The latest edition of Michael Cole’s sit-down interview series, which again features Triple H, has been added to the official YouTube channel of WWE.
In the latest installment, the WWE COO discusses the WWE World Heavyweight Championship situation with Daniel Bryan needing surgery, Kane’s recent attacks and the upcoming definitive confrontation between The Shield and Evolution at the WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st.
Hunter said “it remains to be seen” if The Authority swill vacate the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but we’ll have a “definitive answer” on RAW, after Bryan’s neck surgery. He then knocked Bryan for not being an “A-Plus Player” and questioned if these are “the kind of rigors that a little B-Plus Player like Daniel Bryan can withstand.”
Wrestling legend Vader was recently interviewed by Wrestling101. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Undertaker: “Undertaker was just phenomenal and I would say he is the best big man in professional wrestling history, without a doubt.”
Brock Lesnar: “I think Brock Lesnar is just a beast, he’s an incredible athlete and he would be great at anything he turned his hand to, I would love to see Brock featured more than he is.”
Triple H: “Triple H is doing a fantastic job running the company now but I would love to see more of him performing in the ring as he is still a tremendous athlete.”
Rumors Of Him Entering The WWE Hall of Fame: “I heard rumblings about it a couple of years ago, but I’ve not heard anything for a while now. I would really like for that to happen, I think I?ve earned it. Yokozuna, Bam Bam Bigelow, King Kong Bundy and myself would be considered super-heavyweights, and I would rank myself very high out of that group, and there is a time in my career in the early nineties where I considered myself to be the best big man.”
Comparing Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff: “Eric was put into a situation and I think from a wrestling standpoint he wasn’t really ready for it at that time. He became very educated and excellent at what he did but it was kind of like we had one guy running the wrestling part and then two weeks later we had another guy doing it and so on and so forth until Eric did it. I think Eric was way in over his head initially but he certainly figured it out with the help of Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan and there were times when it became a biased situation but he achieved some great things, he is one of the most successful promoters in the history of professional wrestling. What can I say about Vince, he’s a genius, he is the most successful wrestling promoter of all time and just works so hard. He was very approachable and he has done nothing but treat me like a gentleman.”
WWE recently purchased the rights to some old 8mm and Super 8 footage from the 1970s shot by George Pantas, featuring matches from Norfolk and Hampton, Virginia. This was the old house show footage that was used in the excellent “Jim Crockett Promotions: The Good Old Days” documentary that was released last year by Michael Elliot.
Pantas noted that he sold off his collection after negotiations with Ben Brown, who is in charge of archival footage for WWE, and Triple H.
Additionally, HHH spent a decent amount of money to acquire some old posters and other memorabilia from collectors that featured a number of old wrestling legends.
As previously reported, WWE has plans for a Cesaro baby face push in the future. The general consensus is that when Cesaro eventually splits from Paul Heyman, he will enter into a program with Brock Lesnar, one that could possibly take place as one of the main events at this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Another idea for SummerSlam, while not yet confirmed, and is actually up in the air based on how things turn out for The Shield, is a Roman Reigns vs. Triple H main event at SummerSlam.
The idea seems to be that Cesaro goes over on Lesnar and Reigns goes over on HHH at SummerSlam, with the mindset being it would help elevate them to top-tier baby face status.
It’s worth noting that when WWE maps things out that far in advance, that plans change a lot as everything is a moving target that tends to change on a month-to-month basis.
The latest sit-down interview between Triple H and Michael Cole has been added to the official WWE YouTube channel.
In this interview, the WWE COO talks about why he has continued to target The Shield, and unveils his plan to give each member of The Shield a chance to redeem themselves on SmackDown.
You can watch the latest Triple H and Michael Cole sit-down interview above.
– The latest JBL and Michael Cole podcast is now online, talking about Donald Sterling, Vladimir Putin, climate change and more.
– WWE is getting a lot of mainstream attention for the touching tribute video to Connor Michalek that we posted here yesterday. It was picked up by many mainstream blogs, with all of them talking about how amazing it was that WWE does so much for children with special needs.
Triple H tweeted the following about Connor yesterday:
“Connor, thank you for reminding me what life is about…..I could never repay you.”
Connor, thank you for reminding me what life is about…..I could never repay you.
https://t.co/8RZ42pKXec.
The following are highlights of a recent Jim Ross Q&A update:
On the reason WWE is so overprotective of John Cena: “Protecting someone in Cena’s position isn’t something that is new but one could argue in hindsight that WWE might have gone too far with it on Sunday night.”
