TNA President Dixie Carter unveiled the new Impact Wrestling logo that the company will be using once they debut on Destination America in January 2015.
Using slightly modified Brawl and BankGothic fonts, the new logo sports silver and blue shades with a silver and blue outlined hexagon in the background representing the six sided ring.
The logo was met with mixed reviews, some loving it and some hating it. You can see it above.
The post-WrestleMania Monday Night Raw on March 30 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, has been sold out ever since tickets went on sale on Ticketmaster.com.
With so many International fans staying over during WrestleMania week plus the fact that that particular Raw usually is one of the best of the year, it is no surprise that WWE sold out the arena again. But fans who did not manage to get a ticket already can get several tickets on other ticket websites, although they will pay much more than the face value.
VividSeats.com and TicketNetwork.com are selling Raw tickets for that particular night starting at $34 going all the way up to $1,500 for ringside seats. Seats in the upper level are selling from $50 up to $100 while other seats in the lower sections go for much more.
WWE has ditched the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view for February and has replaced it with the inaugural Fast Lane pay-per-view, which will be held at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday, February 22, 2015.
Tickets will go on sale on Saturday, December 13, at 11AM EST at Ticketmaster.com as well as at the FedExForum box office.
The rumors of the Elimination Chamber concept being removed has been rumored for quite a few months ever since the WWE unified the world titles. In the past, one of the Chamber matches used to set up the challenger for the World Heavyweight title for WrestleMania.
W-O reader Chris Burton attended last night’s Monday Night Raw television tapings in Greenville, South Carolina, and sent in the following notes.
After the show went off the air, Bray Wyatt came out and did another promo and called Dean Ambrose. Ambrose came out after a few minutes and another fight broke out. Wyatt beat up Ambrose with a kendo stick until Ambrose turned it in his favor and whacked Wyatt back until Wyatt rolled out of the ring and went backstage.
With Ambrose alone in the ring, John Cena, Ryback, Dolph Ziggler and Erick Rowan, came out to say goodbye to the crowd and to send everybody home happy!
The visually impressive trailer for Dwayne Johnson’s next movie, San Andreas, has been released by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema.
Set for release on May 29, 2015, San Andreas is an action-adventure disaster film directed by Brad Peyton about a devastating earthquake which hits California featuring Dwayne Johnson as a Los Angeles Fire Department rescue-helicopter pilot who attempts to leave Los Angeles to go to San Francisco to find his estranged daughter along with his wife.
The film also stars Kylie Minogue, Carla Gugino, and Alexandra Daddario. The movie will be out in 3D as well and had a budget of $100 million.
You can see the trailer below.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz9e0PGSDeU&w=700]
Yesterday WWE revealed the winners of the 2014 Slammy Awards, announcing some of them on WWE.COM and on the pre-show and a few live during the Raw broadcast.
The WWE.COM and pre-show winners were: “You Sold Out” for Fan Participation Award; Seth Rollins betraying The Shield for Double-cross of the Year; The Bunny for Animal of the Year; The Rock for Best Actor; @HeelZiggler for Best Twitter Handle or Social Champion; Daniel Bryan vs The Authority for Rivalry of the Year; Hugh Jackman for Raw Guest Star of the Year; Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella for Best Couple of the Year; The Shield for Faction of the Year; Sami Zayn for NXT Superstar of the Year; Seth Rollins diving off the balcony at Payback for Anti-Gravity Moment of the Year; The Rock insulting Rusev and Lana on Raw for Insult of the Year; The Usos for Tag Team of the Year; Dean Ambrose for Breakout Star of the Year; and #RKOOuttaNowhere for Hashtag of the Year.
The awards handed out on Raw were: Sting’s debut for “This Is Awesome” Moment of the Year; Ultimate Warrior for Surprise Return of the Year; Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker’s streak for OMG Moment of the Year; AJ Lee for Diva of the Year; Damien Mizdow as The Miz’s stunt double for LOL Moment of the Year; Team Cena vs Team Authority at Survivor Series for Match of the Year; Chris Jericho hitting a cross-body on Bray Wyatt from the top of a steel cage on Raw for Extreme Moment of the Year; and Roman Reigns for Superstar of the Year.
WWE and American Media Inc. announced today that Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer, has been appointed Editorial Advisor to Shape magazine and Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative, has been appointed Editorial Advisor to Muscle & Fitness magazine.
In these roles, McMahon and Levesque will consult with the editorial staff of Shape and Muscle & Fitness, respectively, on print and online content pertaining to health and fitness.
“Shape and Muscle & Fitness only work with the most trusted and authoritative experts in the world of health and fitness,” said Shawn Perine, Chief Content Director, Enthusiast Group and Editor in Chief, Muscle & Fitness. “With their vast experience and knowledge, Stephanie and Paul are perfect ambassadors for the global health and fitness movement, and are highly valued partners to our brands. I’m excited to be working with them.”
WWE will be taping Tribute to the Troops tonight along with Smackdown at the Columbus Civic Center for the military and personnel and their families stationed at United States Army post Fort Benning.
Florida Georgia Line will be performing for the live crowd while Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, Al Roker, Seth Meyers, The Kardashians, Andy Cohen, Giuliana Rancic, Katherine Heigl, Lester Holt, Padma Lakshmi, Mark Feuerstein, Debra Messing, Tom Brokaw, Rachel Maddow and Carson Daly, as well as the coaches of The Voice, Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, all taped special messages for the troops.
“For 12 consecutive years, WWE has been entertaining American military personnel both overseas and domestically as a way to thank them for their commitment to our country,” said WWE Chairman & CEO, Vince McMahon. “Our servicemen and women work tirelessly for our freedom and we are proud to continue our Tribute to the Troops tradition.”
Meanwhile, Vince McMahon, WWE Superstars Big Show and R-Truth and WWE Divas Summer Rae and Alicia Fox will travel abroad to spread some holiday cheer to the men and women serving abroad.
Tonight, it is the annual Slammy Awards. In all honesty, they’ve been pretty meaningless for at least the last few years or maybe since 1997, when it was a separate show that didn’t invade with current storylines before a Pay-Per-View. (Slight rant!) Nonetheless, Raw will be filled with little golden statues being given out for “Wrestler Of The Year,” “Match Of The Year,” “Moment Of The Year,” “Diva Of The Year,” etc… all I hope is for a good show as we build towards Tables, Ladders, and Chairs this Sunday!
Monday Night Raw TV Report for December 8th, 2014 – “Award-Winning”
Introduction Segment: Video Promo
Recap from Survivor Series and recent Raw airs.
Segment #2: Arena Promo
After greetings from Michael Cole and John “Bradshaw” Layfield, along with the announcement of John Cena VS. The Big Show, Jerry “The King” Lawler is welcomed and brings out tonight’s host of the Slammys and Raw, actor Seth Green.
Green comes on out and is excited to be here, listing what will go down. He is quickly interrupted by the Tag-Team Champions, The Miz and Damien Mizdow. Miz wants to be the next star in one of Green’s upcoming productions, however Seth sees Mizdow as his main-guy. Miz moves on, showing the nominees for “This Is Awesome” moment of the year – Occupy Raw, featuring Daniel Bryan and “fans” taking over Raw, Stephanie McMahon getting arrested after assaulting Brie Bella, the WrestleMania XXX opening with Hulk Hogan, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and The Rock, and the Survivor Series ending with Sting’s debut. The winner(s) will be revealed later.
Match #1: Singe – “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler VS. Seth Rollins (with Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble)
Both try to get the best of each other until Dolph sends Rollins to the outside for a break.
Commercials.
Rollins in firm control, pounding away with elbows then kicking Dolph down. He locks in a grounding rear chinlock to wear down Ziggler, who battles out with a sit-down jawbreaker. They go back-and-forth until Dolph brings Seth down with a jumping-DDT for a near-fall! Seth regains dominance and ascends the turnbuckle. Ziggler leaps up and meets Seth, then back-body drops him off. Noble distracts the referee, allowing Mercury to push Dolph off the turnbuckle and Seth plant him with the Curb Stomp for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Seth Rollins (with Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble)
Segment #3: Arena Promo
Seth Green announces that Sting debuting at Survivor Series is the “This Is Awesome” moment of the year. This makes Seth Rollins upset, as he blames Sting for his loss at Survivor Series and the firing of The Authority.
The New Day make their entrance, as Kofi Kingston will be in action next!
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Match #2: Single – Kofi Kingston (with New Day partners Big E. and Xavier Woods) VS. Stardust (with Goldust)
Kofi starts out hot with quick kicks, but misses a springboard kick. Stardust follows up with a springboard chop, then stomps away on Kingston. Stardust dances about a little, but then gets caught as Kofi kips up and tosses Stardust with a modified headscissors/hurricanrana. He runs and nails Stardust in the corner with double-knees, then quickly gets the 1 – 2 – 3 with a top-rope crossbody!
Winner via Pinfall: Kofi Kingston (with New Day partners Big E. and Xavier Woods)
Segment #4: Arena Promo
Lillian Garcia brings out the man who brought us “People Power,” John Laurinaitis. At first, he wants to be back running Raw as “Big Johnny,” then gives us the nominees for “Surprise Return Of The Year.” They are Hulk Hogan, Batista, The Rock, and (the late-great) Ultimate Warrior. Winner revealed next.
Commercials.
“Big Johnny” tells us the winner for “Surprise Return of The Year” is the late-great Ultimate Warrior. Cole and Lawler talk about him while still-pictures right up to the Hall-Of-Fame ceremony earlier this year are shown.
Segment #5: Backstage Promo
Seth Rollins is congratulating his “boys,” Noble and Mercury, when he walks into Paul Heyman. The advocate for WWE World Heavyweight Champion is anticipating “a clean-sweep of The Slammys.” Heyman then begins to tell Rollins that “if” he gets by Cena, but Seth says he will get by him, showing Paul E. the briefcase and threatening that he will cash in without Lesnar or Heyman knowing when or where.
Heyman puts over Rollins as “the future,” even when he Curb-Stomped his own client. Heyman pumps up Rollins to “make sure that John Cena is firmly entrenched in the past.”
NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte, then daughter of Ric Flair, makes her debut on Raw and will be wrestling Natalya next!
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Match #3: Single – NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte VS. Natalya (with Tyson Kidd) (Non-Title)
Charlotte takes after her father, getting in the face of Natalya and “whoo-ing” her! She then gives Natalya an elbow and stomps her down. She gives her shoulder-rams in the corner, but Natalya elbows her way out. she hops on Charlotte’s back, but Charlotte counters with a sit-down jawbreaker. She mount-punches Natalya repeatedly, but is turned over into an Indian Death Lock by Natalya. Charlotte reverses into a rear chinlock, standing, then chops at Natalya a few times. Much like her dad Ric, Charlotte gives Nattie a kneedrop, then rolls through a Sharpshooter attempt into a Figure-4 try. Natalya rolls through and takes this one with a small-package!
Winner via Pinfall: Natalya (with Tyson Kidd)
Segment #5: Arena Promo
Santino Marella is now out to show us the “OMG Shocking Moment Of The Year.” The nominees are Rollins betraying his Shield brethren, Nikki Bella betraying her sister Brie, Bray Wyatt’s “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” with the children segment from Raw, and The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak coming to an end at WrestleMania XXX against Brock Lesnar. Winners revealed next.
Commercials.
As pretty-much expected, Brock Lesnar defeating The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX has been picked for the “OMG Moment Of The Year.” Paul Heyman comes out and accepts on Lesnar’s behalf. The “one behind the one in twenty-one” puts over his client’s huge accomplishment and true shocker.
Segment #6: Arena Promo
Bray Wyatt makes his eerie entrance, then begins another of his classic oratories. “I will never forget the first time that I saw her. She was sitting in that rocking chair underneath the cypress tree. That was her chair.” Footage of Dean Ambrose destroying Wyatt’s rocking chair from last week is now shown. “Dean Ambrose destroyed a piece of me that night. He took something that did not belong to him, he took something from me that I could never replace. So, I decided that, perhaps, I should take something from him.” Footage from Smackdown last week is shown, where Bray put chair-to-throat of Ambrose. “Does that shock you? Does that frighten you? I don’t think anyone here has any idea who they’re dealing with man. I am a monster, I am fear incarnate, and I despise each-and-every last one of you. To me, you are merely (inaudible) drawn in by my flame, but be careful, because if you get too close to me, I will burn you. And this Sunday, at the T.L.C. Pay-Per-View, all of you will bear witness to my vile, as I stand on top of that ladder victorious, conqueror. I will look down at Dean Ambrose’s mangled body, and none of you will shed a tear. (Laughing maniacally) I will not allow you to cry for him, because he deserves everything that’s got coming to him. The end is near. Tables, ladders, and chairs. Tables, ladders, and chairs. Tables, ladders, and chairs.” A siren suddenly blares with an ambulance backing into the arena.
Dean Ambrose, with smoke billowing, appears! He pulls out tables, chairs, and ladders, carrying them to the ring. He hurls the chair to tempt him by lying on the table and holding a chair. Bray takes the bait and runs into a thrown chair by Dean. He tells Wyatt that his only exit from Tables, Ladders, and Chairs is inside the ambulance. “I am going to become the monster and I’m going to eat you alive!”
Segment #7: Arena Promo
Seth Green is back and asks Jerry “The King” Lawler to present the “Diva Of The Year” award. The nominees are Brie Bella, Paige, A.J. Lee, and Nikki Bella. Winner next!
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Lawler makes known A.J. Lee as the “Diva Of The Year.” She walks out and is proud of reinventing what a “Diva” has been. She lists Emma, Paige, Bailey, and Sasha Banks as contenders for this award, but she still wants to reign and regain her Divas Title from Nikki Bella on Sunday.
Segment #8: Arena Promo
Rene Young is with John Cena, who talks about what he is going to do to the Big Show tonight and what he will do to Seth Rollins this Sunday at T.L.C.
Erick Rowan makes his entrance for his bout next!
Commercials.
Match #4: Single – Erick Rowan VS. Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper (Non-Title)
Both big-men get the best of each other with punches, then Harper hits Rowan with a big running dropkick! He stomps away then locks on the Gator Roll. Rowan breaks out of it, but is nailed with a boot. Harper tries a powerbomb, but is backdropped. Rowan stomps, then Luke rolls to the outside. They both punch away again, then Luke uses the ladder against Erick’s head, which causes the dq.
Winner via Disqualification: Erick Rowan
Post-match, they continue to brawl, with Rowan dumping Luke face-first onto the steel stairs! Erick utilizes the steps again, ramming them into Harper’s head one more time.
Segment #8: Backstage Promo
Naomi is checking herself out in the mirror when The Usos walk up. She informs her husband, Jimmy, that she talked to The Miz’s talent person and they are legitimate. She is off to Hollywood for an audition, and so is her husband Jimmy to keep an eye on her. He does not trust The Miz.
Segment #9: Arena Promo
Adam Rose and his Party Posse present the “L.O.L. Moment Of The Year” – Mr. T’s Hall-Of-Fame Speech, WEE.L.C., Mizdow, and Vickie chucking Stephanie into a pool of “mud.”
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Mizdow is the winner for “L.O.L. Moment Of The Year.” Both he and The Miz come out, with The Miz seeming proud. Before Mizdow can take the microphone, Miz barges in front and takes all the credit, with Mizdow mimicking his verbals.
Segment #10: Arena Promo
United States Champion Rusev and Lana walk out. “The Ravishing Russian” has the microphone and tells us that either the American Economy or President Obama are the real “L.O.L. Moment(s) Of The Year.,” but picks Jack Swagger as a “Real American” as her choice. Swagger quickly interjects, claiming that he will “snap your ankle” to Rusev, who broke Zeb Colter’s leg. They engage, and Swagger shows his aggression, locking on the Patriot Ankle Lock and hurting the United States Champion. Referees pull Jack off Rusev, then have to hold him back.
Commercials.
Match #5: Six-Man Tag-Team – The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) and Ryback VS. Kane and Tag-Team Champions The Miz and Damien Mizdow (Non-Title)
Ryback and Kane begin, with Ryback giving Kane a Lou-Thesz press. Kane replies with a scoop-slam, but Ryback hits back with a diving shoulder-tackle. Jimmy Uso now in, who axe-handles Kane from the top and chops. He switches with his brother, who almost sunset-flips Kane, but is caught by “The Big Red Machine. Kane tags in Miz, who stomps away on Jey. A side headlock takedown by Miz, then a running shoulder block. Jey counters and hip-tosses Miz, then also gives him a side headlock takedown. Jey suplexes Miz then tosses him over the ropes, and of course, with being a stunt-double, Damien Mizdow follows suit!
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Jey gets a hot-tag to Ryback, who dominates over The Miz until Kane breaks up a pin attempt. Both Usos come in and double-superkicks Kane, then double-rockets to him on the floor. Miz ducks and sends Jimmy tumbling to the floor, but turns around into a Meathook Clothesline and Shellshock Marching Samoan Drop by Ryback to get the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) and Ryback
Segment #11: Video Promo
A montage of the first Slammys in 1986 (the year I was born!), then known as the MTV Slammy Wrestling Music Awards, is shown.
Segment #12: Arena Promo
Lillian Garcia welcomes Hall Of Famer Ricky Steamboat to present “Match Of The Year.” He touts the classics he’s been in the ring with, including Ric Flair and the late-great “Macho Man” Randy Savage. The nominees are Daniel Bryan VS. Batista VS. Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXX, John Cena VS. Bray Wyatt from Payback, The Shield VS. Evolution during Extreme Rules, and Team Authority VS. Team Cena at Survivor Series.
Diva Of The Year A.J. Lee skips out and is wrestling next!
Commercials.
Prior to the next bout, Ricky Steamboat announces the “Match Of The Year.” It is Team Authority VS. Team Cena at Survivor Series. Dolph Ziggler makes the acceptance speech, giving credit to the WWE Universe. (yes, us fans.)
Match #6: Single – A.J. Lee VS. Summer Rae
Summer gets a little bit of offense on A.J., but the “Diva Of The Year” soon forces Rae to give-in to the Black Widow Octopus Hold.
Winner via Submission: A.J. Lee
Segment #13: Arena Promo
Rob Van Dam, an E.C.W. Original, is in the arena to present the “Extreme Moment Of The Year.” The nominees are Brock Lesnar demolishing John Cena at SummerSlam, Kane tombstoning Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho soaring off the top of a steel cage onto Bray Wyatt, and Seth Rollins crushing Dean Ambrose’s head through a cinder block. Winner revealed next.
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Rob van Dam announces that it is Chris Jericho who has the “Extreme Moment Of The Year.” Instead of “Y2J” himself, Fandango and Rosa take the award. Fandango cites his WrestleMania debut and defeat of Jericho, then says he will “never eeeeeeever see it again.”
Segment #14: Video Promo
Mick “Santa Claus” Foley is plugging more merchandise for WWE.com that we can buy for Christmas.
Segment #15: Backstage Promo
The Big Show is interviewed by Rene Young. She asks him about his mindset going into his match with John Cena, while also knowing he will be taking on Erick Rowan in a Stairs Match at T.L.C. Show reiterates how people make mistakes, including Rene presuming he is not focused and his choices leading up to Survivor Series. “You know what’s going to be a mistake? The mistake is going to be when John Cena steps into the ring with me tonight. Because I’m going to unleash all that rage and all that fury on John Cena. John Cena’s not going to have to worry about facing Seth Rollins because I’ll knock John Cena off the top step tonight. And Erick Rowan? He’s out of his league. He’s stepping in the ring with me. 7-Foot, 500 Pounds. I’m very focused, and I’m very angry giant. So believe me, the only mistakes that are happening are John Cena and Erick Rowan step in the ring with me. That’s the mistakes.”
Commercials.
Segment #16: Arena Promo
WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T. is out to present the “Superstar Of The Year.” The nominees are Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. The “Superstar Of The Year” is next!
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It is announced that Chris Jericho will be hosting Raw next week!
In a true surprise (even though he is awesome), the 2014 “Superstar Of The Year” is Roman Reigns! Even better, he comes out to the stage and accepts! Reigns proclaims that when he’s back, he’s climbing all the way to the top!
John Cena makes his usual entrance as he prepares to take on The Big Show, next!
Commercials.
Match #7: Single – John Cena VS. The Big Show
Big Show uses his power and strength to dominate most of this bout. Cena eventually moves out of the way, then drives Show down with a DDT. However, Cena runs back into a side-walk slam, as Show controls again. Again, Cena eventually makes a comeback and goes to finish Big with an Attitude Adjustment. As he covers, Mercury, Noble, and Rollins run out, causing the dq.
Winner via Disqualification: John Cena
Post-match, Mercury, Noble, and Seth beat on Cena. Rollins pulls a ladder from under the ring and sets it up. As he goes to dive off it, Dolph Ziggler’s music plays and he runs out. he helps Cena out, until The Big Show awakens and lays him and Cena out with Knockout Punches.
Erick Rowan joins the fray, but is quickly attacked from behind by the I.C. Champ, Luke Harper. He and Show run Rowan into the steel steps, then Show chokeslams Erick on them. Ryback charges out now and cleans house, but is whaled on by a chair-wielding Kane. Dolph comes back in and tries to help out, super-kicking Show twice, but then is face-planted through a table by Harper. Rollins Curb-Stomps John, then he, Mercury, and Noble triple-powerbomb Cena through the commentator’s table.
Rollins, Mercury, Noble, Harper, and Show stand tall over a prone Ziggler to close the show.
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
Well, I was certainly wrong and this was a much better Raw than I expected considering it was a “Slammy Special.” I was even happily-wrong about how the Slammys played into Raw/the build for T.L.C., and thought it was actually pretty-well done. Onto the particulars:
Excellence: Most of the awards/the way the awards were done. Liked almost all the winners/scenarios, and thought it was good that they weren’t too dragged out and somewhat flowed smoothly with the show. My favourite would be Roman Reigns, as that was a real surprise for him to be “Superstar Of The Year.” I’m glad it wasn’t the usual Cena pick, but really also thought it was going to be Daniel Bryan, so Reigns was a bit of a shock, in a nice way.
As always, Bray Wyatt’s promo was terrific. His feud with Ambrose is Attitude-Era intense, and I think this should be the main-event of T.L.C. because of the all-out brutality it can be, plus the fact that it is a full-on T.L.C. match!
Big Show’s promos from tonight and last week’s Smackdown were much better. Keep talking like this Show, and I’m liking you again as a heel! Also intense is Swagger & Rusev, and I’m enjoying their second-round rivalry. It is much better than their first encounter.
Intrigued by the Usos/Mizdow/Miz rivalry. Mizdow is awesome right now in his role, and The Usos are beginning to become great again.
Loved seeing Charlotte wrestle Natalya; however wish it was longer and Charlotte should’ve gotten the win to build her up and since she has a match this week on NXT as the Women’s Champion!
Bogus: While I liked the award for the late-great Ultimate Warrior, I did think it was a bit disrespectful for Cole to rush through the talk he gave about the late wrestler/husband/father, and only showing still-pictures. I wish they had a significant person make another speech about him instead, or at least Cole be a bit slower with his commemoration on the superstar.
Getting tired of the beat-down endings to Raw between Team Authority and Team Cena. We’ve seen this way too much. Hopefully T.L.C. does shake things up even more and new feuds/rivalries will begin, and new endings to Raw!
Glad they gave another surprise win to Jericho for “Extreme Moment Of The Year” (didn’t expect him to get that) but was really disinterested when Fandango took the award. Here’s hoping Jericho takes it back next week when he hosts Raw.
T.L.C. picks: Mizdow/Miz to retain Tag-Team Titles, perhaps with Naomi’s help; A.J. to regain Divas Championship; Rusev to hold on to his U.S. Title, either by straight pin/submission or a no-contest; Ziggler to get the I.C. Title back and continue climbing back into permanent-main-event status (I like Harper, but the Intercontinental Championship just doesn’t “fit” him); Rowan will destroy Big Show and continue his rise to a being a big face; hoping Rollins wins, but it will probably be Cena to set up another match VS. Lesnar; and hoping the main-event is really Ambrose/Wyatt. I’m really not sure who should win, so I’m happy with both!
All-in-all, a greater Raw than I was thinking! Hopefully next week’s landscape will have changed a bit and new begins again after T.L.C. Until then, as always, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Wrestling Fans!
Just a couple of weeks out from “breaking the Internet” with his podcast on Colt Cabana’s The Art of Wrestling, CM Punk found another way to keep his name in the news: signing with the UFC.
And oh my did that get people talking.
Am I surprised that CM Punk has decided to pursue mixed martial arts? Not really. Am I surprised that UFC took him on a 0-0 record? Not really either.
So what are the good, the bad, and the ugly of CM Punk in the UFC?
The good:
The UFC is a business and they’re there to make money. Dana White, just like Vince McMahon, is a promoter. And a very good one too. The two might do things a little different but at the end of the day the goal is the same – making money. And lots of it.
CM Punk is a big name in the sports entertainment world. Fans love him. You can also find just as many fans who hate him for walking out of the WWE the day after the Royal Rumble. Like he said many times, he doesn’t owe the fans anything. True. If let’s say Beyonce decides she doesn’t want to sing anymore then she won’t sing anymore. End of story. Yes, he had a contract, he got fired, and turned the tables on WWE and ended up leaving with more money. That says a lot when it comes to how contracts are drawn up and if you have a good attorney then you will find a way out of it. That “independent contractor” part of the contract doesn’t help WWE and this case has probably opened a major loophole for the company when it comes to imposing no-compete clauses.
But in any case, Dana White saw money in CM Punk. His first fight, whenever that might be, will draw money. Hundreds of thousands of viewers will tune in to see if Punk can cut it in the Octagon. Pro wrestling haters will buy the PPV to see him getting his ass handed to him. Wrestling fans will buy it to support Punk. Win win situation for the UFC.
Punk already said that his first fight will be on pay-per-view. And why wouldn’t it be? White would be crazy to give it out for free on television or Fight Pass. This is not like in professional wrestling where the company tries to get a bigger rating for a Raw or a Smackdown with something special. The UFC is mainly a pay-per-view business and that’s where they make their money.
If CM Punk wins the first fight, then more people will buy the next one hoping to see someone knock him the F out. It’s the same thing with Brock Lesnar. Lesnar was the highest grossing PPV fighter for the UFC. Why? For the same reason. MMA fans hate it when pro wrestlers storm their sport. Lesnar came in like a bullet train, thrown into an alligator pit that was the heavyweight division, made a rookie mistake in the first UFC fight, and instantly created one of the hottest feuds ever in the UFC with Frank Mir.
Lesnar quickly silenced his critics, although then faded away in the final two fights when he lost the title and when he got stopped by Alistair Overeem. Injured or not, pro wrestling haters loved it just as much as wrestling fans loved it when he defeated MMA legend Randy Couture for the title and then damn near killed Frank Mir.
The bad:
The UFC rarely – if ever – hands out a contract to someone who has a 0-0 MMA record. Brock Lesnar went to fight Min-Soo Kim at a Dynamite!! USA show in June 2007 in Los Angeles before he got his UFC deal.
A lot of mixed martial artists are pissed that Punk was basically handed this contract. There are many who have been busting their ass for years hoping to get on the roster but still never made it in the UFC. I get their point, it must be frustrating. But with all due respect, they’re not an instant draw. You put CM Punk vs Unknown Fighter X and he’ll draw money for the company.
Giving Punk a multi-fight deal on a 0-0 record is a risk. We don’t know how many fights are in that deal as it was not revealed, nor we know how much money the UFC shelled out to get Punk on its roster. The former WWE champion is not an idiot. He’s a businessman too. He knows how much he’s worth and will not settle for anything less.
Will UFC lose money from this deal? Hard to say, depending how much he can draw on pay-per-view and how much he can last. The company will probably make a lot of money from merchandise and will try and squeeze every little cent from this deal.
And if you’re a mixed martial artist, you don’t want to be THAT guy who got beat by a professional wrestler. Dana White already said he will not throw Punk to the wolves like he did with Lesnar. That already shows they will protect him and will line him up with someone with a similar record or someone new with a relatively stupid record.
The ugly:
Either way this ends, the UFC will not come out like a loser in this one. They will be the company who gave a guy his chance to fulfill his dream of becoming a mixed martial artist.
But if you’re CM Punk and you sucked in the cage, well, that’s a different story.
CM Punk is a brand. The man behind it, Phil Brooks, is proud of that brand as he should be. He had big success in WWE when the higher-ups were against him. He went on to become one of the best in the world, no pun intended, and held the title for a whopping 434 days.
An epic failure inside the Octagon will be a big hit to CM Punk the brand, and an even bigger hit to Phil Brooks’ ego. I respect the man for trying this out, you need a good set of balls to go in a cage and fight, but everyone is expecting a lot now and the chances of a fail at the moment outweigh those of a success.
