– The official WWE website ran a poll recently asking fans who is the bigger success story to come out of the Evolution faction, Batista or Randy Orton. At last check, Orton was in the lead with well over 50 percent of the vote.
– Kid Rock’s song “Celebrate” will be used one of the themes for Wrestlemania XXX.
– The Wrestlemania XXX DVD and Blu-Ray sets will be released on 5/13, according to Amazon.com.
– UFC President Dana White was not happy about Allistair Overeem calling out Brock Lesnar at Saturday night’s post-show press conference. Dana White appeared on FOX Sports last night and said:
“It was a crappy performance by Alistair. Then, he calls out someone who doesn’t even fight in the UFC. It was not a great night for Overeem.”
As previously reported, WWE held creative meetings on Thursday and Friday to address the storyline plans headed into Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania XXX.
As of last week, the WrestleMania card was scheduled to feature Randy Orton vs. Batista, John Cena vs. Brya Wyatt, Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar, CM Punk vs. Triple H and Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus.
One match that’s been proposed is Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H, with the stipulation being that Daniel Bryan gets a WWE title shot at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which takes place near his home town in Seattle. Bryan wrestling Triple H would then lead to his originally scheduled opponent Shameaus wrestling Kane. John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt and Batista vs. Randy Orton.
Another scenario is John Cena vs. Triple H, Sheamus vs. Bray Wyatt and a triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight championship featuring Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan in a three-way for the belt.
The final set of possible matches discussed is Sheamus vs. Triple H, John Cena vs. Wyatt and Orton vs. Batista vs. Bryan in a triple threat.
– The latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast is now available. On this week’s show, Jericho interviews M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold. You can check that out at PodcastOne.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley claims he has regained some excitement for this year’s WrestleMania following the way WWE booked Monday’s RAW. Foley tweeted:
The Raw after the Royal Rumble saw action, matches set up for The Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View and more. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Royal Rumble: Everyone who watched The Royal Rumble, or heard about it, know that the crowd was completely upset that the 10 or so unadvertised spots did not go to Daniel Bryan. Loud Boos directed at Rey Misteryo who was number 30, and Batista (who I will from now on refer to as #Bootista) who won the 2014 Royal Rumble were heard loud and clear. I know this because, I was there. Yes I few out to the 2014 Royal Rumble in frigid Pittsburgh, PA to watch that Pay-Per-View live, and yes Daniel Bryan wasn’t scheduled to be in the Rumble, but not only did everyone want him in the thing, they wanted him to win. Congrats to the live crowd for making their voices heard. Hopefully this will induce change, because I dare the WWE to put on Batista vs Orton in the main event at WrestleMania XXX and not get booed out of the building.
Triple H and Daniel Bryan Face to Face. YES!
The Authority, Daniel Bryan With the largest story out of the Royal Rumble being Daniel Bryan not being in the Royal Rumble, WWE Raw kicked off right away with The Authority, and Daniel Bryan. Daniel talking about the #YesMovement and how he wanted to be in the Royal Rumble but The Authority wouldn’t let him. Daniel Bryan then gets in Triple H’s face and demands to be in the Elimination Chamber Match. Triple H then brings out the shield to beat down Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and John Cena make the save. I would have liked Raw to start with Daniel Bryan calling out The Authority, also I would have liked Daniel Bryan to beat the crap out of Triple H, the second The Sheild’s music hit. But for what it was, it was okay, and at least the segment didn’t end with Daniel Bryan being killed.It doesn’t happen often, but did you see Seth Rollins slip on his entrance?YES!
Bad News Barrett Segment You know it’s funny, I was in Pittsburgh with 13 other insane wrestling fans, some who like me flew in for The Rumble, and one my friends does a great Wade Barrett impression, and he was hilarious. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.” I heard that BNB used to be a fixture of the JBL & Cole show, and he was hilarious. I’ve come to the realization, that there are three main reasons I HATE Bad News Barrett on WWE Raw. NO!
What happened to this man? NO!
Three Reasons I hate Bad News Barrett
1. Yelling I know he’s in the arena, but I don’t think he needs to yell as much, I think it’s annoying. If he did it more soft spoken, even if it was backstage being shown to the crowd, it would come across better.
2. Podium & Gavel The podium and gavel is just plain silly and stupid. Is he a judge? Is he a preacher?
3. The Material So generic dising a local city, and their sports team. Wade Barrett can cut a great promo, we’ve seen it years ago in The Nexus and The Coree, why is he wasting time with cheap heat? Dumb!
#BOOtista, Orton and Brock Lesnar, on Raw. NO!
In-Ring Segment: Randy Orton, #BOOtista, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman I said it already once, but I dare WWE to put Randy Orton vs #BOOtista in the Main Event at WrestleMania XXX. Daniel Bryan chants ring though the arena, even though Daniel Bryan is not supposed to be involved with this segment. Brock Lesnar and Heyman come out to challenge Batista or Randy Orton, tonight on raw. But if you think you’re going to get a free Brock Lesnar match on TV, you must also believe the tooth fairy, was the one who gave you the five bucks under your pillow. NO!
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz The battle of Cleveland as these two are locals, I couldn’t help wondering how WWE was going to screw both of them, being WWE loves to beat guys in their own hometown (See: Jim Ross). Dolph wins it, and maybe his punishment is over? Probably not. YES!
WWE Tag-Team Titles
Brock destroys the Rhodes Brothers. YES!
New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
Some trash talking from The Road Dogg before this matche gets underway. I’m okay with NAO as the WWE Tag Team Champions. I’m assuming they will defend them at WrestleMania and lose it to a good team like The Usos. Brock Lesnar comes out destroys the Rhode’s brothers, which I was also okay with. YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
With the Royal Rumble taking place this weekend, we are officially on the road to WrestleMania XXX. As of this week, here are the matches that are scheduled to take place at WrestleMania:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. Batista
The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
CM Punk vs. Triple H
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
Ever since it was announced that Batista was on his way back to WWE, we’ve been hearing that he’s slated to main event WrestleMania XXX. With the first hour of Monday’s RAW (featuring his return) drawing over 5 million viewers, it’s all but guaranteed that Big Dave will going on last at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
Fans hoping to see Daniel Bryan win the Royal Rumble and finally get his crowning moment of glory at WrestleMania XXX should abandon that fantasy ASAP.
The John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt match was first pitched in the fall but was later scrapped when WWE aligned Bryan with the Wyatt Family. After that angle was abruptly cut short after a matter of weeks, the Cena vs. Wyatt match is now back on.
Of course, plans can change in the next month or two, but as of this week, these are the top 5 matches planned for WWE’s biggest show of the year.
Comment Below: Tell us what you think of this lineup and give your own suggestions of how WWE should book the top WrestleMania XXX matches.
(Information from PWInsider was used in this report)
– Of the 55,000 tickets sold thus far for WrestleMania XXX, just under 10,000 were listed on the Stubhub website for the resale market. The tickets on Stubhub range from $49 to $11,000 for front row.
– WWE is reportedly planning on running a considerable amount of live feeds on the WWE Network during the week leading to WrestleMania XXX. The company is likely going to be testing the streaming ability and offering live content as a way of generation additional interest in the Network.
Batista Returned to WWE and it’s the go home show before the Royal Rumble, but was it enough for us to say YES! Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Animal Is back, with the world’s tightest pants! NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton & Batista I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this segment. Randy Orton Triple H and Stephanie McMahon is just boring me. Orton is way more whinyer these days as well. This isn’t the cold-hearted viper, we all know and love. This is an annoying whimpy sometimes self-doubting viper. Batista comes out wearing a pair of ridiculous tight Jeans. That outfit is what I would expect someone to put on him as a joke in the WWE 2k14 video game, with a diva’s dancing entrance. He’s back to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans to become the WWE Champion. Part of me want’s to say YES! because Batista is awesome, maybe I’m being to hard on the guy? But if I’m rating the segment by itself I have to go with NO!
Goldust, Cody Rhodes & Big E. Langston vs. The Shield WWE has won me over on tag team wrestling, plain and simple. I enjoy it, I love wathcing Cody and Golddust out there. I think it’s rediciolous that these two are defending their championship on the Royal Rumble pre-show. They deserve mid-card of the Pay-Per-View. Some would arugue, that if you put a solid match on the pre-show that will get people on the fence to buy the PPV. I get it, but still I think this is an attraction worthy of the actual event. Especially because I feel The New Age Outlaws could very well win the titles.YES!
Daniel Bryan is back YES!
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Great to see Daniel Bryan on Raw, especially since SEScoops.com broke the news a day after last week’s Raw that he had suffered a concussion last week. As a precaution he was pulled of the weekends live events and underwent impact testing to make sure he was good for this Sunday. He’s facing Bray Wyatt in a 1 on 1 match. Currently he is not scheduled to compete in the Royal Rumble. If he doesn’t show up in the Rumble and win it, I will be pretty disappointed, this is his year to win it. Do the right thing WWE, you have a major star on your hands. YES!
Xavier Woods vs. Fandango Fast forwarded this match. I think Fandango won. I have no idea why. Meaningless. NO!
CM Punk vs Billy Gun I didn’t catch Smackdown! on Friday, but I enjoyed The Road Doggs explinatinon here on commentary. The New Age Outlaws aren’t heel’s per se, more like tweeners. I would expect them to win the Tag Team titles to further along a breakup with Golddust and Cody Rhodes. Billy Gun looked a bit blown up in the match with CM Punk, but good match. YES!
Batista gets his revenge on Alberto Del Ro before the Rumble. Now What? – NO!
Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio Another fast forward delight, back in the day before DVR’s and dare I say VCR’s We would change the channel watching this thing live. Truth be told, I fell asleep during this very match live on Monday, and caught up Tuesday. Batista comes out and attacks Alberto Del Rio. Now I thought I was going to have to pay to see Batista get physical with Del Rio? Why give it away on Raw? I can only guess that Alberto Del Rio will cause Batista to be eliminated at the Rumble. We saw Batista destroy him, so something else needs to happen. Perhaps Ricardo Rodriguez comes back and they both get Batista out? Who knows. All I know is I give the match and aftermath a NO!
Brock Lesnar should be Fearless – NO!
Big Show, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Brock Lesnar shouldn’t be afraid of anyone at any time, period! I did like the Big Show this week, more serious, more business, calling out Brock Lesnar. I thought it was silly watching Brock backup from the ring, not wanting to get in there with Big Show. Getting thrown out and then throwing a temper tantrum. Brock is going to win this match at the Royal Rumble, a match I am looking forward to. But this segment was silly. I liked Big Show’s impression of Paul Heyman though. NO!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Roddy Piper continues to push for a match against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania XXX. Part 2 of his interview on the Steve Austin Show podcast was posted online this week and here’s what he had to say about wrestling Hogan one last time:
“This is Wrestlemania 30. I’ve pinned Hogan once and he’s never pinned me. From a fan’s perspective, and WWE Universe and Vince, it never had closure. The business that would be done.. the interviews and stuff would be coming from the heart. We could try to outraise the bar of the WWE entertainment machine in our sport, if they let us go toe to toe and don’t script us. The fans will see really how it got started and why, and then they’ll see the conclusion. They are asking can I get in shape. I am already in shape!. They are asking Hogan.. But there is a fear, I guess, of whether we can pull off the performance.”
Tickets for the WrestleMania AXXESS festivities in New Orleans will officially go on sale to the public on February 1st.
VIP tickets for AXXESS are set at $95, which guarantees you access to a VIP signing and a special VIP line to enter the event or $45, which will be general admission.
WrestleMania AXXESS sessions are currently scheduled as follows:
Thursday, April 3rd
6 PM – 10 PM
Friday, April 4th
6 PM – 10 PM
Saturday, April 5th
8 AM – 12 PM
1 PM – 5 PM
6 PM – 10 PM
A new synopsis for the “Scooby Doo: WrestleMania Mystery” film has been released. The new description for the movie reads as follows:
“This all-new original movie delivers endless action with Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and the rest of the gang! The mystery begins when Shaggy and Scooby win tickets to WrestleMania and convince the crew to go with them to WWE City.
But this city harbors a spooky secret – a ghastly Ghost Bear holds the town in his terrifying grip! To protect the coveted WWE Championship Title, the gang gets help from WWE Superstars like John Cena, Triple H, Sin Cara, Brodus Clay, AJ Lee, The Miz and Kane.
Watch Scooby and the gang grapple with solving this case before it’s too late.”
The following are the “Extras” that will be featured on the DVD and Blu-ray release, which is scheduled to come out on March 25th:
– Behind the Scenes with Scooby-Doo and the WWE Gang: A behind the scenes look at the voice recording sessions with the cast of WWE.
– Wrestle Maniacs: Bonus “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo” Episode.
Batista returned to WWE on Monday’s RAW, confronting Randy Orton and declaring that he’s back for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Batista said he plans on winning the 2014 Royal Rumble and will then go on to headline WrestleMania XXX.
The following are highlights from a Busted Open Satellite radio interview with WWE legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts:
On being proud of his Old School RAW return and dealing with sobriety: “Big time. Big time. You gotta deal with each moment; that’s part of sobriety. Is taking the hard stuff in the face and laying it out in front of you. And saying okay, here’s where I go from there. Before it was just an F that and got drunk, got high. And woke up three days later with more problems. That’s the funny thing about drugs and alcohol. There’s no problem that gets better when you get high. It will be back.”
On having to overcome changes in his life and heading in the right direction: “Yeah, man. Oh god brother, it’s–life is so wonderful, man. I mean it’s great to wake up in the morning and remember what you did the night before. It’s also great to wake up knowing that you have kids that love you and grandchildren that love you and they’re not ashamed of you anymore. And they don’t have to check in with you to make sure that you are in the visiting mode. Because there were a lot of days, man that I wouldn’t answer the phone. A lot of days that I didn’t want to talk to anybody. And a lot of days you didn’t want to see me. It was just a point for me where it got to; I took down all the mirrors in my house cause I didn’t want to look at my stupid ass. And what I became. But having said that; I’ve been to a lot of rehabs. Compliments of WWE. But I’ve also been to a few jails, but I never met anybody in a place who said you know what, Jake? When I was a kid, my dream was to grow up and become a drug addict or an alcoholic. Nobody dreams of that. Nobody wants that. But that’s the animal you invite into your house man, if you start doing the wrong thing. People often say, “Well Jake, why did you do drugs?” Cause I liked that stuff! I liked it! It was cool for a while. A short while. But at some point, it no longer became a choice to do that drug or drink. It was a necessity. And as soon as it became a necessity, it takes the life away from you and it owns your life. So guys and girls out there, don’t be a stupid snake and do that stuff. Because sooner or later, you’re gonna pay the piper. If you do the dance, somebody’s gonna pay the fiddler, okay? And that’s that. Okay, now let’s move on to happy shit.”
On if he ever thought he’d be walking down the aisle in WWE again: “No, god no. No, I’d already given up on that man. That was one of the hardest things about getting sober was looking at the carnage I’d created. And remembering some of these statements–oh my god! I must’ve been so F upped. But you know what a drug addict or an alcoholic can justify any sin. I can justify murder when I’m high. I can justify rape when I’m high. I can justify anything when I’m wanting my dope. And that’s the sickness. And some of the stuff I said about WWE and McMahon and anybody else up there, was just me lashing out because of my hate for myself. That’s not an excuse to do it. It shows me how big they are; not only to pay for rehab for an asshole that’s going out here and blasting the hell out of them, but they also–for them to open the door and say “Dude, come back.” And it’s like are you serious? Cause I had given up on that. I’d truly given up on them–I gave up on the Hall Of Fame, I gave up on everything. Like you know, what the hell man; Koko B. Ware’s there and I’m not? Are you serious? Geez. Warrior? Christ, man. That really hurts.”
On Ultimate Warrior’s Hall Of Fame induction and how he and Warrior’s careers can’t be compared: “I know, man! I know that. But maybe they’re taking in assholes and not great talent. I don’t know.”
On WrestleMania XXX being in New Orleans and wanting to get into the Hall Of Fame: “I know. If I was writing a book and I wanted a perfect ending; which I did write a book. About my life. It’ll be coming out about April 1st, man. Because of my career and life; it’s a trilogy. The first book is about the first 15-20 years of my life and career before I got to the WWE. And it’s the most interesting part, I think. And it’ll be coming out. There’s also a movie Diamond Dallas Page has been working on since I started this process; this resurrection if you will. It’ll be coming out soon. And I’ve got so many great things happening in my life right now that to be honest with you, I don’t know if I could fit that in! It’s fun to say no. Of course I wouldn’t say no (on being inducted to the HOF). Are you serious? I love wrestling, okay? I don’t love wrestlers cause there are a lot of them–just cause they have tights, don’t mean they’re wrestlers, okay? But there are a lot of assholes–they can take that stuff off, put it in a big pile and moving forward; their boots, burn it and never come back to wrestling. You’d be doing wrestling a favor. But no, I have a true passion for it. I’ve got a lot that I want to offer now. Will it ever happen on the level that I want it? I doubt it. Cause I’d certainly love to contribute to the product today. I would love to teach. I don’t know if there’s enough hours in the day to teach all the people I think I need to teach. But I would certainly try. I just love wrestling, man. Nobody understands it unless you’ve been there. I’m not talking about walking out and getting in the ring. I’m talking about being a guy that–wrestling is the only lover I never cheated on, okay? I screwed around on my wife but when it came to wrestling brother, I was there. If I was f’d up, I’d go to the ring and put in twice the time. If I was sick–to me, that’s the mark of a true professional. A true professional is somebody that at there physical and mental worst, they will go out and raise the bar and go above that bar. Because I felt guilty about if I got f’d up the night before oh man, you jerk! How dare you cheat these fans? And I’d go out and put in twice the time.”
On being deserving of a Hall Of Fame induction: “Well, whether you deserve it or not is not up to me man. And my life isn’t dependent upon that. If it doesn’t happen this year, maybe it’ll happen next year. I can only hope. I’m not going to let that take me down, man. Where as before, I could think of any reason to get high. ‘I didn’t get this; I didn’t get that; they screwed me over this; they screwed me over that.’ Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can fabricate any bullshit. But right now I’m just stating what’s the truth. The truth is I’m not in there and that’s okay. That’s okay. Look, I came back to Raw, brother! And I stole the f’ing show.”
On Diamond Dallas Page: “It’s real simple. That guy saved my life man. That guy is changing millions of people’s lives right now. If you don’t do his program, you’re an idiot. Bottom line. You’re a fricking idiot. And it’s fixed to get even grander and grander. Cause there’s more things in the works, and once they get sprung on the public man; it’s gonna blow your minds, man. I couldn’t be more proud to be associated with him. Not only because what he did for me but more so for what he’s done for all these other people. I mean it’s crazy the number of people he has effected. The number of people he has brought back to real life. The number of effected people who have dropped a 100 lbs; a 125 lbs; 200 lbs! We have a guy that’s dropped over 200 lbs and he’s still 400 lbs. And this guy is doing it! I don’t know how–he saves lives man. He is a constant; constantly on the move. Shaking and baking and meeting; talking. Everybody that buys his damn DVD; he calls them! Are you serious? This resurrection, this life is so good man. If you’re not happy with your life, it’s pretty simple: change it! Change it. If you’re not happy with your woman, toss her. If you’re not happy with your wife, divorce that and move on to the next one. It’s your choice. You can lay in that sh*t and live, if you want to call it that. That’s not living man; it’s existence. Or you can start making changes. I’ve dropped 75 lbs. I can get up and down. I can move now. I can wrestle again. When I retired two years ago, it left a big hole in my heart! I’m 58 years old and I’m in the best shape of the last 25-30 years. I’m so pissed off at myself. Why didn’t I do this sooner? Why didn’t I do this sooner? Because the program is not that hard. It is not hard. I’ll tell ya it is not hard to do. Anybody can do it. There’s adjustments you can make and modifications you can make in this program. There’s no–in a fricking wheelchair you can do this! So what’s your excuse? If Jake Roberts can be clean and sober, lose 75 lbs, return to wrestling and be victorious in his resurrection; what the F is your excuse? That’s all I got to say.”
