If you’re a fan of WWE’s curated “Collections” of themed matches and angles, then we have some good news for you. As reported on Saturday by Steve Coulson of WWE Network News, Monday (November 7th) will see the release of two new additions to the Collections bucket: Austin vs. McMahon Part II and Randy Savage: Cream of the Crop. Here are the official descriptions for each collection:
Austin vs. McMahon Part II:
One of the greatest rivalries of all time rages on as the next chapter in the saga between the tyrannical Mr. McMahon and the defiant Stone Cold Steve Austin unfolds. Beginning with WrestleMania XV, follow The Rattlesnake and The Boss throughout their journey of ups and downs, Black Weddings, Greater Powers, celebrations, farewells, and more, culminating with the stunning fallout from WrestleMania X-Seven. Relive these unforgettable matches and moments in this exclusive WWE Network Collection!
Randy Savage: Cream of the Crop:
Get ready to freak out and let the madness begin with this WWE Network Collection celebrating the storied career of Macho Man Randy Savage. From unforgettable moments and interviews, to both rare and classic battles against Macho Man”s greatest rivals, there is only one place to find these eclectic moments from the Hall of Famer”s legendary run in sports entertainment!
Since the launch of the WWE Network, over 600,000 fans have subscribed to the service. While it’s a bit below the one million subscribers they were hoping for, it’s still an admirable number for a service that is still only available in the United States.
With live access to every pay-per-view and a vault containing every special event in WWE, WCW, and ECW history, it is safe to assume that most fans signed up in order to gain access to the special events, and at the reduced price of only $9.99 per month, who can blame them?
There is a lot more to the WWE Network than just a vault of old events and live access to each month’s pay-per-view, however. There is also a boatload of original content. Here is a list of some of the must-see original content on the Network.
5. Legends of Wrestling: Families – Watching a bunch of old-timers talk about the good old days is usually about as exciting as watching paint dry, but some of these are actually pretty entertaining. One of the best round-table discussions includes a panel consisting of Sergeant Slaughter, Jim Ross, Ted DiBiase, and James J. Dillon. The group discusses the importance and prevalence of families in the WWE. It is interesting to hear DiBiase discuss how having a father in the business influenced him to become a professional wrestler.
Daniel Bryan’s journey to WrestleMania is something most fans will be able to enjoy.
4. Journey to WrestleMania: Daniel Bryan – This is obviously one of the newest pieces of original content on the Network. It follows Daniel Bryan on his week leading up to this year’s WrestleMania and provides a number of exclusive interviews leading up to the event. It also discusses his rise to the top after initially being terminated from the company, with commentary from William Regal and Pat Patterson discussing how the company made a mistake in his firing. The most interesting parts of this documentary are the backstage scenes and hearing his fellow wrestlers praise him for his accomplishments.
We are a little over a quarter of the way through the year. With WrestleMania behind us, the WWE will now begin its summer programs and hope to build toward its second biggest pay-per-view of the year, SummerSlam.
With that said, I felt it would be interesting to look at the top five matches from the first quarter of 2014. I included full match videos and highlights where possible, but WWE licensing restrictions made it difficult at times. (I also apologize for the terrible music in a few of the videos.)
5. John Cena vs. Cesaro (February 17 Raw) – Say what you will about John Cena’s in-ring ability, but he has put on some great matches so far this year, with none better than this matchup with Cesaro. There were a number of amazing spots during the contest, with Cesaro’s counter of the AA certainly ranking near the top. It appears the WWE is going to push Cesaro hard, and this was the week where his push began after he defeated Randy Orton and pushed Cena to the limit.
4. Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (WrestleMania) – After weeks of begging for a match with Triple H, Daniel Bryan finally got his wish at WrestleMania. He took full advantage of it during the opening contest of the night. Both superstars really shined during the match and it was, in my opinion, the highlight of the show. It also ranks as quite possibly the best opening match in WrestleMania history, with only Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart at WrestleMania X giving it a run for its money.
The Shield member Roman Reigns spoke to The Washington Post this week to promote WrestleMania XXX. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Significance Of Performing At WrestleMania: “I’s Mania first. We want to get there the right way, and we want to just tear the house down. We wanna burn it down, put cracks in the wall, just demolish that place and have an awesome match.”