On the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane match at Extreme Rules: “Both men really worked hard and if one likes stunts and special effects of a match they provided it.”
On the team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas: “Very good in ring team who arguably were underutilized in hindsight.”
On whether or not guys like Triple H & CM Punk were pushed by WWE because they aren’t drug addicts: “It’s a common sense and professional matter….abusing drugs simply makes no sense and the unprofessional and childish behavior of the party boy group never helped any company. HHH was a model locker room talent from day one.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The following are highlights of a new interview with Maria Kanellis:
On Triple H: “Anybody that wants to say it is the Yes Movement better also remember who the boss is, and who’s the one making the decisions now. And I think that Triple H doesn’t necessarily get as much credit as he deserves, because he is the on building up that NXT, he’s the one that has made it a hub and place for wrestling to grow and get better and better.”
On CM Punk: “Punk came in, changed everybody’s mind. Then management started listening. Management went, ‘Oh, he know’s how to get over.’ Because he knows the people, because he’s been working in front of the people for 9 years now.”
On Squashing the Feud with the Bella Twins: “I actually and done with that part of my life. I talked to Nikki the other day. We’re cool. Like its funny, I don’t think I knew all the facts. I think people were telling me things that weren’t necessarily true. I wanted to be done with it. So, one day I just texted her and was like, ‘hey, I don’t know what happened, but I’m sorry.’ And she responded back and she’s like ‘I understand, you know things happen.’ She was super cool about it. And we’re done with that. Like, I’m an honest person, and when I find out I’m wrong, I’m wrong.”
On Being Stranded on the Side of the Road, and Being Rescued by the Hardy Boyz: “I got pulled over on the way to a show, and the guy took my car away from me (she did not realize she had a speeding ticket out that had not been paid). Here I was with my rental car and they took it away from me, they said I couldn’t drive. I was like ok, cool. The cop leaves me on the side of the road. Me, my two big bags, and my dog Gemini. Here I am on the side of the road. Here comes the Hardy Boyz! Flying down the highway. I get a phone call, ‘Maria, was that you on the side of the road?’ Yeah, it was me. Matt was on the phone. Matt’s like, ‘We’re coming to get ya!’ I’m like, ‘Ok good!’ Here comes Matt, picks me up, and we keep going. So, The Hardy’s are my angels.”
On Nancy Grace: “The Nancy Grace’s of the world are so behind of the times. Holy crap. And how can you be so disrespectful? I mean, how can you be so rude? Like, here this man comes on to talk about a friend, and then you’re going to do that to him? I mean she’s just an evil, evil woman.”
Check out the complete interview at WrestlingOpinion.com.
On paper, last night’s card seemed like nothing to write home about. After all, Daniel Bryan was defending his title against a superstar who peaked a decade ago, Bray Wyatt and John Cena were meeting in a rematch from WrestleMania, and other than Evolution vs. the Shield, the rest of the matches seemed like they could turn out to be throwaway contests. The event was basically the furthest thing from a throwaway, however, as it was a well-executed pay-per-view that was filled with worthwhile matches.
The Hounds of Justice stole the show during the match of the night.
Evolution vs. the Shield was the clear highlight of the night, as expected. Each superstar involved in the match put on an excellent show, but the star of the match was without a doubt Seth Rollins. While Triple H, Randy Orton, and Dean Ambrose were battling in the crowd, Rollins dove from the top of the entranceway to take out his Evolution foes, allowing for Roman Reigns to handle Batista in the ring and secure a Shield victory. The match was perfectly executed and is an immediate match of the year contender.
The main event between Daniel Bryan and Kane greatly exceeded expectations. This one seemed like it could be forgettable, as the outcome was never really in doubt and Kane is not exactly a main event superstar anymore. However, both superstars performed well together and the backstage spots were something that resembled contests from the Attitude Era.
In the end, the match even involved a flaming table, although the crew botched this spot a bit by running in with the extinguishers before Kane was even on fire, but hey, what can you do? Overall, it was a great culmination to the night and certainly much better than I was anticipating.
According to one source, WWE has an offer on the table for Ric Flair to come back and appear on WWE television on a more frequent basis, but that Flair needs to “dot his I’s, cross his T’s and get his house in order.”
While it’s not exactly clear what that refers to, most assume it means Flair needs to tie up some loose ends in his personal life before becoming a regular on WWE programming again.
It’s being said that if Flair does end up coming back on a regular basis, it’s likely that he’ll be involved with guys like Triple H and Randy Orton going forward.
