The following are highlights of a recent Red Eye Chicago interview with Seth Rollins:
On getting impatient during his NXT run: “I think the couple of years in developmental was really starting to get me impatient. It’s not a bad thing that you get that mindset because you want to be on the main roster and working with the top guys.”
“I spent a lot of time on the independent scene honing my craft, so I thought I was ready from day one. But the time I spent in NXT was the best things that could happen in my career. It gave me the mindset that I could succeed at the highest level. When it was time to get called up and The Shield was ready to make an impact, I was nervous, excited, but most importantly prepared for [it]. I think that preparation and confidence came across well in front of the WWE universe.”
On where he sees himself in five years: “I see myself as world champion. If you were in my position and you aren’t saying that, something is wrong with you. I want to be holding a title, beating up John Cena and Randy Orton and headlining pay-per-views. I have the confidence and drive and those goals would be satisfying.”
WWE legend The Undertaker has reportedly been added to Monday’s WWE RAW, which emanates from All State Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
Also scheduled for Monday’s RAW is a main event featuring The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield, Brock Lesnar’s reaction to last week’s attack by The Undertaker, celebrity guest host Aaron Paul and more.
As previously reported, CM Punk has also been rumored to make his return on the show. That, however, is not confirmed at this point.
– In addition to the Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan and Dean Ambrose vs. Big E. title unification match rumors for WrestleMania XXX, there continues to be discussion about a possible triple-threat match with Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins competing against each other at WrestleMania XXX.
– WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia sang the National Anthem and participated in a 5K race to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation earlier today in Los Angeles, California.
Hulk Hogan Opens Up RAW The big announcement earlier this week was of course the return of the Hulk Hogan, and how he will be The Host of WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. What can be said about Hulk Hogan? He’s the Babe Ruth of wrestling, and icon and legend. He deserved to be in WWE in come capacity, and why on earth he was in TNA for as long as he was, I’ll never know. Wade Barrett took a verbal shot at hogan at The Elimination Chamber Pay Per Vew, and was no were to be seen on this show, so I can only wonder, if he will fill the role of Hogan’s Punching bag at WrestleMania XXX, time will tell. YES!
Alberto Del Rio vs. BOOtista / Randy Orton Interrupts. WWE is now starting to acknowledge that BOOtista is getting booed out of the building. Well it’s about time! How long can you go jamming someone down the audience’s throats that is clearly not connecting positively with the fans? Let me make myself clear, I don’t hate Batista, I hate the idea that WWE felt they needed Batista to fill some gap at WrestleMania XXX, and injected him into the Main Event, in spite of an organic rise of Daniel Bryan. Clearly a large portion, and not a vocal minority is in agreement with this sentiment. Batista is already starting to
BOOTista is going to WrestleMania XXX #DealWithIT NO!
lean towards heel tendencies, making a crying face, after his entrance, and his #DealWithIt catch phrase, is quite antagonizing. So Big Dave loses to Del Rio after Randy Orton distracts him. Orton acknowledges the recent crowd reception Batista is receiving. Batista responds while sweaty and slobbering all over, that the fans have a choice, and he’s okay with their choice. I’m just turned off to this story. I’d be happier if Batista went full on Heel and Batista Bombed the crap out of Daniel Bryan, get him in this story, because this is boring me, and even if they inject Daniel Bryan into the Main event, I’m not sure I can take 5 weeks of build up to Orton vs Batista. NO!
WWE Intercontinental Championship Big E. (c) vs. Cesaro The match was good, Ceasaro is definitely getting a face turn soon, and rightly so, there is a big drop off on faces, and I would argue to you he already is a face, based on the crowd reaction he’s getting, and his Ceasaro Swing. Looks like Jack Swaggar is going to be Cesaro’s opponent, eventually. YES!
John Cena Injured during his interaction with The Wyatts NO!
John Cena Addresses The Wyatt Family Thirty days after John Cena was screwed out of the WWE Championship at The Royal Rumble, and one night after he was screwed again from The Wyatts, John Cena finally decides to address the situation. He must have had that on his iPhone to-do list and kept forgetting to take care of this task. You know if the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is the most prized possession in sports entertainment, and they were combined because of your challenge to Randy Orton in December, you’d figure John Cena would have had have a bit more fire, than to wait 30 days. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena, has the potential to be a good story, and maybe even a good match, although Erick Rowan, may have changed the whole situation, because Cena appeared to be legitimately injured. Time will tell. I wouldn’t be terribly upset with a plan B of The Shield vs The Wyatts at WrestleMania. YES!
Sheamus with a Brogue Kick to Christian NO!
Christian vs. Sheamus Match was okay, nothing special in my opinion, but I must admit, it was just a match, and I was quite bored from it. Heavy rumor is Heel Sheamus vs Cesaro WrestleMania, I think that would be a good match. NO!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Triple H posted a tweet on Sunday night after The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. He wrote the following about the match:
Incredible….. Was that the beginning of the end? Or the end of the beginning? pic.twitter.com/tQGsJsZD4o
– Hulk Hogan has been added to the roster page on the official WWE website.