On where he ranks the Old School RAW moment in his career: “I don’t know man cause it hasn’t really sunk in. I still keep waking up thinking, okay it didn’t really happen. Okay, that did not happen. I don’t know man. It was so surreal. It just hasn’t sunk in. It hasn’t sunk in. All this grandiosity and all that stuff man, it has not got into my bones yet. Because I denied it for so long. You understand? I said it wasn’t going to happen for so long even though it has happened, I don’t believe it. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll keep striving in the right direction. Having said that; they can’t take it away from me, so f— them! (Laughing)”
TMZ caught up with Hulk Hogan once again over the weekend and asked him if the rumors of him returning to WWE are true. Hogan said it would be a “dream come true” to be back in WWE.
The following are highlights of a recent online Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On if he was surprised by the quality of past Undertaker-Batista matches: “Not really. Both are big money players. They had chemistry. Taker’s extraordinarily special. Dave’s a beast. Great combo.”
On The Undertaker’s streak: “I’m not a fan of a The Streak ever be broken. It’s not torch passing material.”
On Hulk Hogan’s participation at WrestleMania XXX: “I see Hulk in a tag before him doing a singles bout w/ a wrecked back.”
On the possibility of a WWE Divas Tag-Team Championship: “At the moment, I’m not overjoyed by the potential of a Divas Tag Championship but I’m willing to see how it evolves over time if it happens.”
WrestleMania XXX is less than three months away and we want to know what match you want to see headlining the show. With the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber still ahead of us and Brock Lesnar and Batista back in the main event mix, there are countless matchups that we could see for the WWE World Heavyweight championship at WrestleMania.
Vote below and tell us what match you want to see headlining WWE’s biggest show of the year. If your vote is “Other” – give us your pick.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross was recently asked by a fan on Twitter what the chances were that he’d be appearing as part of WrestleMania AXXESS this year. JR replied, “Unlikely. Doing my 1 man show in NOLA 4/3.”
Speaking of JR, he has two shows planned for April 3rd in New Orleans. The WWE Hall Of Famer also has a show on the books for March 1st at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. For tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com.
– Following a live event this weekend, WWE will be returning to St. Louis, Missouri for a RAW television show on April 28th. The pre-sale for tickets is going on now with the code WWESTL.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase Sr. has officially pulled out of his booking at the Mid South Wrestling fan fest, which is set to take place during WrestleMania weekend. The reason DiBiase canceled the booking is because WWE has booked him for their WrestleMania weekend festivities. A replacement for DiBiase at the Mid South fan fest is expected to be announced in the near future.
– Speaking of WrestleMania weekend cancellations, The Young Bucks have pulled out of their scheduled appearance in New Orleans during that weekend as well.
– The Philly.com website has a new story up regarding advice WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin gave NFL player DeSean Jackson when he was robbed of $250,000 in cash. You can check that story out online at Philly.com.
– Rey Mysterio wants to wrestle Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania in a Mask vs. Hair match.
During an interview with WWE Magazine (February 2014 issue), Mysterio said:
“Ever since the moment that Alberto Del Rio came into the company, he’s been trying to push me aside to a certain degree. I almost feel like he wants to take over the Hispanic fanbase, which is something I feel would be impossible at this point.”
“If I were to pick a dream [WrestleMania] match-up … it would be against him, and I would definitely put my mask on the line. I want it to be a classic lucha libre-style match, Mask vs. Hair.”
Make sure to check out our WrestleMania XXX news section for all news leading up to April’s huge event.
WWE Hall of Fame “Stone Cold” Steve Austin commented on the possibility of appearing at WrestleMania XXX on the latest episode of his Steve Austin Show podcast.