The latest WWE sit-down interview has been released on YouTube and features Renee Young talking to Triple H.
Young asks HHH about Kane’s recent actions, Ric Flair endorsing The Shield on RAW on Monday and Evolution’s upcoming battle at Extreme Rules this Sunday.
Following Monday’s Extreme Rules “go-home” edition of WWE RAW, here is your latest official WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view lineup for this Sunday night.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
– Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kane
Faction vs. Faction
– Evolution vs. The Shield
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Big E. (c) vs. Bad News Barrett
WWE Divas Championship
– Paige (c) vs. Tamina Snuka
Steel Cage Match
– John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
Handicap Match
– Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth & Xavier Woods
Pre-Show “WeeLC Match”
– Hornswoggle vs. El Torito
Rumored
– Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger
Make sure to join us here this Sunday night for the absolute best live WWE Extreme Rules results coverage.
– Episode four of Roddy Piper’s new “Piper’s Pit” podcast is now online. The official description for the show reads as follows:
PP-Ep4 – Joe V & The Grappler
“Rowdy Roddy Piper welcomes Joe V from Portland TV morning show “Good Day Oregon” and his buddy, The Grappler aka Len Denton. More wrestling stories and info on the book about The Grappler’s life and career as written by Joe V.”
– Triple H confirmed via his official Twitter account that WWE Hall Of Famer and former Evolution member Ric Flair will return on tonight’s edition of WWE RAW. HHH tweeted the following on Monday afternoon:
The following are highlights of a recent interview with former WWE Superstar and UFC Hall Of Famer Ken Shamrock:
On Triple H’s ego and him possibly running WWE someday: “Here’s a guy that has a huge ego. He has a hard time with putting anybody over and let alone outside the business when someone like Brock Lesnar would have to hurt him. His ego wouldn’t let him walk around in a sling. He wants people to know it’s entertainment unless he’s the one doing it then he wants you to walk around in a leg cast. This is what i see the problem is and I’ve been pretty critical about it. You’ve got somebody in that position that’s got too big of an ego to run a company like that. Hunter goes to extreme lengths to look good, to be big and cut and make sure he’s on the cover of the muscle magazine and make sure he’s in fitness things. He’s the guy who’s putting himself in the forefront. For anybody to run a company like the WWE, you can’t be that guy. You’ve got too much talent out there for you to put yourself out there in front of them.”
On WWE not using UFC to help promote Lesnar when he returned in 2012: “I could easily tell you what happened. Triple H happened. You go in there, you take a guy with his stature, his tremendous ability, the limited experience he had in the MMA world and yet he still went in and beat a lot of world title guys. He goes in and Hunter has a match with him and knocks him out with one punch. I think it’s pretty clear what happened. There’s a lot of ego involved with guys running the organization. It’s a shame too, i mean i don’t know who’s pulling the strings. I wouldn’t think it’s Vince, maybe it is, maybe he’s changed his mindset. The thing i noticed with Vince was Vince didn’t care when someone came in, it was about ratings. It didn’t matter what the organization looked like because he could always somewhere down the line get the organization to look good from an angle. But to come in there and actually have him (Lesnar) destroy people from the MMA world. I think that Vince, his mind thought is yeah i mean come on i control this guy. I could have him come in here and crush 20 guys in a row, build up for a big PPV match then have John Cena or The Rock or The Undertaker or somebody come in and have this big payday and have them beat Brock Lesnar and now you’re back on top again. It didn’t make sense for you not to tuck your ego away for a while and build this guy so it was that. You have control over the final story line. You have the pencil in your hand, so you can write the ending to this story however you want.”
Adapt or perish. That is the message Triple H has been sending to the Shield in recent weeks since reforming Evolution. The concept seems simple enough when applied to professional wrestling: either evolve your character over time or quickly become irrelevant.
However, Triple H should be heeding his own advice, because it appears Evolution is the stable that will need to adapt in the near future in order to survive. With Batista taking some time off after Extreme Rules and Triple H only working a part-time in-ring schedule, Randy Orton will be the only full-time competitor left in Evolution in a few weeks.
The ultimate goal of the entire Evolution/Shield feud is to set up a contest between Triple H and Roman Reigns sometime this fall, most likely at SummerSlam. If Batista takes a significant amount of time off and Triple H only appears to cut promos, it seems like it will be difficult to drag out the program until August.
Batista is taking some time off after Extreme Rules, leaving only one full-time competitor in Evolution.
