The main event for the June 29th WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view will be the ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which features John Cena, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt and Alberto Del Rio. As noted recently, Cena or Reigns (and Cesaro as a long-shot) will likely come out on top, as the winner is the likely candidate for Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
Also confirmed for the 6/29 PPV is a WWE Tag-Team Championship match with The Usos defending against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family.
The second ladder match, which was made official recently and will be for the usual Money In The Bank briefcase, as of right now only features Seth Rollins. Additional names rumored for the match include Dean Ambrose, Big E., Rob Van Dam, Bo Dallas, as well as Bad News Barrett and Dolph Ziggler, the latter two of which will either be part of that match or in an Intercontinental Championship match with each other.
Additionally, the direction for the WWE Divas Championship match at Money In The Bank seems to be Paige defending against Naomi of The Funkadactyls.
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On his upcoming Hall Of Fame MC gig: “Excited to head to Waterloo, Iowa July 18-19 for the annual National Wrestling Hall of Fame weekend at the Dan Gable Museum. All wrestling fans no matter amateur or pro should see the museum once in their life as it is truly fascinating and one of the bucket list days of my entire year. Randy Couture, The Steiner Brothers, DDP, Larry Hennig, Larry Matysik, For info on tickets to attend this weekend that includes a banquet, live, pro wrestling event, pro tryouts and the chance to meet the greats of the game you can call 319-233-0745 or visit them on Facebook. I will MC the banquet on Saturday July 19 and will also attend the pro wrestling event with WWE HOFer Jerry Brisco on Friday night July 18.”
On a Bray Wyatt face turn: “What do you think of Bray Wyatt being a character baby face after being turned on by Harper and Rowan who then become managed by Jake Roberts who builds his own faction?”
“Harper is a star in the waiting and the key to Rowan achieving a high level of success is him showing more animation and personality in the ring and being able to master a promo.”
On Bo Dallas: “Bo Dallas was the consummate, ivory snow baby face in NXT for a long, long time until the fans organically turned on him for being too goody-goody. The current incarnation of Bo Dallas isn’t as organic as what made him an antagonist in NXT but I hope it will eventually work for the young man’s sake. He’s a good kid who works hard and is a natural athlete. Only time will tell if this presentation clicks and the timing inasmuch as how long the persona is left to evolve and/or to tweak is critical.”
On Brodus Clay: “Brodus Clay always reminded me of the UWF version or the One Man Gang. Perhaps some day Brodus can see if my premonition actually is accurate. If Brodus can maintain a healthy, athletic weight so he can feed the comebacks approiately he has a shot at becoming a main event level heel IMO.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley:
On Luke Harper: “I wasn’t sold on him. I wasn’t sold on the idea that they kept comparing him to Bruiser Brody, because Brody for the longtime wrestling fan was one of the great wrestlers of his era or of all time. But he was known as the intelligent monster and Harper was an out of control maniac. I think once you stop trying to imitate somebody and find your own way things really start clicking. So, I’ve been watching him and things have really been clicking and after the Wyatts have this amazing run, hopefully as long as possible, yeah, I do think he has what it takes to become a singles star.”
On The Shield breakup: “I thought it was pretty cool, yeah! I didn’t see it coming and they had a long, a nice long run. Sometimes, and I’m not picking on other groups, but when I wrestled elsewhere for a couple of years it was almost as if they thought every person watching the show watched every episode and kept up on everything, and they would break up groups, literally within months, two or three months. ‘Yeah, they’ve been together long enough, time to break ’em up!’ These guys [the Shield] had been together for two years, the time was right; I think it gives Seth Rollins a chance to break out. He was almost like the forgotten member, even though he would steal shows. He wasn’t the crazy guy, like Ambrose, and he wasn’t the guy with the incredible physique, like Roman Reigns. So he tended to be forgotten. Evolution by the nature of its name should be constantly evolving, I think it was a good move, and I think he upped his stock.”
