, and could be interesting to watch.
John Cena came out to have a Raw moment with The Hulkster. Dislike Cena all you want, he has been the top guy in WWE for the last 10 years. Buff Bagwell, made a ridiculous comment, that John Cena isn’t a Stone Cold Steve Austin, or a Rock, and that HE could have been John Cena, if he was pushed like Cena has been. That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Cena is a true star, and any way you slice it this was a Raw moment, to see Cena posing down with the Babe Ruth of professional wrestling.
Bray Wyatt doing his thing as John Cena and the legendary Hulk Hogan YES!
I enjoyed the Wyatt involvement, the challenge was issued by Cena, for a match at WrestleMania, Wyatt would later accept. Prior to the Royal Rumble, when the heavy rumor was John Cena vs Bray Wyatt, I was scratching my head. After months of excellent build up of Bray and the Wyatt Family, I can honestly tell you, I’m excited to see this match, and love the Wyatt Family. YES!
John Cena vs. Erick Rowan Short match, between Cena and Rowan, with Rowan having the upper hand for a good portion of the match, Cena wins with a surprise pin. I’m not sure why he was so shocked. Hulk Hogan in Cena’s corner, makes me wonder if this will foreshadow some physical Hogan involvement in the match at WrestleMania XXX. YES!
The Authority Address Daniel Bryan I’m a huge Vince McMahon fan, I loved watching Vince McMahon verbally and sometimes even physically battle Stone Cold Steve Austin, back in the Attitude Era. Perhaps because I’m so over the last 7 months of beating Daniel Bryan to the ground, I just can’t stand Stephanie McMahon and Triple H as The Authority. When I say that, I don’t mean, “I can’t wait to see Daniel Bryan get his hands on Triple H.” I just can’t stand the way either of them are, at all. Stephanie does all the talking in this segment, demanding Daniel Bryan apologize or face severe consequences. NO!
Cessaro griping a bit too tight for Jack Swagger YES!
Big E. vs. Jack Swagger / Real Americans Break-Up Tease # 395 This match was basically a filler to highlight the inevitable break up of Cesaro and Swagger. It’s a shame that Big E has been pushed to the back in all this, I had high hopes that the Intercontinental Title would finally get more prestige. That being said I am enjoying the break up of The Real Americans, because Cesaro is going to be a break out star. YES!
In-Ring Segment: The Undertaker & Paul Heyman This segment was pure brilliance, Paul Heyman with two amazing weeks in a row of fantastic promos. Playing the Chicago crowd expertly. Tying CM Punk’s departure into not being able to defeat The Undertaker, was a genius concept. I like how the story is now centered around Paul Heyman trying to get his revenge on The Undertaker. This could also set the stage for another CM Punk Undertaker encounter if he ever comes back and returns his ball. I’m cautiously optimistic for the Brock vs Taker match at WrestleMania XXX. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW
They’ll never be another person as great as Paul Heyman. Brilliant performance. YES!
Paul Heyman Opens RAW, Brock Lesnar Attacks Mark Henry Raw kicked off with a bang, CM Punk’s music hit and, naturally the crowd went wild. I’m sure most older WWE fans know this drill all too well. WWE loves pushing buttons (now called trolling). I fully expected to hear CM Punk’s entrance music hit at some point during the broadcast, it was inevitable. However after about 30 seconds, it became clear there was no CM Punk, it was Paul Heyman. Paul comes into the ring, goading the crowd to cant their heads off for the voice of the voiceless. Paul then sat Indian style in the center of the ring, and began to talk about CM Punk, and ultimately said that the fans were to blame for his absence. Paul tied it into CM Punk losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29, and moved towards Brock Lesnar taking on The Deadman in New Orleans. Brock then comes out, followed by Mark Henry who eventually gets an awesome F5 into the announce table. I loved this segment, this was exactly how you capture lighting in a bottle. Paul Heyman was simply brilliant. If I have one criticism on this segment, I would have placed it towards the middle of the program. I think the crowd should have been given a bit of time to try to “HijackRaw” with their CM Punk chants, and then WWE would strike back with their response. YES!
WWE Tag-Team Championships The New Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Usos With a crazy night came this tag team match. I was pretty surprised that The USO’s won the contest and became The WWE Tag Team Champions. For some reason I thought we would have to wait till WrestleMania XXX to see The USO’s win the tag team championship, there is still 4 weeks before WrestleMania so as they say anything can happen. I’m happy for The USO’s they deserve the championship. YES!
The Real Americans Hugging it out… For now.
