The status of the new version of the “Nation Of Domination” faction in WWE, which consists of Big E., Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston has been a hot topic among fans this past week. One of the main reasons is due to the fact that the group has been used at recent WWE live events and in dark matches, both as babyfaces and heels.
Apparently the members of the group have been told by WWE that they will be used together in the future. As of right now, WWE is trying to figure out the best way to present the group and how they want to move forward with it in the future.
Last night’s Raw was held in Portland, Oregon and featured a crowd packed with hipsters, a few memorable contests, and the nWo reunion that had been teased on social media all week leading into the event.
The show was the “go-home” edition of Raw and was the final build for Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. As always, a few questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.
5. Is Corporate Kane Back Permanently?
Kane was back in his suit and tie this week on Raw, having once again handed in his mask on last week’s episode. The Demon made a match between Roman Reigns and RybAxel before departing for the locker room.
My question is simple: Does Kane have anything left in the tank with his corporate character? It seems the company doesn’t know what to do with him, as he has shifted back and forth between demon and corporate Kane over the past few months. If Kane is going to become a permanent fixture in the Authority storyline, hopefully something worthwhile comes of it, because it otherwise simply results in a convoluted storyline.
4. Where Have the Usos Been?
The Usos were absent from Raw this past week (other than the announcers issuing an open challenge on their behalf for tonight’s Main Event), and with SummerSlam only a few days away, they are also noticeably absent from the pay-per-view card. There are rumors of a fatal four-way tag team contest being put together for the pre-show, but nothing has been confirmed thus far.
With the Usos having defeated basically every tag team on the roster and holding the titles for most of the year, I think it is time for the brothers to drop the titles. Nothing against the Usos, but they have fought everyone on the roster and their run is quickly becoming stale. It appeared the titles were going to be put on the Wyatt Family a few weeks back, but the Usos prevailed. Hopefully a title change can shake up an otherwise stagnant tag team division.
Kofi Kingston has been working as a baby face during the WWE tour of Australia, leading to some speculation that WWE may have dropped the potential new “Nation Of Domination” type faction.
Additionally, Big E. was flying solo on the latest edition of SmackDown in his loss to Rusev and has been tagging with Diego as a baby face at recent WWE live events.
WWE hasn’t made a mention of a faction with Big E., Kingston and Xavier Woods in over a week and according to some, the idea in general may have been dropped.
Last night’s Raw was held in Houston, TX, and a few superstars on the roster certainly had problems. In total, eight matches were held and a few matches were confirmed for SummerSlam.
With Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella set for SummerSlam, a few questions were answered last night, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.
5. Will Orton And Reigns Disappoint?
The Viper unleashed a devastating attack on Roman Reigns last night, delivering two RKO’s and driving Reigns through the announce table. This match is all but set in stone for SummerSlam and should be one of the most anticipated contests on the card.
However, recent reports indicate that the match could be a bust. The WWE has been running this match at live shows in recent weeks and fan reviews seem to indicate that Orton and Reigns have not been working well together. Although many think this will disappoint, I think they will work things out and put on a great contest, and the build so far has actually been pretty solid.
4. Was It Time To End Bo’s Streak?
The most shocking moment of last night’s Raw was probably Bo Dallas being pinned clean by R-Truth. It seems odd that the WWE would end Bo’s undefeated streak after talking it up over the past few weeks.
I think it will be a good move in the long run though. Undefeated streaks have pretty much always been a no-win situation for bookers. They can now have Dallas lose clean on occasion without having to discuss an undefeated streak, and the loss brought out a vicious side in Bo, which could add another dimension to his character. The only problem was that it looked like Dallas could sneak his way into an Intercontinental Title match SummerSlam, but that seems to be off the table now.
This week’s Raw took place in Miami, Florida in the home of the Miami Heat. LeBron James and Flo Rida both made appearances, and Triple H crowned a new number one contender.
Overall, it was a rather exciting episode of Raw, with the build to SummerSlam officially underway. As always, a few questions were answer, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.
5. Is Poor Booking Hurting the Wyatt Family?
Bray Wyatt attacked Chris Jericho backstage at Raw last night and commandeered the Highlight Reel. Wyatt of course lost to Jericho clean at Battleground, while Luke Harper and Erick Rowan also failed to capture the Tag Team Titles once again.
A few weeks back, fans were chanting “boring” during Wyatt’s promo, leading me to wonder if poor booking is hurting he and his family. Ultimately, I think they will be fine, as they are some of the best talents in the business, but better booking could help make them appear stronger and increase their popularity. Here’s to hoping for a clean Wyatt victory at SummerSlam.
4. Has Bo Dallas Actually Won Me Over?
When Bo Dallas first appeared in the WWE, I thought his character was destined for failure. He seemed to be nothing more than a troll hell-bent on annoying anyone within a thousand-mile radius. He was once again victorious last night, extending his undefeated streak.
I must admit though, Dallas has really won me over in recent weeks. His promos have been hilarious and his in-ring work has seemingly improved on a weekly basis. I still feel that he needs a new finisher before he can be taken too seriously, but I’m sure that will come with time. I never thought I’d say this, but I believe Dallas could be one of the better midcard superstars and a run with either the US or IC title could restore some interest in the midcard championships.
The following are highlights of a Shining Wizards Podcast interview with former WWE Superstar Brodus Clay:
On his release: “It’s been a lot bigger of a reaction than I thought it would be. I thought I could go quietly into the night, but it’s kind of cool to be relevant after the machine (WWE) steps away. I have more freedom and more opportunities, and when you don’t have big brother watching you, you can pretty much do whatever you want, so I’m going to take full advantage of it.”
On whether he saw his release coming: “Not really. I don’t really pay attention to the rumors and stuff like that. I’ve been kind of out of the loop for a little bit so, not being used, I would rather be on my own. I never wanted to be a guy who just works for the WWE and that’s enough. If I’m contributing and if I’m not able to do what I do, then I’d rather move on. And ultimately they felt the same, so it worked out.”
On the origin of calling moves and “MY BAD” and why it disappeared: “Who came up with it was an angry fan in the third row. There was a guy who was dressed up like the juggernaut from Planet X… I shot (Curt) Hawkins into the corner or something like that, and when I was going to grab Hawkins, he yelled “you suck, Brodus Clay,” but it was so heartfelt and so angry, and I just look at him and I was like “My Bad!” and the whole place just laughed. Then I asked, “Should I get him?” and then it was just on. But then I kind of got away from that, not necessarily on the house shows, but on TV, because some of the guys saw it as being disrespectful.”
On the independent scene: “I think times are changing. I think the times of one company having the grip… having one company running everything… I think are changing. Small places are starting to become territories again. You never know. I think it’s a good time for wrestling in general.”
On his dolphin activism in Japan: “If you haven’t seen the movie “The Cove,” please check it out. It’s an Academy Award winning documentary. There is a slaughter that goes on every year there where they herd dolphins behind a cove and they take the ones they are going to bring to Sea World and all of the other amusement parks around the world, and then the ones left over are slaughtered and sold for meat which is really a horrible thing. Next to us, the dolphin is the most family-oriented and intellectual animal on the planet. Their families are stronger than ours and their intelligence is still being measured. There’s just no reason for it. So we’re going out there to educate and get more eyes of the world to see that this is something that doesn’t need to be happening… I’m a typical guy. I eat meat, I eat steak, but at the same time there are certain things that just don’t make sense.”
On his storyline with Xavier Woods: “Honestly, I knew about as much as you guys did about the whole process, to be honest with you. I was already frustrated and the walls of communication had already broken down between me and creative. I don’t think anyone really benefited from that angle. It was just confusing. It was just one of those things, and obviously it led to the release. It was just weird. The only good thing was that I got to get my hands on R-Truth, and getting a chance to work him, and my match with him was one of my favorites that I’ve had in a while, so I enjoyed that very much. But I didn’t get a chance to have a big feud and I think the fans were confused and they felt that I was robbed. It was a weird kind of deal.”
There has been talk of splitting up The Funkadactyls and having Naomi and Cameron go their separate way as part of a key story line for the next season of Total Divas.
WWE planting the seeds and started heading in that creative direction this week on television with some subtle, and some not-so-subtle booking.
It’s being said that with Brodus Clay no longer around and Xavier Woods no longer being pushed in any real way, that splitting up the duo is the direction they are headed, with plans having Naomi become the one that turns heel.
According to one source, there has been discussions within WWE about the possibility of doing a new version of The Nation Of Domination stable.
The talk apparently originates from the fact that Rusev has defeated Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and R-Truth since debuting on the main roster, and now has his sights set on Big E.
