– Here’s the WWE Night Of Champions “Kickoff Show” pre-show featured Stardust & The Ascension vs. Neville & The Lucha Dragons in six man tag-team action:
https://youtu.be/guYuwZ3AaCY
– The following is a video preview of the new WWE Network show “Breaking Ground,” which premieres on the WWE Network on Monday, October 26th.
https://youtu.be/GFEZJB5IGzM
Well, it looks like Kane and Chris Jericho aren’t the only guests backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the site of tonight’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view event.
According to PWInsider.com, former TNA star MVP is backstage at the venue in Houston, where he lives. Additionally, Stevie Ray, former Harlem Heat tag-team partner of Booker T, who also lives in the Houston area, is backstage as well.
As noted earlier this evening, Jericho is rumored to be the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in their six-man tag-team match against The Wyatt Family, however that is strictly a rumor at this point.
As reported earlier today, Kane is currently backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the site of tonight’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, however he isn’t the only surprise name backstage at the show.
According to multiple sources, part-time WWE performer Chris Jericho is also backstage at the Toyota Center this evening.
There is no word yet as to what Jericho is doing backstage at the show, however there is some speculation that he could end up being the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in their six-man tag-team match tonight against The Wyatt Family.
– WWE posted the following video of The Dudley Boyz arriving to the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas for tonight’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, where they will look to become ten-time tag-team champions by defeating The New Day.
EXCLUSIVE: @TomPhillipsWWE catches @REALBully5150 and @TestifyDevon arriving at #WWENOC! http://t.co/eUC0du6FgF pic.twitter.com/fW5KqnhY2V
— WWE (@WWE) September 20, 2015
– WWE also posted the following tweet to hype up the mystery tag-team partner of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose for their six-man battle against The Wyatt Family at tonight’s pay-per-view.
.@TheDeanAmbrose & @WWERomanReigns' partner will be just as SHOCKING as these unlikely allies! http://t.co/NzKy03mohv pic.twitter.com/8rBaP53ZTi
— WWE (@WWE) September 20, 2015
WWE Superstar Roman Reigns recently spoke with The Caller Times to promote this coming Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown television taping in Corpus Christi, Texas. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his feud with The Wyatt Family: “I’m just trying to get out of the swamp. The goal is to take down this Wyatt Army. I don’t think it’s going to end any time soon. If the Wyatts keep adding people, then me and (Dean) Ambrose will continue to break heads.”
On feeling blessed: “You don’t really hear it enough, but I got to thank God for everything. I feel really blessed with the opportunities.”
On facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31: “Just the moment alone makes it the best opportunity (and) the best night I’ve ever had.”
Check out the complete interview at Caller.com.
There has been some speculation that the current angle between Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose could potentially lead to a Reigns heel turn.
Since being promoted to the main roster, Reigns has been viewed as an obvious main event project, one that WWE has been carefully booking in specific ways pretty much since day one.
Lately, there has been speculation that Ambrose bringing Jimmy Uso into the fold for their battle against The Wyatt Family could lead to the Reigns heel turn, as Reigns would get upset that Ambrose brought his family, Uso, into a situation where he would get destroyed.
Whether or not this is the direction WWE is going remains to be seen, however there are many reasons why turning Reigns heel right now would make sense from a booking standpoint.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Radio)
– WWE is running a new poll on their official website asking fans who the scariest member of The Wyatt Family is. The options include Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and the mysterious Sister Abigail. While Strowman came in first with 47 percent of the vote, the unknown Sister Abigail isn’t far behind with 30 percent of the vote. Oddly enough, Wyatt, the leader of the group only has 17 percent. You can vote on the poll at WWE.com.
– WWE Superstar R-Truth has released his new single, “Pump It Up,” which is available on iTunes. Truth posted the following tweet on Thursday to promote the song.
https://t.co/m0vjkLlQFz pic.twitter.com/eLHRDbg0G3
— Ron Killings (@RonKillings) September 10, 2015
As reported this weekend, WWE is teasing a six-man tag-team match with a mystery partner at the WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Originally, the man expected to fulfill the role as the third “mystery” member of the team of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to take on The Wyatt Family trio consisting of Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman, was “The Icon” Sting.
Instead, as noted in our original report, the leading candidate at this point as the mystery member of the Reigns-Ambrose team is none other than former Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan.
It should be noted that until further notice, this should be taken strictly as speculation at this point.
