Daniel Bryan, winning three Slammy Awards competing in a match, appearing in the Championship Ascension Ceremony, was without question the star of the show. His hometown crowd chanting YES! YES! YES! and DANIEL BRYAN! throughout the beginning of the Championship Ascension Ceremony. Going back earlier in the night to his first Slammy win for Superstar Of The Year. On stage The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. He announces the Superstar of the year is Daniel Bryan. We were all expecting fireworks to occur during that interaction. HBK even exited stage right a perfect set-up for a “surprise” superkick from out of nowhere! But there was no Sweet Chin Music. Just a humble acceptance speech by Bryan for his Slammy Award which he refereed to as The “HB Swizzle” award, Michaels naming it that just before presenting the award. Bryan did mention if it wasn’t for Shawn he wouldn’t be in the WWE. Likewise if it wasn’t for his interference at Hell-In-A-Cell he would be the WWE Champion. Although there was no physical interaction here, that wouldn’t be the last time these two interacted on the show.
See this is why I can’t shake off fighting the Daniel Bryan cause, he belongs in the main event. Heck this article uses his YES! and NO! and lord help us all if Daniel Bryan ever appears in a “NO!” portion of this article. Some people might say, he was in his hometown and had an extra kick of support. There may be a bit of truth to that, but I feel that there are just some hot wrestling towns. Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and apparently Seattle. After what transpired later in the show who knows what will happen the next few months. I’m excited! YES!
Championship Ascension Ceremony
John Cena showing why he is in fact the face of WWE.
Former World Heavyweight and WWE Champions appeared all in the ring for the Championship Ascension Ceremony. As I said earlier the crowd was going crazy for Daniel Bryan. While Triple H was talking up the match, and the championship, the Seattle crowd chanted YES and Daniel Bryan to the point where Triple H gave them what seemed like at least a minute of chanting and Yessing and clapping. This crowd was on fire for Daniel Bryan. Triple H introduced both Orton and Cena. The crowd did not want to hear what Orton had to say. There were boos and boring chants. Then Cena took the mic. More boos and cheering mix. Then Cena begins to speak and prove why he is the face of the WWE. These days with everything being very planned and scripted, Cena played to the crowd and included Daniel Bryan in the conversation, he compared Randy Orton’s rise to success to Daniel Bryan’s. The idea was Bryan didn’t have a father and grandfather to get him in to the WWE, he did it by working. Cena turned practically the entire crowd around and behind him., shouting out his past opponents, HBK, CM Punk, and putting over that the only fair shot Daniel Bryan had was the one with him. Brilliant, this is why he is where he is. The end was something I haven’t seen in the WWE in a long time. It was an awesome chain of events excuited perfectly. Cena and Orton shake hands as the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship are hoisted up. Orton gets in a cheap shot, the two are down on the mat fighting. Orton and Cena get pulled apart to their corners. CM Punk gets shoved by Orton causing CM Punk to start attacking Orton. Triple H throws down CM Punk, who retaliates with a knockdown of his on on The Game. HBK Superkicks CM Punk, setting up Daniel Bryan to
The Authority and John Cena look over A fallen Randy Orton. A great segment to end raw.
WWE Reminding us what they are capable of, a Powerful and compelling end to Raw.
deliver his running Knee on HBK. Orton tries to RKO Bryan but instead gets shoved into Stephanie McMahon knocking her down. Triple H runs to Stephanie’s aid, and then gets up and pedigrees Randy. The show closes with The Authority and John Cena looking disappointed over Randy Orton on the mat. What a great segment. This is what WWE used to do on a regular basis. Twists and turns, these chain-reaction action segments. YES!
Quick Mentions
Dean Ambrose vs CM Punk – Ambrose vs CM punk was a Pay-Per-View quality match with a great dissension in the ranks tease when Dean Ambrose wanted Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to head to the back so he could finish the job by himself. Punk gets the win shortly after that exchange, although Punk loses out to the numbers game and gets a great spear from Reigns. YES!
The Wyatts – With a chip on my shoulder because of Daniel Bryan’s demotion, I don’t think I appreciated Bray Wyatt’s amazing performances over the last few weeks. They are great, and compelling. YES!