Woods, in fact, even teased at a possible Nation Of Domination type faction being formed, as he tweeted out a photo of the original Nation Of Domination group doing the fist gesture together.
– Xavier Woods, Eva Marie, Bill DeMott, Alexa Bliss, Tyler Breeze and others were on hand at the Opening Ceremonies of the Florida Special Olympics, which took place on Friday. Woods noted on his official Twitter account that he was leaving to join the rest of the WWE crew for the ongoing European tour.
– The latest edition of “WWE Top 10,” which you can see below, takes a look at some of the best moments from some of the recent WWE European tours.
– Xavier Woods, Eva Marie, Bill DeMott, Alexa Bliss, Tyler Breeze and others were on hand at the Opening Ceremonies of the Florida Special Olympics, which took place on Friday. Woods noted on his official Twitter account that he was leaving to join the rest of the WWE crew for the ongoing European tour.
– The latest edition of “WWE Top 10,” which you can see below, takes a look at some of the best moments from some of the recent WWE European tours.
– John Cena is advertised to appear on Tuesday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which emanates from Buffalo, New York. Daniel Bryan, however, is not scheduled to appear on the post-Extreme Rules edition of SmackDown.
– The following are the updated online betting odds for this Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Odds are courtesy of BetFair.com. The favorites are listed in bold.
The following are the betting odds for Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view according to PaddyPower.com.
Alexander Rusev is the biggest favorite on the entire card as of right now, as he comes in at -1800 for his handicap match against R-Truth and Xavier Woods. In this case, you would have to bet $1,800 on Rusev to earn $100 profit on the bet. On the flip-side of the coin, Truth and Woods, who come in at +650, would earn you $650 profit if you placed a $100 bet.
It should also be noted that these odds are indicative of much until the actual “smart money” comes in on the show, which is generally hours before the event starts on the day of the show.
The following is a non-spoiler match listing for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which was taped on Tuesday night and will air on Friday, May 2, 2014 on the SyFy Network.
– Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger
– Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth
– The Wyatt Family vs. Sheamus & The Usos
– Damien Sandow vs. Dolph Ziggler
– Big E. vs. Titus O’Neil
– Dean Ambrose vs. Ryback vs. Curtis Axel vs. Alberto Del Rio
For a complete spoiler report for this week’s WWE SmackDown, click ahead to page two …
Following Monday’s Extreme Rules “go-home” edition of WWE RAW, here is your latest official WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view lineup for this Sunday night.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
– Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kane
Faction vs. Faction
– Evolution vs. The Shield
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Big E. (c) vs. Bad News Barrett
WWE Divas Championship
– Paige (c) vs. Tamina Snuka
Steel Cage Match
– John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
Handicap Match
– Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth & Xavier Woods
Pre-Show “WeeLC Match”
– Hornswoggle vs. El Torito
Rumored
– Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger
Make sure to join us here this Sunday night for the absolute best live WWE Extreme Rules results coverage.
The following are results for the WWE NXT episodes that will air on May 1st, May 8th, May 15th and May 22nd. All four episodes were taped on Thursday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
Dark Match
– Alexander Rusev def. an unknown wrestler in a dark match to open up the tapings.
Spoiler Results for May 1, 2014
– Tyson Kidd def. Bo Dallas in the first television match of the evening.
– Sasha Banks (with Charlotte) def. Bayley in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Adam Rose def. Danny Burch. After the match, Camacho appeared during Rose’s big after-match party.
– Natalya def. Layla in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Mojo Rawley def. Oliver Grey. After the match, Aiden English came out and cut a promo on Rawley.
– Adrian Neville def. Brodus Clay in a no-disqualification match to retain the NXT Championship in a what that served as the main event for this episode.
Spoiler Results for May 8, 2014
– This show kicks off with Triple H in the ring for a promo. He talks about how NXT is the future and is taking over wrestling. He pushes the NXT Takeover special, which will take place live on the WWE Network on May 29th. Additionally, he announces a battle royal to determine the new number one contender to the NXT Championship.
– Charlotte def. Emma in a second round match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Kalisto & El Locale (Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask) def. The Legionnaires (Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louise).
– Camacho def. Captain Comic from Adam Rose’s party group. After the match, Camacho came out and had a confrontation with Rose.
– Alexa Bliss def. Alicia Fox in another match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Next up was the battle royal announced by Triple H earlier in the show to crown the new number one contender to the NXT Championship. The participants were Xavier Woods, Brodus Clay, Baron Corbin, Curt Hawkins, Aiden English, Jason Jordan, Danny Burch, Oliver Grey, Marcus Louise, Sylvester Lefort, Big Cass, Camacho, Mason Ryan, Kalisto, El Local, Mojo Rawley, Sami Zayn, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Breeze, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd. In the end, Breeze, Zayn and Kidd were the final three and all were eliminated at the same time. This leads to Triple H coming back out and announcing that the three will compete in a triple-threat match to determine the official number one contender to the title.
– The Ascension def. Buddy Murphy and an unknown wrestler in the main event of this episode.
For results of the May 15, 2014 edition of WWE NXT TV, as well as the May 22, 2014 edition of the show, click ahead to page two …
At first glance, Alexander Rusev seems like a rehash of a character WWE fans have seen countless times: the monster foreign superstar who feasts on unworthy foes while being accompanied by a manager who serves as his mouthpiece.
Some have contended that the character is so unoriginal that it was completely lifted from a Rocky movie of all places, as he has drawn comparisons to Rocky IV villain Ivan Drago and his wife Ludmilla.
Despite the fact that many believe he is a recycled, cliché character, Rusev has managed to make his way through the WWE’s NXT division and to the main roster in a relatively short amount of time.
Rusev has been booked as a monster, but do fans actually view him as one?
Since making his debut on the main roster, Rusev made a brief appearance in this year’s Royal Rumble and has been feasting on jobbers ever since. Unlike some of his critics, I believe that Rusev can be successful at the main level, but only if he is booked differently from similar heels in the past.
In recent years, the WWE has chosen to rely upon the tried-and-true formula of debuting a monster heel and serving him a hearty portion of heels (see Ryback for example). They expect that if the heel is shoved down fans’ throats long enough by competing in squash matches, they will eventually realize his dominance and he will be over in no time.
It appears they are attempting to take the same course of action with Rusev, as he has competed against only jobbers and will face R-Truth and Xavier Woods in a handicap match at Extreme Rules. Hell, they even threw Rusev into the coalition of jobbers that worked to beat down the Shield during the 11-on-3 handicap match a few weeks back on Raw.
– Xavier Woods won the annual 2K14 Superstar Challenge at WrestleMania Axxess this year. Below is a video of Woods being presented with a 2K14 Championship Belt and a Playstation 4.
– The following is a preview clip for this week’s edition of WWE Total Divas. The official description for the video reads as follows:
“Naomi’s “Dance All Night” video shoot hits some snags. While shooting the music video for her single “Dance All Night”, Naomi runs into some problems.
The following are results from the WWE Superstars tapings, which took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York prior to Monday’s live edition of WWE RAW.
WWE Superstars Results (Airing: March 27, 2014)
– Emma def. Summer Rae (with Fandango) in one-on-one Divas action to open the show.
– R-Truth and Xavier Woods def. 3MB in the tag-team main event of the evening.
Both matches were taped live in the arena while the WWE RAW pre-show was taking place, which featured Josh Mathews, Alex Riley, Booker T and Mick Foley on a panel discussing RAW and WrestleMania XXX.
WWE Superstar Xavier Woods is apparently pushing for his own show on the WWE Network. The show, called “Xavier Woods WWE 2K14 World Tour,” would feature Woods traveling around the country and playing fans on the WWE 2K14 video game. The fans who beat him would then be entered into a tournament for the possibility of being crowned champion during WrestleMania weekend.
– The official WWE website is currently running an article where former ECW announcer Joey Styles looks at what he considers the top five ECW pay-per-views that will be available on the new WWE Network. Styles’ list is as follows:
1. ECW One Night Stand 2005
2. Living Dangerously 1999
3. Heatwave 1998
4. Living Dangerously 1998
5. Barely Legal 1997
Xavier Woods, who was advertised to be a part of the 2014 Royal Rumble match, has been posting tweets on his official Twitter account claiming that someone “stole his number” on Sunday night.
WWE has added the latest edition of their “Backstage Fallout” series, highlighting backstage action from this week’s WWE SmackDown television broadcast, to their official YouTube channel.
The latest SmackDown Backstage Fallout, which you can watch below, is accompanied by the following brief description:
On Fire in Philly – Backstage Fallout – January 10, 2014
“Xavier Woods and Summer Rae react to this week’s events at SmackDown.”