“As far as the next day? There’s going to be some gaps. There are going to be a bunch of big names that are gonna compete [at Wrestlemania] and then not be there on Monday. That’s when guys like myself, the rest of the Shield, Cesaro, the Usos .?.?. there’s a bunch of guys who want this and are willing to work every single day. If I’m a fan of the WWE, I would feel safe to know that your entertainment is in the right hands.”
How Crowd Reactions Affect His Matches:
“I try to live in the moment. When you’re in a singles match, you’re in there, and the guy’s on top of you, and you’re in a hold and you’re being smothered: You’re in the fight at all times. But when we’re doing these team fights, you have a little time to take in the moment and just absorb the energy of the crowd.”
“Especially with the crowds nowadays. They’re very opinionated; you can almost sense that the crowd has taken a leadership role within their own product. This is what they take joy in and take pride in. And if they’re not into something, they’re going to let you know. If they’re into something, same thing: They’re going to let you know.”
If He Sees Himself As A Potential Main Event Singles Star:
“I’ve always pictured myself being in the main event. It’s always been my expectation to be the top guy, the face of the company, the one with all of that responsibility. But that should be everybody’s goal. I didn’t get into this to just be in the middle of the pack. If you want to do that, go work in a different line of work. This isn’t the place to camouflage yourself. I’m trying to be the most exotic animal on this safari.”
Why He Does Not Use A Samoan Ring Name:
“It was a process. Of course, immediately the thought was: ‘He’s Samoan, so let’s run with that.’ But then I think they saw my personality, being more of a cultured guy, going to college, playing ball, things like that, just the kind of guy I am, you know, just be me — don’t try and focus on a nationality or an ethnicity or anything like that. Just be myself.”
With 2013 coming to a close, we’d like to take this time to thank everybody for making this our best year yet. SEScoops.com launched back in 2004 right before WrestleMania XX and are approaching the 10 year anniversary of the site. We bust our butts on a daily basis to bring you guys the best insider pro wrestling news site around – and none of it would be possible without you. With 2013 in the books, here’s to a healthy & prosperous 2014 to all of you. Happy New Year!
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The following are highlights from a recent Lex Luger interview with Steve and the Scum of WGD Weekly:
On the passing of Miss Elizabeth: “It was a very dark, sad time in my personal life…I’ve made a lot of bad choices outside of the ring over the years that led to me giving up my family, my beautiful wife and two children…I developed a double life and there was a lot of collateral damage from that to my friends, my family and those closest to me including Miss Elizabeth. She always will be the first lady of wrestling…it was a real tragedy, I was living a lifestyle back then, a lot of drugs, alcohol, I call it the life of folly in my book, it led to a lot of tragic things and that was the biggest tragedy you could ever think of to have a close friend like Elizabeth as a result of it. People say well Lex, you didn’t make her drink or shove pills down her throat, but I was a very big influence on her life at the time and I was doing that and she wanted to do what I did, so if you talk about regrets in the past guys, we can’t erase the past and we have got to take responsibility and I take a lot of responsibility for that tragic event and what happened.”
On Vince McMahon buying WCW and the last edition of Nitro: “I was happy for Vince because I knew, man, he had won, that was a genuine moment for him, I was like, yeah, buddy, everybody had you counted out there when we were beating you for “x” amount of weeks straight, I was happy for him.”
On WrestleMania X, not becoming WWE Champion and internet rumors: “Contrary to what is said, Vince never promised me the belt…he never made me any promises at WrestleMania between Bret, or I, or Yoko…nor did I expect him to make any, why would he, I was thrilled to be a part of the main event of WrestleMania…it’s funny I was talking to a guy in an interview recently and a guy said, ‘It was on your Wikipedia that you were drunk the night before at a bar at WrestleMania 10 and you were supposed to win the belt and Vince got mad at you,’ I wasn’t even anywhere near New York. I was with my wife and two kids in Hartford, Connecticut, staying with friends the night before WrestleMania…I did a lot of stupid stuff back then, but that wasn’t one of them…rumor becomes fact sometimes, I laughed at that for years, of all the stupid dumb stuff I did outside of the ring, that was one that I didn’t do…I always found that humorous, crazy how rumors can start…Who came up with that one?”
On Vince Russo coming in as head writer for WCW: “I think that Russo and Ferrara did their best to create a young, fresh group of guys, kind of doing an invasion like the now did and really on paper, a pretty good idea. They had a great reputation coming from the WWF for being very creative, really when we found ourselves slipping, consensus wise most of the guys were pretty excited that they were coming in and I think they gave it their very best effort, and the young guys came in and gave it their best effort, I think part of the problem was for when the young guys, when they came in and were beating these legendary guys like Hogan…in the middle of the ring…I think the fans as much as they love seeing young talent emerge, I think it was almost like a little bit too much too soon in my opinion and the fans didn’t really buy into it like they had hoped. It was a good idea but the fans didn’t quite buy into it…they did their best, but things just didn’t work out the way they hoped, it wasn’t from a lack of effort on the new guys part, the writers or the young wrestlers, it just didn’t get over the way they had hoped…but I didn’t think it was a bad idea.”
On Ric Flair and being in the Four Horsemen: “Ric lived his persona both in the ring and out of the ring, I found that out right away, I feel like for about three years there hanging out with the Horseman, I feel like I didn’t sleep for almost three years…Ric could stay up all night…then he go to the gym and work out with me, then he go and wrestle and hour broadway, I don’t know how he did it…Ric will always tell you image is everything, he always had a limo waiting for us, we flew usually private or if we flew commercial, first class, stay at really nice hotels…Ric was everything he said he was both in and out of the ring, that’s for sure.”
On Ric Flair leaving WCW and taking their world title to WWE with him: “I was scheduled to wrestle Ric in the cage and I was scheduled to win the title that night…I wasn’t told a lot, but they told me, we’re putting you in the cage with Ric and you’re winning the world title…as far as what happened after that, it was political stuff behind the scenes that I was not privy to, I heard that Ric was trying to negotiate a new contract, and I wanted the best for Ric, so when Ric ended up on television with the belt in the competing organization, I never had any hard feelings about that because I knew Ric had worked so hard and had such an incredible career, he was trying to do what was best for him and his family, from a business sense, I never took it personally…I was disappointed I didn’t get to wrestle Ric in the cage to win the world title, but I wasn’t upset with Ric that he went and did what he had to do and what he thought was best business wise for Ric Flair…WCW at the time, they were negotiating with Ric almost right up until the day of the match …to still come in and do the match, it just fell apart at the last minute…Ric almost was WCW, so for Ric to leave was a huge void and vacuum that myself and nobody could possibly even entertain the thought of replacing…they didn’t even have a belt ready yet…I think a lot of the guys were disappointed that Ric wasn’t there, but the show must go on.”
You can listen to the complete Lex Luger interview below:
The following are highlights from a recent interview with wrestling legend Lex Luger.
On whether or not he was informed that he would win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 10: “Contrary to what people believe, I was never told I was going to be given any kind of title. The only discussion me and Vince [McMahon] had was what to do with the Lex Luger character in the future if he DID decide to put the title on me. But no, I was never told I’d be WWF Champion at any point.”
On appearing on the debut edition of WCW Monday Nitro: “On reflection, that was a pretty bad move by me. Me and Vince had a verbal agreement. I worked for him for 6 months without any sort of contract as my contract had expired. My mistake came when WCW signed me. I didn’t get to have a conversation with Vince to tell him I’d be leaving. But that was 100% my fault.”
On finding religion later in his life: “I feel wonderful now. I got to a point in my life where I realized that God is God and I’m not. I was beneath rock bottom but for whatever reason God put people in my life and he showed me the way. A very supernatural experience and that’s the only way I can put it.”
Check out the complete interview online at TheWrestlingMania.com.