Big E. vs. Cesaro & Big E. vs. Jack Swagger I’ve been seeing Jack Swagger interrupt many Cesaro matches. Earlier in the night Swagger again caused the DQ by attacking Big E during the match. Later Big E pulls double duty taking on Swagger Cesaro returns the favor. Obviously these two are destined for a breakup, but when? And how does Big E’ Factor into this match. I wouldn’t mind seeing the three of them go at it in a triple Threat Match at WrestleMania, where we can see Cesaro finally turn on Jack Swagger. YES!
The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family What an incredible match these 6 young up and coming SuperStars had at The Elimination Chamber PPV, This match was great too, with Seth Rollins proving he is not the weakest link in The Shield. Flying across the ring! I like Rollins walking out of the match to further the breakup of The Shield. I think The Shield vs The Wyatts much like The Rock vs Triple H will go down in history as two matches that should have taken place on the grandest stage of them all, WrestleMania. Still an awesome showing and a great way to keep the momentum for Bray Wyatt who got the pinfall. YES!
Renee Young Interviews Batista BOOtista turning full heel on Smackdown! this past Friday night, now on Raw calls the Daniel Bryan #YesMovement the the dumbest thing he’s ever seen in his life. I like heel BOOtista. Well maybe I don’t. I didn’t like WWE trying to keep Batista a face when the crowd would have none of it. There’s your real change! We actually turned him heel. There was no other choice anyway, I don’t want to get my hopes up for the SEVENTH month in a row, but this seems to be heading towards what most of us are hoping to see at WrestleMania XXX.
Santino Marella & Emma vs. Fandango & Summer Rae I’m still not sold on Emma. It must be because of Santino. Or that music just doesn’t feel big enough. Again I get it she was very over in NXT, but that arena holds 500-800 people. (I’ve been to a NXT Taping at Full Sail) Sometimes things don’t play as well on the big stage. I hear that music, and I hear a pin drop. Then again, this might be another Fandango in the making the night after WrestleMania XXX. NO!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78HUkVvnLXg
To much talk, Daniel Bryan should have kneed them both. NO!
Daniel Bryan, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon & Kane Promo So here’s the problem I have with Triple H vs Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX. I don’t want to see it. I want to see Daniel Bryan vs Batista vs Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I don’t want to see Daniel Bryan face Triple H even for a chance to be in that match. Why? Because I’ve invested wasted seven long months waiting to see the payoff from a story that began at SummerSlam. I attended SummerSlam, Hell-In-A-Cell, Survivor Series, and The Royal Rumble. I don’t want to see Daniel Bryan beat up Triple H the character. Although I might not mind Brian Danielson decking Paul Levesque, for this frustrating half year plus. I’m just not into seeing this match, I’m turned off. 2-4 months ago, I would have been into the idea of this match, and invested in it. Now all I want is for him to win to get put in the championship match at the end of WrestleMania XXX. It’s a shame too, because Triple H vs Daniel Bryan should be a featured marquee match, on it’s own. I just don’t see myself enjoying the match as much as I would if I didn’t have this bad taste in my mouth from the last seven months.
I hate when people compare Daniel Bryan to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Daniel Bryan is mega over right now, but back in the Attitude era Austin, the whole business was over way more. These hijack shows though are starting to offer up more of that attitude era feel, I will say though. The thing is with Stone Cold Steve Austin, he gave his blood his sweat and tears to be WWE Champion. He stopped at nothing and got physical along the way. I was not a fan of Daniel Bryan just standing there, taking abuse from Triple H and Stephanie. I wanted him to beat the crap out of both of them. If I were Daniel Bryan, I’d offer up the stipulation that we all expect to eventually happen. If he can Beat Triple H at WrestleMania, he gets inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match. But I still don’t want to see the match at WrestleMania, too turned off from the last few months. NO!
I’m enjoying this story more and more each week. YES!
John Cena Addresses The Wyatt Family I liked what John Cena had to say to the crowd, the CM Punk chants were beginning to get on my nerves by this point. I’m enjoying Bray Wyatt and what he has to offer, he could be a top Hollywood horror actor. It wouldn’t surprise me if after Mania he stars in a film. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW
– The WWE Network is working on the Xbox 360 according to various readers. After a week of login errors, the WWE Network app finally became functional on Monday and was working fine for the WWE RAW pre-show.
– It was announced to the live crowd during RAW that WWE will be returning to the Allstate Arena on June 1st for the Payback pay-per-view. The pre-sale code for the event is WWEPAYBACK.
– The following are the WWE RAW Fallout videos, featuring Aaron Paul, Dolph Ziggler and The Shield: