A main event was announced for the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view on tonight’s “Cyber Monday” edition of RAW in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In a “Tables Match” announced for the show, number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship John Cena will take on Seth Rollins, with his number one contendership at stake.
It wasn’t outright said that Rollins would become the new number one contender if he wins the match, just that Cena wouldn’t be the number one contender if he lost.
– Ryback vs. Kane in a “Chairs Match” is now official for the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view. The only other officially confirmed match for the pay-per-view at this point is Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt in a TLC match.
– Mick Foley tweeted Colt Cabana regarding his recent interview with CM Punk. You can check out Foley’s comments to Cabana, as well as Cabana’s response below.
@realmickfoley its not about landing anything Mick… It's about giving my friend a safe place to talk. I'm not competing with anyone.
As part of their new distribution deal with WWE, Warner Bros. will be re-releasing over 150 past WWE DVD and Blu-ray titles in early January 2015. This is likely the reason that so many titles were taken out-of-print over the past few months.
Also as part of the new WWE/Warner Bros. deal, a number of new content is set for release, including the following projects:
January 13th – TLC 2014 DVD
February 3rd – Best of RAW and SmackDown 2014 DVD
February 17th – The Destruction of The Shield DVD and Blu-ray
February 24th – Royal Rumble 2015 DVD and Blu-ray
March 10th – Monday Night War Vol. 1: Shots Fired DVD and Blu-ray
– As of pretty recently, WWE officials were still looking at a potential John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins triple-threat TLC match for next month’s WWE TLC pay-per-view, however there has been some talk lately of holding off Orton’s first return appearance until at the actual PPV itself..
Also expected for the TLC PPV is a gimmick match of some sort between Big Show and Erick Rowan. What kind of gimmick match the two will have is not yet known, but it is believed that it will not be a straight singles contest.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts was backstage at Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. He tweeted the following about mentoring Dolph Ziggler and Sting’s WWE debut:
– New WWE Tag Team Champion The Miz tweeted the following after Survivor Series, apparently mistaking the “This Is Awesome” chants (reacting to Sting’s debut) for “Miz Is Awesome” –
It was announced during the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view on Sunday night that at the next WWE pay-per-view, we will have at least one “TLC” match.
At WWE TLC on December 14, 2014 from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio, Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt will take place in a Survivor Series rematch, only this time it will take place under the rules of a “Tables, Ladders and Chairs” match, where there must be a winner.
– On this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, “The Bunny” was played by NXT star Sami Zayn. The Bunny teamed with Adam Rose to take on Tyson Kidd and Natalya.
– Regarding the rumors that WWE Diva AJ Lee is leaving WWE soon, according to the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lee is not scheduled to leave after the Survivor Series or TLC pay-per-views.
– This week’s edition of the “WWE Rivalries” show on the WWE Network will look at the feud between Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
– WWE posted the following promotional video for this year’s WWE TLC pay-per-view event, which takes place on Sunday, December 14th from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On Roman Reigns taking acting classes: “I read where Roman Reigns is taking acting classes in LA with noted acting teacher Howard Fine. It’s good that Reigns is learning more while he’s healing from surgery and hopefully he’s watching tons of DVD’s of the many greats of the game so see what he denotes as making them special. No great pro wrestler ever quits learning because as in live if we quit evolving and improving we begin the ‘dying process.’ Main eventers realize early on that the learning process and getting better at what one’s does never ceases unless one finds themselves in the toxic, ‘Comfort Zone.'”
On the road to WrestleMania 31: “With nothing really appearing to be ‘red hot’ right now in WWE as it relates to a clear cut direction for the main event at WM31 it would seems that WWE will be depending to some degree on older talents, including some alums, to help add some sizzle to the card. Hopefully we will get more of hint at the Survivor Series and December’s TLC PPV. With that speculation said, I hope that WWE has a plan to utilize Sting who has earned a WrestleMania Moment if any one in the business has. Yes, I’m biased.”
On Brock Lesnar’s WWE contract situation: “I still feel that if a new contract for WWE Champion Brock Lesnar isn’t done by early January that WWE should make a change in their top title before WM31 as to protect the WWE World Title’s positioning within the company.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– Although current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar was not originally scheduled to work the company’s upcoming Survivor Series or TLC pay-per-views, WWE officials are reportedly in talks with him about working more television dates to help promote his match, which is confirmed, for the 2015 Royal Rumble show.
– As things stand right now, the current plan is for Dean Ambrose to continue using the double-arm DDT instead of the headlock DDT for his finisher, with the announcers selling the move as “Dirty Deeds.”
Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy recently appeared on The Roman Show, where he talked about, among other topics, how the TLC matches he took part in during his WWE run may have shortened his career.
“Whenever human flesh and bone get slammed on steel like ladders or chairs, or tables, all that stuff, TLC’s or cages, the flesh isn’t going to win,” said one-half of the former Hardy Boyz tag-team. Hardy continued, “Those matches beat you up and take a toll. It is what it is. Professional wrestling isn’t ballet. Those were very tough grueling matches. It definitely took a toll on us. They took time off our career I’m sure and they beat us up for many years down the road. With that said, those are the matches that made us famous.”
Things only got worse as each match passed, as Hardy explained the teams felt the need to step things up and out-perform their previous efforts. “That was tough. It was a challenge to overcome the last match. We were innovative.”
The following is an updated list of official dates and locations for WWE’s pay-per-view events all the way through WrestleMania 31.
May 4th – Extreme Rules, IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ
June 1st – Payback, Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL
June 29th – Money In the Bank, TD Garden in Boston, MA
July 20th – Battleground, Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, FL
August 17th – SummerSlam, Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA
September 21st – Night of Champions, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN
October 26th – Hell In A Cell, American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX
November 23rd – Survivor Series, Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO
December 14th – TLC, Quickens Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH
January 25th – Royal Rumble, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA
February 22nd – Elimination Chamber, Fedex Forum in Memphis, TN
March 29th – WrestleMania 31, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA
This Sunday, the WWE will hold its annual Extreme Rules pay-per-view. However, upon glancing at the card, something immediately stands out: a noticeable lack of extreme.
With the card seemingly set (assuming a Tag Team Championship match between the Usos and Rybaxel isn’t added last minute), only two matches on the entire seven-match card feature stipulations that are even slightly extreme (not counting the inevitable dud between El Torito and Hornswoggle on the pre-show).
Sunday’s contest between Daniel Bryan and Kane is one of only two matches on the card featuring extreme rules.
Those matches are of course the WWE Championship match between Daniel Bryan and Kane, which will be fought under no-holds barred rules, and the cage match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt. Even the six-man tag between Evolution and the Shield has not been announced as an extreme rules match, although that could change between now and Sunday.
This Sunday’s card highlights the problem with holding themed pay-per-views. How can the company possibly market an event under the name Extreme Rules and then hold one match that is actually extreme (the WWE Title contest) and one (the cage match) that is billed as extreme, but is in fact usually tamer than the pit at a Justin Bieber concert.
It is especially difficult during the PG Era to hold an event such as this one, as most of the matches that could have been utilized (first blood match, inferno match, casket match, etc.) are now essentially banned, leaving creative with few options other than a typical no-holds barred match and TLC type matches that are already featured on other pay-per-views throughout the year. In short, the event does not offer anything unique.
Upon glancing at this year’s WrestleMania card, fans may notice a glaring omission: championship title matches. After unifying the titles at last year’s TLC, there are a total of five championships in the WWE. Of the five, only two are being defended on the actual telecast and the tag team titles will be relegated to the pre-show.
Ignoring championship titles is nothing new in the WWE, as it has become pretty much standard in recent years, especially at WrestleMania. The previous two WrestleManias featured three championship matches on the actual telecast, and the twenty-seventh edition was even worse, with only two championship matches on the entire four-hour program.
This is a far cry from a decade ago at WrestleMania XX, where there were a whopping seven title matches and the belts were used to build up superstars and did not simply remain stagnant for months at a time.
Steve Austin and The Rock were both elevated to the main event scene after battling for the Intercontinental Title.
The perfect example of the diminished value of titles is the United States Championship. A decade ago at WrestleMania XX, John Cena won his first championship by defeating Big Show for the United States Championship. His win helped launch Cena into the main event by putting gold around his waist and making the title seem important.
Fast forward a decade and the United States Championship is completely irrelevant, with Dean Ambrose only defending the title a handful of times since October of last year.
The same holds true for the Intercontinental Title as well. During the Attitude Era, the Intercontinental Title was one of the most important ways to elevate a superstar from the midcard to the main event, with Steve Austin and The Rock’s epic battles for the IC strap serving as an illustration of how to use a midcard title to put an up-and-coming superstar over with the crowd.
Now the title is thrown around the waist of whichever flavor of the week the WWE is trying to make seem important. It was Curtis Axel for a while after he was repacked and paired with Paul Heyman. After they realized he was not getting over with the crowd, they decided to give the belt to Big E and he has done next to nothing.