As previously reported, John Cena suffered bad swelling due to a poke in the eye from Bray Wyatt during their “No Holds Barred” match at the WWE live event this past Saturday night in Madison, Wisconsin. By the time RAW rolled around on Monday night, the swelling had subsided substantially, however it was still noticeable. Regardless, Cena worked a match on the show and was a lot more involved compared to the previous night’s house show in Rochester, Minnesota, where he simply tagged in to score the pin during the finish of a six-man tag-team match where he, along with The Usos, took on The Wyatt Family.
The production crew was informed on Monday night not to shoot any closeup shots of Cena during the match, despite the fact that his eye — which was completely swollen shut during the weekend — was in much better shape.
A little known fact that relates to this story is that Wyatt, back when he was still performing as “Husky Harris,” accidentally poked Cena in the eye during a match, an incident that many believed to have resulted in him being demoted to the developmental system due to the fact that he “didn’t apologize enough” for the mistake.
This week’s edition of WWE Raw took place in Minneapolis, MN, and featured one of the biggest announcements in recent history. That announcement was of course that WWE Champion Daniel Bryan would be stripped of his title and it would be on the line during the ladder match at Money in the Bank.
Speaking of the ladder match, Cesaro and Sheamus punched their tickets after winning qualifying matches, and Triple H added Randy Orton to the match, leaving only three remaining spots. As always, a few questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following this week’s edition of Raw.
5. Is Sandow Permanently Buried?
For what seems like the thousandth week in a row, Damien Sandow was once again tasked with comic relief duty, this time appearing dressed as a ballerina to team with Fandango.
Sandow was not only once again grossly misused, his winless streak and fall to the bottom of the company also continued. Since unsuccessfully cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase last year against John Cena, it has been downhill for Sandow.
Let us hope that the next briefcase winner (assuming there are two ladder matches) is better utilized than Sandow was, as the win actually hurt him more than it helped.
4. Does Cesaro Have a Chance To Win the Title?
Cesaro qualified for the championship ladder match after hitting RVD with a Neutralizer this Monday. There were rumors a few weeks back that the company was thinking about putting the briefcase on Cesaro (before it was confirmed as a championship title match).
This leads one to wonder if he has a legitimate chance at winning the title. Having only held the United States Championship, it seems unlikely, but after looking at the confirmed participants, he seems like the early favorite.
It is unlikely that they would put the title back on Randy Orton already, and the other confirmed participants (Del Rio and Sheamus) will not be walking out with the title either. There are three participants yet to be confirmed, meaning John Cena will likely find a way to get himself into the match and win the title, but one can dream, right?
While it appears that Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are headed towards a run as WWE Tag-Team Champions, there are those within the company who feel that will not happen.
The belief in the company right now is that NXT tag-team The Ascension will be called up soon, and that The Usos will hang onto the titles until that happens.
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On The Wyatt Family: “When the audience is encouraged to sing along to a supposed villain’s singing of a spiritual hymn and the antagonist also uses Mick Foley’s ‘cheap pop’ line of mentioning the city from which the show is emanating, those matters are not helping the talent become a ‘hated’ performer. Perhaps that’s the idea….perhaps the end game will be that Bray Wyatt isn’t a villain but Harper and Rowan might be. I have a crazy storyline idea on the new Ross Report Podcast that drops today (Tuesday) at 6 pm Pacific time at podcastone.com featuring @Goldberg. Check it out.”
On John Cena: “At the end of the night not one fan favorite came to John Cena’s aid as he was being beat like a Government Mule by three men. The humanity of it all. One would assume that at least one ‘good guy’ would wonder out to the stage in an attempt to ‘do right’ if not to only get beaten by the three, bearded, disenfranchised Duck Dynasty gone bad Swamp People. (I watch too much TV.)”
On Paige losing in London: “I wasn’t shocked whatsoever that Paige lost on TV in her home country and neither should anyone else who’s been alive for more than a few hours. Obviously, just as I did, WWE liked what they saw last week with Alicia Fox and wanted Alicia to get an impactful win and beating Norwich, England’s own Paige was the solution that was used. If you think about it long enough, it’s not bad casting. Hey, we’ve all seen worse.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
It seemed as if the tag team division had been revitalized last year. However, almost as soon as fans started to become excited about the division again, half of the teams were broken up and it has been largely ignored.