Austin said that he’d like to be in New Orleans for WrestleMania weekend, mainly to conduct some face to face interviews with the WWE Superstars and Hall of Fame legends who will be in town.
As for appearing the WrestleMania XXX show in a “formal capacity,” Austin said, “I am not committed to anything of that nature yet.”
To listen to the Steve Austin Show, visit PodcastOne.com.
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan says he will be at WrestleMania XXX on April 6th and will be “working” at the event, according to a report at WrestlingINC.com.
Hogan attended this week’s Affiliate Summit West marketing conference from Las Vegas, Nevada to promote his Hostamania web hosting service. The news comes from a fan who attended the summit and spoke to Hogan personally, so take that for what you will.
Hulk Hogan reached a verbal agreement with WWE this past week, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The latest is that Hogan will not be wrestling at WrestleMania XXX and most likely would not pass a WWE physical. That said, he will have some sort of role at the WWE Hall of Fame and WrestleMania XXX. WWE has been talking about inducting the WrestleMania 1 main event (Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf) into the Hall of Fame, with all 4 men being on hand for the ceremony.
As reported earlier this week, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper has been pushing for a match at WrestleMania that would pit himself & CM Punk vs. Hulk Hogan & John Cena. Piper put Punk over during Old School RAW and tried convincing Punk to get on board for the idea, but it wont be happening, for a variety of reasons.
At one point there was talk of Hulk Hogan appearing at the ‘groundbreaking’ WWE Network announcement, but the company did not want Hogan’s return to distract from the Network announcement. The decision was made to hold off on his return, which will help pop a big TV rating as WWE is negotiating their TV rights fees.
– According to reports, the match WWE hoped to schedule between Goldberg and Ryback for WrestleMania XXX is said to be close to dead due to the fact that both WWE and Goldberg are far apart on the financial side of the potential agreement. However, one WWE source noted that the company hasn’t quite ruled out the possibility of a Goldberg vs. Ryback match just yet.
– As previously reported, WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil posted a tweet on his official Twitter account expressing some excitement over good news he received regarding the WWE Network. O’Neil’s tag-team partner, Darren Young, recently posted the following update on his official Twitter account:
– JBL recently referenced a story during commentary on WWE television regarding an arm-wrestling challenge between Ryback and Titus O’Neil. According to reports, O’Neil challenged Ryback to an arm-wrestling match, but Ryback didn’t accept. The idea was for the two to compete in an arm-wrestling match for money, with the loser donating to charity.
– According to the latest estimates, WWE has sold approximately 55,000 tickets for WrestleMania XXX, which is considered very good at this point. The legitimate capacity for the set-up they will be using in the arena is 70,000, although WWE will likely claim a figure of 82,000 or more. The current attendance record in the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, the site of WrestleMania XXX, is 87,500 for a Rolling Stones cocert in 1981.
With two weeks before the Royal Rumble, Noah Mark is back with his analysis of the second raw of 2014. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Kick Off Raw vs The USO’S – YES!
The Usos vs. Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan (Part 1) Raw starts off with the match advertised last week of Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. The USO’s were in the ring at the start of Raw ready for the match. The lights blacked out for the Wyatts entrance, and came back on 30 seconds later to reveal Daniel Bryan and The Wyatts already in the ring. I liked the quick entrance. The match was good with Daniel Bryan in a more aggressive style. Luke Harper and Derek Rowan, interfered just before The USO’s were about to get airborne on Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. This prompted another DQ on the Wyatts in their second week in a row with Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan drops to his knees to receive a Sister Abigail from Bray Wyatt. As I said for the last two weeks, I’m okay with this story in it’s context, provided it doesn’t go 16 weeks to WrestleMania. YES!
Damien Sandow holding his own against John Cena – YES!