WWE Night Of Champions takes place on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Make sure to join SEScoops.com on 9/20 for the best WWE Night Of Champions live results coverage on the web!
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
– As seen on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, The Wyatt Family vs. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose is set for this month’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view. The match will likely be made official on this coming Monday night’s edition of RAW. Below is a clip of the end of Thursday’s SmackDown which shows the match being mentioned.
"This is MY game. I call the shots. I MAKE THE MOVES!" – @WWEBrayWyatt #SmackDown #BlackSheep http://t.co/BQUvbDY5tP
— WWE (@WWE) September 4, 2015
– The following is the latest “Book of Austin” vignette for WWE 2K16 featuring WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
https://youtu.be/90flapGeR7M
WWE Superstar Luke Harper recently spoke with the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show to promote this month’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On The Wyatt Family matches with The Shield: “The first run or match with The Shield always stands out to me, our matches, our wars. The feeling was electric before we even touched and it was my family looking down the line and I’m looking across at three guys that were on top of the hill, the big dogs, and we knew they need to be knocked down. Since we had come to WWE, the Shield and the Wyatts were always on a path to meet, a path to see who was better, and if you look at the results the Wyatt Family actually came out of those quite well and will do it again in Summer Slam and for as long as the Shield boys want to keep doing it. ”
On The Wyatt Family starting in NXT: “Basically, the Wyatt Family laid the bricks that the NXT house is now built on.”
On if the tank-tops that he wrestles in are clean: “Obviously, I’m not a Neanderthal, I do do laundry, I am a human being. I can just not do laundry. That’s utterly ridiculous. I have several different shirts. I don’t know if that’s going to disappoint anybody out there, but I was I have a very rigorous warmup where I get a good sweat going before a match to prepare for battle. That is what people see, that is what people mistake for dirtiness.”
Check out the complete interview at ChadDukesWrestlingShow.com.
We have reported about how there are plans in WWE for Sting to eventually become involved in the Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns storyline, which is part of the reason why Luke Harper reunited with Wyatt to put The Wyatt Family back together at WWE Battleground this past Sunday night.
The current belief is that Sting and Reigns vs. Wyatt and Harper will take place at next month’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, however it was also noted that a new member of The Wyatt Family could be introduced, as Erick Rowan is injured, and if so, the match could become a six-man match with Dean Ambrose being added to the Sting/Reigns team.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Sting is not expected to be brought into the storyline on television until late in the game, likely as a big surprise.
2014 is coming to a close. Aside from two episodes of Raw that most likely be forgettable, fans have seen everything the WWE has to offer this year. Here is a look back at all 16 pay-per-views (including NXT), with each event ranked and summarized.
16. Battleground
This event took place during July, and boy was it a hot mess. The opening contest between the Usos and Wyatt Family was money, but it was downhill from there, as fans were subjected to one dud contest after another.
The biggest mistakes involved advertising a Rollins/Ambrose match that didn’t take place, and using the same predictable ending sequence during the main event. Overall, this was completely forgettable and easily the worst pay-per-view of the year.
Worst Match: Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
Best Match: The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family
15. TLC
The final pay-per-view of the year was certainly not the best the company has to offer. Overall, this event suffered from a thin roster and overcomplicated booking. Like many pay-per-view events, it started off strong before derailing.
Ziggler and Harper stole the show during the opening contest. However, lame gimmicks (Stairs/Chairs Matches) and cheesy endings (Wyatt/Ambrose, Cena/Rollins) really held this event back and prevented it from being a success.
Worst Match: Ryback vs. Kane
Best Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t “Shockmaster” or “Gobbledy Gooker” level bad, but it was pretty damn bad.
Maybe the headline should read, “Worst Diva Debut In WWE Television History,” as now that I think about it, there’s been some stinkers throughout time to be calling this the worst in “history,” but good lord was it bad.
After a lot of anticipation, or as much as a “Diva’s debut” can actually garner, current NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte finally made her main roster television debut this week on the Slammy Awards, TLC “go-home” edition of RAW.
It was a colossal flop — and not the entertaining “Flair-flop” either. Just a plain, old flop.
When you take into consideration the many factors playing into this one, it really looks awful in hindsight. And while hindsight is 20/20, this — even on paper — would had to of looked just as bad.
WWE RAW emanated from Greensboro, North Carolina, otherwise known as “Flair Country.”
Charlotte is the NXT Women’s Champion. She wore her belt to the ring. She’s defending it this week on a live NXT special on the WWE Network — and she loses her debut match in just over two minutes.
