The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:

On WWE editing crowd chants at RAW: “Liverpool crowd seemed to be having a great time more often than not. If WWE is censoring the chants that WWE perceives to be negative toward their brand then I feel that they are making a mistake. Allow the audience to be raw and organic and then be creative enough to make something out of he chants.”

On the Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt feud: “Mildly intrigued with Ambrose vs. Bray at Survivor Series. Hope to get more interested by game day as I’m a big fan of both men. They have some unique rhetoric regarding their issues of which is a make or break element in this story line.”

On Ryback’s push: “John Cena gave Ryback an incredible “RUB” on RAW during the first and last segment of the show so RAW was bookend well. It’s obvious that WWE has big plans for Ryback.”

On ECW Exposed: “Really enjoyed the ECW themed broadcast that followed RAW on the @WWENetwork featuring ECW mastermind aka the Myer Lansky of pro wrestling @HeymanHustle Paul Heyman and the voice of ECW, @joeystyles. Fun show that wasn’t over produced and the talents seemed to be relaxed and having a good time. Nice job gentlemen….you too Happy.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

Adam Rose vs. “The Bunny” is currently scheduled to serve as the WWE Survivor Series “Kickoff Show” match. It’s worth pointing out that pre-show plans often change, however that is currently the working idea.

Another match expected for the upcoming pay-per-view is Los Matadores vs. Damien Sandow and The Miz vs. The Usos vs. Stardust and Goldust for the WWE Tag Team Championships.

During today’s edition of WWE RAW, which was taped this afternoon in Liverpool, England, most of the remaining members of both “Team Cena” and “Team Authority” were named for the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Official for “Team Cena” now are John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Jack Swagger and Sheamus.

Confirmed for “Team Authority” are Seth Rollins, Kane, Rusev and Mark Henry, leaving one spot remaining.

For complete spoilers for tonight’s RAW, click here.

WWE has announced that Nikki Bella will challenge WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee for the title in a singles match at the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view.

With that now known, below is the latest official lineup for the show:

Traditional Elimination Match: Authority’s Power On The Line
– Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler & TBA) vs. Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane & TBA)

Divas Championship Match:
– AJ Lee (c) vs. Nikki Bella

– Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose

All 10 Members Of Team Cena vs. Team Authority Revealed?

The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:

On Roman Reigns taking acting classes: “I read where Roman Reigns is taking acting classes in LA with noted acting teacher Howard Fine. It’s good that Reigns is learning more while he’s healing from surgery and hopefully he’s watching tons of DVD’s of the many greats of the game so see what he denotes as making them special. No great pro wrestler ever quits learning because as in live if we quit evolving and improving we begin the ‘dying process.’ Main eventers realize early on that the learning process and getting better at what one’s does never ceases unless one finds themselves in the toxic, ‘Comfort Zone.'”

On the road to WrestleMania 31: “With nothing really appearing to be ‘red hot’ right now in WWE as it relates to a clear cut direction for the main event at WM31 it would seems that WWE will be depending to some degree on older talents, including some alums, to help add some sizzle to the card. Hopefully we will get more of hint at the Survivor Series and December’s TLC PPV. With that speculation said, I hope that WWE has a plan to utilize Sting who has earned a WrestleMania Moment if any one in the business has. Yes, I’m biased.”

On Brock Lesnar’s WWE contract situation: “I still feel that if a new contract for WWE Champion Brock Lesnar isn’t done by early January that WWE should make a change in their top title before WM31 as to protect the WWE World Title’s positioning within the company.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

PHOTOS: Ronda Rousey SHOWS ALL (…and I mean *ALL*) In BRAND NEW Photo Shoot!

This image has been circulating on Twitter over the weekend and depicts what appears to be all 10 members of the Team Cena vs. Team Authority Survivor Series main event.

Cena’s team is comprised of Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Ryback and Big Show. Seth Rollins leads Team Authority, along with Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev and Cesaro.

As announced by Vince McMahon last week on RAW, The Authority will be removed from power if Team Cena is victorious. Thus far, no stipulation has been set if Team Authority wins. Conspicuously absent from the lineup is Randy Orton, who was written off television on RAW with “concussion symptoms” and is taking time off to film The Condemned 2 for WWE Studios.

We can’t verify that this poster is official, but it looks like a realistic scenario.

Comment below and tell us what you think of these teams and if The Authority will still be around after Survivor Series.

– As of this week, out of the 11,000 tickets available for purchase for the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view, 4,000 tickets were unsold. WWE is now selling family packs of four tickets for the price of three, which is unusual for a pay-per-view event.

– It’s worth mentioning that WWE listed NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte as “Charlotte Flair” in the advertising for the upcoming WrestleMania 31 On-Sale Party. Up until now, WWE has just been using the Charlotte name. There has been a lot of speculation that Charlotte will be getting called up to the main roster after the next NXT live special on the WWE Network in December.

– WWE.com has published a feature looking at “Five Potential Members For Team Cena” at Survivor Series, including Ryback, Sami Zayn, Goldust, Zack Ryder and Dean Ambrose.

– John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt and Kane in a 2-on-1 handicap match in the main event of Thursday night’s WWE Live Event from Dublin, Ireland. Also on the show, NXT Champion Adrian Neville defeated Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler defeated Cesaro to retain the Intercontinental Championship.

– Roman Reigns is apparently taking acting classes during his time away from WWE while he recovers from hernia surgery. Howard Fine of the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Los Angeles tweeted on Friday:

Coaching WWE Superstar Roman Reigns.

— Howard Fine (@HowardLFine) November 7, 2014

– Although current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar was not originally scheduled to work the company’s upcoming Survivor Series or TLC pay-per-views, WWE officials are reportedly in talks with him about working more television dates to help promote his match, which is confirmed, for the 2015 Royal Rumble show.

Brock Lesnar: Worst WWE Title Reign Ever?

– As things stand right now, the current plan is for Dean Ambrose to continue using the double-arm DDT instead of the headlock DDT for his finisher, with the announcers selling the move as “Dirty Deeds.”

• VIDEO: UFC’s Conor McGregor HIJACKS LIVE TV Interview — CHAOS ENSUES! [MUST SEE >>]

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

As things stand right now, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins is 100 percent off of tonight’s Night Of Champions lineup. There is some talk within WWE, as we noted yesterday, of having Dean Ambrose make a surprise appearance at tonight’s pay-per-view to fill in for Reigns against Rollins, however that is purely speculation at this point.

Also as noted yesterday, Reigns will likely be out of action for up to six weeks. WWE is hoping to have him back in time for the Survivor Series pay-per-view, but even under the worst case scenario, he will be back in time for the Royal Rumble in January, meaning he will be able to work WrestleMania and that if WWE was planning on having Reigns be the guy to end Brock Lesnar’s dominant streak, they can continue on with that plan despite Reigns’ current situation.

Speaking of Reigns, he surfaced on Twitter today to thank fans for their support. He tweeted the following:

Thank you everyone for your kind words, support and prayers!! I'm hurting right now but it's great to know good people have my back!!

— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) September 21, 2014

– WWE is reportedly hopeful that Daniel Bryan will be back in time to work the Survivor Series pay-per-view in November. It is said, however, that they do not want to rush him back before he is ready, as they do not want to risk him suffering another injury.

– There is some talk within WWE that the person behind the Bunny costume in Adam Rose’s entourage will be revealed to be Darren Young.

As promised, here is the second half of the list…

5. Abundance Of Talent Led To Brand Extension

The WWE roster was absolutely stacked following the acquisition of WCW. This was especially true after the top WCW superstars such as Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, and Kevin Nash eventually signed with the company.

It quickly became apparent that there was too much talent to adequately feature everyone on a weekly basis. This led to the WWE splitting into two separate brands in the form of Raw and SmackDown. The brand extension seemed fresh at first, but it quickly lost traction after superstars were constantly shifted from one brand to the other as a way to increase ratings.

The brand extension era is characterized by pay-per-views that did not perform as well as those in the Attitude Era, largely because fans did not want to pay to see only half of the roster.

The following is an updated list of official dates and locations for WWE’s pay-per-view events all the way through WrestleMania 31.

May 4th – Extreme Rules, IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ
June 1st – Payback, Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL
June 29th – Money In the Bank, TD Garden in Boston, MA
July 20th – Battleground, Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, FL
August 17th – SummerSlam, Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA
September 21st – Night of Champions, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN
October 26th – Hell In A Cell, American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX
November 23rd – Survivor Series, Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO
December 14th – TLC, Quickens Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH
January 25th – Royal Rumble, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA
February 22nd – Elimination Chamber, Fedex Forum in Memphis, TN
March 29th – WrestleMania 31, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA

– As we reported last week and reiterated earlier tonight, it’s very likely that Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger will be taking place as a triple-threat match at this Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which takes place from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Apparently this match was confirmed during the RAW post-show on Monday night, which airs live on the WWE Network after RAW every week.

– Following Monday’s Extreme Rules “go-home” edition of WWE RAW, which took place in St. Louis, Missouri, it was announced to the live crowd in attendance that this year’s WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view, which takes place on November 23rd, will take place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

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?

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.

The following is the official WWE “special event” (aka pay-per-view) schedule for the remainder of 2014.

WWE Extreme Rules on May 4th in East Rutherford, New Jersey

WWE Payback on June 1st in Chicago, Illinois

WWE Money In The Bank on June 29th in Boston, Massachusetts

WWE Battleground on July 20th in Tampa, Florida

WWE SummerSlam on August 17th in Los Angeles, California

WWE Night Of Champions on September 21st in Nashville, Tennessee

WWE Hell In A Cell on October 26th in Dallas, Texas

WWE Survivor Series on November 23rd in St. Louis, Missouri

WWE Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14th in Cleveland, Illinois

Following their debut at the 2012 Survivor Series, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, collectively known as the Shield, quickly became one of the most dominant and influential stables in recent memory.

The group primarily acted as heels throughout their successful run, although they were frequently cheered as well. In particular, Roman Reigns would frequently receive huge pops from the crowd, as seen during his breakthrough performances at the 2013 Survivor Series and 2014 Royal Rumble.

After attacking Director of Operations Kane, the group officially turned babyface and the crowd has been eating it up in recent weeks, with their celebration following their beat down of Ryback and Curtis Axel on this past week’s RAW serving as evidence of the group’s popularity.

After a tumultuous few weeks, the Shield appears to be reunited, but for how long can the Hounds of Justice keep their respective egos in check?

The group now seems to be reunited and stronger than ever after there was serious tension between the Hounds of Justice. So why did the WWE decide to turn the Shield face after it seemed they would dissolve just a few weeks prior?

The Wyatt Effect

One of the primary reasons the Shield were forced to turn face was the emergence of the Wyatt Family. There is only so much room on the roster for stables, and the Wyatt Family are without a doubt the predominant heel group on the roster today.

With the Wyatt Family serving as the main heel stable on the roster and essentially adopting the same M.O. as the Shield (appearing out of nowhere to savagely destroy unsuspecting foes), it only makes sense that creative would not want two stables acting in a similar manner, even if their gimmicks are stark contrasts of one another.

WWE released their Q4 2013 and Full Year financial results on Thursday morning. Here are the final pay-per-view buy rates:

• Battleground in October: 114,000
• Hell in a Cell in October: 228,000 (up from 199,000 in 2012)
• Survivor Series in November: 177,000 (down from 208,000 in 2012)
• TLC in December: 181,000 (up from 175,000 in 2012)

Without factoring in WWE Battleground (which was a new pay-per-view in 2013), WWE sold 586,000 buyrates in the quarter, up from 582,000 in 2012.

The buyrate for Hell in a Cell was the show’s best since it debuted in 2009 – and the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton main event outdrew the John Cena vs. Randy Orton WWE World Heavyweight Championship Unification match by a wide margin (26%).

Overall, you can see that pay-per-view is no longer a growth sector for WWE, which makes it an opportune time for WWE to transition those shows to the WWE Network.

WWE Reports Q4 2013 & Full Year Financial Results

Here are the buyrates for Hell in a Cell, Survivor Series and TLC over the past 4 years:

Hell in a Cell:

• 2013 – 228,000 buys
• 2012 – 199,000 buys
• 2011 – 182,000 buys
• 2010 – 210,000 buys

Survivor Series:

• 2013 – 177,000 buys
• 2012 – 208,000 buys
• 2011 – 281,000 buys
• 2010 – 244,000 buys

TLC:

• 2013 – 181,000 buys
• 2012 – 175,000 buys
• 2011 – 179,000 buys
• 2010 – 195,000 buys

WWE released its monthly business figures on Thursday, including a preliminary buyrate for the 2013 Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Based on WWE’s averaged data for the 4th quarter, Survivor Series did approximately 179,000 buys, making it the least-ordered Survivor Series of the past 4 years by a long shot.

Survivor Series featured Randy Orton vs. Big Show and followed four consecutive pay-per-views where Daniel Bryan was effectively screwed out of the WWE Championship.

Here are the past 10 years of WWE Survivor Series buyrates:

• 2013 – 179,000 buys (early estimate)
• 2012 – 208,000 buys
• 2011 – 281,000 buys
• 2010 – 244,000 buys
• 2009 – 225,000 buys
• 2008 – 319,000 buys
• 2007 – 325,000 buys
• 2006 – 383,000 buys
• 2005 – 400,000 buys
• 2003 – 325,000 buys

Looking back even further, this appears to be the least-ordered WWE Survivor Series dating back to the early 90’s. Based on this trend, it becomes even more apparent why WWE is looking to move PPV events to the WWE Network and minimize their reliance on declining PPV revenue.

The final buyrate will be revealed when WWE reports the official Q4 2013 earnings results in early 2014.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk recently worked at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida as a special guest instructor.

– According to one source, the reason WWE Diva Eva Marie was smiling and laughing on her way to the back after being eliminated during her match at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view was because she was told to.

Apparently WWE teaches their talents that if they are on the babyface side, when they leave the ring after losing a match, they should still smile and engage the fans and play their character as opposed to selling the fact that they just lost a match.

This week on Because Wrestling, it’s time for our Survivor Series recap! (more…)

Apparently the WWE creative team completely forgot about the “Christmas Bounty” movie coming out when they made the call to turn The Miz heel on RAW a few weeks ago.

Apparently the reason that they gave Kofi Kingston some heel heat at the Survivor Series Kickoff Show in their followup match, with the idea being “both guys were stressed out” instead of simply one guy turning on the other.

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.