WWE’s Chief Strategy & Financial Officer George Barrios told Bloomberg that the company is expected to announce a new TV partner by the end of April or beginning May, hinting at a move away from NBC Universal’s properties.
Barrios said that they are in talks with different networks although he declined to name anyone. WWE was allowed per its contract with NBCU to start talking to other networks at the end of February after the exclusive period with NBCU expired.
NBC Universal still have the rights to match any price WWE receives if they wish to retain all of WWE’s programming.
Bloomberg reports that WWE has held talks with AMC Networks, Viacom, Turner Networks, and Fox.
If WWE eventually chooses a new TV partner, the move would happen in the beginning of October.
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon isn’t much of a tweeter. In fact, ever since joining Twitter on April 2 of last year, the boss has tweeted just 80 times and has just around 585,000 followers.
McMahon tweeted yesterday to comment about his inclusion on Forbes’ world’s biggest billionaires list, which was released earlier this week.
“From the trailer park to the @Forbes list. You can do it too. #AmericanDream,” McMahon tweeted, referring to the Forbes bio that said that McMahon grew up in a trailer park.
McMahon’s wealth skyrocketed over the past several days as WWE stocks hit $30 a piece, and with McMahon being the biggest stockholder, the dollar signs were flipping big time.
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus will be at the WrestleMania Axxess in New Orleans this year, her first meet and greet in the United States in almost three years.
It’s still has not been announced which sessions she will be a part of but this will be Stratus’ first WWE gig since her Hall of Fame induction last year in Madison Square Garden.
It is rumored that Trish will be inducting Lita in the Hall of Fame this year although at this point it is just pure speculation.
The SummerSlam travel packages have been released by WWE, with two packages available for order – platinum and gold.
The platinum ones offer ringside seats within the first six rows, a VIP pre-party, breakfast with WWE Superstars, collectible ringside chair, and three night accommodation at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles.
Prices for the platinum packages start at $1,076 per person for a booking of four and up to $1,677 for one person.
The gold package includes SummerSlam tickets in the 100 level seating, breakfast with WWE Superstars, and three nights accommodation at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles.
Prices for this package start at $540 per person for a booking of four and goes up to $1,141 for a single occupant.
WWE stocks went even higher today, hitting the $30 mark during the trading day before closing Thursday at $29.80 a piece.
The $29.80 closing resulted in a 9.96% increase over yesterday, putting a market cap on WWE of $2.04 billion.
After suffering some setbacks on Wall Street when the WWE Network launched, the stocks shot up big time over the past two days, hitting a 14-year high.
TNA today announced that Slammiversary this year will be taking place at the College Park Center at the University of Texas at Arlington on June 15.
This is the second time that TNA will be hosting a pay-per-view at the College Park Center as in 2012 they were in the same place for the same pay-per-view.
Tickets for the twelfth anniversary of the show will go on sale on March 28 at 10AM CST at UTAtickets.com and at the College Park Center Box Office.
Slammiversary XII travel packages will be available March 21 at ShopTNA.
WWE announced that beginning on March 11, Main Event will start airing on the WWE Network at 8PM EST on Tuesdays, one day before the actual television broadcast on iON.
WWE is marketing the show as being live on the WWE Network however Main Event is taped starting at 7PM EST, one hour prior to the Smackdown tapings so technically it will air on a one hour tape delay.
For now the show will continue airing on iON on Wednesdays at 8PM EST.
The WWE Network suffered another outage this morning across all devices and platforms, prompting a new wave of complaints from subscribers on social media especially the WWE Network Facebook page.
The outage lasted a couple of hours but the service was restored between 10AM and 11AM with both the live feed and the video-on-demand working again.
There was no statement from WWE regarding the outage unlike before where they acknowledged issues with the service.
Monday Night RAW from Chicago drew 4,577,000 viewers and a 3.26 rating, down slightly by 84,000 viewers from last week’s show which featured the return of Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker.
Hour one did 4,672,000 viewers, followed by 4,620,000 in the second, and then down to 4,438,000 in the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)
WWE smashed its 14 year high on Wall Street today, closing the day at 26.23, a whooping 13.06% increase over yesterday’s closing.