You look at Brock Lesnar and his time in MMA. Yes, he’s 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the UFC. But he won the UFC Heavyweight title in his first shot and despite his record, he’s been a big success. He went back to WWE and had the best contract possibly ever in the company. Why? Because he can draw money. Can CM Punk do the same? Time will tell.
CM Punk’s journey in UFC will be an interesting one to follow. I’m a fan of both CM Punk and the UFC so I will closely watch just like I followed Lesnar’s journey. It’s been his dream to go there and if he wants to do MMA, who are we to judge him?
If you don’t like him, don’t buy the show. Simple as that. I hope he goes and makes a ton of money for himself and the UFC.
Will he be the best in the world in the Octagon too? Too early to say. Like I said, the odds are not in favor, but then again, this world is full of surprises. If the rumors are true and Lesnar will join the UFC in 2015 again, MMA fans will hate it even more having two “fake” professional wrestlers in the Octagon.
Personally, I love it, and I can’t wait to see it all unfold. And I will mark out if he ever wins a fight with the Anaconda Vise.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Colin Vassallo is the Editor of Wrestling-Online.com. You can follow him on Twitter @wrestlingonline or his personal one @ColinVassallo.
Tonight’s Monday Night Raw will feature the Slammy Awards as the three hour broadcast will hand out some statues to the best of the year.
Long-time wrestling fan Seth Green will be the guest host of the Slammy Awards. A bunch of awards are already up on WWE.COM with the winners revealed on the WWE Network pre-show.
As of this writing only seven Slammy Awards will be given out during the show. The categories are Superstar of the Year, Match of the Year, ”This is Awesome” Moment of the Year, Diva of the Year, LOL Moment of the Year, Extreme Moment of the Year, and Surprise Return of the Year.
Voting for these categories will be done on the WWE App throughout the show.
Former WWE, ECW, and WCW wrestler Jimmy Del Ray passed away at the age of 52 two days ago after an apparent heart attack.
Del Ray is probably best known for his time as one half of the Heavenly Brothers with Tom Prichard, a team which made its WWE debut in August 1993. While they never won a WWE title, the duo defeated The Rock ’n’ Roll Express for the SMW Tag Team titles at the 1993 Survivor Series.
Del Ray moved to ECW with his tag team partner in 1995 as part of Raven’s Nest and a year later he joined WCW as Jimmy Graffitti. He spent a year in WCW and had a to retire after a knee injury.
The reaction from UFC fighters about CM Punk joining the organization wasn’t all great according to individual posts on Twitter. Some where supportive, some mocked the idea, and some just didn’t like it.
“WHA?!?!?! @CMPunk!!?!!!!?!! #cantwait,” wrote big wrestling fan Ronda Rousey. Fellow member of the ‘4 Horsewomen,’ Shayna Baszler added, “My biggest concern is that now w/@CMPunk in @ufc, I will have competition on promos!! Cant wait 2 punch u next time u are in LA!”
Roy Nelson congratulated Punk on his contract while Nick Newell wrote that he can’t wait to read all the tweets of “shitty 1-0 & 2-0 fighters calling him out.”
Norman Parke said he will get smashed eventually….”in the women’s division!” Ouch! “CM Punk in the UFC?!? GTFO of here,” said another fighter Ulysses Gomez.
Some mocked the idea of a wrestler jumping into the Octagon, with Alptekin Ozkilic saying, “I hope CM Punk realizes that ufc is actually real fighting. Lol,” while Russell Doane took a more light hearted approach, writing “CM Punk will probably sit on a steel chair between rounds #ufc.” Colby Covington said he always wanted to whoop a fake wrestler’s ass anyway and told Punk “Let’s dance!”
The king of trash talk in the UFC, Michael Bisping, also threw in his two cents. “I see @cmpunk wants to kick ass, well he can kiss my ass! Welcome to the Ufc, let’s do this! @ufc @danawhite.”
WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, whose real name is Joe Anoa’i, got married over the weekend to his finance Galina Becker.
The wedding took plate at Castaway Cay, a Disney private island in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Dinsey Cruise Line ships.
Reigns posted several photos of the wedding on his Instagram account @romancreigns which was also attended by his daughter.
In a short and sweet message on WWE.COM, WWE acknowledged CM Punk’s latest move, writing, “WWE wishes Phil Brooks (aka CM Punk) the best of luck in his newest endeavor.”
This no doubt comes after Punk said in an interview that WWE will pretend that they don’t know about it and will continue to pretend not to know about it because they don’t consider UFC their competition.
Punk became the latest professional wrestler following Brock Lesnar’s and Bobby Lashley’s footsteps to join the world of mixed martial arts.
Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com interviewed CM Punk backstage a few hours after the announcement of his UFC deal, a 20 minute interview which covers several interesting topics.
Punk said it’s been pretty surreal and feels nice to be part of the UFC. He mentioned that fighters have been nice to him, something that they didn’t have to, but shows a lot about the sport and the company.
The big question of if he can fight or not will be answered when he steps in the cage and he said you have to start somewhere. He said that if Dana White told him that he needs to go and get some fights under his belt before getting the UFC deal he would have done it as this was not just about the UFC and money but about fulfilling another dream.
Punk said that he knew 100% after he walked out of WWE that this would be coming and MMA gave him something to look forward to, sort of a new life. He said he feels better than he looks and physically on a scale of 1 to 10 he’s at 11 with old injuries gone.
He mentioned that Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta flew to Chicago at the end of October to say hello and have dinner and discuss a deal.
When asked what does he think his old boss thinks about him in the UFC, Punk said he doesn’t care and he’s sure they know but they will pretend that they don’t know because “UFC is not competition,” winking while saying that to the camera.
You can see the full interview below.
It was announced yesterday during the UFC 181 pay-per-view in Las Vegas that former WWE champion CM Punk has signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC and will be debuting with the company in 2015.
“My professional wrestling days are over, it’s awesome to be here. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Punk said in a press release issued by the UFC.
“I have a background in kempo and I’ve been doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a long time. This is my new career, 100-percent. I’m going to go full steam ahead, all systems go after today, and it’s going to be fun. I have nothing but respect for everybody here at the UFC, everybody who steps in the Octagon to fight. And when it’s all said and done, when I’m finished, everybody’s going to have to respect me because I have come here to fight.”
Punk added that it was now or never to pursue mixed martial arts and that he was coming in to win or get his ass kicked.
The WWE.com & Pre-Show 2014 Slammy Awards voting has opened today on the WWE.COM website and so far features 12 categories. The categories and nominees are:
Fan Participation Award: “You Sold Out” (Seth Rollins), “Nine Ninety-Nine” (WWE Network), “We The People” (Jack Swagger), “I’m Afraid I’ve Got Some Bad News” (Bad News Barrett), “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” (Bray Wyatt).
Double-Cross of the Year: The Authority turns on Randy Orton on Raw, Seth Rollins betrays The Shield and joins The Authority on Raw, Nikki Bella betrays her twin sister Brie Bella at SummerSlam, Mark Henry turns on his friend, Big Show, on Raw.
Hashtag of the Year: #OccupyRaw, #RKOOuttaNowhere, #MoscowMooseKnuckle, #EatSleepSuplexRepeat, #NineNinetyNine.
Breakout Star of the Year: Rusev with Lana, Roman Reigns, Paige, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins.
NXT Superstar of the Year: Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, The Ascension.
Anti-Gravity Moment of the Year: Seth Rollins dives off the balcony at WWE Payback, Adrian Neville’s Red Arrow, Dean Ambrose dives onto lumberjacks at SummerSlam, Kofi Kingston in the Royal Rumble match.
Raw Guest Star of the Year: Larry the Cable Guy, Jerry Springer, Kevin Hart, Hugh Jackman, Betty White.
Rivalry of the Year: The Shield vs Evolution, Daniel Bryan vs The Authority, Brock Lesnar vs John Cena, Rusev vs The USA, Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose.
Best Actor: The Miz, Batista, The Rock, Mizdow.
Faction of the Year: The Authority, The Wyatt Family, The Shield, The Rosebuds.
Animal of the Year: Gator (Hornswoggle), Torito, Bunny, Grumpy Cat.
Best Couple of the Year: Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, Jimmy Uso and Naomi, Tyson Kidd and Natalya.
Tweet It! Best Twitter Handle or Social Champion: @HEELZiggler (Dolph Ziggler), @JohnCena (John Cena), @ZackRyder (Zack Ryder), @Ryback22 (Ryback), @BellaTwins (Nikki & Brie Bella), @RealPaigeWWE (Paige).
The WWE.com winners will be revealed on Monday night during the WWE Network Raw Pre-Show at 7:30PM EST and on WWE.com.
MMAJunkie.com is carrying a recap of UFC President Dana White’s appearance on The Jim Rome Show on CBS Sports which included an interesting little story on CM Punk.
White said that Punk will be attending tonight’s UFC 181 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the two will be talking about a potential deal.
“You never know (if he can fight) until you get in there,” White said. “I didn’t know if Brock could fight. I thought Brock was crazy for coming over here. But, the difference with Brock Lesnar is Brock was a world-class wrestler. I don’t know. We’ll see,” White said.
The former WWE champion has been training jiu-jitsu with Rener Gracie – the husband of former WWE Diva Eve Torres – for several years now.
White admitted that if CM Punk does sign up with the UFC for a fight, he will not get the same treatment as Brock Lesnar, and will start right at the bottom.
“He’s not a guy that we would do what we did with Brock; we threw Brock right to the wolves. Brock started fighting all the top heavyweights in the world because of his wrestling background,” White said. “CM Punk, we would bring him in just like any regular fighter, and he would fight a guy with a similar record to his, which is 0-0.”