– WWE RAW and SmackDown replays will not be made available on the WWE Network. According to the WWE Network FAQ, only the “best of RAW and SmackDown from 2012 and 2013” will be available.
– The following is a promo from The Wyatt Family, where they send a final message to The Shield before their match at this Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view:
Betty White Guest Star Betty White came out with The Big Show to kick of this weeks WWE Monday Night Raw live from Los Angelas. She said a few words and that she’s there to “Kick some Ass!” The Authority come out to start an in-ring segment. Later we see Betty White in a few segments with the New Age Outlaws. They attempt to give Betty White some spiked tea, however Betty turns the tables on Billy Gun and he ends up with the drink. How can I say something bad about Betty White? She’s a legend. It was exactly what you would have expected. The kick some ass line was charming. It was fine. YES!
Even Daniel Bryan couldn’t save this boring segment. NO!
The Authority – Randy Orton – Daniel Bryan Another in-ring segment with The Authority followed by Randy Orton. Orton now wants to be on Kelly and Michael and truly be The Face of the WWE. Daniel Bryan comes out and reminds Randy Orton that he beat him clean last week. Bryan wasn’t happy he was laid out by Kane and Orton after the match, and wanted Kane on Raw. The Authority said that Kane was suspended, and that wouldn’t be possible. I can’t take these segments with Randy Orton and The Authority. Even my beloved Daniel Bryan couldn’t save it in my eyes. Perhaps Bryan goes over at the Elimination Chamber and becomes WWE World Heavyweight Champion. All I know is they need to stop these segments this way, I mean at least mix it up, have Bryan in a fiery rage from his “NO NO NO” days call out The Authority. All these segments are the same, and boring. NO!
Rey Mysterio, Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. The Wyatt Family Amazing match from the Former Tag Team Champions, and Rey and the Wyatts. Bodies flying all over made for a great visual, and the quick hook of the Sister Abigail onto Rey Mysterio was awesome. Bray cuts a promo on The Shield for their upcoming match at The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View. Probably the match I’m looking forward to the most. Check out the match below YES!
Santino Marella (with Emma) vs. Fandango (with Summer Rae) Another bizarre use of Emma here, backing a losing Santino. Emma did her dance during their entrance to Santino’s Music. I mean I understand Santino is wrestling, but isn’t her dancing gimmick attached to her music from NXT? The debut and usage of Emma is quite confusing to me. NO!
Sheamus and Cesaro getting it on in a great tag match on Raw YES!
Sheamus & Christian vs. The Real Americans Antonio Cesaro is now just called “Cesaro”. Like Prince, or Madonna or Sting, if that means they are going to push him more you can call him Mud for all I care. Cesaro was great in this match, as was Sheamus and a very beat up Christian. Our friend The Solomonster has said on his podcast that his European Uppercut should be his finisher and I agree, after he hit the move in this match, it almost seemed the crowd expected the three count. As did I, it’s a great move. Good Match! YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
– During a commercial break of Monday’s WWE RAW, Shield member Seth Rollins grabbed a microphone and responded to fans chanting “CM Punk” by asking them, “CM Who?”
He continued, “That’s Dean Ambrose the United States champion. The man every guy wants to be and every woman wants to be with.”
The Shield did a similar routine over the weekend, running down CM Punk at live events.
– The dark match main event that took place after RAW went off the air saw John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Batista defeat the Wyatt Family by disqualification. The finish came when Bray Wyatt and Eric Rowan attacked Batista, who had given Luke Harper a spear and was about to give him a Batista Bomb.
Cena and Bryan then chased Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper out of the ring, leaving Rowan alone with the babyfaces. Cena hit him with the AA, Batista hit him with the spear, and Bryan hit him with a running knee to end the show.
– Part-time WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently revealed some details on his second autobiography via his official Facebook account. The Rock wrote:
“Amazing (and jarring) to go back and ‘experience’ my life again from 2000 to 2014. Writing my 2nd memoir w/ Joe Layden (who also wrote “The Rock Says” in 2000). Life of peaks and valleys (and a shot of tequila). Look forward to sharing it with you. Holidays 2014.”
– The Shield once again cut a promo about the CM Punk situation at a WWE live event. The trio spoke about Punk not being at the show in San Diego on Saturday night.
In a related note, fans who attended the show were offered refunds if they bought tickets to see Punk.
There is talk within WWE right now of having a triple-threat match between all three members of The Shield at WrestleMania XXX, according to a report at F4WOnline.com
The match, which would feature Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, is expected to happen as long as WWE doesn’t pull the trigger on adding Daniel Bryan to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania.
The feeling there is that WWE wouldn’t want two high-profile triple-threat matches on the same show.