WWE released their Q4 2013 and Full Year financial results on Thursday morning. Here are the final pay-per-view buy rates:
Battleground in October: 114,000
Hell in a Cell in October: 228,000 (up from 199,000 in 2012)
Survivor Series in November: 177,000 (down from 208,000 in 2012)
TLC in December: 181,000 (up from 175,000 in 2012)
Without factoring in WWE Battleground (which was a new pay-per-view in 2013), WWE sold 586,000 buyrates in the quarter, up from 582,000 in 2012.
The buyrate for Hell in a Cell was the show’s best since it debuted in 2009 – and the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton main event outdrew the John Cena vs. Randy Orton WWE World Heavyweight Championship Unification match by a wide margin (26%).
Overall, you can see that pay-per-view is no longer a growth sector for WWE, which makes it an opportune time for WWE to transition those shows to the WWE Network.
The reason CM Punk was booked to win against The Shield at the recent WWE TLC pay-per-view was for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost, WWE had already booked John Cena and Daniel Bryan to lose their matches at the TLC show, and the feeling was all three couldn’t lose on the same pay-per-view.
Another reason WWE gave Punk the win was because it added to the drama surrounding The Shield currently, since they decided to have Roman Reigns spear Dean Ambrose, setting up the eventual pin for Punk.
This past Monday night on RAW, WWE had Roman Reigns get the win on Punk with the idea that Reigns is eventually going to be the real “golden boy” of the company, since he has the look and the sports background that WWE officials prefer, as opposed to Punk and Bryan, both of which will never fully get past the size and look issues that WWE has.
Additionally, Punk was considered to be “protected” from the loss with the feeling that having him do a promo segment with Shawn Michaels before the match would leave a larger impression on fans than Punk actually getting pinned.
– This past Sunday night’s WWE TLC pay-per-view ended up being a legitimate sellout. The reported attendance of the show was 14,120 fans, however The Toyota Center in Houston actually had about 12,000 fans in the building.
Former WWE Superstar Big Vito sent along the following:
Big Vito’s Wrestling Academy (phone number: 813-409-0469)
All those who have wanted to be a pro, Big Vito’s Wrestling Academy is the place to train. 23 years of experience. You’re trained by me. ECW, WCW, XWF, TNA, WWE, JAPAN, MEMPHIS, EUROPE, PUERTO RICO, INDIA. The kind of credentials you want when picking the best academy around.
While the final segment of the Seattle-based RAW “go-home” show for the TLC pay-per-view received rave reviews online, apparently it ended up being nowhere near the way it was scripted to go. While WWE officials expected Daniel Bryan to receive a big pop in Seattle, given his Washington-based roots, they did not expect it to be as big as it ended up being.
Following the segment, WWE officials apparently praised John Cena for his ability to pick up on the crowd reactions and adapt. They enjoyed Cena’s decision to incorporate the reaction, and Daniel Bryan himself, into his promo, but then ultimately bring the focus back to his TLC match against Randy Orton.
As covered in-depth the past week, there was an incident during the WWE’s “Tribute To The Troops” television taping in Washington involving AJ Lee and Access Hollywood co-host Michelle Beadle regarding Beadle’s comments to CM Punk.
In addition to all of the heat on AJ for her role in the ordeal, apparently CM Punk garnered some heat on himself by his way of handling the issue.
Punk decided to tweet about hockey on his official Twitter account, and WWE officials were apparently unhappy with that decision, as they felt he should be tweeting about something TLC-related instead of hockey.
The infamous reddit user “Dolphins1925,” who is known for his ability to correctly predict the outcome of every WWE pay-per-view match, actually incorrectly predicted one of the matches at the WWE TLC pay-per-view on Sunday night.
Dolphins claimed that The Real Americans were going to defeat Goldust and Cody Rhodes for the WWE Tag-Team Championships. After the match, Dolphins stated the following about his incorrect prediction:
Misinformation I received from my source. Congrats to WWE. I am done for the night. Wyatt family defeats Bryan is final result I was given.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.comwith his thoughts on last night’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view.
Regarding the TLC main event unification match, JR said he “sincerely appreciated” the hard work from John Cena and Randy Orton.
“TLC sounds great on paper and makes for a sensational video promo but the match stips can be very limiting. Based on today’s boundaries, I thought that the two men did all that they could do to utilize the ‘toys’ that they had to play with but at the end of the day I’d have been just as happy to have seen a straight wrestling match considering what was at stake.”
Ross also spoke about the importance of protecting the importance of WWE’s championship titles.