Damien Sandow vs. John Cena I was fortunate to be in the crowd at Raw in Orlando, FL the night after The Hell-In-A-Cell Pay-Per-View. It was on that night that Damien Sandow cashed in his Money-In-The-Bank briefcase on John Cena. Although he didn’t win the match then, it was a great competitive match with Cena, and this episode of Raw was no different. There is a great chemistry between Sandow and Cena, and proof that Sandow should have a much more elevated status in WWE. All the things about Damien Sandow I enjoy are stripped away, no more robe, no more witty promos, he’s seemingly just an angry body. Where’s the man that would sign autographs with a quill pen? Why do we get “Sandow-Gimmick-Light”? I question this especially, because when he is called upon he delivers. Match was great. Don’t throw away Sandow after this. YES!
Kane & Brad Maddox, No Triple H or Stephanie. Kane and Brad get into it backstage, and Mr Maddox comes up with a Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan vs The Uso’s rematch in a steel cage for the main event. With Kane adding that he will personally chain the cage door shut. I thought this would spell disaster for Daniel Bryan, with some ulterior motive for his former Co-Tag Team Champion.
I did like the fact that Triple H and Stephanie were not on the show this week. Although they seem to back Orton, promoting him as the face Of WWE, they haven’t been targeting John Cena, like they did Bryan, with beat-downs and impossible handi-cap matches. YES!
Left – Intense Big Show to confront Brock Lesnar 1/6 YES! Right – Jolly Big Show eventually Beating Up Zed NO!
On an unrelated note, is Kane injured? Kane is one of the longest tenured Superstars on the roster, I know he has been working several holiday house show matches, however I don’t recall him having a TV match since that aforementioned Orlando Raw I was at where, on that show he shed his mask, this was after returning from filming a See No Evil sequel. It looked like he had a noticeable limp coming down the aisle way.
Big Show vs. Jack Swagger I don’t like smiling big show. I liked hoodie and skull cap wearing, intense Big Show from last week. I want all business Big Show. I want a focused Big Show that is going to seriously take on Brock Lesnar. Big show almost has John Cena-itus. Big Show should learn from his mistakes. Smiling Big Show ended 3-4 Raws this fall, then lost the Big One. Big show can smile his way to another loss at the Royal Rumble. I like Zeb Colter, but for some reason I DON’T want to see him hurt. I like Paul Heyman, but I DO want to see him get hurt. NO!
Moments before The New Age Outlaws, pull back their hands and walk out on CM Punk – NO!
CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield I’m hoping after The Royal Rumble, CM Punk will move away from The Shield. I love Roman Reigns but If the Shield were to break up, I don’t think he should be put against CM Punk one on one, yet. I like the idea of him building up his singles resume, perhaps with a Big E, Dolph Ziggler, a returning Jericho, maybe even Daniel Bryan, before we see CM Punk vs Roman Reigns in a big time match. I love the New Age Outlaws, and I don’t want to boo them. I haven’t checked out the Smackdown Spoilers (They are scheduled to take on Cody Rhodes and Golddust) so I’m curious to see if they are “bad guys” now. They both appear to be in great shape, and would love to see them, hang around till WrestleMania, but not at heels. Besides, book him however you wish, but at WrestleMania XXX they will no doubt be faces one way or another. NO!
Meaningless win for AJ. Waste of talent – NO!
The Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee & Tamina Snuka Throw-a-way match, AJ being underutilized. AJ hasn’t had many title defenses, the belt isn’t as special, not because of the person, because of the booking. She taps out and pins people left and right, then a silly beat down afterwords. If you’re going to give her a clean win, why bother, having the faces beat her down after the fact, they lost. This is why there is a huge drop off in star power in WWE, because you have someone like an AJ Lee who can cut a dynamite promo, you can cultivate that, make people want to see her, and let her flourish! Instead of losing her in the shuffle of 20 Total Diva® tag matches. NO!
WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Inductee The Ultimate Warrior will Headline The 2014 Hall Of Fame. Ironic I watched a DVD about how he was horrible person to work with, held up Vince McMahon for money at SummerSlam 1991, and “self destructed” But as the saying goes Money Talks, and there is a lot of people who remember the guy you see below and could care less about what was hapening behind the curtain. So for that (and because our Webmaster is a huge fan of the man from Parts Unknown) we say YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating