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Northeast weather might pose problems for Raw and Smackdown

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE just got out of Philly in time as a snow storm is expected to hit the area today but they’re driving right into what meteorologists are saying is a “life-threatening” and “historic” storm that is about to batter the Northeast in the next few days.

Raw tonight is in Hartford, Connecticut, while Smackdown tapings on Tuesday are in Boston, Massachusetts, and both cities are under a blizzard warning watch with extreme weather predicted.

With flights canceled throughout the Northeast and dangerous roads, it might be a big problem for WWE to get to the next cities especially since all equipment is moved via several trucks. The blizzard will also pose problems for those who will be attending the shows as roads might be closed or big traffic will prevent fans from arriving on time for the events.

So far WWE has not posted anything regarding the weather so as of this writing everything is still a go for tonight and tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy just announced a travel ban on state roads which will go into effect at 9PM as the state is facing up to 30 inches of snow and 65 miles per hour winds. The transit bus service is also canceled after 8PM and street parking is prohibited from 3PM onwards.

Bubba Ray Dudley returns at the Rumble after 9 year absence

By
Colin Vassallo
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Perhaps the biggest surprise of the Royal Rumble was the participation of former TNA champion Bubba “Bully” Ray Dudley, who came in at number three to a massive ovation from the Philadelphia hardcore crowd.

“A HUGE THANK YOU to @WWE, the @WWEUniverse and the fans of Philly for the INCREDIBLE reception. It was great to be back,” he wrote on Twitter. It’s not known if this was just a one time appearance or if he signed a new deal with the company.

As soon as the old Dudley Boyz theme song hit the speakers, the fans erupted and Bubba Ray came out in his Dudley Boyz ring gear including glasses, a lot different from his TNA days where he was Bully Ray.

“Glad they reinforced the ring @WWE #RoyalRumble ENTRANT No. 3: @REALBully5150 #DudleyBoys #BubbaRay #WelcomeBack,” wrote Tommy Dreamer, who now works for TNA.

Dudley’s former TNA colleague, Taz, also chimed in. “Congrats @REALBully5150 great shit brother…. #RoadWarriorPop”

Bubba Ray, along with the help of R-Truth, performed the usual Dudley Boyz signature moves including the 3D. Ray eliminated both The Miz and R-Truth but was taken out by Bray Wyatt.

Bubba Ray was last seen on WWE television in mid 2005 when he along with his tag team partner Devon and several others were released. The two then moved on to TNA where Ray had a successful 9 year run.

#CancelWWENetwork trends worldwide on Twitter during the Rumble

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE is all about hashtags and trending topics worldwide but during the Rumble, and after it, there’s one trending topic that they don’t want to advertise: #CancelWWENetwork.

The #CancelWWENetwork movement had over 30,000 tweets and some people even reported that the cancellation page on WWENetwork.com was not functioning after an apparent mass cancelations.

Some on Twitter pointed out the fact that if you cancel the WWE Network, they’ll be missing out on the next NXT Takeover on February 11, which will be far more superior than the Royal Rumble in terms of in-ring product.

It will be interesting to see the fall out from this and how many people actually did cancel their subscription because of the way the Rumble proceeded.

Philly crowd turns heel after Daniel Bryan is eliminated from the Rumble

By
Colin Vassallo
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It seems that WWE has not learned from their mistake of last year when Daniel Bryan was left out from the Rumble match. This year, the bookies second favorite to win the Rumble lasted just 10 minutes and eliminated only one person.

And when he got eliminated by Bray Wyatt, the Philly crowd crapped on the Royal Rumble match altogether.

Every man who entered after the Bryan elimination, no matter if he was face or heel, got booed out of the building, with fans showing their disgust at the way Bryan was treated in the match. Only Dean Ambrose, Damien Mizdow, and Dolph Ziggler managed to get a decent pop from the crowd when they went in and when Roman Reigns went in at number 19, the crowd booed even more.

Chants of “We Want Rusev” filled the arena as they realized that Rusev was still in the running after Reigns eliminated both Kane and Big Show and got a huge pop when he entered the ring, only to get speared by Reigns and thrown out for further boos.

Reigns got the Batista treatment of last year, even though he was face, the crowd did not want him to win. Even with The Rock standing next to him in the middle of the ring, the crowd still did not appreciate Reigns winning, presenting WWE with another interesting scenario for the second year in a row.

Stats from the 2015 Royal Rumble

By
Colin Vassallo
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Out of the 30 participants of the Royal Rumble, one never officially entered and was “replaced” by someone else and was eventually eliminated anyway.

Curtis Axel was the unfortunate one who was robbed out of his Rumble spot as Erick Rowan attacked him on the way in. Rowan was taken out by Wyatt and Rowan, his former tag team partners.

Surprise entrants this year included Bubba Ray Dudley, The Boogeyman, and Diamond Dallas Page and also saw the return of Zack Ryder.

Roman Reigns, Rusev, and Bray Wyatt had the most eliminations this year with six while Bray Wyatt was in the Rumble the longest with almost 47 minutes. Rusev was next with 35 minutes and then Reigns with 27 minutes. Titus O’Neil was only in it for four seconds after a botched elimination.

With this Rumble, Kane has surpassed Shawn Michaels in total number of eliminations with over 40 Superstars tossed over the top rope.

The 30 participants of the Rumble in order of entry were The Miz, R-Truth, Bubba Ray Dudley, Luke Harper, Bray Wyatt, Curtis Axel (taken out by Erick Rowan), The Boogeyman, Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, Daniel Bryan, Fandango, Tyson Kidd, Stardust, Diamond Dallas Page, Rusev, Goldust, Kofi Kingston, Adam Rose, Roman Reigns, Big E, Damien Mizdow, Jack Swagger, Ryback, Kane, Dean Ambrose, Titus O’Neil, Bad News Barrett, Cesaro, Big Show, and Dolph Ziggler.

The Rock shows up at the Rumble….to save Roman Reigns

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Rock did show up at the Royal Rumble but was not one of the 30 participants in the over-the-top rope match.

After Roman Reigns eliminated both Kane and Big Show at the same time, the two Authority members jumped back in the ring and attacked the eventual winner. At that point, The Rock’s music hit for good pop from the crowd and The Rock whooped some candy ass on both Show and Kane, also delivering the People’s Elbow on Kane.

The Rock stayed at ringside as Reigns then eliminated Rusev to win the Royal Rumble and celebrated with him in the middle of the ring. Despite Rock raising Reigns’ hand in victory, the Philadelphia crowd still booed Reigns out of the building.

This was the first WWE appearance from The Rock since that Monday Night Raw in Brooklyn last year when he had a segment with Rusev.

Royal Rumble 2015 pay-per-view results

By
Colin Vassallo
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Here are the results from the Royal Rumble 2015 pay-per-view which took place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd defeated The New Day in the Kickoff match; The Ascension defeated The New Age Outlaws; The Usos defeated The Miz and Damien Mizdow to retain the WWE Tag Team titles; The Bella Twins defeated Paige and Natalya; Brock Lesnar defeated Seth Rollins and John Cena to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title in a triple threat match; and Roman Reigns won the 30-man Royal Rumble match.

Triple H on the Steve Austin podcast on WWE Network in February

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE just announced that Triple H will be part of a live Stone Cold Podcast after Raw on February 2 on the WWE Network.

This will the second Steve Austin podcast on the WWE Network after WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon participated in the first one back in December.

That night, Austin asked questions on CM Punk, Randy Savage, the next Superstars breaking the glass ceiling, the Network itself, and much more. The one hour podcast was eventually extended by 15 minutes on the request of McMahon himself on the fly.

WWE confirms Justin Gabriel’s departure

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE.COM has confirmed the earlier rumors of Justin Gabriel’s departure from the company and posted a short statement under the News section of the website.

“WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel as of Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015. WWE wishes Justin Gabriel the best in all of his future endeavors,” the statement read.

The Wrestling Observer broke the news earlier today that Gabriel quit.