The Usos are the current champions, and I think their pay-per-view exposure shows how confident the WWE is that the Uso brothers will draw. After all, they defended their tag titles on the pre-show at WrestleMania and did not appear in any capacity at Extreme Rules.
With that said, it would not take much effort to get the division back to where it was at the end of last year. Here are five current or potential tag teams that could help make the division relevant again (or at the very least, get it onto the pay-per-view card).
5. Rybaxel – At first, this team seemed like it would go nowhere. They had both just basically flopped while under the tutelage of Paul Heyman, so why would anyone believe that they would fare well without him? Surprisingly, both have improved since leaving Heyman, especially Ryback. He is hilarious on the microphone and can actually be pretty entertaining when he’s allowed to speak. I think the WWE still has plans to push both guys in the future, and a run with the Tag Team Championships could help elevate both superstars.
4. Damien Sandow and Dolph Ziggler – These guys have adopted similar personality traits in recent weeks, most notably because both guys seem disgruntled, annoyed, and displeased that their talents are not being properly utilized. Sandow and Ziggler would make a great team if paired together, as both are impressive in the ring and on the mic. There were rumors a while back of a possible stable of disgruntled superstars being formed, including Ziggler and the Miz, but a team of Sandow and Ziggler would work even better and could make the tag title picture exciting again.
3. Jack Swagger and Cody Rhodes – It is no secret that Zeb Colter has been trying to recruit a new member to the Real Americans since Cesaro betrayed him a few weeks back. With Cody being the son of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, it would make sense for him to become a Real American. Cody and Goldust are definitely going to part ways soon, with Cody likely being the one to turn heel, so it would provide the perfect opportunity for Cody to align with Swagger and Colter afterward.
The following are highlights of a new In Your Head Wrestling Radio interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley:
If someone is not familiar with your stand-up, how would you explain it? “It is a wrestling-centered story-telling show, but it’s accessible to non-fans as well. For wrestling fans, there’s no need to worry about me embarrassing myself with set-ups and punch lines, and for non-fans, they’ll have a much better time than they’re expecting. If they’re dragged against their will by a loved one, they will end up having a very good time.”
Would you agree that there is a lot of great new talent in the WWE right now? “Oh yeah, I love the new talent. I think they’ve done a great job at the WWE. For all the flack they sometimes get for bringing in guys from the past to headline shows they’ve done this amazing job of making huge new stars from the developmental area. They come in and they really have faith and realize that building guys is a process that doesn’t happen overnight.”
What did you think of the opening segment on the April 28th RAW featuring The Wyatt Family and the children’s choir? “It was wonderful. I know to some people it was a little freaky, but that was the point. It was something I believe wrestling fans will remember; it will go down as a great segment. I’d never seen anything like it. It was so good that I wish I had done it when I was Mankind. I was a big believer in juxtaposing innocence and creepiness, and sometimes I even did it in song. Whereas I sang ‘Close To You’ by the Carpenters in creepy fashion, he sings ‘I’ve Got the Whole World in My Hands’. It’s really effective; it’s really a great character.”
The following are highlights of a new website Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On the booking of The Wyatt Family and WWE turning heels into faces: “I don’t know the intention as I don’t understand the positioning or the meaning of much of today’s creative in a variety of promotions.”
On if he’ll ever retire: “I plan on retiring the same day that I’m buried.”
On multiple false-finishes in main event matches: “It’s a sensationalistic short cut and was impressive the first time that I saw it but not any more.”
On CM Punk and the way WWE has been handling that situation: “My take is that Punk should do whatever makes him happy. If he’s done with wrestling, he had a magnificent career. I respect his decision but WWE is stupid if they attempt to erase his legacy….and WWE isn’t stupid.”
On Alicia Fox: “I have no way of knowing. Alicia had one stellar night this past week on RAW and now we will wait and see if she can replicate the same on a regular basis.”
On the state of WWE’s Divas division: “WWE’s diva division is seemingly improving. Alicia Fox stole the divas show on Monday.”
Check out more of JR’s Q&A at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
As of right now, WWE is pushing the following four retired wrestlers, in order, the most: Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Steve Austin and Ultimate Warrior. Warrior was higher on the priority list a few weeks ago, but that was due to the fact that he tragically passed away.
For the month of April, more people purchased Warrior merchandise on the internet than anyone else in the company, including John Cena.
The latest internet merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Wyatt Family, The Shield, Evolution and Hulk Hogan.
The latest arena merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, Bryan, Randy Orton, Warrior, Rob Van Dam, Brock Lesnar, The Wyatt Family, Batista and Sin Cara.
It’s worth noting that Cena was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the top sellers at the arenas, with the second highest person on the list (Daniel Bryan) not even coming close to his sales figures.
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On his Ross Report podcast with HBK: “Today (Tuesday) at approximately 6 pm pacific time our much anticipated Ross Report Podcast with the great Shawn Michaels will be available for FREE downloading from podcastone.com or via iTunes. This is one of the most riveting and compelling interviews that I’ve ever been associated with and I feel confident that you are going to enjoy it immensely.”
On Sheamus winning the U.S. title: “Sheamus winning the US title in the Battle Royal was a solid start to RAW with good action and featuring multiple talents. Dean Ambrose US title reign albeit long was uneventful and perhaps Sheamus can help add value to the long time title. I could also see Sheamus trading in his protagonist jersey for an antagonist one sooner than later. Sheamus is a very smart talent who, I think, would be able to add the necessary heel nuances to his game.”
On Kane and Daniel Bryan: “I wasn’t crazy about WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan seemingly retreating from Kane but I mark it off to DB simply wanting to protect his wife and doing what he can to keep her out of harm’s way. This matter needed to be explained better because one can’t have the company’s top champion being reluctant of physically engaging with anyone. I am of the opinion that this Daniel Bryan/Kane storyline needs better explanation for the TV audience and if nothing else for more viable questions to be asked that encourage the audience to mentally invest in what they are seeing.”
On The Wyatt Family’s development: “The continued creative development of the Wyatt Family has my interest even though I have no idea where it is going. I love Bray Wyatt’s promos and his in ring work as big men with a second gear are so marketable and so hard to find. Until Bray does something so heinous that the audience turns on him he’s going to continue to travel the cool, unique antagonist road that really isn’t a traditional heel road at all. It is however a star road and perhaps it’s more important to develop pure stars in today’s market, in the mind of some, than it is to develop traditional pro wrestling villains. Time will tell how it all works out but I am enjoying the evolution nonetheless.”
On Adam Rose: “Have to admit that I’m not plugged into the Adam Rose persona yet but I do know that the wrestler himself is a talented South African who can go bell to bell. I’m certainly willing to give Adam Rose a chance but his RAW exposure Monday night did not flip the switch for me just yet.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– John Cena’s feud with. Bray Wyatt feud is expected to continue for some time, past the June 1st WWE Payback pay-per-view.
– Another independent wrestler that was part of Adam Rose’s entourage on RAW was “Portugal’s Perfect Athlete” Shanna, who was previously a TNA Gutcheck contestant.
– As noted earlier, a version of the RAW script that was changed on Monday afternoon featured Daniel Bryan wrestling Batista instead of Kane. Another version had Batista wrestling Roman Reigns, with Reigns getting the victory. WWE announced on Monday afternoon that Evolution would be guest timekeepers during the Wyatt Family vs. The Shield main event, however that idea was nixed as well.
– After Monday’s RAW from Albany went off the air, Evolution got on the microphone and talked more trash about The Shield.
John Cena then came out to a very mixed reaction. Cena mocked the crowd for not being loud enough during the show, which got a lot of heat. He talked about how great getting a mixed reaction was. The scheduled dark match main event between John Cena and Bray Wyatt then took place.
John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt by disqualification after the Wyatt Family interfered. Cena eventually made a comeback and hit the Wyatts with a series of Attitude Adjustments and celebrated to end the show.
– The following are this week’s RAW Fallout videos:
Adam Rose Comments On His RAW Debut:
“Dolph Ziggler, Santino, Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston and Rybaxel comment on losing the United States Championship Battle Royal”
According to one source, the television main event for tonight’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW will be The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield, with Evolution as the guest timekeepers.
Already announced, as previously reported, is a 20-man battle royal for the WWE United States Championship.
On paper, last night’s card seemed like nothing to write home about. After all, Daniel Bryan was defending his title against a superstar who peaked a decade ago, Bray Wyatt and John Cena were meeting in a rematch from WrestleMania, and other than Evolution vs. the Shield, the rest of the matches seemed like they could turn out to be throwaway contests. The event was basically the furthest thing from a throwaway, however, as it was a well-executed pay-per-view that was filled with worthwhile matches.
The Hounds of Justice stole the show during the match of the night.
Evolution vs. the Shield was the clear highlight of the night, as expected. Each superstar involved in the match put on an excellent show, but the star of the match was without a doubt Seth Rollins. While Triple H, Randy Orton, and Dean Ambrose were battling in the crowd, Rollins dove from the top of the entranceway to take out his Evolution foes, allowing for Roman Reigns to handle Batista in the ring and secure a Shield victory. The match was perfectly executed and is an immediate match of the year contender.
The main event between Daniel Bryan and Kane greatly exceeded expectations. This one seemed like it could be forgettable, as the outcome was never really in doubt and Kane is not exactly a main event superstar anymore. However, both superstars performed well together and the backstage spots were something that resembled contests from the Attitude Era.
In the end, the match even involved a flaming table, although the crew botched this spot a bit by running in with the extinguishers before Kane was even on fire, but hey, what can you do? Overall, it was a great culmination to the night and certainly much better than I was anticipating.
The following are results for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which aired live on the WWE Network on Tuesday, April 29, 2014.
– Goldust def. Alberto Del Rio in a singles bout to open the show. The match saw a lot of back-and-forth action until Goldust counters Del Rio’s superkick attempt and blasts him with his Final Cut finisher for the 1-2-3 and the victory.
– After Goldust picks up the victory, Cody Rhodes comes in and congratulates him. Renee Young enters the ring and interviews both guys. She asks if their recent singles matches means they are going their separate ways. Goldust says that the Brotherhood is still together. He says they may work singles matches from time-to-time, but ultimately they have each others backs. Young asks Rhodes if he is proud of his brother. He seems offended at the question and asks if she thinks Goldust is better than him because he won tonight and Cody lost on RAW. Eventually he apologizes and reiterates the fact that the Brotherhood is together and says things will stay that way. The two hug and that’s that.
– Paige def. Alicia Fox in Divas action to retain her WWE Divas Championship. The match went back-and-forth, with Paige taking a lot of punishment before ultimately hitting Fox with a big DDT to score the pin fall victory. After the match, as Paige was walking up the ramp, Tamina Snuka comes out to the top of the stage and the two have a staredown.
– Backstage, Renee Young is with Sheamus. She asks Sheamus for his level of concern knowing he has to face Bray Wyatt in the main event tonight. Sheamus talks briefly about how he’s not afraid and informs Wyatt that tonight — it’s time to fight.
– Bad News Barrett def. Kofi Kingston in singles competition. Barrett cuts a promo before the match dressing down Big E., informing him that he’s going to take his WWE Intercontinental Championship this Sunday at Extreme Rules. The two have a solid back-and-forth match that ends when Kingston leaps in the air off of the ringside steps, but gets caught on the way down with the Bull Hammer Elbow from Barrett. Barrett rolls Kingston back in the ring and covers him. 1-2-3. Barrett wins.
– Bray Wyatt def. Sheamus in the headline bout of this week’s edition of WWE Main Event. Bray Wyatt sings along with the crowd, singing of course, “he’s got the whole world in his hands.” He sings along with them until Sheamus’ music hits to interupt him. The two end up having an extremely competitive match that sees Erick Rowan and Luke Harper distract Sheamus at the end, allowing Wyatt to hit him with his Sister Abigail finisher for the 1-2-3.