Ric Flair is scheduled to appear on Raw this week, meaning he could also be inserted into the program for a brief period of time. I highly doubt that Flair will be around for long though, as he was not originally slated to rejoin Evolution, and considering the fact that he hasn’t shown up to a WWE event sober in months, it seems unlikely that too much importance will be placed on the Nature Boy.
Flair’s sobriety, or lack thereof, aside, he is also not someone who is going to compete in the ring, so his involvement seems rather pointless, especially when considering that Triple H is basically playing the same managerial role that Flair occupied during the stable’s original incarnation.
– Triple H recently tweeted the following about last night’s NXT tapings and the upcoming NXT Takeover special, which airs live on the WWE Network on May 29th.
– Next week’s edition of WrestleMania Rewind, which airs on Tuesday night on the WWE Network, will take a look back at the WrestleMania 24 match between Floyd Mayweather and Big Show.
– The following is a video of Triple H making the announcement for the second live NXT special, “NXT Takeover,” which will air live on the WWE Network on May 29th from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
The following are results for the WWE NXT episodes that will air on May 1st, May 8th, May 15th and May 22nd. All four episodes were taped on Thursday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
Dark Match
– Alexander Rusev def. an unknown wrestler in a dark match to open up the tapings.
Spoiler Results for May 1, 2014
– Tyson Kidd def. Bo Dallas in the first television match of the evening.
– Sasha Banks (with Charlotte) def. Bayley in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Adam Rose def. Danny Burch. After the match, Camacho appeared during Rose’s big after-match party.
– Natalya def. Layla in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Mojo Rawley def. Oliver Grey. After the match, Aiden English came out and cut a promo on Rawley.
– Adrian Neville def. Brodus Clay in a no-disqualification match to retain the NXT Championship in a what that served as the main event for this episode.
Spoiler Results for May 8, 2014
– This show kicks off with Triple H in the ring for a promo. He talks about how NXT is the future and is taking over wrestling. He pushes the NXT Takeover special, which will take place live on the WWE Network on May 29th. Additionally, he announces a battle royal to determine the new number one contender to the NXT Championship.
– Charlotte def. Emma in a second round match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Kalisto & El Locale (Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask) def. The Legionnaires (Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louise).
– Camacho def. Captain Comic from Adam Rose’s party group. After the match, Camacho came out and had a confrontation with Rose.
– Alexa Bliss def. Alicia Fox in another match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Next up was the battle royal announced by Triple H earlier in the show to crown the new number one contender to the NXT Championship. The participants were Xavier Woods, Brodus Clay, Baron Corbin, Curt Hawkins, Aiden English, Jason Jordan, Danny Burch, Oliver Grey, Marcus Louise, Sylvester Lefort, Big Cass, Camacho, Mason Ryan, Kalisto, El Local, Mojo Rawley, Sami Zayn, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Breeze, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd. In the end, Breeze, Zayn and Kidd were the final three and all were eliminated at the same time. This leads to Triple H coming back out and announcing that the three will compete in a triple-threat match to determine the official number one contender to the title.
– The Ascension def. Buddy Murphy and an unknown wrestler in the main event of this episode.
For results of the May 15, 2014 edition of WWE NXT TV, as well as the May 22, 2014 edition of the show, click ahead to page two …
At first glance, Alexander Rusev seems like a rehash of a character WWE fans have seen countless times: the monster foreign superstar who feasts on unworthy foes while being accompanied by a manager who serves as his mouthpiece.
Some have contended that the character is so unoriginal that it was completely lifted from a Rocky movie of all places, as he has drawn comparisons to Rocky IV villain Ivan Drago and his wife Ludmilla.
Despite the fact that many believe he is a recycled, cliché character, Rusev has managed to make his way through the WWE’s NXT division and to the main roster in a relatively short amount of time.
Rusev has been booked as a monster, but do fans actually view him as one?
Since making his debut on the main roster, Rusev made a brief appearance in this year’s Royal Rumble and has been feasting on jobbers ever since. Unlike some of his critics, I believe that Rusev can be successful at the main level, but only if he is booked differently from similar heels in the past.
In recent years, the WWE has chosen to rely upon the tried-and-true formula of debuting a monster heel and serving him a hearty portion of heels (see Ryback for example). They expect that if the heel is shoved down fans’ throats long enough by competing in squash matches, they will eventually realize his dominance and he will be over in no time.