At the end of the day, WWE stocks added $3.03 during the whole trading day and in after-hours trading it kept going up, currently at 26.28 at time of this writing.
WWE issued an e-mail to its WWE Network subscribers announcing that they have resolved the login problem for its Xbox 360 users.
“The WWE Network login issue for Xbox 360 users has been resolved, and we apologize for any inconvenience,” said the e-mail. The Xbox Live service website finally has a green checkmark on the WWE app, saying that the app is up and running.
Problems for Xbox users have been present since day one of the WWE Network, preventing users from using their console to watch the Network on the WWE app.
Tonight’s special live broadcast of Main Event on the WWE Network will feature two big matches which aren’t usually reserved for the show.
Trying to attract viewers to the WWE Network’s live broadcast to continue to test out the system, WWE has booked Daniel Bryan vs Kane and The Usos vs New Age Outlaws for the WWE Tag Team titles.
The show kicks off at 7PM EST on the WWE Network and will then air in its usual time slot on iON on Wednesday night.
WWE will be returning to the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, for the Payback pay-per-view which will take place on Sunday, June 1.
The pre-sale has already started on Ticketmaster.com using the password WWEPAYBACK and tickets will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, March 8, at Noon CST.
Tickets range from $25 to $500 plus additional fees with the $500 ringside seats including the usual commemorative chair.
The WWE Hall of Fame class of 2014 got a new addition last night as the late Paul Bearer was announced to join the Ultimate Warrior, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and Lita, come April 5.
Paul Bearer’s WWE career started in 1991 when he was brought in by Brother Love to take over managing the Undertaker, who himself made his debut a few months before at the 1990 Survivor Series.
Bearer spent twelve straight years in the WWE, managing the Undertaker, Mankind, and Kane during his run before joining TNA between 2002 and 2003 to reprise his role as Percy Pringle III.
In late 2003, Bearer returned to the WWE and after a few months working on television, he joined the back room staff and helped with creative writing until he was released in 2005.
Between 2010 and 2012, Bearer did some appearances for the WWE but in March 2013, Bearer, real name William Moody, passed away at the age of 58.
WWE held a tribute for Bearer on an episode of RAW after he passed away which was tied in to an angle between the Undertaker and CM Punk, who were fighting at WrestleMania a month later.
Once again, Raw is in my favourite American city tonight: Chicago! The biggest question is, will a certain Chi-town wrestler be there, or is he truly off the roster? It would be a decent work of all of this leading to C.M. Punk was just a ruse. However, I must admit I would be pretty surprised, since the main events of WrestleMania XXX are looking decently set, and I don’t see where “The Second City Saint” would fit in.
Speaking of WrestleMania, last week we got a good glimpse of two matches for sure, and a potential two more for the card. I still am not a big fan of Batista VS. Orton, but after the promos and seemingly turns by both, I think they could make it work. Definitely should NOT be the main-event though. Undertaker/Brock Lesnar should be both an excellent match and feud, considering who Lesnar’s mouthpiece is (Paul Heyman) and what he did with C.M. Punk last year when they went up against “The Deadman.” And, “yes!” (pun intended) we could also see Daniel Bryan VS. Triple H (which, in reality is the replacement from the previously planned C.M. Punk VS. Triple H). I can see this being the main event easily, with hopefully Daniel Bryan going over and closing this feud, and sending the fans home happy. Cena/Wyatt could be a very interesting feud, but it will have to be Bray carrying it microphone wise for sure, since Cena’s stick (while good) is always the same-old-same-old.
On to Raw, the big match for tonight is a rematch between The Wyatt Family and The Shield! Who will prevail and will this be as good as their Elimination Chamber bout? Let’s hope so! Elsewhere, will anymore mid-card matches for “The Grand Daddy Of Them All” be announced, along with more inductees for the Hall-Of-Fame?
All this and much more, so read on!
Monday Night Raw Report for March 3rd, 2014 – “Breakups, Makeups, and Put-up Or Shut-Up!”
Introduction Segment: Welcoming & Arena Promo
Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcome us to Raw, and announce the known Six-Man Tag-Team bout, as well as Batista taking on Daniel Bryan!
“Cult Of Personality” surprisingly (truly for me) blares the speakers to kick off the show and the hometown crowd of the missing in action man voices their pleasure, until ….
out walks Paul Heyman! The cheers turn to boos, then boisterous “C.M. Punk” chants, which Heyman himself eggs on. “I believe he deserves louder than that. (My Dad says this is actually pretty smart, get the Punk out of the fans’ system right away) Paul E. mocks Punk more, by sitting in the middle of the ring cross-legged. “I came here tonight to tell the story of a ‘Paul Heyman Guy.’ A ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ that is never truly wanted in WWE. A ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ that ‘they’ thought was too small to main event WrestleMania. A ‘Paul Heyman’ guy that didn’t have the right corporate look. A ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ that had too many tattoos. A ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ that would rebel against the system, against The Authority, against The First Family, to such a degree that they didn’t want him in WWE from day one, and they don’t want him in WWE right now. I came here tonight to tell you the story of a ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ that had the balls to say what nobody else had the balls to say. I came here tonight to tell you about a ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ that was born in, raised in, and still lives in, Chicago. My name is Paul Heyman, and ladies and gentlemen, this is my ‘pipe bomb’ about C.M. Punk.”
Heyman confirms that Punk is not in the building (to massive boos), then goes on to accuse the fans of the reason why C.M. is not here. “The truth hurts, doesn’t it?” Paul puts himself over as the reason that Punk got over so big, complete with the 434-day reign. He blames the fans for making C.M. turn on Heyman, which in turn eventually led to him turning on them. Heyman also blames The Undertaker, since “we couldn’t beat The Streak at last year’s WrestleMania.” “Paul Heyman wants revenge.” Heyman has all his faith in Brock Lesnar to have “the streak conquered.”
Lesnar now walks out and joins his manager. A quick video retells The Undertaker’s return from last week, then more “C.M. Punk” chants come from the crowd. Lesnar now takes the microphone and recalls Triple H and C.M. Punk as two of the many prominent names that have tried to take out The Undertaker at WrestleManias. “At WrestleMania, the streak is going to be conquered by me, Brock Lesnar!”
As Brock and Heyman exit the ring, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry meets them in the aisle and engages in a brawl with “The Beast Incarnate.” Henry begins the slugging, but Lesnar puts him into the steel steps and uses them to bash Mark in the head. Lesnar tears apart the announce table, then impressively and angrily F-5’s him through it! Lesnar and Heyman smirk at their work, then walk to the back.
Up next is a rematch for the WWE Tag-Team Championship, with The Usos challenging The New Age Outlaws!
Commercials.
Match #1: Tag-Team for the Tag-Team Championship – The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James and “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn) (Champions) VS. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) (Challengers)
(Note: For once, Road Dogg deems Chicago unworthy of hearing their usual introduction of themselves. The Usos, however, do make their usual entrance, pleasing the crowd.) Jey and Road Dogg begin, with James kicking Jey and slamming his head into the turnbuckle. He whips him hard into the corner, then switches with Gunn. He takes control, pounding away with punches on Jey, then tags Jesse back in. James slaps Jey in the corner, but Jey turns it around and slaps back. He gets clotheslined, and Dogg continues to dominate, sending Jey to the outside.
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Billy breaks up a roll-up by Jey on James, then The Outlaws continue to control. Jey eventually counters with a high spin-kick, and makes the hot-tag. Jimmy takes Road Dogg off the apron with a leaping forearm, then is all over Billy. He hits a Samoan Drop on Gunn, then a Full-Nelson Bomb on Dogg. Jimmy runs at Dogg in the corner with a rear-end splash, then flies off the top with a somersault. Dogg distracts Jimmy, allowing Billy to roll him up, but Jimmy still kicks out! Gunn catches Jimmy off the ropes with a tilt-a-whirl slam for another near fall, then tries the Fameasser. Jimmy ducks, hits a superkick, then soars over the ropes onto Road Dogg, tagging in his brother in the process. Jey rockets off the top rope with a Superfly Splash, the cover, and the victory!
Winners and NEW Tag-Team Champions: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)
Post-match, Jimmy and Jey celebrate their long-awaited
Segment #2: Video Promo and Backstage Promo
A “Need For Speed” clip airs, then The Bella Twins, Natalya, Alicia Fox, and Aksana put over the movie. (Pointless at its finest).
Commercials.
Match #2: Single – Cesaro (with Real Americans partners Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter) VS. Intercontinental Champion Big E. (Non-Title)
Cesaro dominates most of this bout, uppercutting Big E. and swinging him around ten times. Swagger suddenly gets involved, Swaggerbombing the I.C. Champ and causing a dq.
Winner via Disqualification: Intercontinental Champion Big E.
Post-match, Big E. drops Cesaro with The Big Ending as Colter looks puzzled at Jack’s actions.
The Shield make their way through the crowd and prepare for their match with The Wyatt Family, next!
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Match #3: Six-Man Tag-Team – The Shield (United States Champion Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) VS. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erik Rowan, and Luke Harper) (Non-Title)
It begins fast and furious, with Ambrose diving to the outside and Reigns planting Bray with a Samoan Drop. The bell then rings, and Harper has Rollins atop the turnbuckle. Luke German-Suplexes Seth off the top rope, but Rollins lands on his feet! He tilt-a-whirl dives over the ropes, onto the floor onto Harper, then does the same across the ring to Rowan. Luke runs back in the ring, and Seth catches him with a jumping kick! He is fired up, but Bray puts him down quickly. Harper regains control.
Commercials.
Harper still in control, as is Rowan. Seth counters and drives Erik face-first into the middle turnbuckle with a flatliner. Ambrose is tagged in and is all over Rowan with wild punches and a low front-dropkick. He locks on the Figure-4, to the enjoyment of the fans who call out “Wooo!” in honor of Ric Flair. The Wyatts regain domination with Bray and Luke cornering the U.S. Champion.
Rowan Pump-Handle-Slams Ambrose for a two-count, then presses against his head with his fists. Ambrose grapples Rowan’s beard to counter, but gets sidewalk-slammed coming off the ropes. Harper slugs away a big uppercut, but Dean comes back with a harsh clothesline! Bray s tagged in and runs to knock off Roman off the apron. He turns around into a DDT by Ambrose, but as Dean goes for the tag, Rollins jumps off the apron and backs away. Roman walks after him and questions. “I can’t be the glue that keeps this together. You two figure it out! You two figure it out!” Seth yells back.
Reigns then dives back in the ring to break up a cover, then hits the Superman Punch on Bray. He clotheslines Rowan over the ropes and runs at Luke with a jumping front-dropkick on the outside! This turns into mayhem, with Roman spearing Erik over the announce table, then Harper follows with an impressive suicide dive! Ambrose leaps onto Bray from the apron, but is ran face-first into the post. Bray finishes this with the Sister Abigail!
Winners via Pinfall: The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erik Rowan)
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with the #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Batista. She wants his thoughts on facing Daniel Bryan later tonight, and he basically puts him down, calling him just an “average guy” and is amazed at what a “WWE Superstar” is these days.
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It is announced that they will already have a Tag-Team Championship rematch from earlier tonight, taking place on the WWE Network show, Main Event Tuesday night.
Match #4: Mixed Tag-Team – Fandango and Summer Rae VS. Santino Marella and Emma
After a few switches between Marella and Emma, the bout gets going with Fandango hitting Santino from behind. Santino counters with a modified jawbreaker, then tags in Emma. She is all over Summer with clotheslines, then clamps a Tarantula submission against the ropes. Fandango tries to come in, but Santino chases him off while Emma gets the tap-out win with her Emmalock!
Winners via Submission: Santino Marella and Emma
Up next, Sheamus will face Christian!
Commercials.
Match #5: Single – Christian VS. Sheamus
The two begin with a verbal joust, then Christian slaps Sheamus twice. The big Irishman takes Christian to the outside and runs him into the barricade, then slams him onto the canvas. He drops a knee and gets a near fall! Christian counters and kicks Sheamus in the corner, then stands on him. Sheamus comes back with a clothesline and just about takes this with the Irish Curse backbreaker. He runs at Christian, but is tossed over the ropes, then followed up with a baseball slide. Christian attempts a slingshot plancha, but Sheamus moves. He goes to carry Christian into the ring post, but Christian slides out and hides behind Lawler, Layfield, and Cole.
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Sheamus ascends to top rope, but is pushed to the floor! In the ring, Christian gets vicious with a headbutt and few stomps. He clotheslines Sheamus on the apron, then backdrops him back in the ring. He tries a top-rope Frog Splash, but Sheamus rolls as Christian eats mat. Christian is caught out of the corner and driven down with a rolling fireman’s carry. Sheamus clobbers away at Christian, then chucks him to the apron. He wants to slug away, but Christian elbows out of it. He jumps off the top, but is caught and dropped across the ropes. Sheamus holds him and pounds away with forearms, then nails him in the head with a knee! 1 – 2 – Christian kicks out!
Sheamus goes for another punch, but Christian reverses into his reverse DDT, then leaps off the top rope with a Frog Splash. 1 – 2 – Sheamus kicks out! He is caught off the apron and planted with White Noise, and a close call! Sheamus ends up on the apron and manages to hit him with The Brogue Kick and the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Sheamus
Later tonight, John Cena will talk to The Wyatt Family.
Commercials.
Segment #4: Backstage Promo
Rene interviews the latest victor, Sheamus. Just as he is going to tell us about it, Christian assaults him with a beatdown, including the lighting! Referees pull Christian off as he challenges Sheamus to “come get it.”
Match #6: Tag-Team – Alicia and Aksana VS. The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie)
Nikki and Aksana begin, with The Bellas taking control and frequently tagging. Aksana switches with Alicia, who gets a two-count on Brie. She wristlocks Brie and yanks her down, then Aksana stomps away in the corner. He pulls Brie out of the corner, landing hard on the mat. Fox back in, tearing at Brie with a chinlock. Brie battles out of it and snapmares Alicia over. She sunset flips over, crawls under and tags in Nikki. She hits a dropkick and knee-facesbuster. Aksana interrupts a cover, then Brie flies off the top with a front dropkick. Nikki takes this with a Torture Rack Backbreaker on Fox!
Winners via Pinfall: The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie)
Up next, it’s the main event already as Bryan will face Batista!
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Segment #5: Arena Promo
Daniel Bryan comes to the ring for his match with Batista. Prior to the contest, Bryan has the microphone. “You see, that is what I like to hear. Because the people here in Chicago understand one thing. YOU have a voice! WE have a VOICE! And tonight, WE ARE GOING TO HIJACK RAW!” (Loud “yes, yes, yes!” chants!) Bryan warns that he is not going to exit the ring until either Batista battles him or Triple H answers his request for WrestleMania.
The Authority answer Daniel’s call and enter the ring with him. Stephanie answers first, telling him that she would be “flat-out embarrassed” with all of the losses he has accumulated. Bryan recaps how many times he has been “screwed over” out of the WWE Championship. “But here I stand, unbroken, with these people (pointing to the crowd) behind me! And I am stronger than ever.” He lays down the challenge for WrestleMania XXX again. Triple H tells him flat-out, “well, that’s not going to happen.” HHH wonders why Bryan makes excuses for his own failings, saying that “everybody that has failed here, is because they were not good enough.” (During that, more loud “C.M. Punk” chants ring out.) “See, these people understand. Because you can deny holding me down, you can deny holding anybody down. But they can see through your lies. That is why they chant, THAT IS WHY THEY CHANT!” Bryan retorts. “Because you come out here, and you say you do ‘what’s best for business.’ You say you do it for the WWE Universe. But you don’t listen to these people. You don’t listen to the ‘yes movement.’ You don’t listen for their obvious desire to see somebody like me, or everybody else back there that’s like me, see people like me succeed. And the only way, THE ONLY WAY, we will ever get you to see that is that if I beat the crap out of you, and if I do it at WrestleMania.”
Stephanie says they do not listen to the fans, because they will turn on him. She says that it is really “us,” her family that have made him, and made a place for him. Triple H informs him again that “your little match at WrestleMania, it’s not going to happen.” He then orders Bryan to “get out of my ring.” Bryan defies them again, claiming “this isn’t your ring … this is THEIR ring!” Triple H demands again for Bryan to leave, but Bryan stands up to his face, “why don’t you make me.”
McMahon calls out Kane, but Bryan cuts him off with a suicide dive. He keeps whaling on the Director Of Operations with Stephanie calling for security to take him away. They manage to separate Kane and Bryan, then Daniel has to back away to loud chants of “Daniel Bryan.”
The main event is apparently still on, as well, Cena will be out to talk about The Wyatt Family.
Commercials.
Recap of Lesnar’s attack on Henry is replayed. Another pointless Raw Backstage Pass panel to talk about Raw so far is shown. The participants were Josh Matthews, Booker T. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, and Alex Riley.
Match #7: Single – Alberto Del Rio VS. “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler (with Aaron Paul)
Raw Guest Star Aaron Paul (actor, in the “Need For Speed” movie and critically acclaimed “Breaking Bad” television show) drives Ziggler into the arena and makes a grand entrance with him. He then joins on commentary. In the ring, Del Rio is all over Dolph early, but Ziggler makes a comeback with a leap in the corner and ten punch! He goes for a Fameasser, but Alberto moves and slams him tilt-a-whirl style. Dolph counters with a high-spinning DDT and almost gets this! Del Rio comes back with a kick-to-the-head and gets a two count! Aaron distracts Alberto, allowing Dolph to turn Del Rio around and bring him down with the Zig-Zag for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler
Up next, a new Inductee will be revealed! (Finally!)
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Segment #6: Hall Of Fame Video Promo
Close to a year after his death, William Moody, a.k.a. Paul Bearer, is the newest member of the WWE Hall Of Fame. Well-deserved!
Match #8: Single – Jack Swagger (with Real Americans partners Zeb Colter and Cesaro) VS. Intercontinental Champion Big E. (Non-Title)
Immediately, Cesaro gets revenge on Swagger by face-planting Big E. with The Neutralizer, causing Jack to be dq’ed!
Winner via Disqualification: Intercontinental Champion Big E.
Post-match, Cesaro and Swagger have a heated discussion, then Cesaro sweeps him up! He goes for the Big Swing, but Colter convinces him to stop. He also convinces them to shake hands and “hug it out” like Real Americans! He demands them to call out “we the people,” and calms the two down.
Up next, John Cena will be out.
Commercials.
Segment #7: Arena Promo
John Cena walks out, and yes, really walks out, as he is selling the “injury” he suffered last week at the hands of The Wyatt Family. His left knee is bandaged. John stands and soaks in the “C.M. Punk” chants, as well the cheers that he was “injured” by The Wyatts and he will not compete tonight. Cena still wanted to “hear the energy and passion of an entire city.” He recaps his history in Chi-town, and respects “the hell out of this city,” despite their differences. Cena says that he “always hear ya, I always know that your honest, and I damn sure know that you’re loud.” He reminds the fans that while they want change, it will still “go through me.”
The lights go out and The Family appear on the Titan Tron. “Look at you John, sitting out there all alone. You built this, this empire all around you. And can you feel the energy? Can you feel these people, John? You know, you remind me of these championship thoroughbred horses. One that’s been running for a long, long time. And he races and he wins. And he wins, and the people they just CHEER for him. One day, this championship horse, he starts to slow down. And that is when reality sets in. And now he finds himself not just looking for the next finish line; but he is now sitting somewhere in the back of a barn, laid out on slab. And when, oh when, will your reality set in John? How long do you think you can just fend us off? Mercy is calling you by name. I am ‘The Reaper,’ and I am going to put you down. Let me let you in on a little secret, John. I know what you are really afraid of. For the loneliest man on earth is the man who sits alone atop his empty castle. Who, will be left for you John, when I take it all away? Follow the buzzards.”
Batista is walking the hallway and walks into WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton, who wishes “The Animal” luck against Daniel Bryan.
Segment #8: Arena Promo
Lana is on stage with her man, Alexander Rusev. She declares him the “Bulgarian Brute” and “The Super Athlete.” He says something in another language while the crowd questions “what?”
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton makes his way to the ring to have a look at the next bout closely.
Match #8: Single – Batista VS. Daniel Bryan
Batista shoves Bryan off twice to begin, then is run off the ropes by Bryan. He is tripped with a dropkick at his knee by Bryan who begins to kick away. Bryan works over Batista’s leg with a running front dropkick, then locks on a half-crab submission. Batista kicks of then clotheslines Daniel off the ropes. He drops Bryan across the top rope, then tosses him to the floor.
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Bryan runs at the corner and somersaults over Batista, then hits a couple running dropkicks in the corner. Batista goes to the outside before the third one, but Daniel follows him with a suicide dive. Bryan climbs the turnbuckle and flies off with a front dropkick! He kicks away to many “yes” chants and nearly gets this after a kick-to-the-head. He ascends the turnbuckle and notices that The Authority walk down to the ring. Batista takes advantage and purposely hurls Bryan into a sitting Orton at ringside.
Bryan comes back with high-kick, but Orton slides in and attacks him!
Winner via Disqualification: Daniel Bryan
Post-match, Bryan nails a running knee on Orton and knocks Kane off the apron, but collides into a spear by Batista as he went to dive on The Authority! They enter the ring and Triple H kneels over Bryan. “I getting tired of your little fantasy crap!” Bryan kicks him in the head, but Batista Batista-bombs him. “The Game” quickly gets back up and Pedigrees Bryan. The Authority stand over a downed Daniel, with Stephanie making fun of his “yes” chant to close the show.
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
Excellence: Opening promo – not only did that intrigue me greatly when C.M. Punk’s music played, it really got the energy in the arena going. Like I wrote above as my Dad said, it was very smart of WWE to do this, as they didn’t deny where they were and who the fans wanted to see the most. Plus, it got Heyman major heel-heat leading into the huge program with The Undertaker. He was the perfect person to do this, both because of his beautiful skills on the microphone and his history with Punk.
Liked the way they are playing up the dissension between the men of both The Real Americans and The Shield groups. The match featuring The Shield and The Wyatts was fantastic, and the all-out brawl for the finish of the match reminded my dad of an Attitude-Era bout! I was very impressed with Luke Harper’s suicide dive and Roman Reigns’ spear on Erik Rowan over the announce table! Rollins was awesome to, flying all around, and his reluctance of helping his teammates until they work out their issues.
Sheamus/Christian was a physical contest and great match. Was a little surprised at the clean finish, but loved the follow up with Christian attacking Sheamus backstage. Glad this feud llooks like it will continue.
Bray Wyatt – the man will continue to do no wrong on the microphone and carry this new feud with John Cena, merely based on his oratory talent!
Bryan’s promo proved again why is a major star and can go toe-to-toe with anybody on the roster, both in the ring and on the microphone. The ending of Raw was great, as it really set up the now-inevitable showdown between HHH and Daniel for WrestleMania. Again, this should/could be the main event, and send the fans home happy with a win for Bryan!
Paul Bearer (real name, the late-great William Moody) going into the Hall Of Fame! He was a true character, in every sense of the word, throughout his career in wrestling, and I believe he made The Undertaker who he is today! It will be very interesting to see if “The Phenom” will induct his long-time friend and manager, since he usually does not show up on camera during the ceremony. If not, the next best choice would be Kane. Either way, Bearer was an awesome addition to wrestling and will greatly be missed. God Bless you, William Moody!
Bogus: As much as I like/want The Usos to be WWE Tag-Team Champions, I feel that the result tonight was a little rushed and a remedy for the Chicago fans since Punk would not be making an appearance. This should’ve been one of those special moments that happen at WrestleMania, especially since both Billy and Jesse can still go well, so all four could’ve put on a much better match and had it mean just that much more.
Didn’t care at all about the Divas match or the Mixed Tag-Team Match. Where was A.J. Lee and a Divas Championship storyline?
I like the way they’re doing The Real Americans split, but I feel that two quick disqualification wins really hurt Big E. and the I.C. Championship. Since he gave them their comeuppance, it looks like they’re gearing towards just Cesaro VS. Swagger, leaving the I.C. Title and Big E. without a program. Same with Dolph Ziggler – glad he got it, but the win was really just a crowd-pleaser. Should’ve been in a highly-featured match for WrestleMania.