Early betting odds tip Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble

By
Colin Vassallo
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Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan are the two favorites when it comes to betting for tonight’s Royal Rumble with Reigns the odds-on-favorite to win it all followed by Bryan and then Randy Orton. The other two in the top five strangely enough are Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins, both of who are in the WWE Heavyweight title match.

In the WWE World Heavyweight title match, Brock Lesnar is the favorite to retain, with Cena then having better odds than Seth Rollins in second place.

In other matches, The Usos, The Ascension, Paige and Natalya, and The New Day are favorites to win their respective matches.

Early betting usually is quickly replaced in the last hour when more heavy bets come in.

2015 Royal Rumble live on PPV and WWE Network tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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Live tonight from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, WWE presents its first pay-per-view of the year, the Royal Rumble, also airing on the WWE Network. The full card is as follows:

Brock Lesnar vs John Cena vs Seth Rollins in a triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight title; The Usos vs The Miz and Damien Mizdow for the WWE Tag Team titles; Paige and Natalya vs The Bella Twins; The New Age Outlaws vs The Ascension; and the 30-man over-the-top rope Royal Rumble match! The Kickoff show will also feature The New Day vs Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose in a six-man tag team elimination match.

Total Divas episode preview for tonight: Insecurity Breach

By
Colin Vassallo
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Tonight’s episode 14 of season 3 of Total Divas is titled Insecurity Breach and will run head to head with the WWE pay-per-view the Royal Rumble.

The synopsis for the show reads, “Ariane goes behind Eva’s back, teaming up with Jonathan to confront Eva Marie with a major issue. Meanwhile, Brie fears retaliation after her house was broken into, and Paige faces the consequences of sending mixed signals.”

The Rock in Philadelphia today…the site of the Royal Rumble

By
Colin Vassallo
-

The Royal Rumble usually has a surprise or two every year. Rarely does a Rumble have no surprise entrants. In the past, Superstars such as Kevin Nash, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and others all returned to huge pops.

This year, there’s one person who’s putting some fuel to that fire and that person is none other than The Rock. The People’s Champion posted a photo on Twitter resting against a fence in Philadelphia, writing, “In town and always gotta stop by the neighborhood… #SouthPhilly.”

The Rumble is in Philadelphia tonight and the last time The Rock posted a photo when he was in the same town with WWE he ended up surprising everyone and having an awesome segment with Rusev on Raw in Brooklyn. Will today be the same? It’s obviously not confirmed that Rock is in town for the Rumble but it’s certainly a good theory considering the past history. PWInsider.com adds that The Rock was also hanging out at the WWE hotel where all the Superstars, Divas, and crew are staying.

The Dudley Boyz are also rumored to be two of the surprises for the Rumble but just like The Rock’s rumors, these are not confirmed.

Justin Gabriel reportedly quits WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Justin Gabriel has quit WWE although there are no further details beyond that statement.

The 34 year old South African has en working for the WWE since 2008, first at Florida Championship Wrestling and then moved to the NXT show where Matt Hardy served as his mentor. In 2010, Gabriel was part of the Nexus group that wrecked havoc on Raw when they attacked Cena, Punk, and tore the house down, a storyline which eventually led to the dismissal of Daniel Bryan.

In 2011, Gabriel joined The Corre with Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, and Ezekiel Jackson but the group did not last long. After leaving the group up until his reported departure, Gabriel did not feature much on the main roster and was largely relegated to the WWE TV B-shows.

During his WWE career, he won the WWE Tag Team titles on three different occasions with his partner Heath Slater.

New original series WWE24 to premiere on the Network on Monday

By
Colin Vassallo
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This coming Monday right after Raw, the WWE Network will premiere a new original series titled WWE24.

The synopsis for the show reads, “The premiere episode of the original series, WWE24, takes you behind the spectacle of WrestleMania XXX and its most compelling stories.”

The 30 minute weekly show is molded after the HBO 24/7 series and will tackle a different story every week. It’s not known if the series will continue to air on Monday nights at the 11:06PM EST time slot. WWE will obviously use Monday Night Raw with the Rumble fallout as a marketing machine for the premiere episode since it airs right after Raw.