Reports of Fans getting kicked out and CM Punk signs being taken away. NO!
CM Punk CM Punk took his ball and went home. The longest reigning WWE champion in the Modern Era, seemingly quit WWE last week after a meeting with Vince McMahon. We are now in the age of the crowd hijack, so as expected chants rang out and signs for CM Punk were all over the place. rang A CM Punk sign was viable with in the first few seconds of the Raw preview. My biggest fear was that this was going to take away from Daniel Bryan, and It did. Omaha isn’t a big market to begin with, and I feel energy was wasted chanting CM Punk’s name. CM Punk may have left for “the right reasons” but I fear that now Daniel Bryan has to share the spotlight with the absence of CM Punk. Time will tell. NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton I’m sick of Randy Orton and The Authority segments. I’m sick of Randy Orton. I’m sick of Triple H, who comes out to a moderate pop because, of course he is a very big star, and when you have Randy Orton out there whining and complaining, anything is better than Randy Orton. Stephanie McMahon saying “I can’t believe I’m saying this, Daniel Bryan might be the new face of the WWE.” Randy Orton will take on Daniel Bryan in a non-title match later tonight. As Triple H throws his hands in the air mimicking the yes chant. Michael Cole saying that he was leading the fans in the chant, nice try Cole. This segment could have been a 2 min promo backstage, it was a waste of time, and I was bored. NO!
Jerry The King Lawler with weaker content than BNB. NO!
Bad News Barrett & Jerry Lawler Wade Barrett, with a useless generic heel post superbowl “you stuffed your faces” corny promo. Yelling and screaming. Out of no where Jerry Lawler is on a mic cutting off Wade Barrett with the weakest retort I’ve ever heard from Jerry, saying “I have some bad news, maybe you won’t be here next week.” Crowd was just as confused as I was. That was it? Terrible NO!
The Shield vs. Rey Mysterio, Big E. Langston & Kofi Kingston Roman Reigns busted open the hard way in this match and required stitches after the fact. He will truely be a big star in the very near future, and it’s exciting to see him work. Dean Ambrose tagged Roman at the last moment to get a pinfall victory on Big E. Langston, after Roman did all the heavy lifting. This will further increase tension amongst The Shield, which is fine, but why does the Intercontinental champion have to take the fall? Can’t Kofi or Rey lay down? WWE continues to make their secondary champions look weak. However since Dean did get a pin-fall victory over Big E. perhaps this could set up a unification between the US and IC Championships, which needs to happen. After the Match The Wyatts cut a promo on the RawTron as the Shield looked on. YES!
Road Dogg should have caught Cody, but the match was a YES!
WWE Tag-Team Titles: New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes (Steel Cage Match) I enjoyed the tag team re-mach in a steel cage. However why in a match that has no disqualification would there be a requirement to tag in an out? #WWELogic I suppose. Cody Rhodes climbed the cage to deliver a moonsault much like The Moonsault he did In Madison Square Garden. However he missed, and I dont’ think he was supposed to, I think Road Dogg botched this move by not getting out in front of him. Billy Gunn would have been there to deliever his finisher if Cody hit the move, and the result would have been the same. I was fully expecting a Golddust beat down in the cage, so kudos to WWE for not being predictable. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
– As noted, there have been a lot of CM Punk chants at recent WWE shows following the news that Punk had walked out on WWE. At the WWE live event in Wichita this weekend, The Shield cut a promo about Punk, telling fans that they should be glad Punk went home.
– As previously reported, WWE Superstars John Cena and Antonio Cesaro were recently training together at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. Muscle & Fitness editor Matthew Tuthill noted via his official Twitter account that the two were taking part in a photo shoot for the magazine. Tuthill tweeted:
On Friday’s WWE Smackdown, it was announced that The Shield will square off against The Wyatt Family at the upcoming Elimination Chamber PPV.
Antonio Cesaro and Christian won qualifying matches to earn the final two spots in next month’s Elimination Chamber match.
Here is the updated card for the show:
Elimination Chamber for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Randy Orton (c) vs. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena vs. Sheamus vs. Antonio Cesaro vs. Christian
The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose from TheClassical.org:
On the early days of The Shield concept, how it was pitched to him, etc: It wasn’t ever pitched to us. It was very out of nowhere. It was a secret kind of idea. I have an idea—I’ll save that for another time—[of] what the original, original idea was. It’s just been ever-evolving. One day, it was just like, ‘All right, you three are going to wear black turtlenecks and run in and beat up Ryback,’ and we’re just like, ‘Uh, okay.’ At the time, you’re like, ‘I don’t even care.’ I [had been] in developmental for over a year at that point and was just ready to pull my eyes out, so [with] any tiny, little bit of opening they’ll give me, I was like, ‘Yup, let’s do it.’ I’ll kick in that door if you crack it open, and I think we all felt that way. But doing Survivor Series and interfering in a WWE Championship match on one of the bigger pay-per-views that the company does, that’s like, ‘Holy crap.’ If you know what the deal is or not, you can’t ask for a better spotlight than [that].
We didn’t really know what the deal was, and they didn’t really know what the deal was with it. We were kind of making it up as we were going along. The name—it’s just a natural thing. A lot of times, we’re defenders. We’re defending what we perceive to be justice, or the good of the business, or somebody who paid us off. We can act as a shield, so we were The Shield.
The attire came naturally. The entrance came naturally because why would we be in the locker room with everybody when we’re acting as mercenaries? I remember being like, ‘Why would we ever come through the Gorilla position? Who would let us in the locker room after the stuff we pulled?’ so we came through the crowd. Then, that’s like a thing, too. That’s like a statement for us, separating ourselves from the locker room as far as we want to outwork everybody and outperform everybody. We’re not your typical WWE wrestlers and we’re going to make ourselves into more. It’s like a statement that we’re taking over this business and we don’t care.
On who he travels with and guys he’d like to feud with in the future: I travel with The Shield. We keep it very tight and travel together. I’ll travel with Claudio [Castagnoli] sometimes—Antonio Cesaro. I get along with pretty much everybody. I’m really easy to get along with. I can be pretty quiet and keep to myself. I’m a guy who just kind of sits in the back of a room [to] watch and learn and see what everybody’s doing. I’m a super laid-back, easy-to-get-along-with kind of guy.
As far as who I’d like to feud with in the future, there’s so many [people] it’s hard to count. I’m sure eventually, it’s going to happen one day where either any of the three of us in The Shield are going to be looking across the ring from each other. You know, when that happens, that’ll be a good day because hopefully, it’s in a position where we’re doing it in a high-profile scenario for a lot of money.
Randy [Orton] is a guy. I’m on the same side of the fence as Randy right now, but Randy’s a guy that I love watching work. He’s a guy [where] I’ll always stop and watch his matches.
[Voice rises enthusiastically] Christian is just so unbelievably good. I mean, I always knew Christian was really good. Working with Christian, he’s been here for so long and has so much experience, you realize his brain is a super-evolved version of my brain [with] the way he sees matches play out, the way he comes up with things, especially in tag matches and stuff like that. Christian’s a guy who I’ve only had a small sampling of working with. Christian’s a guy I want to spend a lot more time in the ring with.
It’s awesome working with RVD, too. I’m a big ECW fan, so I got to work with him on a loop in California, and he’s cool. He’s friggin’ RVD. He’s got all the RVD spots and he’s ageless and stuff. There’s just countless guys that you want to work with for one reason or the other. I’m looking forward to diving headfirst into all of them.
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On RAW and Daniel Bryan: “Enjoyed how RAW started and for all the Daniel Bryan conspiracy theorists that were very vocal Sunday night, Bryan’s inclusion in segment one and in the last segment of RAW should provide some anxiety relief for those thinking that no one in a decision making position is aware that Daniel Bryan is ‘over.'”
“Trust me, if WWE wanted to bury Bryan he would not have been in both the opening and closing segments of Monday Night RAW. I think that DB fans will be happy when this particular journey reaches its destination no matter how dysfunctional it may seem to be.”
On Brock Lesnar’s beast mode: “Lesnar was back in nasty, beast mode (is there any other kind?) and he and his advocate Happy Heyman made their presence felt. I wish Lesnar’s contractual matters would allow him to appear on more RAW broadcasts as that would help in maximizing Lesnar’s earnings along with Heyman’s share of the take.”
On the Elimination Chamber: “The Elimination Chamber scenario is a bit confusing as the main event, six man tag could have had much more drama around its presentation. The match itself wasn’t bad at all but for what they were fighting for it seemed under promoted.”
On Wyatt Family and The Shield: “I was hoping for a little more from Bray Wyatt after his victory at the Royal Rumble. Nonetheless Wyatt had a really nice 24 hours and has separated himself from the pack.”
“The ‘separation from the pack’ theory isn’t fool proof nor does it happen quickly. Hopefully, all the newer talents such as the Shield, Wyatts, Big E, etc will be fully rolling by WM31. That’s not to say that they can’t or shouldn’t make a contribution at WM30 but rather the point is that the process takes time and something that many younger talents and fans don’t have….patience.”
Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.
The Raw after the Royal Rumble saw action, matches set up for The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View and more. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Royal Rumble: Everyone who watched The Royal Rumble, or heard about it, know that the crowd was completely upset that the 10 or so unadvertised spots did not go to Daniel Bryan. Loud Boos directed at Rey Misteryo who was number 30, and Batista (who I will from now on refer to as #Bootista) who won the 2014 Royal Rumble were heard loud and clear. I know this because, I was there. Yes I few out to the 2014 Royal Rumble in frigid Pittsburgh, PA to watch that Pay-Per-View live, and yes Daniel Bryan wasn’t scheduled to be in the Rumble, but not only did everyone want him in the thing, they wanted him to win. Congrats to the live crowd for making their voices heard. Hopefully this will induce change, because I dare the WWE to put on Batista vs Orton in the main event at WrestleMania XXX and not get booed out of the building.
Triple H and Daniel Bryan Face to Face. YES!
The Authority, Daniel Bryan With the largest story out of the Royal Rumble being Daniel Bryan not being in the Royal Rumble, WWE Raw kicked off right away with The Authority, and Daniel Bryan. Daniel talking about the #YesMovement and how he wanted to be in the Royal Rumble but The Authority wouldn’t let him. Daniel Bryan then gets in Triple H’s face and demands to be in the Elimination Chamber Match. Triple H then brings out the shield to beat down Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and John Cena make the save. I would have liked Raw to start with Daniel Bryan calling out The Authority, also I would have liked Daniel Bryan to beat the crap out of Triple H, the second The Sheild’s music hit. But for what it was, it was okay, and at least the segment didn’t end with Daniel Bryan being killed.It doesn’t happen often, but did you see Seth Rollins slip on his entrance?YES!
Bad News Barrett Segment You know it’s funny, I was in Pittsburgh with 13 other insane wrestling fans, some who like me flew in for The Rumble, and one my friends does a great Wade Barrett impression, and he was hilarious. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.” I heard that BNB used to be a fixture of the JBL & Cole show, and he was hilarious. I’ve come to the realization, that there are three main reasons I HATE Bad News Barrett on WWE Raw. NO!
What happened to this man? NO!
Three Reasons I hate Bad News Barrett
1. Yelling I know he’s in the arena, but I don’t think he needs to yell as much, I think it’s annoying. If he did it more soft spoken, even if it was backstage being shown to the crowd, it would come across better.
2. Podium & Gavel The podium and gavel is just plain silly and stupid. Is he a judge? Is he a preacher?
3. The Material So generic dising a local city, and their sports team. Wade Barrett can cut a great promo, we’ve seen it years ago in The Nexus and The Coree, why is he wasting time with cheap heat? Dumb!
#BOOtista, Orton and Brock Lesnar, on Raw. NO!
In-Ring Segment: Randy Orton, #BOOtista, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman I said it already once, but I dare WWE to put Randy Orton vs #BOOtista in the Main Event at WrestleMania XXX. Daniel Bryan chants ring though the arena, even though Daniel Bryan is not supposed to be involved with this segment. Brock Lesnar and Heyman come out to challenge Batista or Randy Orton, tonight on raw. But if you think you’re going to get a free Brock Lesnar match on TV, you must also believe the tooth fairy, was the one who gave you the five bucks under your pillow. NO!
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz The battle of Cleveland as these two are locals, I couldn’t help wondering how WWE was going to screw both of them, being WWE loves to beat guys in their own hometown (See: Jim Ross). Dolph wins it, and maybe his punishment is over? Probably not. YES!
WWE Tag-Team Titles
Brock destroys the Rhodes Brothers. YES!
New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
Some trash talking from The Road Dogg before this matche gets underway. I’m okay with NAO as the WWE Tag Team Champions. I’m assuming they will defend them at WrestleMania and lose it to a good team like The Usos. Brock Lesnar comes out destroys the Rhode’s brothers, which I was also okay with. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
The following are highlights of a recent Digital Spy interview with WWE Superstar Seth Rollins:
On whether or not the Royal Rumble will cause The Shield to part ways: “I don’t think so. It’s every man for himself but there’s 27 other guys in there that need to get out of that ring before we figure out which one of the three of us is the best. I would be worried for the 27 other dudes who are gonna be having to deal with hopefully the three of us in the ring at the same time. No-one has gotten away from that the whole year. Not The Rock, not The Undertaker, not John Cena. When there’s three of us in the ring at the same time, it’s disaster for anybody else.”
On the rumors that Hulk Hogan is returning to WWE: “I mean hey, he’s a legend, if he comes back in the WWE that’d be great for us just to have him around. He’s an icon in the history of our business. But, if he steps in our way, he could end up getting triple-powerbombed too.”
On whether or not WWE’s tag-team division is as exciting as it’s been in a long time: “I would say so. We went through, as a company, a good chunk of time there where tag team wrestling just fell off. Then Bryan and Kane [as Team Hell No] had the tag titles for a long period of time. We took them from them, which really is a great honor, because they really brought ’em back to really meaning something. I think myself and Roman Reigns, even Dean Ambrose with him to an extent, we took tag wrestling in a different direction in the WWE. We showed people what it could be.”
“I love tag team wrestling. I’ve loved it my whole life. A lot of my favorite teams – The Rockers [Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty], Legion of Doom [Michael ‘Hawk’ Hegstrand and Joseph ‘Animal’ Laurinaitis], The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express [Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson], Midnight Express [Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey].”
“The excitement with all the guys in the match. There’s so much more you can do with four bodies in the rules of a tag team match than two guys in a singles match. It’s just a completely different thing. I think we just took it to another level. I felt the writing on the wall with what we can do, and there were a lot of guys in the tag division who were on board. And once we stepped up our game everybody else had to measure up. That was a cool thing.”
On The Ultimate Warrior returning to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame: “I can’t wait for his speech! I hope I’m there, I can’t wait. That’s just going to be immense. I don’t know what they’re going to do with that. If you’re not there live, then wait for the DVD, because they’re going to have to edit that thing for a Hall of Fame special for sure! To have him back is really cool because he’s an icon in our business and the history of our business. He was like a whisper in the wind. Like a firecracker – a few years, BOOM! blew up and then gone. To have him back, doing his thing with us is pretty cool. He was one of my favorites growing up.”
Check out the complete interview online at DigitalSpy.com.
– WWE Superstar and Shield member Seth Rollins made headlines on TMZ for admitting that he once urinated during a live wrestling match. The headline emanates from an interview Rollins did on “Talking With Soup,” which we posted earlier today.
You can check out the TMZ article online at TMZ.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair recently posted the following tweet to his former Evolution running-buddy Batista:
Best of luck to my old Evolution running buddy @DaveBautista. Style and profile all the way to WrestleMania! #RoyalRumble
– WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose recently appeared on Colt Cabana’s “Art Of Wrestling” podcast. You can check out the full appearance at ColtCabana.com.
– Speaking of The Shield, Seth Rollins appeared on the “Talking With Soup” YouTube show, which is hosted by Dan Campbell of “The Wonder Years.” You can check out that appearance below:
The Shield’s Roman Reigns talks to Peter Rosenberg of New York’s Hot 97 radio station about the Royal Rumble, his success in WWE thus far and how he’s related to each Samoan who has wrestled for WWE.
Batista Returned to WWE and it’s the go home show before the Royal Rumble, but was it enough for us to say YES! Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Animal Is back, with the world’s tightest pants! NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton & Batista I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this segment. Randy Orton Triple H and Stephanie McMahon is just boring me. Orton is way more whinyer these days as well. This isn’t the cold-hearted viper, we all know and love. This is an annoying whimpy sometimes self-doubting viper. Batista comes out wearing a pair of ridiculous tight Jeans. That outfit is what I would expect someone to put on him as a joke in the WWE 2k14 video game, with a diva’s dancing entrance. He’s back to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans to become the WWE Champion. Part of me want’s to say YES! because Batista is awesome, maybe I’m being to hard on the guy? But if I’m rating the segment by itself I have to go with NO!
Goldust, Cody Rhodes & Big E. Langston vs. The Shield WWE has won me over on tag team wrestling, plain and simple. I enjoy it, I love wathcing Cody and Golddust out there. I think it’s rediciolous that these two are defending their championship on the Royal Rumble pre-show. They deserve mid-card of the Pay-Per-View. Some would arugue, that if you put a solid match on the pre-show that will get people on the fence to buy the PPV. I get it, but still I think this is an attraction worthy of the actual event. Especially because I feel The New Age Outlaws could very well win the titles.YES!
Daniel Bryan is back YES!
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Great to see Daniel Bryan on Raw, especially since SEScoops.com broke the news a day after last week’s Raw that he had suffered a concussion last week. As a precaution he was pulled of the weekends live events and underwent impact testing to make sure he was good for this Sunday. He’s facing Bray Wyatt in a 1 on 1 match. Currently he is not scheduled to compete in the Royal Rumble. If he doesn’t show up in the Rumble and win it, I will be pretty disappointed, this is his year to win it. Do the right thing WWE, you have a major star on your hands. YES!
Xavier Woods vs. Fandango Fast forwarded this match. I think Fandango won. I have no idea why. Meaningless. NO!
CM Punk vs Billy Gun I didn’t catch Smackdown! on Friday, but I enjoyed The Road Doggs explinatinon here on commentary. The New Age Outlaws aren’t heel’s per se, more like tweeners. I would expect them to win the Tag Team titles to further along a breakup with Golddust and Cody Rhodes. Billy Gun looked a bit blown up in the match with CM Punk, but good match. YES!
Batista gets his revenge on Alberto Del Ro before the Rumble. Now What? – NO!
Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio Another fast forward delight, back in the day before DVR’s and dare I say VCR’s We would change the channel watching this thing live. Truth be told, I fell asleep during this very match live on Monday, and caught up Tuesday. Batista comes out and attacks Alberto Del Rio. Now I thought I was going to have to pay to see Batista get physical with Del Rio? Why give it away on Raw? I can only guess that Alberto Del Rio will cause Batista to be eliminated at the Rumble. We saw Batista destroy him, so something else needs to happen. Perhaps Ricardo Rodriguez comes back and they both get Batista out? Who knows. All I know is I give the match and aftermath a NO!
Brock Lesnar should be Fearless – NO!
Big Show, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Brock Lesnar shouldn’t be afraid of anyone at any time, period! I did like the Big Show this week, more serious, more business, calling out Brock Lesnar. I thought it was silly watching Brock backup from the ring, not wanting to get in there with Big Show. Getting thrown out and then throwing a temper tantrum. Brock is going to win this match at the Royal Rumble, a match I am looking forward to. But this segment was silly. I liked Big Show’s impression of Paul Heyman though. NO!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
– It was announced on Friday’s SmackDown that all 3 members of The Shield will be entrants in the 2014 Royal Rumble match. Here’s the updated list of confirm entrants (14 remaining):
– Batista
– CM Punk
– Roman Reigns
– Dean Ambrose
– Seth Rollins
– Alberto Del Rio
– Big E. Langston
– Goldust
– Cody Rhodes
– Rey Mysterio
– The Miz
– Bad News Barrett
– Kofi Kingston
– R-Truth
– Xavier Woods
– Fandango
With two weeks before the Royal Rumble, Noah Mark is back with his analysis of the second raw of 2014. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Kick Off Raw vs The USO’S – YES!
The Usos vs. Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan (Part 1) Raw starts off with the match advertised last week of Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. The USO’s were in the ring at the start of Raw ready for the match. The lights blacked out for the Wyatts entrance, and came back on 30 seconds later to reveal Daniel Bryan and The Wyatts already in the ring. I liked the quick entrance. The match was good with Daniel Bryan in a more aggressive style. Luke Harper and Derek Rowan, interfered just before The USO’s were about to get airborne on Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. This prompted another DQ on the Wyatts in their second week in a row with Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan drops to his knees to receive a Sister Abigail from Bray Wyatt. As I said for the last two weeks, I’m okay with this story in it’s context, provided it doesn’t go 16 weeks to WrestleMania. YES!
Damien Sandow holding his own against John Cena – YES!
Damien Sandow vs. John Cena I was fortunate to be in the crowd at Raw in Orlando, FL the night after The Hell-In-A-Cell Pay-Per-View. It was on that night that Damien Sandow cashed in his Money-In-The-Bank briefcase on John Cena. Although he didn’t win the match then, it was a great competitive match with Cena, and this episode of Raw was no different. There is a great chemistry between Sandow and Cena, and proof that Sandow should have a much more elevated status in WWE. All the things about Damien Sandow I enjoy are stripped away, no more robe, no more witty promos, he’s seemingly just an angry body. Where’s the man that would sign autographs with a quill pen? Why do we get “Sandow-Gimmick-Light”? I question this especially, because when he is called upon he delivers. Match was great. Don’t throw away Sandow after this. YES!
Kane & Brad Maddox, No Triple H or Stephanie. Kane and Brad get into it backstage, and Mr Maddox comes up with a Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan vs The Uso’s rematch in a steel cage for the main event. With Kane adding that he will personally chain the cage door shut. I thought this would spell disaster for Daniel Bryan, with some ulterior motive for his former Co-Tag Team Champion.
I did like the fact that Triple H and Stephanie were not on the show this week. Although they seem to back Orton, promoting him as the face Of WWE, they haven’t been targeting John Cena, like they did Bryan, with beat-downs and impossible handi-cap matches. YES!
Left – Intense Big Show to confront Brock Lesnar 1/6 YES! Right – Jolly Big Show eventually Beating Up Zed NO!
On an unrelated note, is Kane injured? Kane is one of the longest tenured Superstars on the roster, I know he has been working several holiday house show matches, however I don’t recall him having a TV match since that aforementioned Orlando Raw I was at where, on that show he shed his mask, this was after returning from filming a See No Evil sequel. It looked like he had a noticeable limp coming down the aisle way.
Big Show vs. Jack Swagger I don’t like smiling big show. I liked hoodie and skull cap wearing, intense Big Show from last week. I want all business Big Show. I want a focused Big Show that is going to seriously take on Brock Lesnar. Big show almost has John Cena-itus. Big Show should learn from his mistakes. Smiling Big Show ended 3-4 Raws this fall, then lost the Big One. Big show can smile his way to another loss at the Royal Rumble. I like Zeb Colter, but for some reason I DON’T want to see him hurt. I like Paul Heyman, but I DO want to see him get hurt. NO!
Moments before The New Age Outlaws, pull back their hands and walk out on CM Punk – NO!
CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield I’m hoping after The Royal Rumble, CM Punk will move away from The Shield. I love Roman Reigns but If the Shield were to break up, I don’t think he should be put against CM Punk one on one, yet. I like the idea of him building up his singles resume, perhaps with a Big E, Dolph Ziggler, a returning Jericho, maybe even Daniel Bryan, before we see CM Punk vs Roman Reigns in a big time match. I love the New Age Outlaws, and I don’t want to boo them. I haven’t checked out the Smackdown Spoilers (They are scheduled to take on Cody Rhodes and Golddust) so I’m curious to see if they are “bad guys” now. They both appear to be in great shape, and would love to see them, hang around till WrestleMania, but not at heels. Besides, book him however you wish, but at WrestleMania XXX they will no doubt be faces one way or another. NO!
Meaningless win for AJ. Waste of talent – NO!
The Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee & Tamina Snuka Throw-a-way match, AJ being underutilized. AJ hasn’t had many title defenses, the belt isn’t as special, not because of the person, because of the booking. She taps out and pins people left and right, then a silly beat down afterwords. If you’re going to give her a clean win, why bother, having the faces beat her down after the fact, they lost. This is why there is a huge drop off in star power in WWE, because you have someone like an AJ Lee who can cut a dynamite promo, you can cultivate that, make people want to see her, and let her flourish! Instead of losing her in the shuffle of 20 Total Diva® tag matches. NO!
WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Inductee The Ultimate Warrior will Headline The 2014 Hall Of Fame. Ironic I watched a DVD about how he was horrible person to work with, held up Vince McMahon for money at SummerSlam 1991, and “self destructed” But as the saying goes Money Talks, and there is a lot of people who remember the guy you see below and could care less about what was hapening behind the curtain. So for that (and because our Webmaster is a huge fan of the man from Parts Unknown) we say YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Busted Open satellite radio show with Roman Reigns
Host: Dave Lagreca, Doug Mortman, and Mike Riker
Airs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Sirius 92 and XM 92 from 2-4 ET
On being the only member of The Shield to beat CM Punk; if there are any cracks in The Shield: The match as far as me beating CM Punk that’s– that’s something everybody’s going to have to get used to. Me taking down a lot of the top superstars, on my own. As far as cracks in The Shield–you know I don’t see it as a “weak link” type thing. I think the match up, you know like; it’s a very similar match up between Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and CM Punk. They’re all very technical-sound wrestlers. I bring something a bit different to the table. I’m a heavy hitting brawler. CM Punk tried to go toe-to-toe with me in that regard and it failed for him.
On if he looks at himself as a standout member of The Shield since being voted Most Improved Wrester by the Busted Open Nation: I don’t look at it too much–read into that type of stuff too much but I do agree with it; you know what I’m saying? When you wrestle as much we do; we like to consider ourselves the backbone of the company. Without us, all these dates that we’re able to do; they’re just not going to be possible. We’re the guys that do the dirty work. We’re there every single day. We don’t miss a show. There’s no weekends off for us. So I think that’s a huge contribution to my improvement. Anytime you can work on your craft; week in and week out; and focus on it, you’re gonna get better at anything. So for me, it was just apart of the process. Traveling with Seth and Dean, wrestling everyday with those guys; your grandma could get better at wrestling if she was able to do that.
On what would be his focus if he were to find himself next to his partners in the Royal Rumble: Oh that’s simple. We’re all in there together. Nothing changes for us. It’s business as usual. We’re gonna eliminate everybody and we’re going to do it with the most efficient teamwork possible. And then once we get to where it’s us three we’re gonna have to figure that out then. The gloves may come off or maybe we’ll make a stand. Maybe we’ll do something no one’s ever done before. We walk out of that sucker; who knows? That’s gonna have to be up to everybody to tune in and pay attention. Cause we’re gonna put on a good show.
On what is his goal for 2014: I think just to stay on the track that I’m on. Continue to dominate in these singles opportunities I get. And then when the right opportunity presents itself, I’d like to capture a singles title. There’s plenty of room in The Shield for another singles title; if not two more. I know Seth is thinking the exact same thing. And that’s what makes us money is we’re all on the same page as far as where we’re trying to go. If you’re not trying to climb to the top; if you’re not on that ladder; you’re in trouble, man. You might as well just stay over there by the water cooler and watch us dominate. So if we can get a couple of singles titles along with that US title; that’ll be key for us in 2014.
His thoughts on the WWE Network: I mean just groundbreaking stuff. This is something for a damn near century we’ve been working towards. Since pro wrestling started and then evolved into Sports Entertainment. This is kind of what we’ve been pushing towards for years and years now. For the WWE, that was really the next step; to broadcast and advertise under our own name. So it’s a big, big moment for our company. And I’m sure nothing but the best is lined up in our future.
His thoughts on possibly being the “face” of the company in 2014: I don’t know about the “face” of the company. That’s kind of being used right now. I’d like to come up with something a little more fresh. You know Randy Orton is doing that whole “face” of the company thing. I think I’m better than him so if we can get a one upper situation, that’s—maybe the “backbone” of the company. Maybe the “balls” of the company. Something cool like that, you know? I don’t know about the “face” of the company. Maybe the “man” of the company. That sounds about right.