Hit up Page 2 below for the “NO!” of this week’s WWE RAW:
Many were surprised that the CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar match at this year’s SummerSlam wasn’t nominated for the “Match of the Year” in the 2013 WWE Slammy Awards. According to reports, several people within WWE feel that it is easily the best match in the entire company for 2013.
According to one source, the reason Punk vs. Lesnar was not nominated is because Punk “can’t have a better match” with Lesnar than Triple H did, so WWE nominated the Lesnar vs. Triple H match instead, and gave Punk the nomination for his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 instead.
WWE issued the following statement recently regarding the creative process in the company now that they have made many recent changes to WWE Corporate:
“Creative Writing now reports to Paul Levesque, EVP Talent and Live Events. In addition to Stephanie McMahon’s expanded responsibilities as Chief Brand Officer, she will continue to maintain a presence on TV.”
Basically, Triple H is now in charge of the creative team, although Vince McMahon still has the final say in every part of the company.
– The official WWE website has added a new article looking at WWE Superstars Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton and Batista all passing through Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) on their way to WWE. You can check that out online at WWE.com.
– Speaking of Cena and Orton, both WWE Superstars are interestingly enough not advertised for the WWE SmackDown television tapings on January 14th in Worcester or on January 21st in Grand Rapids. Triple H is advertised for both shows.
Currently in WWE when it comes to power and decision-making within the company, there are several people involved in the process, however the only real key decision makers are Vince McMahon and Triple H.
Regarding a lot of changes that takes place during WWE RAW, which is the company’s top priority presently, they don’t even begin talking about what they are going to do on SmackDown until late Monday afternoon.
Apparently around 6pm on Monday’s, Vince McMahon will ask the writing team to give him a main event for SmackDown so that it can be promoted during RAW. At that point, writers begin scrambling for ideas for a big match. Apparently that is the reason why WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event matches announced on RAW frequently change.
– Monday’s December 2nd edition of WWE RAW drew a 2.65 rating, down WWE Raw on Monday, December 2 scored a 2.65 rating, down almost 10% from last year. This ties RAW’s lowest rating of the year (October 7th). As noted earlier, RAW averaged only 3.5 million viewers, making it the least-watched episode of RAW this year.
– To promote the upcoming Unification match at TLC, WWE.com has posted a feature looking at “the kids from OVW that changed WWE” – including John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and Batista.
– In this week’s sit-down interview with Michael Cole, Triple H vows to crown a “Champion of Champions” at TLC:
“Triple H weighs in on the history of the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships and the significance of John Cena vs. Randy Orton at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.”
– Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle website has a new feature up with exclusive photos from Barbie Blank’s (former WWE Diva Kelly Kelly) new 2014 calendar.
– On Monday’s RAW, the WWE Universe voted for the winner of John Cena vs. Randy Orton at TLC to be called the “Unified Champion.” Despite the poll results, the feeling is that the top WWE champion will eventually be called the “Undisputed WWE Champion.”
– As we reported yesterday, WWE has still not settled on the top matches for WrestleMania XXX. As of this week, there is now talk of building to a CM Punk vs. Triple H match on the show.
– WWE’s storyline with the Big Show and Triple H has been dropped. At one point, there was talk of them wrestling at the Royal Rumble, but Big Show was brought back to television early and wrestled Randy Orton at Survivor Series. Big Show has already been moved out of the Authority storyline – and competed in an unrelated 6-man tag match last night on RAW.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley appeared on the nationally syndicated Bob & Tom radio show this morning. It will be be replayed at BobandTom.com later this afternoon.
– During a Total Divas Q&A on Twitter Sunday night, Natalya was asked if Divas Champion AJ Lee could make it as a Total Diva. She replied, “It’s not for everyone.”
– WWE NXT Diva Charlotte shared an encouraging text message from her father Ric Flair on Instagram:
The following is an excerpt from the RAW Five Point Preview from WWE.com:
“As the year comes to a close, the biggest match in WWE history quickly approaches at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs between World Heavyweight Champion John Cena and WWE Champion Randy Orton. With looming expectations from COO Triple H of there being just one World Champion in WWE, what will unfold tonight during the official contract signing between Cena and Orton? Here are five reasons to catch Raw at 8/7 CT on USA Network.”
The build-up to the WWE TLC pay-per-view in two weeks continues on Monday night as WWE RAW returns live from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
No matches or segments have been announced in advance, however the focus will remain on the Randy Orton vs. John Cena match at TLC, which is being billed as a “unification match.”