After going out of her way not to be a Ric Flair clone, or to use the Flair name or style, WWE agents booked Charlotte to do two things offensively in her WWE television debut — a chop and a figure-four leg lock (attempt).
Sound familiar?
It was outright atrocious watching that match play out on television last night. They aired the big video package to introduce her, she’s hyped up as a super-athlete, she marches down to the ring wearing a championship belt, and then does basically nothing before being pinned — clean — 1-2-3, right in the middle of the ring.
What in god’s name was the point of that?
There’s an old saying in pro wrestling when something sucks. It goes something like this — “Who books this crap?”
Whoever booked that crap deserves to be unemployed today. If not that person, then whoever gave it the “okay” certainly does.
How in the world do you expect someone to get over in modern WWE when this is how people are introduced? Look at Adam Rose and Bo Dallas. Those were the latest two NXT call-ups that come to mind, that were given the “vignette” treatment, only to be used as second-rate, mid-card, filler-comedy characters from that point on.
Why bother in the first place if that’s all they’re going to be?
Every once in a while they’ll get it right. Usually when it’s an obvious one. The Wyatt Family — obvious. The Shield — obvious. Unfortunately, Charlotte seemed like an obvious one in terms of a Diva that could actually matter. Another Trish Stratus type, or something along those lines.
But nope. The writing is already on the wall.
Anyone who is introduced the way she was last night should not expect much in her future. It’s pretty clear that WWE is not going to capitalize on a superb athlete with a legendary bloodline.
She’ll join the rest of the nothing-happening Divas and if she’s extremely lucky — could get a small gig as one of the characters on “Total Divas.”
Yippee!!
NXT: Takeover R Evolution is this Thursday, December 11th, live on the WWE Network. If you want to see what Charlotte is really all about — check it out.
Until then, have fun discussing the horrible main roster debut of Charlotte in the “Comments” section below. You can also follow me on social media for more news and views at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR, and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.
– Apparently Randy Orton reached a new agreement with WWE recently where he’s no longer working full-time on the road. Orton is no longer obligated to work all of the weekend live events.
– As noted earlier this week, movie directors The Soska Twins, who worked on WWE Studios projects such as “See No Evil 2” and “Vendetta,” are very interested in making a movie based off of The Wyatt Family. The story received a very big response on Twitter after they tweeted about it and even garnered some mainstream attention with a Dread Central article. The Soska Twins noted in recent interviews that WWE gave them a lot of creative control over “See No Evil 2,” so it will be interesting to see if WWE bites on the idea of a possible Wyatt Family film.
(Partial Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The past two weeks on RAW, we’ve seen promo videos for The Wyatt Family spotlighting Luke Harper and Eric Rowan, teasing that the two big men will be going off on their own.
Since then, it’s been rumored that The Wyatt Family is “breaking up” and NXT stars The Ascension will be called up to the main roster to be paired with Bray Wyatt.
As of this week, the Wyatt Family “breakup” situation should be taken as nothing more than a rumor.
Speaking of The Wyatt Family, movie directors (and huge WWE fans) The Soska Twins (WWE Studios’ “See No Evil 2”) say they’d love to make a movie about The Wyatt Family. They tweeted on Monday:
We wanna make a @WWEBrayWyatt film with the whole family SO BAD. Would you guys wanna see that??? #RAW #twinning #Idreamedadream
— Jen/Sylvia Soska (@twisted_twins) October 7, 2014
Sunday’s Night of Champions pay-per-view marked the end of the third quarter of the WWE calendar. With only three pay-per-views left in 2014, fans have almost reached the end of another exciting year of rasslin’.
With that said, it is now time to review the top matches from the third quarter. Feel free to compare these contests with the best matches from the first and second quarters:
Without further ado, here are the top five matches from the third quarter of 2014.
5. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Night of Champions)
Some might disagree with this choice, but I feel that it warrants inclusion. The contest perfectly juxtaposed the first contest between Cena and Lesnar at SummerSlam. Instead of Lesnar dominating from the opening bell, it was Cena who quickly hit an Attitude Adjustment and controlled the pace throughout much of the contest. The match was booked well enough that the outcome seemed in doubt, and the no-finish ending was the perfect way to keep the title on Lesnar, not make Cena look too weak, and inject Seth Rollins into the storyline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpcBR75c5WY
WWE RAW emanates from the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee with the fallout from Sunday night’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, who successfully retained his title in his rematch against John Cena on Sunday, is not advertised to be a part of the show. Also expected to be absent tonight are Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns.