– After the main event ends, Rowan and Harper join Wyatt in a three-on-one beatdown of Sheamus until The Usos come out to make the save. The show goes off the air with all six guys staring each other down.
– Luis Urive, who is better known to Mexican wrestling fans as Mistico, and to WWE fans as the original Sin Cara, is reportedly close to signing a deal with AAA in Mexico. There’s currently no word on what name he will use since CMLL owns the Mistico name, and WWE presumably owns the Sin Cara name.
– The advertised dark match main event for this coming Monday’s WWE RAW, which takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, is Daniel Bryan, John Cena and The Shield vs. Randy Orton, Batista and The Wyatt Family in a ten-man tag-team match.
– As previously reported, WWE is working on a new Sting compilation DVD that will be released in September. It has recently been confirmed that the project will also be available on Blu-ray.
– After Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air, the Wyatt Family about to continue their attack on John Cena when The Shield came out and made the save. They chased off the Wyatts and tended to Cena in the ring. The footage aired on the WWE Network.
– The following are this week’s RAW Fallout videos:
Are there problems between Cody Rhodes & Goldust?
Lana gives the future of R-Truth & Xavier Woods.
Hornswoggle & 3MB react to their loss at the hands of Los Matadores & El Torito.
The official WWE website has published a new editorial piece featuring 8 bold predictions for the WWE Universe leading up to next year’s WrestleMania 31 event:
– Roman Reigns will win the 2015 Royal Rumble Match
– John Cena will join The Wyatt Family
– The Undertaker will retire
– The WWE World Heavyweight Championship will once again split into two titles
– Stephanie McMahon will target the Divas Championship
– Zeb Colter will form a stable of Real Americans
– Cody Rhodes will win (and cash in) Money in the Bank
– Cesaro will break away from Paul Heyman and challenge Brock Lesnar
Hit up the comments below and tell us if you agree with any of these picks.
– After Monday’s RAW went off the air, Bray Wyatt faced John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt in the dark match main event by DQ. The finish came when Cena had Wyatt in the STFU, but Harper and Rowan interfered and attacked Cena.
Wyatt attempted to hit Cena with a steel chair, but moved Wyatt hit Rowan instead. Cena then knocked Wyatt and Harper out of the ring and celebrated to end the show.
– The following are this week’s RAW Fallout videos from after Monday’s RAW:
Sheamus and Bad News Barrett Advance: Bad News Barrett and Sheamus discuss advancing in the No. 1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship Tournament.
Rob Van Dam and Cesaro Advance: Rob Van Dam and Cesaro speak on advancing in the No. 1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship Tournament.
Near the end of last year, it appeared the WWE would once again focus on promoting its tag team division. After the championships were practically ignored and bounced around between random teams that were comprised of young talent for over a year, Team Hell No helped legitimize the titles once again.
Kane and Bryan held the titles for nearly a year before eventually dropping the straps to Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. The division picked up even more after the Shield got their hands on the titles and was straight up stacked for months. At one point the company was even relying a lot on six-man tag matches just to get as many guys as possible on the broadcast.
Team Hell No helped spark fan interest after a dull period in the tag division.
Near the end of last year, the Rhodes Brothers, the Shield (Rollins and Reigns), the Wyatt Family (Harper and Rowan), the Real Americans, the Usos, the Prime Time Players, and the New Age Outlaws were all in contention for the Tag Team titles at some point.
Since then, nearly every one of those teams has fallen off the face of the Earth, save the Usos who are now the champions. The Rhodes Brothers are barely competing together, the Shield is beyond competing for the championships at this point, the Wyatt Family has been involved in other affairs, both the Real Americans and Prime Time Players have split, and it appears the New Age Outlaws do not want to exercise that rematch clause after all.
The dissolution and promotion of various teams has resulted in the tag team division entering into a transitional state where the company needs to develop new teams or promote others from NXT. Think about the current teams on the roster. We have the Usos who are obviously champions, but who are their challengers? The only other teams even on the roster are Los Matadores, Ryback and Axel, and 3MB, unless I am forgetting someone.
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.