Included on RAW will be The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who along with Vince McMahon, is being advertised locally for the show.
WWE will also begin setting up the undercard for the WWE TLC pay-per-view, which is likely going to revolve around The Wyatt Family kidnapping Daniel Bryan and The Shield targeting CM Punk last week.
Additional talent advertised for RAW this week include Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Ryback, Goldust, Cody Rhodes, AJ Lee and even Paul Heyman, who has not appeared on RAW in a few weeks.
For the live crowd in Oklahoma City on Monday night two post-show dark matches are benig advertised. John Cena is scheduled to defend his WWE Championship against Alberto Del Rio, while Randy Orton is slated to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show.
– WWE NXT Champion Bo Dallas is scheduled to defend his title against Adrian Neville at the WWE NXT live event on December 5th in Tampa, Florida.
– The Kentucky.com website has an article up promoting Mick Foley’s upcoming one man show at The Mall in Lexington Green on December 4th. You can check that article out online at Kentucky.com.
– WWE has added a nearly four-minute clip on YouTube from the latest Michael Cole and Triple H interview from WWE.com. The clip focuses on Triple H revealing that he wants there to be one undisputed champion in WWE. You can watch the clip below:
According to one source, there is said to be a lot of panic backstage in WWE right now regarding creative plans.
When the call was made to switch Daniel Bryan and Big Show in the WWE title picture, the idea was Big Show vs. Randy Orton in a main event match at Survivor Series, with them following up at the TLC pay-per-view with a Big Show vs. Triple H match. Plans then changed to have Orton vs. Big Show in a tables match, which is why Big Show chokeslammed Orton through the announce table on RAW a few weeks back.
At one point, there was an idea floating around that John Cena would feud with Big E. Langston for the World Heavyweight Championship, with Langston turning back heel. When Survivor Series was over, both of those matches were scrapped and the new TLC main event ended up as Cena vs. Orton for both of the titles. As recently reported, there is now talk of having that match serve as a unification match, despite originally not intending to unify the titles.
As far as the creative team is concerned, one WWE source noted that they are “burnt out and scared of who might not be there too much longer.”
It appears as though WWE has gone back and forth on their plans for the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship ever since the conclusion of the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view earlier this month.
When Survivor Series ended, the plan, despite how it appeared on television, was not to have a unification match. On RAW the next night, WWE apparently went out of their way not to say the words “unification match,” but they are now apparently leaning towards having only one World Champion following Triple H’s latest sitdown interview with Michael Cole.
There has been speculation that the finish at the WWE TLC pay-per-view could see John Cena walk away as the WWE Champion and Randy Orton as the World Heavyweight Champion, with the two basically just reversing roles as far as their championship status is concerned. Whether or not WWE runs with that finish remains to be seen.
– As seen Monday night on Raw, WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston and Mark Henry defeated the team of Ryback and Curtis Axel, with Henry being portrayed as a mentor to the young up-and-comer. This alliance is not expected to last, because as of this week, WWE creative has plans for “The World’s Strongest Man” to battle Langston at the Royal Rumble.
– As seen Sunday night at Survivor Series, Mark Henry returned to action by answering Ryback’s open challenge, and defeating him. According to F4WOnline.com, the short-lived storyline was copied from TNA Wrestling. On Impact Wrestling on Spike TV, former WWE Diva and reigning TNA Women’s Champion Gail Kim has been issuing open challenges, which inspired WWE’s creative department to utilize the idea for themselves.
– According to a source within WWE, plans are in place for the company to heavily focus on tag team competition in 2014, and company officials are contemplating holding a three-day tryout camp for independent wrestling duos early in the year. It is said that WWE honcho Paul “Triple H” Levesque is a huge fan of tag team wrestling.
Former WWE Superstar Bill Goldberg appeared at the C4 Comic Con in Winnigpeg a few weeks ago and was asked about the possibility of appearing at WrestleMania XXX for WWE in 2014. Goldberg noted that Triple H has called him multiple times and they have talked, but there is no official deal in place.
Goldberg spoke about being open to coming back, as he would like his son to see him wrestle at least once on a major stage, but he said he would only do it if the price was right. Goldberg said he would never call WWE personally and ask to return. He said the ball is in their court and that they know what needs to be done if they want him to return. One source noted that Goldberg’s financial demands were very significant.