Superstars that are advertised for tonight’s show include Dean Ambrose, The Wyatt Family, Randy Orton, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Triple H, Kane, Cesaro, Sheamus, Big E and The Usos.
In the case of Reigns, as noted above, he is not expected to appear, however he is included in the advertisements for the show. It’s worth noting that this is likely a case of advertisements that were released prior to his emergency surgery this weekend.
WWE is focusing on the following points in their “RAW Five-Point Preview” for tonight’s show.
– Who is next for Brock Lesnar?
– Will Dolph Ziggler look for retribution on The Miz tonight?
– What will Goldust and Stardust do next?
– Will Paige and Nikki Bella prey upon AJ Lee now that she’s the Divas Champion?
– Will Dean Ambrose strike at Seth Rollins once again?
Night of Champions is only a few days away. Even though the WWE has been serving up plates of garbage on Raw for weeks now, many still have high hopes for this pay-per-view, as every title in the company will be defended.
With that said, here are my predictions for this Sunday’s Night of Champions pay-per-view, which in case you haven’t heard, can be viewed on the WWE Network for only $9.99 (or $12.99 if you’re afraid of commitment).
Nikki Bella vs. Paige (WWE Divas Champion) vs. AJ Lee
I don’t expect it to be a terrible contest, as two of the three competitors are great workers and Nikki isn’t the worst Diva fans have ever seen. In the end, I believe Nikki will capture the title with help from her sister, reuniting the Bella Twins and putting an end to their horrible feud.
Winner: Nikki Bella by pinfall
Sheamus (United States Champion) vs. Cesaro
This should be one of the more exciting contests of the night, but I unfortunately don’t see it being given a ton of time. Although Cesaro will put up a hell of a fight, Sheamus will retain after hitting a Brogue Kick, possibly setting up a feud with Rusev for the United States Championship in the near future.
Winner: Sheamus by pinfall
Since bursting on the scene last fall, Bray Wyatt has been one of the most diabolical and confusing characters on the WWE roster. Fans are likely to find him delivering a soliloquy in a dark room one minute, while serenading an audience the next.
Along the way, Wyatt has taken out a number of superstars, including Kane, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena. However, it seems as if Wyatt has lost momentum in recent weeks.
Wyatt has lost momentum since his feud with John Cena.
Everything seemed to be going fine for Wyatt and his Family during his program with John Cena. Wyatt was able to defeat Cena during one of the three matches, and although he wasn’t able to win the series, he looked strong at times and amassed more followers. At the same time, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were challenging for the Tag Team Championships and it seemed like only a matter of time before they would capture gold.
However, the stable has seemed lost since the Cena program. Wyatt feuded with Chris Jericho in a program that was underwhelming and did little to advance either superstar. As for Harper and Rowan, they could never overcome the Usos and it now appears that they are out of the title picture for the time being. The current Wyatt Family situation begs the question: Is the stable quickly losing relevance?
In recent weeks, Wyatt has been fed to a number of superstars as they attempt to build up Night of Champions. Nowhere was this more evident than a few weeks ago when John Cena tore through the entire three-man stable just one week after being destroyed by Brock Lesnar.
This week on Raw was no different, as the Big Show delivered a double chokeslam to Harper and Rowan, once again sending the Wyatt Family running for the hills with their tails between their legs.
Feeding the Wyatt Family to the Big Show makes little sense. After all, it is not like the Big Show has a match at Night of Champions, so unlike the Cena situation, the company isn’t really building for the pay-per-view by burying the future of the company. Instead, it was just another pointless beating and loss for the Wyatt Family.
– It was announced on the WWE Night Of Champions “go-home” edition of RAW on Monday night that at the “Kickoff Show” for this Sunday’s pay-per-view, Christian will conduct a “Peep Show” talk show segment with special guest Chris Jericho.
– Also announced on RAW was a big six-man tag-team match for this week’s SmackDown, which will see Big Show and The Usos vs. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.
– Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family is reportedly currently working through some type of eye injury. We don’t have a lot of details in terms of the severity of the injury, however when additional information surfaces, we will be sure to update you here on the site.
– Former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio will be working his first official match with the Mexican-based AAA promotion tonight.
(Partial Credit: F4WOnline.com)
For the past few weeks, Vince McMahon has reportedly been all over the WWE creative team to book John Cena stronger to prove to his fans that he’s “still in the fight” after being dominated in what amounted to a squash match at the hands of Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam.