Here’s Part 10 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th
WrestleMania X (1994) Tagline: “Ten Years In The Making” Date: March 20, 1994 Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY Attendance: 18,065 The Undertaker’s Streak: 3-0 (Did not Compete)
WrestleMania X was the tenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on March 20, 1994. The central focus of the pay-per-view was the WWF Championship, which was defended in two matches. Lex Luger challenged champion Yokozuna first but the storyline saw Luger disqualified for pushing the referee. Bret Hart faced Yokozuna later in the evening and won the championship by pinning Yokozuna. This led to a lengthy worked feud between Bret and his brother Owen, who defeated Bret in the opening match of the pay-per-view.
When Lex Luger pushed special guest referee Mr. Perfect he immediately disqualified Luger and left the ring, thereby turning heel.
Several other major feuds were also highlighted at this event. Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match to resolve an angle in which the two had argued over the rightful holder of the Intercontinental Championship. Bam Bam Bigelow gained revenge against Doink the Clown, with whom he had been feuding, by teaming with Luna Vachon to defeat Doink and his partner Dink. Randy Savage also settled his feud with Crush by defeating him in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
Owen Hart defeats his brother Bret at the beginning of WrestleMania X. Bret however, would get the last laugh later in the night by becoming the WWF Champion.
The event was attended by 18,065 who paid a total of $960,000 in admission fees. The buy rates for this pay-per-view were also less than last years as WrestleMania X drew a buyrate of 1.68 which was less than the 2.0 buyrate that WrestleMania IX achieved.
Shawn Michael’s on the road to becoming Mr. WrestleMania, competes against Razor Ramon for the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
The Undertaker
His rivalry with Yokozuna culminated in a WWF Championship casket match at the 1994 Royal Rumble. During the match, champion Yokozuna sealed The Undertaker in the casket with the assistance of several other villainous Wippleman-managed wrestlers to win the match. The Undertaker appeared from inside the casket on the video screen, representing his spirit, warning that he would return. The Undertaker did not appear in the WWF for seven months after his loss to Yokozuna including WrestleMania X. In reality, he was given time off to allow a back injury to heal.
For the Ladder match, the Intercontinental belts belonging to Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels were both hanging above the ring, and the first wrestler to use the ladder to reach both belts would be declared the winner. This was the first ever Ladder match at a Wrestlemania. This match has been highly regarded as one of the all time great WrestleMania Matches.
18,065 WWF fans witnessed WrestleMania X. The smallest WrestleMania Madison Square Garden Crowd with the original WrestleMania attendance announced as 19,121, and WrestleMania XX in 2004 announced at an alleged 20,000 fans.
The final match of the night was the WWF Championship match between Yokozuna and Bret Hart. The guest referee for the match was Roddy Piper, while the guest ring announcer was Burt Reynolds and the guest timekeeper was Jennie Garth. Towards the end of the match, When Yokozuna attempted the Banzai drop, he lost his balance and fell to the mat.Hart quickly pinned Yokozuna to win the title.He celebrated in the ring with several of the face wrestlers including Lex Luger, Roddy Piper, Razor Ramon, Tatanka, the 1–2–3 Kid, Sparky Plugg and Randy Savage. Others who joined in the celebration included Burt Reynolds, Rhonda Shear, Donnie Wahlberg, and WWF commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon. Owen Hart stood in the aisle, glaring at Bret, then quickly left.
Randy “Macho Man” Savage’s last WrestleMania and PPV appearance, defeating Crush.
WrestleMania X Results
• The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Prichard) (with Jim Cornette) defeated The Bushwhackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller)
• Owen Hart defeated Bret Hart
• Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon defeated Doink the Clown and Dink
• Randy Savage defeated Crush (with Mr. Fuji) Falls Count Anywhere match
• Alundra Blayze (c) defeated Leilani Kai Singles match for the WWF Women’s Championship
• Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo) (with Oscar) defeated The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) (c) (with Johnny Polo) by countout Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) defeated Lex Luger by disqualification Singles match for the WWF Championship with Special Guest Referee Mr. Perfect
• Earthquake defeated Adam Bomb (with Harvey Wippleman)
• Razor Ramon (c) defeated Shawn Michaels (with Diesel) Ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Bret Hart defeated Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) for the WWF Championship with Special Guest Referee Roddy Piper
Bret Hart celebrates his victory at WrestleMania X with several superstars.