Goldberg also talked about WWE trying to push the idea of him getting an enormous pop, saying “think of the pop you’ll get,” but Goldberg claims they are using the wrong negotiation tactics by saying things like that.
According to reports, WWE NXT writer Ryan Ward is making a push for Triple H to sign top former Ring Of Honor stars Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. Apparently the two also received good reactions from NXT trainers Billy Gunn and Bill DeMott.
WWE is going to allow both Richards and Edwards to finish out their commitments with Ring Of Honor, including the upcoming ROH show in New York City on December 14th, but the company has apparently told them not to take any additional dates with ROH.
Here’s the latest installment of “The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” I may have a different perspective than you since I was live at Raw this week at The Nassau Colosseum! Comment below and tell us how you like the column and if you agree with this week’s picks.
Daniel Bryan & CM Punk cut a promo before facing The Wyatts
The obligatory rematch between The Wyatts and Daniel Bryan & CM Punk, took place on Raw. First a promo from “The Beard & The Best” CM Punk discussing team names, and asking questions allowing Daniel Bryan to answer them with a “Yes!”. Daniel Bryan got a chance to say more than just the three letter word that will follow him for the rest of his career.
I love Daniel Bryan, and so does the crowd. In fact you could hear Daniel Bryan chants during the opening segment, proving once again that this demotion was not “Best For Business” But more on that in the “NO!” section.
Any match can be enhanced with the crowd behind you. When you have top stars like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, the two most over Superstars at Raw, it can add just that little more energy to the match.
CM Punk made a comment about Triple H and the authority in the opening promo, and wouldn’t know it after Daniel Bryan was “Kidnapped” by the Wyatts. CM Punk was laid out by The Shield. I wonder if that marks the end of Daniel Bryan and CM Punk together, because I was enjoying that. Time will tell.
Who would have thought Goldust would be having great matches alongside his brother in 2013!
The Shield vs The Rhodes and Rey Mysterio
I have never been a fan of Tag Teams growing up watching the WWE. I must say however, though all the missteps, and bad booking since SummerSlam, The WWE has a great tag team division. This, of course includes The Shield and The Wyatt factions. Day in and day out these teams from The Veteran Golddust, to newer WWE talent in The Shield and The USO’s, are having great matches. I am thoroughly enjoying watching these teams work.
The Kosher Butcher!
The Kosher Butcher Superstars for Sandy Relief Auction winner, ” Charlie Tebele was interviewed by Jerry “The King” Lawler. When asked if he were to be a WWE Superstar, what would his name be. Charlie was prepared, with a blue T-shirt and a great gimmick “The Kosher Butcher” He even went as far to come up with his finisher, The Circumcision! At first the crowd didn’t know what to make of this. Not sure if this was shown on TV, but The Kosher Butcher had at least a dozen of his friends and family at Raw, all wearing their Blue shirts! Great stuff. Half way during the Xavier Woods match, and some further thought, the crowd broke out into chants of both “Kosher Butcher” and “Circumcision”, add that to the list of most bizarre Raw chants.
Great Stuff.
Hit up Page 2 below for the “NO!” of this week’s WWE RAW:
The following are highlights from the latest sit-down interview between Triple H and Michael Cole from the official WWE website:
On the goal behind unifying the belt at the WWE TLC PPV: “The goal is one champion. The goal being one champion at the end of the night. One Undisputed WWE champion. Let’s face it – with the brand extension no longer in effect, there is no need for two champions; we only need one… I want there to be one Undisputed WWE champion; the championship that was held by all the greats. Bruno Sammartino, (Bob) Backlund, Bret (Hart), (Hulk) Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Rock, (Steve) Austin, myself, Cena. All the greats. I want there to be one champion who represents this company going into the new year.”
On CM Punk’s dig at him on RAW this past Monday: “I didn’t happen to see C.M. Punk’s promo Monday night because I was a little bit busy creating the biggest match in WWE history. That being said, C.M. Punk says a lot of things; he runs his mouth a lot. It doesn’t make a difference to me. It’s irrelevant to me. He can say whatever he wants. I’m not phased by it. All I care about is C.M. Punk shows up and does his job.”
Check out the complete interview online at WWE.com.