WWE to hold its last live event at the Izod Center tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE will present its last show ever at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as the arena is set to close for good at the end of this month.

The show is headlined by John Cena vs Seth Rollins in a steel cage match, Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt, and Roman Reigns vs Big Show. Chris Jericho will also host his Highlight Reel. Card is obviously subject to change.

The Izod Center was supposed to host SummerSlam later this year but the closure of the complex by the state of New Jersey has forced WWE to look for an alternative host.

The Izod Center – through its different arena names over the past three decades – has played home to several WWE live events and pay-per-views.

Daniel Bryan biography pushed forward to April 1 release

By
Colin Vassallo
-

The Daniel Bryan biography, titled ‘Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania’ is now set for release on April 1, a couple of months prior to its previously set release to coincide with WrestleMania.

The book is written by Bryan and Craig Tello, WWE.COM’s executive editor who also authored the book ‘Diary of a Heartbreak Kid.’

The hardcover book will be published by St. Martin’s Press and will contain 320 pages. Tello noted yesterday on Twitter that the book was just finished.

The book preview reads, “YES! YES! YES! Daniel Bryan is the real deal. Everyone’s favorite underdog, he’s proven to the world and to all of WWE that looks can be deceiving. Just ask everyone who’s ever underestimated him…right before he went out and whipped the WWE Universe into a frenzy. This is Bryan’s behind-the-scenes story told for the first time ever – from his beginnings as a child wanting to wrestle to his ten years on the circuit before finally making it in WWE. When his “YES!” chant becomes a full-fledged movement, his career skyrockets. This book chronicles all the hard work, values, influences, unique life choices and more leading to his watershed week at WrestleMania 30. You won’t want to miss it. Yes! We’re sure about this.“

The artwork for the book has Daniel Bryan standing on the ropes celebrating with both titles at WrestleMania 30 and a big YES in the background. You can see it below.

danielbryanbook

NXT live event in Columbus at The Arnold Classic weekend sold out

By
Colin Vassallo
-

The first NXT live event outside of Florida, taking place in Columbus, Ohio, as part of The Arnold Classic weekend, is completely sold out.

Both the regular priced tickets and the VIP Experience tickets flew out of Ticketmaster.com pretty quick ensuring this show will have a jam-packed crowd at the LC Pavilion.

The show will be held on Thursday, March 5, at 7:30PM with the best of NXT Superstars and Divas present for the show. Triple H will also be there as he will be inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 during the weekend.

Royal Rumble 2015 participants so far

By
Colin Vassallo
-

So far 17 entrants have been announced for the 30-man over-the-top rope Royal Rumble match this Sunday. Usually WWE announces most of them and some entrants are left blank, reserved for any potential surprises and returns.

Those announced (in alphabetical order) are: Bad News Barrett, Big Show, Bray Wyatt, Damien Mizdow, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Fandango, Goldust, Kane, Luke Harper, R-Truth, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ryback, Stardust, and The Miz.

Triple H discusses breaking character on Raw for little kid

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Triple H recorded a segment on ABC News via Skype after his actions from Raw with the little kid crying at ringside drew a lot of media reaction.

Talking to ABC News via Skype, Triple H recounted what happened. “As we were sitting ringside, the young man was behind me and he was chanting my name, over and over. It was just me being in character. I said, with eye brows up, ‘Hey, stop messing with me. I’m trying to do my job over here.’”

That was enough for the kid – who was attending Raw with his father – to burst out crying. Seeing what he did, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon broke out of character and try to console the little guy. WWE cameras at ringside got the perfect shots.

“I broke out of character, and put my head to his and messed his hair up,” he said. “I just said, ‘Hey, buddy, it’s OK. I’m just playing around.’”

The father and the boy also Skyped with ABC News to give their opinions. “They’re actually pretty nice not in their character,” the 8 year old boy said. His father said it was a huge impression and it’s something that he guarantees his son will never forget.

“Putting a smile on his face, by far, was the best thing I did Monday,” Triple H said.

You can see the video below.

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