“Building enhanced credibility for the new, WWE World Title is going to be an ongoing matter that will never find its work finished. Nothing should be more important to any WWE talent, friend or foe, than being WWE World Champion. Being the Champion becomes a great story if the title is positioned properly and on a lofty pedestal.”
Ross noted that one thing UFC does better than WWE is making all of their belts prestigious.
“The door is now open for that to change within WWE including repositioning the IC Title and the US Title. Why have titles if they are not coveted by all who are eligible to compete for them? Plus, they are not ‘hot potatoes.’ The bottom line is that building equity in any title sells tickets and PPV’s.”
Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.
We kick off the Kickoff Show with the expert panel, which consists of Mick Foley (in a Santa Claus hat), Booker T, The Miz and of course, Josh Mathews. The guys run down many of the top matches for tonight’s show.
We shoot to the social media lounge with the lovely Renee Young. She talks about the history of the TLC matches. She sets up a poll, which asks the question: “What would hurt the most? Falling off a ladder, crashing through a table or getting hit with a steel chair?” You can vote on WWE’s Facebook page. She runs down some tweets further hyping tonight’s PPV.
As the guys on the expert panel continue to run down the matches for tonight, The Shield interupts them backstage. Dean Ambrose talks about how they’re going to beat up CM Punk tonight. Seth Rollins does as well, even mimicking The Rock with an “it doesn’t matter what you think!” line. Roman Reigns says a couple words, and back to Ambrose to close things out with a “believe in The Shield” line.
When we shoot back to the expert panel, Kofi Kingston comes out of nowhere and bitch-slaps The Miz. The two are separated by Mick Foley and Booker T as Kingston is on fire continuously saying “you wanna keep talking?!” The action stops there and we shoot live to the commentary table.
TLC Kickoff Show Match – Fandango vs. Dolph Ziggler
Fandango and Summer Rae come out dancing and it’s time for our lone Kickoff Show match of the evening. Before Fandango even finishes his entrance we have our first bickering match between Michael Cole and JBL on commentary. Fandango “shushes” the audience once he gets in the ring. Before he can continue with his promo we get a loud “we want Ziggler” chant. Fandango talks trash about Texas line dancing until Dolph Ziggler’s music hits and out comes Ziggler.
The bell sounds and Ziggler gets straight to business with Fandango. Within seconds of the match beginning, we shoot to a mid-match commercial. When we return, Fandango has Ziggler in a rear chinlock. We get a shot of Summer Rae looking on from the floor. Ziggler back-suplexes Fandango to get out of the hold. We have ten minutes left on the pre-show clock as Ziggler does his ten-punch spot on Fandango in the corner.
Ziggler continues his beatdown on Fandango for another minute or two, and then out of nowhere, Summer Rae pops up on the apron and distracts Ziggler, allowing Fandango to push him off the top-rope. Fandango follows that up with his top-rope leg drop and that’s all she wrote, folks! 1-2-3. Fandango wins.
Winner: Fandango
We shoot back to the social media lounge where Renee Young reads some more tweets hyping up tonight’s WWE TLC pay-per-view show. She reveals the results to the poll question I mentioned earlier. The winner of the poll is falling off a lader with 78%. 13% crashing through a table and 9% getting hit with a chair.
After that, we go back to the expert panel where the guys discuss the poll result and the Kickoff Show match that just took place between Fandango and Dolph Ziggler. They talk about Summer Rae costing them the match. By the way, The Miz is no longer on the panel and the guys are now discussing the scuffle between Miz and Kingston. They do some final hype for the top matches at TLC tonight.
Following the video package, Josh Mathews asks Mick Foley and Booker T for their official predictions for the title unification match. Booker T picks Randy Orton. Mick Foley points out that this is Orton’s first ever TLC match.
As the guys continue to talk we get a shot of a limo pulling up. We see Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and finally VINCE MCMAHON come out of the limo. All three head into the arena as the Kickoff Show concludes on that note.
Our live coverage continues with the beginning of the WWE TLC pay-per-view show. For those interested in reading live PPV results throughout the evening, click ahead to page two below.
Posted December 15th, 2013 in News, WWE. Tagged: TLC.
Apparently WWE came up with the plans for the John Cena vs. Randy Orton title unification match for Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view a few weeks ago. Whatever those plans are, unlike many times in the past where WWE will constantly alter their plans, they are reportedly sticking to them for Cena vs. Orton.
Basically, WWE has a clear-cut direction they want to take this angle and they appear to be going with it no matter what.