It appears they are attempting to take the same course of action with Rusev, as he has competed against only jobbers and will face R-Truth and Xavier Woods in a handicap match at Extreme Rules. Hell, they even threw Rusev into the coalition of jobbers that worked to beat down the Shield during the 11-on-3 handicap match a few weeks back on Raw.
The following is a non-spoiler match listing for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which was taped on April 22nd in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and will air this Friday, April 25th on the SyFy Network.
– “The Great Debate” between Paul Heyman and Cesaro.
– Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger
– Natalya vs. Tamina Snuka
– Curtis Axel vs. Jey Uso
– Luke Harper & Erick Rowan vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
– Fandango & Layla vs. Santino Marella & Emma
– The Shield vs. 11 WWE Superstars
For a complete WWE SmackDown spoiler report for this week, click ahead to page two …
When the Shield debuted over a year ago, Roman Reigns was like the shadowy muscle of the group. He was the least featured member of the trio. He was given few lines during their promos. Yet he was always there to deliver a devastating spear or triple powerbomb when needed.
With the rich indy wrestling history of both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, it is no surprise that they were expected to carry most of the load during the early days of the stable. After all, Roman Reigns was a former football player and started wrestling in 2010, whereas both Ambrose and Rollins had been wrestling since the early 2000’s.
Reigns does have a rich family history though, as he is a member of the famous Anoa’i family that includes past superstars such as Yokozuna, Rikishi, and The Rock, so it is not like he was a complete stranger to the world of wrestling.
After his dominating performance at last year’s Survivor Series, it seemed obvious that there were big plans for Roman Reigns.
A little over a year ago, it appeared that Dean Ambrose was the member being groomed for a breakout solo career. He was considered the de facto of the group and is the only member of the group to win a solo title while Rollins and Reigns shared the Tag Team Championships.
Something changed last fall, however, and it appeared that Reigns was the one gaining momentum in the Shield after Ambrose seemed enter a lull. Coincidentally enough, it was as soon as Rollins and Reigns lost their championships that his push began. The first hint that he was going to be a breakout star was at last year’s Survivor Series, where he was the sole survivor and dominated the competition, eliminating four opponents during the contest.
Reigns later eliminated the most competitors in Royal Rumble history during the 2014 contest and he has not looked back since. With the Shield now entering into a program with the newly reformed Evolution, there are reports that the ultimate goal of the feud is to set up a matchup between Triple H and Roman Reigns at this year’s SummerSlam. The reports make one wonder: is Roman Reigns ready for a massive solo push?
Former WWE and WCW Superstar Bill Goldberg spoke with PWInsider.com prior to WrestleMania XXX earlier this month. When asked about the rumors of him returning to WWE and possibly facing Ryback, Goldberg said that he did have a few talks with Triple H, but none of them were specifically geared towards working with Ryback.
Regarding the possibility of a WWE return, Goldberg stated the following:
“Would I love to do it again and have my son and my wife, who has never seen me wrestle? Abso-damn-lutely. Would I jeopardize what I’ve done in the wrestling world just to make that happen? No. So if I wasn’t ready to do it, physically ready to do it, and it wasn’t the right situation, I wouldn’t do it just to do it. If that was the case, I’d probably be at WrestleMania this year. It just has to be right and if it’s not right, then I’m retired, for good.”
STAMFORD, Conn., April 21, 2014 – WWE Network will premiere the Best of Hall of Fame, a series of four special presentations showcasing some of the most memorable inductions in WWE Hall of Fame history. The one-hour specials begin tomorrow night at 10 pm ET and will be hosted by WWE’s Josh Mathews.
Episodes (10 pm ET, Tuesday through Friday) include:
Tuesday, April 22 – Hulk Hogan inducted by Sylvester Stallone, Trish Stratus inducted by Stephanie McMahon and Bobby Heenan inducted by Jack Lanza
Wednesday, April 23 – Pete Rose inducted by Kane and Ric Flair inducted by Triple H
Thursday, April 24 – Gene Okerlund inducted by Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels inducted by Triple H
Friday, April 25 – Jerry Lawler inducted by William Shatner and Bruno Sammartino inducted by Arnold Schwarzenegger
The key objective in WWE doing a feud between The Shield and the reunited Evolution faction is apparently to establish Roman Reigns as a top singles competitor and get him into a match with Triple H.
As previously reported, the original idea is for the rumored HHH vs. Reigns bout to take place at SummerSlam, although there is a possibility that it won’t happen until Hell In A Cell or Survivor Series, depending on how long the story between the two plays out.