“The McMahon’s” are once again being advertised for an upcoming WWE television taping. The latest advertisement is for the December 2nd edition of WWE RAW in Oklahoma City. Obviously the last few times Vince McMahon has been advertised for a WWE event he has ended up not showing up on the show, so take these advertisements with a grain of salt.
Vince McMahon is still scheduled to return to WWE television as a regular character in the near future. The company apparently wants to delay McMahon’s television return as long as possible in order to build up heat on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
– Despite not working lately, word is that the official Sin Cara WWE t-shirts sold well among kids at the recent WWE European tour.
– Apparently WWE will not be offering former NFL star Shawne Merriman a contract. Merriman, who had a WWE tryout a few weeks ago, reportedly wasn’t that impressive in the ring and apparently got tired very fast.
– As previously reported, WWE and Triple H in particular are starting to focus heavily on their tag-team division. Triple H has reportedly been pushing the idea to have more tag-teams on the main roster as a way to bring up developmental talents who might not have otherwise gotten the call. In fact, WWE is talking about doing a three-day tryout camp next years exclusively for tag-teams.
– As we have previously reported numerous times, WWE Superstar Ryback is said to be dealing with a decent amount of heat from WWE management. In addition to the reasons we have explained in the past, apparently Ryback gained additional heat recently due to performing typical Goldberg spots in a match, including the Jackhammer and the spear, without getting permission from WWE to do so ahead of time.
– The latest edition of the sit-down interview series between Michael Cole and Triple H has been posted on the official WWE website. In this week’s edition, HHH talks about this Sunday’s Survivor Series, the perception from fans that he is manipulative and more. You can check out the video online at WWE.com.
– We reported yesterday that former WWE Superstar MVP was tweeting about the possibility of signing with TNA and the potential dream matches he could have with guys like Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode and Austin aries. MVP tweeted this follow-up:
The good news is all options are open. A return to NJPW, or WWE is possible, and yes, even TNA is possible. It feels good to have options.
– Local advertisements for next week’s post-Survivor Series edition of WWE RAW are promoting “The McMahon’s, Triple H and more.” Whether or not this is another case of early advertising, or “The McMahon’s” meaning Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, even though it’s plural, remains to be seen. If you go by WWE advertising, it appears as though Vince McMahon will be back on RAW next week. He has been rumored to return for a while now, although his return continues to get pushed back each time it’s scheduled to happen.
– Also announced for next week’s RAW are dark matches featuring John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship and Randy Orton vs. Big Show for the WWE Championship, both of which will be Survivor Series rematches by that point.
– The latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast is now online. This week’s first show features Steve Austin interviewing veteran pro wrestling journalist Wade Keller. You can check out the show online at PodcastOne.com.
The following are highlights from a recent Gerweck Radio interview with former WWE Superstar Paul London:
On Chris Benoit’s dark side: “Chris was dark, he was extremely dark. We used to have a joke that Chris was tri-polar, because it was a step up from bi-polarity. He would flip sometimes. I think a combination of Chris’ background of with steroids, mixed with the partying, is a recipe for disaster. One of them is a recipe for disaster. Its literally taking Drano and pouring it on your hard drive. See what that does for your computer.”
On Triple H being jealous of Rob Van Dam: “That is another reason I’m pretty sure I won’t be returning there any time soon. Hunter was pretty obviously jealous of certain individuals. I’m not saying he was jealous of me. I could tell he was envious of (Rob) Van Dam. He was extremely envious of Rob’s success. He was jealous of Van Dam’s personality. He was jealous that people gravitated towards Rob, because people liked being around Rob because he was very positive. The most glaring was the work rate. Hunter has had the same matches his whole career. If the guy is so damn tough, why does he need a sledgehammer. How do you justify this guying be a bad ass if he always has a weapon. Hunter is like that nerd that throws out a joke expecting the room to start laughing and ends up laughing at his own joke.”
– One of the main angles on this coming Monday’s WWE RAW, the Survivor Series “go-home” edition of the show, will be The Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon) returning from “vacation” to address the performances of Kane, Brad Maddox and Vickie Guerrero on last week’s show.
– There is some speculation that the 3MB group in WWE will be permanently switching to The Union Jacks after debuting the look at last week’s WWE television tapings in England. Additionally, there is speculation that the group will switch up their look for the “RAW Country” edition of RAW this coming Monday night.