The Chi-Town fans – it’s very fine to chant who you want to see, but when you call “this match is awful” between two veterans like Christian and Sheamus, then you’ve lost my respect. (It was actually a pretty good match!) As well, Punk wasn’t going to show up, so get over it! Yes, it’s fine for the first little bit, but after a while, it was annoying and definitely rude to the rest of the people on the show. Let them do their job and give you the best entertainment they can.
Overall, Raw was very well-executed tonight, considering where they were and the continuous chants of a certain superstar, with both a hot opener and closer, leaving suspense for next week! Until then, as always, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Wrestling Fans!
Tonight’s Monday Night RAW – hosted by actor Aaron Paul – is headlined by a rematch from the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view featuring The Shield taking on The Wyatt Family. We can hear the “this is awesome” chants already!
Both Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker are also scheduled to be on the show tonight with Lesnar responding to last week’s attack by the Undertaker which left him going through a table to close the show.
And the big question remains, will he or will he not? It’s Chicago, and that means it’s CM Punk’s home town. Will he show up to book a place at WrestleMania or is CM Punk really, really gone for good?
It all starts at 8PM EST on USA Network in what many believe is going to be one of the biggest RAWs of the year. The WWE Network will kick off the RAW pre-show at 7:30PM EST.
He might not be number one on the chart, but WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon has made it on the 2014 Forbes Billionaires List.
McMahon came in #1,372 in the world’s richest people, with a net worth of $1.2 billion. The small bio accompanying his picture which was taken from the WWE Network launch says that McMahon grew up in a trailer park in North Carolina and then joined his dad’s business, before buying it 10 years later.
“With his WWE Network launched in February the man who pioneered pay-per-view TV hopes to draw 2 million diehard fans to pay $9.99 a month for Internet-delivered content,” the bio reads.
Much to no surprise to anyone, Bill Gates topped the list with a whooping $76 billion net worth.
WWE will find themselves in somewhat of a hostile territory tonight as the Chicago crowd will surely try to hijack RAW.
Known as one of the toughest and loudest professional wrestling crowds, the Chicago crowd is so far missing their home town hero – CM Punk – and WWE is bracing for a rough night unless they will provide them what they want.
A Twitter account @ChicagoRAWcrowd has almost 10,000 followers and is giving instructions to what the crowd should do tonight, including turning their back to the cameras when Batista, Orton, Triple H, or Stephanie McMahon are on, cheer for the Wyatts and the Shield, chant for Ziggler and other hard-working mid-carders, and respect The Undertaker.
“Punk or no Punk, tonight we make history. Welcome to Chicago,” said a tweet posted today.
John Cena also commented on the crowd that he anticipates for tonight. “Wanna pre thank the Chicago @WWEUniverse tonight for what I think will be a CANT miss #RAW there’ll b plenty of audience participation!!”
The people behind the Twitter account have also posted a document on what to do tonight if you are attending RAW which you can see at http://pic.twitter.com/VA4I9gOYcP.
One thing is for sure, it’s going to be one hell of a night!
Main Event will air live on the WWE Network tomorrow as well as on iON on Wednesday night in its usual time slot.
While there are no plans to move Main Event live every week on the WWE Network, this live broadcast of the show will be used as a test for the live feed on the WWE Network.
When WWE presented NXT ArRIVAL live on the Network last week, a lot of issues popped up, disrupting the live broadcast and leaving a lot of people who were following angry.
With the Hall of Fame and WrestleMania XXX coming up soon, WWE Network needs to be working in perfect order or else WWE faces up the possibility of issuing a lot of refunds to customers.
WWE’s WrestleMania poster to promote the pay-per-view for their PPV partners features eight WWE Superstars and no CM Punk in sight.
The poster features Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt at the top, followed by Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Batista in the middle, and then Triple H, the Undertaker, and Randy Orton at the bottom with the WrestleMania XXX logo underneath.
A previous poster had Undertaker, Del Rio, Orton, Cena, Henry, Punk, and Lesnar.