When Cena returned to RAW the following week and dominated The Wyatt Family, we noted that it was Vince who was responsible for the way Cena was booked that night. Apparently many backstage felt that this was the wrong thing to do, especially against Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family, however Vince reportedly insisted that it be booked that way and was unwilling to change his mind.
(Credit: PWInsider.com)
– After initially keeping him out of the ring during live events to sell his storyline knee injury, WWE had Jey Uso return to action on Sunday night in Dayton, Ohio. Uso worked a six-man tag-team match with his brother Jimmy and The Great Khali, defeating all three members of The Wyatt Family. Jey had his knee heavily taped up and sold it throughout the majority of the match.
– NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte held a live Q&A on Twitter on Sunday night. She spoke about her pre-match ritual, which includes her saying a prayer to her brother Reid before heading out to the ring. She also noted that her first official WWE t-shirt will be released soon.
Campuses around the country are infested with returning college students this week. In honor of all the alcohol that will be consumed and the knowledge that will hopefully be absorbed, it’s time to take the WWE to school, and I’ll be the one doling out the grades.
Welcome to the first ever WWE Raw Report Card. Matches will be graded based on usual factors such as workrate, in-ring psychology, move variety, crowd reaction, and overall impact on the storyline. Important in-ring promos will also be graded based on factors such as originality, believability, and importance. Without further ado, here are this week’s grades.
Hall of Fame Forum
This week’s Raw started with a roundtable discussion regarding the upcoming rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. First off, I never thought I’d see the day where Shawn Michaels was the worst dressed man in the ring, but his combination of cowboy hat, jacket, and Remington t-shirt didn’t do him any favors.
Overall, it was nice seeing the legends together, even if it did feel a bit scripted at times and offered little insight. One hilarious moment was when Michaels said everyone loves Cena, eliciting massive boos from the audience. Speaking of Cena, his promo was surprisingly compelling, and it was nice to see him own up to the beating he took at SummerSlam.
Grade: B-
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
This was likely the last contest between Rusev and Swagger, and all I can say is, “Good riddance.” This match featured a lot of downtime that resulted in a poor workrate, and a lot of the match was spent outside of the ring with nothing going on.
The in-ring psychology was pretty good (Swagger sold the rib injury well) and the crowd was into it, so that raised the grade a bit, but it was ultimately a fitting ending to a rather pointless program that saw Swagger dominated at nearly every stage of the feud.
Grade: C
Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro
This was a rather short match, but both superstars worked well together during the time they were given. One criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed. One moment Cesaro was rolling outside of the ring to avoid the Five Star Frog Splash and only a few seconds later he was hitting the Neutralizer for the win in a sequence that felt a bit off.
The match also served its purpose by building a championship match between Cesaro and Sheamus – a program that looks like it could be entertaining with two of the company’s better workers.
Grade: C+
Last night’s Raw was held in Portland, Oregon and featured a crowd packed with hipsters, a few memorable contests, and the nWo reunion that had been teased on social media all week leading into the event.
The show was the “go-home” edition of Raw and was the final build for Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. As always, a few questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.
5. Is Corporate Kane Back Permanently?
Kane was back in his suit and tie this week on Raw, having once again handed in his mask on last week’s episode. The Demon made a match between Roman Reigns and RybAxel before departing for the locker room.
My question is simple: Does Kane have anything left in the tank with his corporate character? It seems the company doesn’t know what to do with him, as he has shifted back and forth between demon and corporate Kane over the past few months. If Kane is going to become a permanent fixture in the Authority storyline, hopefully something worthwhile comes of it, because it otherwise simply results in a convoluted storyline.
4. Where Have the Usos Been?
The Usos were absent from Raw this past week (other than the announcers issuing an open challenge on their behalf for tonight’s Main Event), and with SummerSlam only a few days away, they are also noticeably absent from the pay-per-view card. There are rumors of a fatal four-way tag team contest being put together for the pre-show, but nothing has been confirmed thus far.
With the Usos having defeated basically every tag team on the roster and holding the titles for most of the year, I think it is time for the brothers to drop the titles. Nothing against the Usos, but they have fought everyone on the roster and their run is quickly becoming stale. It appeared the titles were going to be put on the Wyatt Family a few weeks back, but the Usos prevailed. Hopefully a title change can shake up an otherwise stagnant tag team division.